Hazard and hope. Meeting with hazard and hope. This is how Aaron Frankel remembered the “smoke-filled rooms” Margaret Webster wrote of when considering how the Union would take hold. As we enter the final months of the 60th anniversary year, this issue of the Journal is our attempt to capture the essence of the founding even as we give space to the future of SDC. And still, it’s a snapshot. An eloquent, informative, and compelling look at what has come before combined with inspiration for the future.
Member Mary B. Robinson signed on to serve as our guest features editor for this edition. She has masterfully captured the story of the founding by illuminating the vibrant and tenacious character that was Shepard Traube. Mary has excavated, sourced, and illuminated corners of our history new to many and has captured the suspense inherent in the fight for recognition. No story of the founding would be complete without Agnes de Mille, herein represented with her passionate appeal to Congress for federal funding for the arts. Then there is Lloyd Richards, who embodies the best of an artist, a director, an educator, a human being. For a decade, he served as the Union’s President, and his tenure paved the way for national expansion—of contracts (League of Resident Theatres (LORT) recognition in 1972) and of spirit. Interspersed, we have included the voices of Members from multiple generations. Through the life force that is Emily Mann, we celebrate mentorship, which is inextricably bound in the fabric of the Union and the SDC Foundation. We have attempted to capture what Membership means and have curated columns that feature founders, current leaders, and esteemed artists from the ranks of the Membership that represent the breadth of our community, our collective. Through the sheer will and fortitude of a merry band of directors and choreographers, SDC stands tall as it enters its seventh decade.
I smile when I think of how Shepard Traube and the founders would respond to Hana S. Sharif’s “the beauty of transitions is in the fracturing of complacency.” Just as some 164 men and women stepped forward 60 years ago to change the landscape for directors and choreographers, SDC has continually been in motion, not willing to accept the status quo, always using our influence and position to make a better way for our Members, the craft, and theatre writ large. From our origins on Broadway to national and increased international stature, today we are a community of 3,381 Members, growing, deepening, expanding, pushing the Union forward, fueled by strength, and hope, through the hazard, in order to Unite. Empower. Protect.
In Solidarity,
Laura Penn
Executive Director