Helsing Leaves Court, But Not Chicago

BY Kerry Reid

Helsing

After three years as executive director of Court Theatre, Dawn Helsing is stepping down. But she’s staying in town, and she plans to continue using her experience and knowledge to assist emerging arts groups in Chicago.

No particular incident or set of circumstances prompted the change, though Helsing did become engaged recently and is looking forward to planning her wedding in the late spring or early summer of this year. She has been on board during a time of tremendous growth for the theatre.

“One of the things that helps me sleep at night about this decision is that Court is in really good hands,” says Helsing.

The theatre’s budget during her tenure grew from $2.5 million to $3.2 million, and has been balanced each year—not always an easy feat for midsize professional houses to achieve. Under Charles Newell’s artistic direction, the company has also grown its national profile, and the Court production this past fall of Caroline, or Change was both a smashing critical success and a box office bonanza—the most successful show in the company’s 54 seasons.

Helsing came to the Court in 2005 after serving as director of development for Center Stage in Baltimore. “Charlie’s production of [Tom Stoppard’s] Travesties was what sealed the deal,” says Helsing. “I saw it when I came out to interview for the job. I had seen a production of the play not long before at the National in London, and had sort of told myself not to have unreasonable expectations for what a smaller theatre could do. I looked at the size of the [Court] scene shop and thought, ‘If that amazing set could come out of that teeny workplace, this is the kind of place I want to work.’”

According to Helsing, Court’s staff and board have been discussing the possibility of expanding their theatre on the University of Chicago campus, or possibly building a new facility. Helsing points to improvements in the production equipment and a planned new roof and HVAC system for the theatre that will be in effect this summer.

Helsing’s time at Court has also dovetailed with an expansion of the neighborhood’s arts community, perhaps most notably with the new facility for the Hyde Park Art Center. (And of course the neighborhood also gained national attention through a prominent resident who recently relocated with his family to Washington, D.C.) In addition to her busy schedule with Court, Helsing has worked in an advisory capacity with the Hyde Park Cultural Alliance and with various organizations within the University of Chicago. Those experiences have helped shape some ideas for where she’d like to go next in her career.

“Over the last year or so that I’ve been doing work with the Hyde Park Cultural Alliance, I’m aware of what it’s like to work with something grassroots and help organizations work together,” says Helsing. “It’s sparked new areas of interest for me. The collegial community of Chicago theatre makes me think about how larger theatres can sometimes offer resources and advice to smaller theatres. There is a real opportunity to work together.”

Though nothing is definite, Helsing doesn’t rule out the possibility of doing consulting work with smaller companies. “There is so much talent in the Chicago community. I really feel for these young companies that have wonderful artistic success and then have these expectations to grow to another institutional level and are asking themselves ‘Should we grow?’ They are trying to keep up with the day-to-day, and then they have to wrap their heads around how fast should they grow and what the next step is. Not everyone has those advisors or mentors who can really help them wrap their brains around those questions. You can really burn yourselves out. So I’d like to see if I could help advance those kinds of conversations.”

And of course, Helsing will still be visible in the audience at Court and elsewhere. “Theatre here is something that people think of doing, just as they would think about going to the movies. There is a vastness and variety and depth of work being done in Chicago, and an audience that has an appetite for all of it.”

A national search is underway for Helsing’s successor at Court.