Guthrie Reports $438K Loss After 50th Anniversary Season

On Monday, it was announced that the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis lost $438 thousand - their first deficit in their nineteen years. There were also significant declines in season-ticket and single-ticket sales, as the attendance dropped to 375,702, which is a 50,000 drop since the 2011-2012 year.

According to the Star Tribune, "We didn't reach the box office goals we set," Guthrie director Joe Dowling said. "We're still very healthy, but clearly a deficit is not a happy thing for any arts organization."

The deficit was softened by the fact that there was a $1.1 million expenses cut and and a ten percent increase in donations. Contributions were up to $9.8 million, nearly one million more than last year. Also a factor is that the Guthrie was not the home of any commercial runs of shows headed to Broadway like last year, where they held the Judy Garland story "End of the Rainbow" and "Roman Holiday."

Much of the deficit seems to be the factor that the Guthrie took creative risks that didn't pay off, including "A Long Day's Dream Into Night", "The Primrose Path", and a festival of British work by Christopher Hampton. However, there were hits this past season, including "Nice Fish" which featured Mark Rylance.