Region's performing arts groups fight for financial rebound (HamptonRoads.com/Pilot Online)

Region's performing arts groups fight for financial rebound (HamptonRoads.com/Pilot Online): "Region's performing arts groups fight for financial rebound
The Virginian-Pilot
� May 15, 2005


NORFOLK � The Virginia Stage Company ended its 2003-04 fiscal year with an all-too familiar story line: a $204,000 operating loss.
But the Norfolk-based theater group knew that when it next drew the curtain, there needed to be a different financial scene. The company hired Tony-nominated former Broadway producer Keith Stava to fill both its artistic and managing director spots. To save money, Stava did without an assistant and part of the production staff when the positions became vacant.
�We made a company-wide conscious effort to cut expenses everywhere possible without affecting the quality of the shows,� Stava said.
The board of directors doubled its collective donation from last year�s $40,000 to about $88,000. That pace-setting set the stage for the organization to glean $135,000 in donations from new sources"