Citizen Staff Writer
SHERYL KORNMAN
skornman@tucsoncitizen.com
Nationally syndicated talk-show host Ed Schultz will appear at the Leo Rich Theater on Saturday as planned.
Shultz’s staff had learned this week that the venue he booked at the Tucson Convention Center would not be available.
Schultz is on a national tour, the “Ed Schultz Tour for Change.” His show is broadcast from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday on 1330 AM.
His staff booked the Leo Rich Theater in mid-January and signed a contract with the convention center.
On Tuesday, the TCC notified the Schultz staff that the theater was not available because of a scheduling conflict with the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music,
Thomas Obermaier, TCC’s acting director, said Wednesday he “made an honest mistake.”
He had told the chamber music group it could use the Leo Rich Theatre Saturday.
The AFCM will begin its Winter Chamber Music Festival at 3 p.m. on Sunday and it intended to use the theater Saturday for rehearsal.
And although that date wasn’t included in its contract with the TCC, Obermaier said the chamber musicians were told they could use the theater.
Schultz’s staff was asked to move to the TCC Music Hall. Schultz’s program manager, Vern Thompson, said Wednesday the North Dakota-based radio host would not budge.
He said the Shultz appearance will be recorded for broadcast on Schultz’s radio show Monday. Schultz’s staff was set to hire local sound personnel to wire the theater for the show.
Obermaier said the chamber group thought it had booked Saturday for rehearsal and they didn’t notice the oversight when they reviewed their contract.
The issue was resolved when the musicians agreed to complete their rehearsal before the Shultz show technicians needed to begin their set-up tasks.
The Schultz taping is at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25.