Details about Astor Theatre fracas finally revealed at Monday meeting

More than 100 people attended a meeting at Liverpool Regional High School on Monday evening to address community concerns about the Astor Theatre. (Rick Conrad)

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.”

Liverpool parent Crystal Doggett speaks at a public meeting on Monday evening about recent controversy surrounding the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

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

Listen to the audio version of this story below

No change in direction, Astor Theatre board tells concerned community members

About 70 people turned out to the Astor Theatre in Liverpool on Sunday for a community town hall meeting. (Rick Conrad)

Updated April 10, 9:12 a.m.

The board and staff of the Astor Theatre in Liverpool held a community town hall on Sunday afternoon to try to clear up some of the controversy that has recently swirled around the historic theatre.

About 70 people showed up for the two-hour long session. It was at times heated, with some very pointed questions from audience members. Others were supportive of the board, while others showed up to get more specifics on what has apparently divided the Astor community. 

Five board members as well as recently hired executive director Jerri Southcott and employee Malcolm Freeman took questions from the audience.

Chairman John Simmonds tried to clear up some things off the bat.

“We see no change in the direction of the Astor Theatre in terms of our instructions to Jerri. There’s been no change in our strategic plan or our mission or values,” he said.

“So we think that things have been going along well and will continue to go along well. And we would hope that the community would trust that whatever has occurred is just something that happened along the way. It’s not a pattern. It’s not a change in direction. There’s no regime change. So we hope to continue what has been the success of the Astor using community members, volunteers, as many people who are interested in coming in and joining in that.”

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Simmonds also reminded people that Southcott has been on the job for only two months, and appealed to people for patience.

Astor Theatre Society board members Lynn Cochrane, Loris Azzano, Tina Tucker and Anne Espenant, employee Malcolm Freeman and executive director Jerri Southcott took questions from the audience at the Astor Theatre on Sunday. Chairman John Simmonds is shown standing. (Rick Conrad)

The misunderstandings and concerns appeared to start shortly after the musical Follies wrapped in early March. The director of that play, Ashley-Rose Goodwin, announced that she would be mounting another youth production, Oliver Jr.

Goodwin had produced numerous youth productions at the Astor in the past few years, both in her duties with the Astor and under her own company, Mersey Rose Theatre Company. She also led many youth theatre workshops and summer camps.

But shortly after the announcement of Oliver, Goodwin resigned as associate artistic director of the Astor. 

That appeared to set off a cascade of events that eventually led to the resignations of two Astor board members. 

Many parents and other community members were upset that Goodwin was no longer with the theatre. 

A group of community members created the ad hoc group Queens County Community Theatre Advocates to “hold the board accountable,” according to a Facebook post. They said they were concerned about the “new direction” of the Astor.

They sent an open letter to the Astor board, saying they were shocked and dismayed at recent alleged decisions by the board and executive director Southcott.

They claimed that there was a sudden change in direction, that the local community was being shut out of Astor productions, that certain people were being paid to work on Astor productions instead of using community volunteers, and that Southcott was trying to engineer a “merger” between her Mahone Bay-based company South Shore Summer Theatre and the Astor. The group offered few specifics publicly about their concerns.

Things soon got heated and personal, with many people accusing the Astor or Southcott of various things on the Astor’s Facebook page. Members of this group also made accusations on their own public Facebook posts.

The group encouraged people to become members of the Astor Theatre Society so they could vote in a new board at an upcoming annual general meeting. 

They have also organized a special meeting for Monday at 7 p.m. at Liverpool Regional High School. Their original purpose was to elect an interim board of directors and to set a date for the annual general meeting.

At the meeting on Sunday, however, Astor board members said that they will be at that meeting and that chairman John Simmonds will chair it.

The Astor board called the community meeting on Sunday to explain what has happened in the past month and to answer any questions from residents and Astor supporters.

“One of the questions that was asked online, ‘What is so heinous about the things that are going on that we need to replace the board?’” Simmonds said Sunday.

“And we would question and say, we don’t know. We don’t know. So we were hoping to sort of reveal these things now and bring them out into the light so people can make their decisions as to what direction they would like the Astor and this board and our current staff to go in.”

Betsy Hartt said she was upset at Goodwin’s departure, saying the “magic changed in this theatre when Ashley was running those programs”. She said she was also worried about rumours that the Astor would no longer be dedicated to community theatre.

