Maybe it’s the ol’ debate-club nerd in me, but these debates have got me hot.  They’re so . . . old school.

Parliamentary Style, Extemp., Oh yessss!

And regardless of which candidate you favor, you gotta love the process of putting two people protected only by a pedestal (and a few hundred hours of boot camp-like preparation) in front of the people and letting them duke it out over the big issues facing us today.

I’ve learned something at every debate I’ve ever watched.  I’ve also been inspired by every debate I’ve ever watched.

Debates encourage people to get involved, to learn, and can motivate change.

So forget Presidential debates, I’m proposing some Producer debates!  Here are a few that I’d like to see:

Shuberts vs. Nederlanders (Possible topics:  Facility Fees, Ticketmaster vs. Telecharge, etc.)

A Shubert or a Nederlander vs. a Producer (Topics:  Whose customer is it?, Control of the Advance, etc.)

Serino vs. Spotco (Topics:  Value of NY Times advertising, Photos vs. Illustrations in art, etc.)

Or let’s do it Perot-style and throw up three industry big-wigs and let them go at it on a myriad of subjects like:

• Is there too high a price for theater tickets?
• The APC:  Antiquated or Essential?
• Do NY Times reviews matter?
• To publish our grosses or not publish or grosses?

We’d all learn a great deal about how we differed on our issues.  But just like the Presidential debates, we’d also learn that our primary goal is the same.

A successful and strong theater is what we all want.  We just differ on the ideas that will get us there.

Any industry leaders out there ready to go a few rounds?