Skylight update

Rehearsals for the Skylight Opera Theatre‘s “The Barber of Seville” began today, with Bill Theisen in the director’s chair.

The company had its traditional show-opener dinner for all the cast, the staff and the designers at the Skylight Bar.

And Joan Lounsbery arrived from California to serve as interim managing director, beside interim artistic director Colin Cabot. (Yes, the theater bears his family name.)

So the show will go on, as scheduled, on Sept. 18.

What did not go on was the special board of directors meeting that was to take place today (Monday, Aug. 24). Lounsbery and Cabot were to present their recovery plan to the board, but that meeting was canceled at the last minute. The recovery plan will have to wait for the next regular board meeting, which is set for Sept. 9.

At that same meeting, the board will elect a slate of fresh officers. Interim president Terrance Kurtenbach has made it abundantly clear that he will not accept, much less pursue, that office.

Meanwhile, the dissident faction of artists that protested until the old regime, mainly president Suzanne Hefty and managing director Eric Dillner, resigned, is organizing benefits and raising money otherwise for the Skylight, which is in a serious financial hole.

Jamie Johns, pianist, music director and leading dissident, raised $415 by kicking in $5 for every comment posted at his blog.  Maggey White and Ray Jivoff chimed in with $5 matches of their own. These people weren’t just complainers; they are truly committed to the Skylight.

On Sept. 1, Johns will be one of 50 or more performers donating talent to a benefit for the company, to be held in the company’s Broadway Theatre Center and in nearby Catalano Square. The company will hold an open house in conjuction with the concert. It’s all about free-will offering on site, with no advance tickets. Here is the full schedule for Sept. 1.

Actor Norman Moses has written and widely distributed a letter asking all “Lovers of Art” to donate to the Skylight in its our of need. (That letter is also posted at Johns’ blog.) In its email form, Moses’ letter comes complete with a direct link to a donation form. The $50,000 small-donation drive ends Sept. 18; as of Monday night, they had $46,005 to go.