moses wants your moola (for the skylight)

"This is Norman Moses and I’m writing to ask for money.
How’s that for to the point?"

so begins a letter being sent out by milwaukee actor norman moses, in a plea to help the struggling skylight opera company.

the artists that protested so intently over the last several weeks are now coming back to do what they can to bolster the company's finances.

moses is making the plea on behalf of the performer action committee of the skylight opera theatre.

here is the rest of moses' plea as sent to patrons, subscribers, donors, and artists in the milwaukee community and beyond:

If you have not been following the national arts news in the past month or so, you may have missed the turmoil that has been going on in Milwaukee at the Skylight Opera Theater since June 16th. Dan Wakin of the New York Times came out with this article about it on August 4th.

Then, on August 5th, a day after the Times article came out, this bombshell landed.

The following article came out on Sunday, August 9th in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

We are now in amazingly good hands.

Such is the power of peaceful protest. As a result of this upheaval, the Skylight artists and patrons have come together in an effort support the Skylight as it navigates through this difficult financial time.

The Skylight owns the Broadway Theater Center, which is the building that houses the offices and performing spaces for the Skylight, the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, Milwaukee Children’s Choir, and the Bel Canto Chorus and Present Music. Those arts groups depend upon the Skylight to remain financially stable.

In 1594 there were Queens and Kings who were the corporate sponsors for Shakespeare and his plays. We don’t have Kings and Queens any more. But we do have you. All of the Skylight artists are determined to continue to offer you the high quality music theater we have offered you for the past 50 years. With your help now, we will be able to offer it for another 50 years.

You can start now by helping us raise $50,000. Pledge 50 for 50. $50 for the Skylight’s 50th Anniversary season. Be one of the 1000 people to pledge $50 each by September 18th, the opening of the season. If you only have $10, ask four of your friends to chip in the same. Easy, right? You can spend $50, and then some, going out to dinner these days. So go out one evening less this month, and give that $50 to the Skylight. Pledge of multiples of $50 like $100, $250, $500, $1000…you get the point…are highly encouraged. There must be a few of you Kings and Queens out there yet.

If you are already a donor, thank you for your generous support. More than ever, we need you to continue your regular donations. Would you consider an additional pledge of $50 this year for the Skylight’s 50th anniversary season?

The Skylight artists have wonderful things in store for you this season, starting off with a free concert in Catalano Square (located just south of the Broadway Theater Center, 158 North Broadway) on September 1st, from 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm, during the Skylight Open House, which is 5:00 – 7:00. Many other great events are being planned for the entire season. It’s going to be an amazing anniversary.

Whether you can make a donation or not, please forward this e-mail to siblings, parents or friends who still may have a connection with, and love of Milwaukee, and who believe that the arts must flourish in our city. We are hoping all can chip in at least a little.

You can donate online here.

Donations can also be sent directly to the Skylight. This link will send you to a donation form.

You will receive a letter verifying your donation for tax purposes.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and please give as much as you can. Milwaukee has grown into an amazing city, and arts groups, like the Skylight, have contributed so much towards making it a wonderful place to live.

Yours truly,

Norman Moses

cocoanuts: the monkey doodle-doo

and just when i thought i had that monkey off my back. from the top: norman moses, ray jivoff, mark kaplan, and moi in "the cocoanuts" in 1991, at the old skylight on jefferson. i had a great bit with a pencil in my forehead (high-larious), norman shilled for donations for the new theatre, asking the audience to leave checks made out to "create a skylight home, or c.a.s.h." on his dressing table, and ray carried mark and i around on his back. oh, and ray didn't talk. heaven.

moses quits: "my skylight is dead & gone"

groucho has left the building.

if ever there was a skylight star or a milwaukee favorite, it's norman moses. norman has wiped the greasepaint mustache off his lip, ripped off the wire rimmed glasses, put down the cigar and said "whatever it is, i'm against it!"

Eric,

Thanks for taking the time to meet with me this morning. It was good to be able to look you in the eye and say my piece. I do see how you must be stuck between a rock and a hard place, but until there is some forum to discuss how to resolve the conflict with all the parties involved, I fear the present situation will most likely result in the demise of the Skylight.

With every action the artists and patrons of the community have taken to try and make you all see the great damage you have been doing, the responses coming from out of your office, which seem to be orchestrated by the board, have only fanned the flames of the dissent. We are not going away. And I think you realize that.

As I said, you and many on the board are strangers to me, which has made this all the more difficult to take. But because of your current course of action and the board’s inability to set up a public forum, I am officially declining the offer to play Groucho in the upcoming production of "Day in Hollywood, Night in the Ukraine" this spring.

I do make a promise to you (a promise is not a threat) that I will be at the theater on opening night with my picket sign in hand. I am very confident that many of my wonderful friends, who have been so courageous, and who have demonstrated such loyalty to the theater and to each other throughout this whole mess, will be there with me. I will personally be scheduling picket lines for every performance during the season. Perhaps this will hasten the theater's inevitable demise, but as far as I am concerned, my Skylight is dead and gone, and I'd rather see it closed than to allow it to continue under the present circumstances.

My only regret is that so many of my friends who are still on the staff of the Skylight may end up losing their jobs as well. There will be attempts to try and blame "the mob" for that, but we will all know who will be to blame. And so will all of Milwaukee and the country.

Yours,

Norman Moses

now this is a protest

david cescarini and norman moses, at a protest in front of milwaukee's broadway theatre center, home to the skylight opera theatre. about 75 people held a peaceful but spirited rally protesting the company's recent restructuring.