Meeting is tense between Southern Theater board, artists over departed leader

The tension was palpable at a heated Monday night meeting between the Southern Theater's board of directors and the theater's many stakeholders, some of whom are upset by the abrupt ouster of artistic director Jeff Bartlett 10 days ago.

"I'm very seriously considering my own choice about being there this season," James Sewell said to applause. His company, the James Sewell Ballet, is slated to play the Minneapolis venue next season.

The forum, held at the Barbara Barker Center of Dance in Minneapolis, was attended by nearly 200 Southern stakeholders -- dancers and choreographers, musicians and theater artists, financial supporters, collaborators and all but three members of the board.

Billed as a "listening session," it was meant to fill in the communication gap that has been fueled by rumors and speculation ever since news came out that Bartlett had been let go.

"There has been a clear lack of information and communication," said Philip Bither of Walker Art Center, one of the Southern's many partners, after the forum.

The meeting was also to reaffirm the theater's mission as one of the Twin Cities' premier venues for dance, theater and musical performances.

"We want to assure the artists and the audience that the Southern is here to stay, and we absolutely want it to be artistically and economically viable," said board vice chairman Bryan Fleming before Monday's meeting. "We want audiences to know that we're going to expand the capacity to serve them."

But the question that hung in the air was why Bartlett was so suddenly shown the door by the board, which put him on "indefinite leave." The meeting provided no clear answers; both Bartlett, who was absent Monday but has hired a lawyer, and the board declined to comment, citing privacy issues.

"The elephant in the room is strangled by legalese," said dancer-choreographer Suzanne Costello in an expletive-laden burst.

Still, there have been hints at the board's reasoning.

On Friday, board chairwoman Susan Lach, an attorney, issued a news release enumerating some of the problems that the newly constituted board confronted two years ago: a $300,000 deficit on expenses of around $1 million, "a building badly in need of repair, faulty and problematic accounting practices, personnel issues, low staff morale and complaints from artists."

It continued: "In order to preserve the Southern Theater's mission ... a restructuring of the organization was essential."

The board cut the deficit to $90,000 and restructured the organization, hiring Patricia Speelman as president and CEO. Bartlett, who had run the theater for 27 years, was to report to her.

By the end of the evening, as former executive director Bonnie Schock alluded to the precarious financial situation she saw at the Southern, the sentiment began to change. A staff member spoke about both the dysfunction at the Southern and her affection for Bartlett.

Passionate dancer Megan McClellan rose to say that the board should be thanked for saving the theater -- not a small concern in a difficult environment. Tony Award-winning Theatre de la Jeune Lune will close its doors in a week under the weight of a million-dollar-plus debt, a fate that the Southern's stakeholders all want to avoid.

Rohan Preston • 612-673-4390