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Why stop with theaters and schools? Why not a renaming of parks, major roads, public schools and airports to lock in a local market?
Unless you are a big fan of Broadway theater,you may have missed the news that the landmark Selwyn Theater has been renamed-at least for the next 10 years the American Airlines Theater. The deal calls for the theaters owners to receive $850,000 a year in exchange for changing the name,which has appeared on the marquee at 42nd Street near Broadway since 1918.
I happen to be a big fan of Broadway theater but, since I tend to remember plays, performances and scenery, and not upon which of the dozens of Broadway stages the play appeared, I can't say I am heartsick over this next step in the commercialization of American cultural life. We've survived football and baseball stadia being renamed 3Com Park and Bank One Ballpark, and the morphing of great football institutions into the Tostito Fiesta Bowl and the Nokia Sugar Bowl. We'll be OK, too, if Broadway billboards proclaim one corporate giant or another along with the play and its stars, especially if...