CITY LIT POSTS YEAR-END SURPLUS, NAMES MANAGING DIRECTOR
City Lit Theater closed its 2005-2006 fiscal year on June 30 with a modest budget surplus, Board President Michael Monar announced today, along with the news that Brian Pastor, the theatre's business manager since February 2005, has assumed the title of Managing Director as of July 1.
This is the second year in a row that the theatre has finished in the black, after a decade of posting deficits. The 2004-2005 surplus, however, was entirely the product of an unsolicited one-time-only gift of $43,200 given in March 2005 by Hollywood screenwriter and former Chicago playwright John Logan as a gesture of support toward his friend Terry McCabe, City Lit's then-newly hired artistic director, who had produced and directed the world premieres of a number of Logan's plays at the old Stormfield Theatre during the 1980s. Logan's gift paid off virtually all City Lit's accumulated debt and enabled McCabe and Pastor to begin their tenure at the theatre on level ground.
By contrast, and in vindication of Logan's confidence, the current surplus is the product of sound management. During '05-'06, City Lit's first full year under the management team of Pastor and McCabe, the 26-year-old non-Equity company had total income of $85,003 over expenses of $78,151, for a surplus of $6,852. This success was generated by cutting the theatre's annual expenses by 14% from the previous year, while increasing subscription levels by 20% and foundation support by 33%. During '05-'06, City Lit had 323 subscribers and was partially supported by the Alphawood Foundation, the Archer/Patterson Family Foundation, the Helen Brach Foundation, the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs CityArts II program, the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the Retirement Research Foundation, the Saints, and the William Wrigley Jr. Company Foundation.
Pastor is a 2003 graduate of Northwestern University, where he was co-founder and producer for Lovers and Madmen, a student Shakespeare troupe. He was an intern at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and an apprentice at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. In addition to his work at City Lit, he is the executive director and an ensemble member of Promethean Theatre Ensemble, which begins production this fall. As an actor, Pastor has appeared in Chicago at City Lit, Bailiwick Repertory, Strawdog Theatre, and Arts/Lane.
City Lit's solid financial footing has enabled it to plan four productions next year instead of its usual three. The theatre's 2006-2007 season opens September 25 with the world premiere of Frank Galati's adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. City Lit specializes in literate theatre, including stage adaptations of literary material.
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