santvoord quits: skylight "lost its direction"

this morning adds van santvoord, set designer for the season opener the barber of seville and also the marriage of figaro, to the long list of skylight resignations.

To Eric Dillner and the Skylight Board of Directors,

When Bill Theisen called me last winter and asked me to design the sets for The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro I was thrilled to come back to a company that had become my home-away-from-home in Milwaukee. The work we did together was always artistically satisfying and personally enriching.

Of course, now, those productions that we have already put so much of our hearts into are not to be. An appalling series of management blunders, obfuscations, and vindictive firings has eviscerated the company and created an atmosphere antithetical to collaboration, trust, and art.

I can't blame any one or several persons. I don't know any of you. I have always had the good fortune to work at the Skylight with wonderful directors, musicians, singers, the best shops, and a nurturing staff.

I still have many treasured friends at the Skylight. The company is peopled with workers of integrity, and I wish them all the best, but I can no longer be part of a company that has lost its direction and treats its artists with such disdain. Please accept my resignation.

You are welcome to use as much or as little of the work that I have already done as you wish, but I ask that my name not be associated with the designs.

Sincerely,
Van Santvoord,

Set Designer:
The Midnight Angel, Tartuffe, Little Women, The Christmas Schooner, Don Giovanni, The Turn of the Screw, Don Pasquale