"I'd love to have the company up here," Mr. Beach said he thought at the time.

Mr. Beach would only confirm that the company was short of several components, including disk drives.

A dry spring has contributed to the problem this year, Mr. Beach said.

And Mr. Beach told him all about his feet.

"I expect to go from 60 to 70 hours a week down to 20 or 30, and play golf," Mr. Beach said.

Mr. Beach recalled that he came to the venture circuitously.

Mr. Beach, in planning next year's programs, met with community groups weekly over a period of months to hear their suggestions.

Mr. Beach turned the silver blunderbuss upon his daughter and fired a single, but most effective shot.

Mr. Beach said one of the center's missions was to make its stages available to artists when the theaters would otherwise be dark.

And while the industry has been slow to recognize the threat until now, Mr. Beach said that was no longer the case.