The recent changes occurring at Fountain Hills Theater have been met with high emotions on both sides.

In early June, Executive Director Suzu Henderson, along with the board of directors, announced impending changes in direction.

“The theater is taking a complete change in direction,” Henderson said then. “The board has a new vision for the future of the organization.”

Among the changes was the elimination of two staff positions. A public outcry both in correspondence to The Times and on social media shows a clear division between the new direction and the 30-year history of the theater.

“It is shocking to me what people have been saying,” Henderson said. “While I certainly understand there are people who are upset, the lengths people are going to express that is really unbelievable.”

Henderson received a “musical” death threat soon after the changes were announced, and a board member got a threatening letter through the mail.

“These are the kinds of things I would not have expected at all,” she said.

She said the board and staff now are concentrating on recalibrating and moving forward.

The 2017-18 season is in place as announced at the theater’s annual Broadway in the Hills event in March. All three stages have a full program of events.

“I want to say that there is absolutely no truth to a rumor that we are going to an all-youth platform at the theater,” Henderson said.

Val Stasik, the founder of the theater, said she is “heartbroken” over the changes.

“The changes are not in keeping with the theater I built,” she said. “We have been a family. I thought when I retired, and we had the new executive director in place, that those values would remain. “

She acknowledged that “change is inevitable, but the methods in which the change was handled were brutal.”

The board of directors has decreased in size since Stasik’s retirement. She said with the smaller board size, there is less transparency.

“Transparency is a big part of a non-profit,” she said. “It’s upsetting. There seems to be more secrecy.”

Henderson said her door is open, and she will answer any question except private HR (human resources) details.

“I know people were hurt in this process, and that is hard,” she said. “But I welcome input. I hope this can have a positive outcome over time.”