Rick Tallman, who helped engineer Colorado Ballet’s comeback from a near-crippling $497,000 annual deficit at the end of 2002-03, has resigned as the company’s executive director.
He and his wife, Angela, who resigned at the same time as the company’s manager of ticketing and customer relations, plan to revive a nonprofit consulting business they founded in the late 1990s.
“We’ve worked for 24/7/365 for the last 18 months, working hand in hand with the trustees and the staff to try and get the ballet to a much better financial position, which we have done, and now it’s somebody else’s turn,” Rick Tallman said Monday.
There are no bad feelings between him and his wife and the ballet, he said. In fact, he would be willing to serve the ballet in some future capacity, such as a volunteer, trustee or consultant.
“I’m 100 percent supportive of the ballet,” he said.
The company has named Lisa Snider, co-treasurer of the ballet’s board of trustees in 1994-98, as interim executive director. For the past nine years, she was a research analyst and coordinator with Wagner Investment Management in Denver.
She is the third person in less than two years to serve in the position. Charles Gardenhire stepped down in November 2003, and Tallman took over as interim executive director a month later. His appointment became permanent in September 2004.
“If you look at corporate turnover at the CEO level, the average is like two years. So I don’t think we’re looking so bad,” Snider said.
Under Tallman’s leadership, the company undertook a 2003-04 drive to significantly boost contributions from individuals, which were running well below national averages. It raised about $1 million, allowing the company to erase its cumulative deficit and post a surplus of $210,000.
At the same time, the ballet made fundamental changes to its marketing, revitalizing the look of its advertising and establishing an in-house box office that has allowed it to save money and more closely monitor its sales.
Snider said she cannot say whether the company will complete its fiscal year on June 30 in the black, but indications so far are positive.
“It’s certainly been a good year for ticket sales. Our performances have been very well attended and subscriptions are way ahead of where they were last year,” she said.
Tallman also played a key role in the ballet’s decision to sign a contract in September to buy the Temple Events Center at 1595 Pearl St. for $1.2 million. The company plans to renovate the former synagogue into a 550-seat theater and build an addition that would house studios and offices.
“To (Tallman’s) credit, a lot of those initiatives are helping to take Colorado Ballet to the next level,” Snider said. “Those certainly don’t go away with his departure. We just intend to build on them.”
No timeline has been set for a national search for Tallman’s permanent replacement.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan @denverpost.com.
