{"id":7054,"date":"2024-04-06T14:40:16","date_gmt":"2024-04-06T17:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=7054"},"modified":"2024-04-07T13:16:41","modified_gmt":"2024-04-07T16:16:41","slug":"astor-theatre-calls-town-hall-meeting-to-address-concerns-in-the-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2024\/04\/06\/astor-theatre-calls-town-hall-meeting-to-address-concerns-in-the-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Astor Theatre calls town hall meeting to address ‘concerns in the community’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The

The Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Ed Halverson)<\/p><\/div>\n

UPDATED Sun., April 7, 9:40 a.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Astor Theatre Society is holding a town hall information session at the Liverpool theatre on Sunday at 3 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement released to their newsletter subscribers<\/a> and posted on their Facebook page on Saturday afternoon, the Astor board and staff said they are organizing the public session to address \u201cconcerns in the community raising questions about what is happening. The purpose of this Town Hall is to identify concerns raised and provide factual and transparent answers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One board member, Kevin Colwell, recently resigned, shortly after the musical Follies wrapped up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a public post on Facebook<\/a>, he said \u201c<\/span>I could no longer support, and was unable to change, decisions made by the Board regarding the direction of the Astor Theatre.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He and others formed the ad hoc group, Queens County Community Theatre Advocates, and urged people to become members of the Astor Theatre Society and attend the upcoming annual general meeting scheduled for May 9 at 5 p.m.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Colwell and others signed a letter addressed to the board, alleging many things, including a change in direction for the theatre. He had included a link to it in his original Facebook post, but it has since been removed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past six weeks,\u201d the letter read in part, \u201cwe have observed, with shock and dismay, the radical shift in philosophy that seems to be taking place at the Astor \u2013 moving away from our cherished community-based approach to one that appears to be disregarding the heritage and values that have made the Astor such a beloved institution and a treasured and inclusive hub for the arts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The letter claimed that recent decisions made by the board and recently hired executive director Jerri Southcott<\/a> \u201cregarding programming choices, community engagement, and the future direction of the Astor suggest that Jerri has not undertaken any meaningful consultation with the community and instead is implementing her personal vision and agenda for the Astor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The others who signed the letter were former board member Annette Burke, Nathan and Rebecca Smart, Craig and Crystal Doggett and Paula Colwell.<\/span><\/p>\n

The group had asked for a meeting with the Astor board. That was set for April 4, but the group called it off.<\/p>\n

Instead, a group of seven members of the Astor Theatre Society have called a special meeting<\/a> on Mon., April 8 at 7 p.m. at Liverpool Regional High School. They say the purpose of the meeting is to set a date for the annual general meeting and to elect an interim Astor board.<\/p>\n

The Astor’s bylaws state that a general or special meeting can be held at any time and must be called if requested by the chair, requested by a majority of the board or requested in writing by five Astor Theatre Society members. The bylaws state that general or special meetings must be publicized seven days in advance.<\/p>\n

The group calling the special meeting is upset that the Astor’s annual general meeting is scheduled more than three months after its fiscal year end, which is Dec. 31. The bylaws state that the annual general meeting must be held within three months of Dec. 31.<\/p>\n

For its part, the Astor posted on Facebook<\/a> shortly after Colwell\u2019s post and comments from others on Astor posts that \u201cthe Astor Theatre Society Board of Directors, Executive Director and staff are aware of the hurtful comments and misinformation initiated by a few uninformed individuals and being circulated on social media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we have tried to remain focused on our vision and mission for the Astor, which has not changed in any way, it has become increasingly apparent that this situation is having a negative and stressful impact on the Astor staff and volunteers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Colwell posted again, claiming that Southcott had threatened him and others with legal action.<\/span><\/p>\n

In its notice Saturday of a town hall information session, the Astor said:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe current Board of Directors and staff are working tirelessly in the best interests of the tradition and history of The Astor. It has been expressed in many circles that the theatre is in the best shape it has ever been, both operationally and financially. We have a full calendar of events in both the theatre and Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhether you are currently a member of the Astor Theatre Society or not, if you are passionate and care about the future of The Astor, we strongly encourage you to attend. This is your theatre and we pledge to continue to make it the welcoming icon of our community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATED Sun., April 7, 9:40 a.m. The Astor Theatre Society is holding a town hall information session at the Liverpool theatre on Sunday at 3 p.m. In a statement released to their newsletter subscribers and posted on their Facebook page on Saturday afternoon, the Astor board and staff said they are organizing the public session […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[38,1421,2008,2009,39,241,1675,1161],"class_list":["post-7054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-astor-theatre","tag-astor-theatre-society","tag-board","tag-kevin-colwell","tag-liverpool","tag-nova-scotia","tag-performing-arts","tag-theatre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7054"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7062,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7054\/revisions\/7062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}