Details about Astor Theatre fracas finally revealed at Monday meeting

Updated April 10, 9:05 a.m.

Community members finally got some answers on Monday night about the recent conflict that has engulfed the Astor Theatre in Liverpool.

More than 100 showed up at a meeting at Liverpool Regional High School called by supporters of former Astor employee Ashley-Rose Goodwin.

The two-and-a-half-hour-long meeting was at times raucous, revealing the rifts that have rocked the Astor over the past month since Goodwin resigned as associate artistic director.

The meeting was originally called to dissolve the current board and elect an interim one until the annual general meeting in May.

The first 45 minutes of the meeting were consumed with arguments between the organizers, who claimed it was a legitimate meeting of the Astor Theatre Society, and board members, who said it wasn’t. The meeting went ahead anyway. 

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Goodwin has led many popular youth-focused theatre camps, workshops and productions at the theatre over the past few years. 

She resigned from the Astor in March. That was shortly after the large-scale adult musical Follies wrapped. Goodwin directed that production.

Her resignation upset many parents whose kids participated in her workshops and productions. It quickly erupted into a sometimes very personal and public fight.

They alleged that the Astor board and recently hired executive director Jerri Southcott made it impossible for Goodwin to stay. 

Other people claimed that the Astor was “changing direction” under Southcott and alleged she was trying to engineer a merger with her Mahone Bay-based South Shore Summer Theatre.

At a town hall meeting on Sunday, Astor board members and Southcott refuted those allegations. They said the direction of the Astor has not changed and that they are still committed to involving the local community. The board also said that talks with South Shore Summer Theatre predated Southcott’s hiring, but that they are now off the table.

On Monday evening, it was obvious that many parents and others want Goodwin back at the theatre. Parents spoke about how their kids have benefited from being involved in Goodwin’s productions, how great she is with youth and how she ensures all kids feel respected and included.

Also on Monday evening, it became obvious that many of the issues around Goodwin’s employment and eventual departure were festering long before Southcott even applied for the job.

Goodwin has been silent publicly since her resignation. But she broke that public silence on Monday, explaining why she left the Astor.

Long before Southcott was hired, Goodwin was asking the board for more money. She said her productions were generating a lot of revenue for the Astor and her salary did not reflect that extra benefit to the theatre.

She was also holding private voice and music lessons at the Astor as part of her Mersey Rose Theatre Company

She told the crowd Monday she was being paid $1,200 every two weeks, and that as a single mother, that wasn’t enough to support herself and her four sons. 

“Money was being brought in and all that was from my students that I made relationships with, that I brought in, and they wouldn’t put it on top of my salary, even though I was begging for them to give me more money because it wasn’t enough to live off of.”

Late last year, Goodwin mounted a winter solstice show at the Astor, which she created with her youth theatre group. 

“I didn’t see any of those donations at the door. Nothing. And I was the one that wrote the show, I wrote the show with the kids. It was all me, I did it by myself. And I don’t see any of that. And I don’t think it’s fair that an entrepreneur who agrees to work at the Astor doesn’t see any of the money that comes in to boost her salary. How is that OK? It’s not OK.”

After Southcott was hired, Goodwin claims she was told she could no longer give private lessons at the Astor.

It appears the breaking point finally came near the end of the Follies run. Goodwin and the Astor planned another youth production, Oliver, Jr. Goodwin says the Astor wanted a quick turnaround. To have the show ready in three months, they wanted auditions to begin before Follies wrapped.

The Astor disputes this, and says their staff were working with Goodwin on her schedule to make sure she wasn’t overwhelmed during Follies.

Goodwin said she told them that was a short timeframe to get kids ready for a show. But she agreed to do it. Unfortunately, she got sick. She says she asked Southcott to hold off on auditions until she was feeling better. 

“I begged her not to do the callbacks because I wanted to be there for the kids. She did them without me, and she cast the show without me. And then she told me what the rehearsal schedule would be. Monday to Thursday, 3 o’clock to 5:30 every day for a full cast of kids, that is crazy and that is not how you direct children. And that is why I quit.”

John Simmonds, chairman of the Astor board, was also at the meeting on Monday and responded to Goodwin’s claims.

He said he and Goodwin had been talking about her role at the Astor in January and February. 

“And the salary that you are receiving, we have it from every possible source that is very  competitive in this field, in this area. So to say that we need to give you more money because you need it, unfortunately, as a businessman, as an employer, that shouldn’t enter into the equation. We did talk about down the road finding some way of bonusing you, profit-sharing, whatever. But that was still in discussion.”

Simmonds said Goodwin was also worried about a clause in her contract that she interpreted to be a non-compete clause. He said it was actually permission to work outside the theatre.

“You and a couple of your colleagues that you had spoken to said that’s a hard and fast non-compete. That’s not how we saw it. Those same people asked you to contact me or Jerri to discuss that clause. You failed to do that. I called you twice on that Friday afternoon when this whole thing blew up. You didn’t call me back. We’ve been asking to have a meeting with you since then.”

Simmonds said that most of the furor around the Astor happened when Goodwin resigned.

“The whole community rallied behind her and became totally outraged. We received 100 (Facebook) posts, emails, letters, at the Astor. We were totally overwhelmed and we couldn’t understand why. We’ve come to realize it’s support for Ashley and what she’s done. We appreciate all of that. We want her back. All of this rhetoric is not conducive to making that happen. If you want Ashley back and Ashley wants to come back, let’s talk sensibly about what the future holds and not what the past is.”

Others who attended the meeting said they just want both groups to come to terms and stop all the public bickering. Some criticized the group that called the meeting, saying that threatening to dissolve the board only inflamed tensions further.

The board and Goodwin’s supporters agreed to meet as a smaller group to hash out the concerns raised over the past month. The board pledged to hold a special meeting before the annual general meeting, which is scheduled for May 9.

“We’re looking forward to getting seven or eight from the different viewpoints in a room, talk about the issues and most importantly, moving forward, what do we do?”

Rebecca Smart was one of the organizers of Monday’s meeting. She said in an interview after the meeting that it was unfortunate it took a threat to dissolve the board to have her and others’ concerns heard.

“So I feel it was productive overall. Even though it was rough, but it was cleansing in a way because so much that’s been unaddressed and unspoken finally got out there.”

But it may take some time for the rifts around the Astor to heal. Southcott left the meeting early because she was upset by some of the accusations being hurled by one of the parents, who claimed they were threatened with legal action.

Simmonds said in an interview after the meeting that as somebody new to the community and as a new employee at the Astor, she has been unfairly targeted.

“She’s been under tremendous pressure because she recognizes from the get go that as much about Ashley it’s about her. People were out to trash her career.

“Give the lady a chance. We all make mistakes when we’re in a new job. I’m sure you have. I know I have. Let’s figure out what needs to be done to make things better in the future so everybody’s more comfortable.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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