Include pictures of yourself to attract attention! rarr

Non is right ...

there. i said it. now everybody go home.

I mean, WTF?!? Not only do our major LOCAL theatres have to job-in actors FROM NYC, but now their Artistic Directors aren't even obliged to LIVE here anymore?

there, i said it.

now everybody go home.

maybe he said "a big, business-y musical"

or "a pig hissing musical"

or "a dig in sri [lanka] musical."

really, these are far more likely.

We'll call it The Sher Exception.

Man, how relevant will that be ...

The notion of Sher EVENTUALLY moving to NYC to pursue a freelance directing career was most definitely foreseen. But, that he would do so, while SIMULTANEOUSLY running a major REGIONAL theatre company - via remote-control apparently - I don't think WAS expected, particularly not since Intiman just announced he's "staying" in the position for at least another year.

Must be a great contract he's got - can you point to any other examples wherein the head of a major local arts organization gets to draw a fat, cushy salary, while spending most of their time moonlighting on the other side of the continent?

At least Dan Sullivan had the decency to step down as Seattle Rep AD BEFORE making his move.

Maybe we should now expect the next AD to be hired at one of the major local companies to not even bother to move to Seattle at all.

And Intiman will keep Sher as long as it can for the star power—which, if you have a decent development director, can always be parlayed into money. (And, given Intiman's debt, they need it.)

Maybe I'm just lazy, but I'm finding it hard to get too worked up about it.

I'm more concerned about this Disney musical...

If he wants to freelance in New York, or Salzburg, or wherever, that's perfectly fine. But, he should at least have the decency to relinquish his position as Intiman A.D., if he isn't even going to keep up a pretense of residing here.

And as for his "star power" - if eight years A.D.ing and directing shows at Intiman (which includes a Tony nom for "Light In The Piazza" in 2005, and their 2006 Regional Theatre nod) hasn't been sufficient to retire the company's high six-figure debt, I seriously doubt his moving to NYC is going to do much to convince local funders to open their wallets for a theatre that can't even keep their own Artistic Director from leaving town.

I get your point. I'm not terribly familiar with how things work in the Classical/symphonic world, but I do seem to recall that Schwarts has simultaneously held directorships at several orgs, no?

Still, it's a very rare occurance in theatre, or, when it does occur, it's because there's very little overlap in the schedules between the companies, as for example, if an A.D. at a regional theatre also heads up a summer-stock program that operates when their other company is not in-season. But generally, once an artistic director starts spending more time away from their home company than with it, either they or the board will elect to terminate the relationship.

What Sher is doing now, and what Intiman's board appears to be sanctioning, is highly unusual, and IMO sets a terrible precedent in terms of the relationship between organizations and future A.D.'s both here and elsewhere.

The only one who's going to be helped by the passel of Tony's for "South Pacific" will be Sher himself; I've no doubt the statuette will look FABULOUS on the fireplace mantel in his new home, so I would certainly not expect to see it gracing a place of honor in Intiman's lobby anytime soon, if that's what you're thinking.

http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=15134

you know, a musical with lots of stage business-- tea cups everywhere, bales of hay to be lifted, books to be stacked, whatever...

this stuff is wasted on you guys.