He didn't the start the fire: Bill Theisen reflects on Skylight's tumultuous year

The most-watched drama in Milwaukee theater this year happened backstage. In June, Eric Dillner, managing director of the Skylight Theatre, removed the beloved Bill Theisen from his position as artistic director for fiscal reasons, igniting a firestorm of media coverage (including from the New York Times), escalating resignations, and protests on the part of Skylight's artists and patrons. Part of the reason for the uproar had to do with tenure—Theisen had been connected to the Skylight since 1981, while Dillner had been with the company for little more than a year. Fast forward to October: Dillner resigned, and Theisen was back again artistic director. Now Skylight is looking to put the focus back on stage with its light-hearted holiday show Plaid Tidings, which Theisen is directing. The A.V. Club met with Theisen to discuss the Skylight controversy and where the organization goes from here.

The A.V. Club: Why do you suppose all this happened, instead of business as usual?

Bill Theisen: I think part of it is, even though the Skylight is a major arts organization, it does have a bit of a family feel. Approximately 80 percent of the actors in the season are local Milwaukee actors, so there's a sense of investment: They're investing in the company; we’re investing in them. I think there was concern that someone taking over both artistic and management duties might not be the best choice for the future of the Skylight. This is our company, and in order for it to stay the Skylight, it needs to have people that understand what that means.

AVC: There’s also a personal element. People really seemed to want to work with you.

BT: And that was amazing to me. Yeah, it was such a unique experience. [Laughs.] Because on one hand, there was this truly shocking decision that came out of the blue, and then, within a few weeks, this groundswell of support completely overwhelmed me. You know, none of us are going to get rich doing this. We can hopefully make a living, and that’s a great thing, and we’re doing it because we love to do it, so if rehearsals can't be a positive, fun environment, then we shouldn’t be doing it. So I try and make it a really great place to come. We have a company dinner at the beginning of every production. I wish I could say I made all that up myself, but I inherited that when I came to the Skylight, so I thought my job was to keep it going. So a lot of the support for me was really support for the model of the Skylight.

AVC: Let’s say Dillner was right, and letting you go was a good business decision. You have to save money somewhere, right?  

BT: Skylight, like many companies, has financial issues. That’s never been disputed. At the end of last season, the ticket sales goal was we came in about $100,000 over our budgeted goal, which was set before the economy went south. So I thought it was a little curious that I was the one to be let go, when my department was really doing quite well. Something had to happen; it’s the way in which they did it. They asked me to come back and direct the shows, to not be the artistic director. What they offered me to direct those five shows was almost half of my annual income. So why they wouldn’t have had the foresight to come to me and say, "Listen, its really serious. We know you do some freelance work. Is there any possibility that you could go halftime next year?" And I’m quite sure I would have said yes, because it's kind of what I did in taking those jobs. I guess it's that corporate mentality, that you just make the cut, and it doesn’t matter who's affected. But money is the bottom line, and that’s it. I just don’t think an arts organization runs that way. I don’t think it’s the smartest way—and obviously the Milwaukee arts community responded in that way as well.

AVC: Do you think that this could have happened without the internet?

BT: Not at all. Not at all. Truly. A lot of those rallies were organized via Facebook, via blogs, so it’s a very different world. I do think if this event had happened five years ago it would have been a very different event.

AVC: How do you respond to people who say that opera is an elitist art form?

BT: I’d say they haven’t seen an opera at the Skylight. Because it’s very accessible here. We do everything in English. It's really about telling the stories. So I think people who say that just don’t like opera—which is fine, because opera is not for everybody. We did La Bohème last year and people said, “I never got the story so well before. I never felt such a part of it." And it's because you're in a small, intimate house and the singers are right there, and they're singing in your language, and you can really understand the story. We certainly have tried to create a lot of programming to try to speak to people. We did a blues show—we’ve never done a blues show in the Skylight history—and that brought in a lot of people. This season, we’re doing Rent, which is a unique show for us, but will speak to younger audience. And it's based on La Bohème, so it's definitely in our mission statement. That’s the goal: to find material that stretches the directions we can go, but still be true to the core.

AVC: Your current show, Plaid Tidings, seems like the Christmas album that everybody has to do.

BT: I'm a big fan of that music of the ’50s and ’60s, that close harmony. What I love about he Plaid shows is they're just so clever. We all knew these guys that were kind of nerdy and kind of nice and off the beaten path, and just love to sing. Plaid Tidings is a new Christmas show, and has a lot of great holiday music in it. The rights just became available, so I’m thrilled that we’re one of the first groups to do it.