O'Leary

(This doesn’t appear on the Arts & Books homepage, and it was hard to find on the STLToday.com website - so I’m reposting it here. Special bonus: A nice color photo of Tim O’Leary.)

In a dismal economy, one that’s put a serious cramp in many arts organizations’ style, Opera Theatre of St. Louis reports that it’s kept its long-standing record of balanced budgets through its 34th season.

OTSL’s fiscal year ended Sept. 30. The operating budget had a small surplus, although the endowment, like most investments, lost value during the financial crisis.

In his first season as general director, Timothy O’Leary seems to have followed his predecessor Charles MacKay’s playbook, cutting expenses where possible without affecting artistic quality.

Also assisting with the bottom line were increased sales at the box office, with 92 percent attendance in a popular season. That’s an increase of over 5 percent from 2008, with a sizable new cohort of ticket buyers: 15 percent of them hadn’t been to OTSL before.

The new troika of O’Leary, artistic director James Robinson and music director Stephen Lord also worked to build new production partnerships, with the Wexford Festival Opera, Vancouver Opera, San Francisco Opera and Opéra de Montréal coming on board this year. That provided $470,000 in revenue in 2009.

Contributions were up by 6 percent from last year, thanks mostly to individual donors who dug deeply — to the tune of $1.6 million — to make up for declining donations from corporate and foundation sources. The loyalty level is astonishing: 43 percent of Opera Theatre’s individual donors gave new or increased contributions.

It was a close thing, though; OTSL implemented a year-end challenge grant from board members to eliminate a shortfall that could have hit $90,000. One hundred seventy-seven donors made new or extra contributions in August and September to close the gap.

The company benefits from the intimacy of a small theater, but that means that ticket revenues never cover more than just over a quarter of expenses. Total revenues for 2009 were $8.1 million.

O’Leary announced OTSL’s biggest-ever production grant this week: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has given the company a $1 million grant to help pay for a three-year cycle of contemporary operas, starting in the 2010 season.

On the docket are the previously announced 2010 world premiere of “The Golden Ticket,” based on Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” with a libretto by Donald Sturrock and music by Peter Ash; a new production of John Adams’ “The Death of Klinghoffer,” unseen in this country for 20 years; and an unnamed world premiere commission for 2012.

There’s good news for fans of phenomenal soprano Kelly Kaduce, the star of this season’s “Salome.” She’ll return in 2011 for the company’s first-ever production of Debussy’s “Pelleas and Melisande.” The possibly-not-so-good news is that famous-but-famously-difficult director David Alden (twin brother of Christopher) will be in charge.

Meanwhile, O’Leary and his staff are being prudent in their budgeting for 2010: Salaries are frozen, contributions to 403(b) plans have been suspended, and cuts have been made to other line items.

Said O’Leary, “We are determined to forge ahead without compromising on artistic excellence, adventurousness with the repertory, or our commitment to fiscal responsibility.”