Eric Dillner resigns from Milwaukee's Skylight Theater. Good.

I haven't covered this story on my blog for one simple fact - my high school friend and fellow actor/playwright Tony Clements has been doing an exemplary job of keeping the world up-to-speed on the "Skylight Debacle" (as I referred to it as) on his blog, Tuesdays. He's performed at the Skylight on numerous occasions and is familiar with the theater, it's current and past artists and its behind-the-scenes players. Additional coverage, courtesy of Tom Strini at ThirdCoast Digest, who is the former music and dance critic at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Damien Jaques, former theater critic at the MJS and Jonathan West at the blog, Artsy Schmartsy kept me busy enough. I was relegated to making comments.

I was online most of the day today but it wasn't until the last hour that I read about Dilner's resignation as managing director of the Skylight Theater in Milwaukee via Strini's article at Third Coast Digest. I immediately went to Tuesdays to read Tony's coverage. Blogging...it's pretty cool.

Anyway, I won't rehash what's been going on at the Skylight in the last two months. You can click the links I've provided below to read about Dillner's resignation, as well as the back story over the last two months.

Cliffs Notes version? Dillner whacks five positions from the Skylight Theater, including artistic director, company director, musical director and two others, blaming the cuts on the economy and the theater's budget woes. Some board members are aware of Dillner's staff cuts - and some aren't. What followed was a coup d'etat of major proportions. More than 30 artists resign their contracts, benefactors drop out and the shit hits the fan. Meetings are held. The former artistic director flies in from the East Coast to beg Dillner to resign and more shit hits the fan.

Toss in coverage from the The New York Times, Playbill and the British magazine Opera and this story is now a full-blown, international...WTF???

Long story short? Dillner's out. Two former Skylight Theater staffers (now living on both coasts) will temporarily assume the artistic and managing director positions....well, just read the links below. West doesn't have Dillner's resignation news but he's got prior coverage. My blathering won't do any of their efforts justice.

Here are those story links: Tony Clements at Tuesdays. Tom Strini at ThirdCoast Digest. And Jonathan West at Artsy Schmartsy.

One thing I will say - the loyalty and tenacity exhibited by the various artists in Milwaukee toward the Skylight is pretty amazing. As I couldn't be there to picket and attend meetings, I was there in spirit (I have no prior affiliation with the Skylight). Funny - Tony and I don't always see eye-to-eye on political issues, but we were DEFIANTLY on the same side in this battle. I'm moving back to Milwaukee at the end of this month and as a token of esprit de corps, I had scratched the Skylight off my list of theaters to patronize or audition for. Broke my heart 'cause it's a world-renowned, wonderful venue.

I just put it back on my list. Hey Tony... "To forget some things, to remember others and to refresh the dry places in our spirit." My Spirit is no longer parched.

PASSION = TRUTH!