THE TAMPA TERROR

MEDIA The new theater and dance critic at the Dallas Times Herald wants Dallas to know something about him that his former readers at The Tampa Tribune would dispute: “I’m not a bad person, ” says PORTER ANDERSON, the critic Tampa loved to hate.

Anderson’s credentials include three degrees in theater and fine arts, specifically in acting. Yet nobody attracted more criticism than the critic himself. His announcement that he was leaving Tampa for the Herald prompted a spate of letters from readers bidding him good riddance. One of them suggested the people of Dallas ought to be warned that their arts community was in danger. Even some of his critics, however, admit that Anderson’s opinions about the state of the arts in Tampa were painfully true.

The arts scene in Tampa can most charitably be described as underdeveloped, with only the most innocuous, mainstream acts drawing a crowd. Anderson’s crime was to insist that arts should be challenging, provocative, and thoughtful, not simply entertaining. He was especially hard on traditional chestnuts such as “The Nutcracker” and the vaudeville-era fare served to tourists and retirees in Tampa Bay’s dinner theaters.

“I was called a communist, anti-children, anti-family, ” he says. “People think you’re being mean, when you’re just trying to bring the standards up. “

Anderson acknowledges that his columns are written in a tone of voice he calls sassy, even saucy. Indeed. They went down in Tampa like Tabasco on grits. He expects Dallas readers, having more sophisticated tastes, will find him a lot more digestible.

“I won’t have to explain as many things, ” he says. And the Herald, he adds, is just the right paper for him, “It’s got a real ballsy presence. That’s why they came to me.”