By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

The United Artists Bahamas Union (UABU) is vowing to meet with the political parties to better understand their plans for the sector as part of its "mission to fix the music and entertainment industries".

The union, while praising the opening of a performing arts school for The Bahamas, said there is still nowhere for those students to perform. “As the nation's general elections are shown to be in high gear, plans are underway for UABU to sit with the leaders of each political party to hear from them about their future plans for Bahamian creatives in the music and entertainment industries,” Linc Scavella, the UABU's president, said in a Facebook post.

“We want all of them to become cognisant that it is indeed 'backassward' to build a school for the performing arts without any consideration for assisting to create and protect the employment opportunities for Bahamian musicians and entertainers who are qualified and available. We are pleased that our Prime Minister, Philip Edward Davis KC, is also a great Maracas shaker and Rake-N-Scrape dancer. Further, we are

pleased that the Opposition leader, Michael C. Pintard and Coalition of Independents' Lincoln Bain are both creatives in the music and entertainment industries. Hence we plan to sit with all of them for the benefit of the craft.”

Mr Scavella said requests have already been sent seeking a meeting to address issues in the industry and hear what each political party plans for it. He told Tribune Business he is concerned that those who attend the new performing arts school will not have anywhere to work.

“We are pleased that they mentioned the school for the performing arts, but we are concerned that you will be training all these performing artists to work where?” Mr Scavella asked. “The major hotels, their programme is they bringing in foreign artists... And so we're concerned that, yeah, you may have a performing arts school, but there's something to go along with that. See, Tide go with bleach. Peas go with rice.

“The idea of the performing arts school was part of a presentation that we made to the Government of a plan which included a recording studio and nightclubs and stuff. All. Of this was supposed to be in one facility. And the place we had chosen was Shirley Street Theatre.

"But the minister of culture [Mario Bowleg], when we met with him, told us that they are going to use the Shirley Street Theatre property for something else. And so we asked for another building that was on Bay Street, Goodman's Bay, which was not in use. And then they told us that we were going to get it. But then, when we look, they knock it down. And so I just figured they are not really looking out for the artists wholeheartedly," Mr Scavella added.

“Yes, we gave them a plan while they were in Opposition [PLP]. And so what they did, it appears that they are just picking parts out of the plan that we give. And then, you know how it goes. When you send a plan, the fellas who work in the Office of the Prime Minister, they see that, and they take things, your ideas and what's not, and then repackage it.

"The performance art school, that came out of our plan... We sent that to them while they were in Opposition… We were very disappointed that it didn't come to fruition because, apparently, the Government didn't want to do it. That's all I can say. But then I saw a couple of things happen out of the plans we presented to them.”

The Bahamas Creative and Performing Arts School (CAPAS) is partnering with United Talent Agency (UTA), “one of the entertainment industry’s most prominent agencies, which represents such high-profile actors as Timothée Chalamet”.

Mr Scavella has been vocal about the influx of foreign artists coming into The Bahamas. While reassuring he and the UABU have no issue with foreign artists performing in The Bahamas, he reiterated that he is fighting to see more Bahamians perform as opening acts for their foreign counterparts. He said he would also want to see more taxis benefiting by bringing tourists Over-the-Hill where they can see Bahamians perform.

“What we would like to see happen for places like the cruise port, since they are not utilizing it to how Bahamian artists perform in there, what we'd like to see happen is that they bring those tourists Over the Hill to the Jumbey Vllage, the building that they now have set up in honour of

Edmund Moxey, where we could have entertainers, including the school bands, right, who can during after school hours, come in and perform for tourists, and the professional bands can perform later in the evening,” Mr Scavella said.

“We'd like to see things like that happen where the taxi drivers can have a better revenue stream coming by transporting them from the cruise port Over the Hill to a safe place in the Edmund Moxey building. We'd like to see that happen. In addition to that, we would like to see the hotels who are bringing in all of the mega superstars... we don't have any problem with that. We love mega superstars because we are all in the same business.

"But what we would like to see is, when you bring these foreign artists, we'd like to see them hire our Bahamian artists to be opening acts for these mega stars in all of the properties. Baha Mar is doing it. Atlantis is doing it. And then you have some comedy clubs that are open now. They're bringing in all these foreign talents and what's not. So you're going to have a performing arts school, and Bahamians learn how to do the acts, but there's no place for them to work.”