The Grand Theatre has announced it finished the 2018-19 season with an operating surplus of $34,812 — the 20th consecutive time it has managed to close the books on a season with a surplus.
The year-end figure brings the theatre’s accumulated surplus to $645,353, an enviable position for any arts institution.
Executive director Deb Harvey provided additional figures as follows:
• Ticket sales accounted for 56 per cent of earned revenue, contributing $4.3 million to an operating budget of about $7.7 million.
• More than 104,000 patrons attended 241 performances, which included seven shows on the Spriet stage, four performances on the McManus stage, a High School Project musical and five Jeans ‘n Classics concerts.
• Donors and supporters provided more than $1.7 million — about 22 per cent of revenue — over the course of the season.
• The theatre donated more than 500 tickets, valued at more than $48,000, to 234 local charitable organizations to be used as prizes for fundraising events.
• Additional support for the theatre came from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the City of London.
The successful 2018-19 season was Dennis Garnhum’s third as artistic director and his second in terms of artistic programming. He succeeded Susan Ferley, currently artistic director at the Cameco Capitol Arts Centre in Port Hope, Ont., in 2016.
ArtsBeat 