Keith Hatten announced his resignation Tuesday night as Shadow Theatre Company’s second artistic director. He claims he was being undermined by the family of his predecessorand that he’s owed $21,700 in back pay.
Hatten, who was hired in June to head Colorado’s only black theater company after the board ousted founder Jeffrey Nickelson, cited a power struggle with the current board, which has largely turned over since Nickelson was pushed out. Nickelson had implored everyone who wanted Shadow to survive to get behind Hatten’s vision. But on Sept. 5, Nickelson died of a heart attack at age 53.
Hatten’s resignation Tuesday played out in a series of public and increasingly acrimonious e-mails that ended with the additional resignation of board member Nora Nye, who expressed grave concern about whether Shadow would survive.
Nickelson’s daughter, ShaShauna Staton, vowed it will. “We will be able to move forward, and Shadow will prosper,” she said. John Moore, The Denver Post
