Lyric Opera dug deep to balance its books this season
The breathless optimism brimming in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s press release about its annual budget makes it seem that the company has never been healthier financially or artistically.
The company balanced its budget in 2013-14. Ticket sales increased 8%. The Sound of Music was the top-selling production in the company’s history with 71,074 tickets sold. And Lyric will surpass its $23.6 million fund-raising goal for the year.
Yet even a cursory examination beneath the glowing surface reveals a more mixed picture of the opera company’s finances in the wake of the just-finished season.
The company was indeed able to raise ticket income slightly—$28.8 million in 2013-14, up $2.2 million from $26.6 million the previous fiscal year.
Yet increased operating expenses—exacerbated by presenting thirty performances of The Sound of Music as well as five new opera productions —was more than double that box office growth. The Lyric’s total budget for 2013-14 was $69.4 million, a $4.7 million boost from last year’s $64.7 total.
Further, to balance its books, Lyric had to reach deeper into reserves than previously in its history. Last year, the company drew $4.8 million from its endowment fund (Campaign for Excellence) to balance the books.
This season, Lyric took a whopping $15.2 million from reserves to wind up in the black: $15 million from the Campaign for Excellence and its successor, the Breaking New Ground Fund; and $2 million from other operating income. That marks over a 300% increase in the drawdown to balance the books.
The company emphasized that drawing money from the new fund should not necessarily be viewed negatively or even considered as tapping deeply into the company’s reserves.
“The Breaking New Ground Fund is designed to strengthen the balance sheet for the long term,” said general director Anthony Freud in a written statement relayed via Lyric’s PR and marketing department. “We budget to use a contribution from BNG each year to supplement the annual campaign….The goal is to have the BNG Fund available for two decades, so it is integral to the long-term structure of Lyric Opera of Chicago.”
Total operating expenses for fiscal year 2015 will be $74 million with a fundraising goal of $29.9 million.
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