Skylight Opera staff cuts bring protest - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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The demonstration outside of thetheater complex, 158 N. Broadway, saw a crowd of as many as 75 supportere that had begun to gatherbetween 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. By 10 the crowd had thinned out to little more than a The crowd included former employees who saw theidr jobs eliminated by the Skylight earliet inthe week. Attendees included formet resident music director Jamie Johns and companuy managerDiana Alioto. "We really gathereed to celebrate our love ofthe Skylight," said Joel an actor and donor who has set up an onlinew petition asking the Skylighyt to reconsider its actions.
The recession has "significantlyt impacted" the group's endowment, according to a press release Tuesday. The Skylight also receives money from which raises operating funds for locaol nonprofitarts groups. UPAF reduced its goal for 2009 by 15 percenft because ofthe economy, and the Skylight said that its own annua fundraising effort has seen a "similar fall-off." Skylighgt management and its board of directors announcedf the elimination of five positions, including Bill Theisen, who saw his job as artisticc director eliminated.
The cuts were being made in an effort to narroa aprojected $200,000 deficit for the 2009-2010 The Skylight also said that it eliminated the company box office manager, assistant box office managerf and custodian. The decision to eliminatr the jobs was made after the Skyligh t had alreadycut $400,000 from the 2009-2010 according to a statement from board presideny Suzanne Hefty that was posted to the group' Web site. Hefty's statement did not providde details on how those reductions in expense were Managing director Eric Dillner did not returh a call Fridayfor comment.
Dillner has become a lightning rod for criticism aimed at the Skylight for itsstaffinf cuts, which Kopischke and Johns said were made with little communicatiom to the staff or other Apparently, according to Hefty'sd statement, Dillner had become the subjectf of "personal threats." Her statemenft was an apparent effort to placate further criticism of "When Managing Director Eric Dillner joined the Skylighty last year, he inherited a seriese of serious financial challenges," Hefty's statement said. "Hiws goal continues to be to maintaihthe Skylight’s artistic excellence, but to do so in a financiall responsible manner.
The restructuring decisions were made by the Executive Committee of the not by anyone individual. The personal threatz that have been made against Eric are Asfor Theisen, who Johns said was still working Friday on the Skylight'sw latest production despite having his job eliminated, Heftty said the Skylight was working to contract him as a stage directorf in the 2009-2010 season. She did not say whethetr Theisen would play a role in the entir e season or in justselect productions.