TCG Public Resources

Inside This Articles

Theatres contributed nearly $1.9 billion to the economy in the form of salaries, benefits and payments for goods and services (p. 2).
♦ While a majority of theatres operated in the black from 2005 to 2007, more than half had a negative bottom line in 2008 and 2009 (pp. 3-4, Figure 3) and an increasing percentage of theatres experienced shortfalls greater than 20% of operating expenses over the past two years (pp. 4-5, Figure 4).
♦ The 5-year period ending 2009 finished in negative territory. Contributed income barely outpaced inflation but could not offset the erosion of earned income and the growth in expenses (pp. 3-4, Figures 1-2). 5-year earned income growth exclusive of investment income was 0.8% above inflation (p. 5; see page 34 for details on the inflation calculation).
♦ Average single ticket income was higher in 2009 than in 2005 after adjusting for inflation, although it supported less of the average theatre’s total expenses over time (pp. 5-7, Tables 2 & 3).
♦ A 5-year view shows subscription income growth falling short of inflation by 8.5%. Total subscription packages sold and total subscriber attendance were at a 5-year low in 2009 (pp. 6 and 18, Tables 2 and 13). These trends resonated in the 10-year view (p. 19, Figures A & B).
♦ A 3% increase in the number of resident performances was met with a 3.1% decrease in attendance (p. 16, Tables 11 & 12), underscoring a slight decrease in the percentage of capacity filled for resident productions (p. 18, Table 13).
♦ On average, theatres experienced dramatic capital losses in 2008 and 2009; over time, however, capital campaigns left theatres with substantial growth in both fixed assets and investments (p. 6 and pp. 14-15, Tables 2, 9 & 10).
♦ Working capital was negative in each of the five years. It improved from 2005 to 2008 then dropped precipitously in 2009 (pp. 14-15, Tables 9 & 10).