Letter to the Editor: Tribute to Payton
BY Christopher Teter, Tulsa
Saturday, February 23, 2013
2/23/13 at 7:38 AM
It's a long way from Tulsa to Broadway. In the complete spectrum of entertainment productions, nothing can surpass the excitement and emotional range of the great classics of American musical theater.
While Tulsa and many other cities lost support for Philharmonic orchestras, and while the opera and ballet companies strained to manage their budgets, Tulsa's Celebrity Attractions continued to bring wonderful musical theater to an entire generation of audiences in Tulsa.
Sadly, Larry Payton, president and creator of Celebrity Attractions passed away recently. His very capable organization will surely continue in his memory, but Tulsa has suffered a major loss. Larry literally put Tulsa on the map as he marketed our city to the producers of musical theater productions in New York and throughout the country.
He grew Celebrity Attractions to become a very attractive destination for the traveling productions - often directly from the New York Broadway community - during his involvement the past 30 seasons. He was especially proud of his cordial association with the Disney Corp. as well as his individual friendships and those with many giants of the theater.
Famously protective of his Tulsa audiences, Larry brought the best theater artists in the world to Tulsa for our enrichment. All of us in the seats behind the bright lights will miss him and remember him fondly.
Show business in Tulsa won't quite be the same without Larry Payton. Our thoughts and best wishes of remembrance to his loving family.
Letters to the editor are encouraged. Send letters to letters@tulsaworld.com.
