Upstaged
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Becker says details of the new arrangement are still fluid, but in early October SAIC and Performing Arts Chicago inked a deal to bring innovative artists and events to Chicago, and she expects Susan Lipman, executive director of PAC, to play an important role in whatever productions are mounted at the former Goodman space. “We are not turning the theater over to Susan,” says Becker, “but she will certainly have access to it.” Access to the space would be a welcome development for the financially strapped PAC, which has been forced in recent years to book relatively large, expensive venues that it couldn’t fill. In less than a year, PAC and all the other itinerant performing arts organizations that have been waiting for the Music and Dance Theater to materialize could have a comfortable venue downtown at what’s sure to be a competitive rental rate. And worst of all for the Music and Dance Theater, the former Goodman space is a nonunion facility, whereas the proposed venue in Millennium Park would exceed the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees’ 1,000-seat threshold and might have to hire union stagehands and box office personnel.