“The concern I have is if there is going to be a refocus on spreading our wings, that’s great. But the centre of the focus still has to be on the activities in this building. So, Winds of Change, local theatre. And I’m hearing that that’s not the case.”

Southcott replied to Hartt that the Astor’s focus hasn’t changed.

“There are no changes in direction planned. There were no changes made. We did have a change in personnel. When Ashley resigned, we respectfully accepted her resignation and then we did our best to get the show on the road by posting positions, filling them, and putting together a production team. We have a group of kids that’s really excited. We have a production team that’s working really well together. But we are wide open to more volunteers, more cast members, all of the people here in Liverpool and Queens County are more than welcome to be involved. We were simply getting the next production on the go.”

Liverpool resident Sandra Atkinson speaks at the community meeting at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool on Sunday. (Rick Conrad)

As for the supposed merger with South Shore Summer Theatre, board member Anne Espenant said that was not the intent.

Espenant said the Astor had already been in discussions with that theatre company before Southcott was hired. South Shore Summer Theatre brought a play to Liverpool each of the past two summers that generated $10,000 in revenue for the Astor.

Espenant said the board hoped to bring that company under the Astor umbrella in the same way Liverpool theatre group Winds of Change had been part of the Astor.

“I just want to make it clear that that was not Jerri coming in and saying I’m going to bring in South Shore Summer Theatre. It was us talking to her about that. We were just having initial conversations with their board about whether they thought, just like with the Winds of Change board, that might be something they want to consider. Now it’s off the table. But that (discussion is) not on Jerri. It’s on us.”

Queens County resident Kristopher Snarby, who is the vocal coach for the upcoming musical Seussical, also sat on the Astor board for 12 years. 

He echoed many in the audience on Sunday when he said he wasn’t clear what the online “uproar” was about. Snarby said the group of community members who wrote the letter to the Astor kept deflecting questions about their specific concerns.

“Like so many of you, I don’t think anybody really knows exactly what the problems are or were. And that’s a big problem in itself. … You read the letter and it says, I don’t know. It just says we’re mad, we’re angry.”

He said the accusations that the Astor or Southcott are trying to exclude local residents from productions is wrong, especially what he’s experienced since he’s been involved with Seussical.

“When I walked into this place, every kid who wanted to be there were there on the stage. There were no auditions. It’s the first show I’ve done where there were no auditions. So how can you be more inclusive than saying, ‘Come on the stage, we’re going to have fun. We’ll figure out the parts along the way.’ I’ve never seen that before. It’s the first time. You can’t get more inclusive than that.”

Snarby also said that another concern he saw online was that people are being paid for some productions.

He reminded people that when Winds of Change produced Les Miserables at the Astor in 2013, the musical director was paid and the musicians were given an honorarium. And he said they brought in actors from Halifax and Windsor to play two of the leading roles. They did not pay those actors, Snarby clarified later.

“There has been a history in this community of paying professionals for their time to do the job,” Snarby said. “Sometimes you have to pay professionals to do the job.” 

Liverpool parent Lori Smyth said her two kids have attended the Astor theatre camps and they are also in Seussical. She says the apparent divide over the Astor has her kids worried.

“I just want to say that as a parent I’m very impressed with the team,” she said. “I am very grateful that there is a group of people that want to develop community theatre for the youth in this town. I think some of the parents are concerned, our kids are stressed. They love the theatre, and they love the Astor. With meetings happening tomorrow, and meetings all over the place, how is this going to affect their ability to finish the production that they have started?”

Southcott said the past month has taken a toll on her and the board.

“But even more importantly, I’m realizing the effects it’s having on your children,” she said. 

“And it’s heartbreaking. I can tell you that we are committed as a production team to the kids and committed to providing this type of programming free of charge to everybody. I come to rehearsal and I feel better. I feel better because these kids are so incredibly talented, they’re nice, they are working together really well as a team. And I am committed to continuing that, so I hope that all of this can be resolved quickly.”

Board members and many in the audience said they’re also hopeful the rift can be repaired soon.

Liverpool resident Sandra Atkinson, who appeared in Follies, applauded the board for holding the information session.

“I just want you to fix it. I applaud you for being truthful, sharing your information, letting us know, letting us talk. And I applaud all the people for coming up here and saying whatever they felt they wanted to say. Thank you for doing this. And really just get to the table and fix it, please.”

The Astor recorded the town hall meeting and plans to post it on its Facebook page.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com