For the Children's Theatre, the yellow brick road led to box-office gold.
The company's holiday production of "The Wizard of Oz" grossed a record $1.65 million, the highest box-office take by a show in the Minneapolis theater's 46-year history.
The musical was directed by Peter Rothstein, who last year also staged "Annie," the third-highest-grossing show in company history (it took in $1.4 million). The top four highest-grossing Children's Theatre productions are rounded out by "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," the 2006-2007 show that took in $1.44 million, and artistic director Peter Brosius' "Cinderella" in 2009-2010, which grossed $1.35 million.
"We're happy with the big box-office numbers, but we don't only judge our success by those or by one or two shows," said Brosius. "We also point to kids and families we serve, to the lives we change."
Separately, the Children's Theatre reported a $250,000 surplus on an $11 million budget for fiscal 2010-2011, which ended June 30.
The positive numbers indicate that the Minneapolis company is making a notable turnaround. Just two years ago, the Children's Theatre cut staff and programming in response to a $2.2 million deficit.
"Lots of people have been suffering in this economy, but theaters in particular were hit like an anvil dropped on them," said incoming managing director Tim Jennings, who starts Feb. 1. "The Children's Theatre leadership team ... really turned things around with a lot of smart programming and budgeting."
Subscribers increased 29 percent to 17,000. About 240,000 people attended shows at the theater, up from 198,000 the previous fiscal year. The company served an additional 60,000 people with its education, training and Neighborhood Bridges programs.
