Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse announces new top management lineup

Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse in Railroad Square announced a new management structure Tuesday with the departure of its two top executives.

Managing Director Anne Clark, who joined the theater in 2020 to help guide the organization through the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, said she gave notice May 15 at 6th Street, left that job Tuesday and would start work May 30 as development director for Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley.

The 6th Street Playhouse board has eliminated both the managing director and artistic director positions and will begin a search for an executive director who will handle both the artistic and financial sides of the operation, said Dorothy Beattie, the theater’s board president.

During the transition, Director of Education Aja Gianola-Norris will serve as interim executive director. Jonathan Blue will serve as the 6th Street Studio's new director of education, one of the two remaining executive positions.

Former Artistic Director Jared Sakren said his last day at 6th Street was May 26. He became executive director there in 2015 and became artistic director 2018, serving in both roles under the title of producing artistic director, until Clark joined the staff.

“I have nothing lined up, but offers are coming in for work at other theaters,” Sakren said. “I still want to contribute to the theater community in Sonoma County.”

In March, the 6th Street Playhouse management told The Press Democrat, as part of an overview of the state of the county’s theater community, that the theater’s two performance spaces were running at 75% to 85% of their seating capacity.

“Budget pressures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the recent AB5 compensation law, has more than tripled the cost of presenting live theater,” Beattie said. “We can no longer sustain three executive positions and must shift our model. For us, it’s all about maintaining this theater for the future.”

AB5 requires that many workers formerly paid as independent contractors must be paid as staff employees. The measure has had a profound effect on live theater costs, local theater directors say.

The position of public relations specialist, most recently held by Shekeyna Black, also has been eliminated.

“I resigned from 6th Street Playhouse in February. I had created my own job title and job description as public relations specialist, and they did not replace my position,” Black said. “I am still producing the concert series at the venue as an independent contractor.”

A fourth position, assistant technical director, a job most recently held by Luca Catanzaro, who had resigned, also has been eliminated.

The restructuring at 6th Street amounts to a 30% reduction of the theater’s current staff, according to a statement issued by the theater’s executive board.

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On Twitter @danarts.