Curtain Sweetly Closing For Theater Director

Sam Sweet, the managing director of Signature Theatre who helped bring the company national prominence, will step down at the end of the year.

"I've been there six years. I think I've accomplished a lot building Signature up," Sweet said. "At the end of big projects like that, sometimes you feel like you're energized, you've still got the desire to build, to help, to really support an ambitious artistic director, but it's time for another big challenge. So that's what I'm really looking for."

Since joining Signature in 2001, Sweet has increased the Arlington-based organization's budget to $6 million from $1.8 million and developed the staff and board of directors. In January, he oversaw Signature's move into a new $16 million two-theater complex in Shirlington.

During the summer, Signature's board began planning for the future, laying out a strategic plan that would take three to five years to complete, Sweet said. He wasn't sure he wanted to commit for that long and decided that if he wasn't ready to, he should let someone else take Signature to the next level.

"It wasn't any epiphany, no sudden decision. It was just something that grew over time as I thought about what was the best thing for Signature and also what was the best thing for me," Sweet said.

Sweet said he knew that if he started to look for other opportunities, word would get out and it would be a distraction for Signature. That, coupled with the fact that a search for a successor would take time -- and his desire to help the board get started as quickly as possible -- led him to inform Eric Schaeffer, Signature's artistic director, of his decision.

"We wanted someone to do exactly what Sam did for us, and that was take us to the next level," Schaeffer said. "Sam is really great at seeing the big picture and seeing where you are, and he knows how to put the building blocks in place to get you where you need to get to.

"It's sad, because I think he's done so many great things for the theater and been very helpful and positive in getting us to where we are," Schaeffer said. "Change is hard, but I also think change is good in a way, because it makes you go another mile now. There's no doubt that he has left a huge impression here on the theater, which will be felt for years to come, which is the great thing."

There hasn't been any discussion about Sweet's replacement. The theater's board will hire a search firm and conduct a nationwide search that is expected to take four to six months. Meanwhile, the staff will pick up the slack between Sweet's departure on Dec. 31 and the hiring of a replacement.

Some staff members have already taken on extra responsibilities, Schaeffer said. But it's not a panicked transition; it is being carefully planned with Sweet helping to make sure things go smoothly, he said.

"I think the biggest tribute to a manager is to be able to leave and have developed the staff around you so that they can really take over and keep things running at a very high level," Sweet said. "And I've got every confidence the Signature staff will do that."

Sweet said he is looking for a project with an ambitious artistic agenda.

"For me, building an organization, it is a creative enterprise, and it is as fulfilling for me as a manager as artistic projects are for artistic directors," he said. "I'm eager to move on to the next challenge. The sooner the better."