Skylight Opera Theatre - 2009 Crisis and Recovery

2009 Crisis and Recovery

In June 2009, at the conclusion of the 2008-09 season, popular long-time artistic director Bill Theisen and several other staff members were dismissed due to a projected budget deficit and the economic downturn. The position of artistic director was eliminated, and Theisen's administrative responsibilities were assigned to the company's recently hired managing director, Eric Dillner. New productions were to be staged by directors hired for each show. Theisen's colleagues, including music director Jamie Johns (who was fired on June 18, 2009 for speaking out on the dismissals), company donors, and other supporters protested the firings, contacting board members, distributing petitions and staging demonstrations outside the theatre and the board room. The Milwaukee theatre community reacted strongly, through social media and in blogs. Mainstream media, such as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Milwaukee Radio 620 WTMJ, encouraged the company to reconsider their action. Many suggested that managing director Dillner be ousted.

On July 17, 2009, the Board sent letters withdrawing the contracts of two local actors over what the company considered disloyal comments on Facebook. This move, in turn, further angered Theisen, who revoked an earlier offer to direct four works on a freelance basis during the season. Former artistic director Richard Carsey, who had been asked to return to music direct two productions, next resigned, writing to the Board, "The Skylight is being destroyed by Eric and Suzanne's leadership. I can't support this, even by working on productions. .... I passionately ask you to reverse this course of events." James Valcq, another Skylight music director, also resigned from his scheduled engagements. Over the next few days, two dozen of the other artists scheduled to perform in or work on the company's upcoming season resigned in protest at the firings. On July 23, the Board voted to retain Dillner despite the many calls for his dismissal, and Board President Hefty resigned from the Board. The Board offered to rehire Theisen to work with Dillner, but Theisen declined.

On August 5, 2009, Eric Dillner resigned his position. The Board immediately retained former Managing Director Colin Cabot as interim Artistic Director and former Managing Director Joan Lounsbery as interim Managing Director. Cabot soon announced that many of the artists who withdrew would return for the Skylight's 50th season, and Theisen agreed to direct the four productions that he had earlier offered to helm. On September 23, 2009, former Skylight CFO Amy S. Jensen was named Managing Director, and on October 14, 2009, Theisen was re-hired as Artistic Director. Following the first of these announcements, benefit fundraisers for Skylight were held in Milwaukee and New York City, the latter coordinated by artists engaged over the years by Skylight and dubbed "The Sky Is Not Falling".

In the company's February 2010 newsletter, John Stollenwerk, the new Board president, announced that the company had raised over $200,000 plus other large gifts for maintenance and replacement of the ageing building systems at the company's Broadway Theatre Center; a matching fund of $250,000 was created by a group of donors; and the Board set a goal of eliminating the company's debt in four years or less. The ThirdCoast Digest wrote in July 2010, "A year after a summer of strife and financial crisis, the Skylight Opera Theatre appears to be righting itself", reporting that after continued successful fundraising, the company's budget for 2010–11 was $3.2 million, while the building required about $1 million in renovation work over the next several years.