PROPER PRIORITIES

In Stage Wire (April 6), Dan Sullivan referred to Liz Smith’s report in the New York Daily News of John Simon’s “highly uncomplimentary remark regarding ‘homosexuals in the theater.’ ” Sullivan was concerned with whether it is “cricket to report remarks made by exasperated theater critics in theater lobbies.”

I wish to applaud Sullivan’s keen sense of priorities and sensitivity to important issues. Smith reported that Simon had said “Homosexuals in the theater! My God, I can’t wait until AIDS gets all of them.” This comment was from the same purported critic who recently dismissed the production of “Octette Bridge Club” as “faggot nonsense.”

I am glad Sullivan was able to put aside any concerns he might have had with Simon’s homophobia to concentrate on the more important issue of Smith’s journalistic mores.

I was also glad to see that Sullivan was more concerned with the proper time for an “exasperated theater critic” to put down a minority group rather than waste time with such trivial issues as whether Simon’s remarks demean gays in the theater, how his remarks reflect on other critics, or whether Simon could ever be an effective critic given his prejudice.

HARRIS M. MILLER II

Los Angeles