After 25 years with Springfield Contemporary Theatre, longtime artistic director Rick Dines resigns

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Rick Dines starring opposite Kim Crosby in SCT's 2022 production of Sweeney Todd.
Courtesy Springfield Contemporary Theatre

Over the years, much of Springfield Contemporary Theatre was built around managing artistic director Rick Dines along with founder Lou Schaeffer.

Now Dines is stepping away. He was set to direct a production of Parade in June, which will now be cancelled. Dines is staying on the board of SCT while the theatre regroups.

"It’s not necessarily a square-shaped hole or a round-shaped hole that you find the right peg for," he said. "It’s kind of a weird shaped hole, and you kind of have to go do we reconfigure all the pieces to make it all… you know, how does that work?"

Dines cites burnout as his main reason for the decision, which he’d been considering for about a year.

"The years of COVID were tough on all non-profits, especially performing arts because we were completely shut down. But this time since has been, in some ways, harder," said Dines. "And so, I’ve been working through burnout for about 18 months, and I tried to work through it, and then decided that wasn’t quite working. So, time to do something fresh and make a change."

SCT has announced plans to produce a series of special events over the summer as they take a break to focus on restructuring.

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