Annual revenues from all sources were $24,789,000, with expenses at $25,716,000, according to a report made at the Jan. 25 annual general meeting of the Shaw Festival Theatre Foundation.

"A volatile environment for theatre and tourism led to disappointing early sales to the general public from January through March (2007), creating a box office revenue gap," Shaw reported.

The Shaw now has a total net accumulated deficit of just under $1.9 million, the organization announced. The Shaw Festival Endowment Foundation manages investments of $16.4 million.

The company, which operates on three stages in the picturesque town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, earned rave reviews in recent weeks when its staging of Shaw's St. Joan was presented in Chicago (the run ended in the Windy City Jan. 20).

Artistic director Jackie Maxwell stated, "Our audience enthusiastically attends plays they don't know, embraces new versions of plays they do know, trusting that what they see will always achieve a level of quality, challenge and excitement. We must believe in this, as they do, and while we embrace marketing and fundraising strategies as we must, we can hold hard to the fact that the work is still leading the way, as it must." Tickets are now on sale for the 2008 season, which includes productions of Mrs. Warren's Profession, Wonderful Town, A Little Night Music, Follies (in concert), The Little Foxes, An Inspector Calls, Wonderful Town, The Stepmother, Belle Moral, Getting Married, After the Dance and The President.

For more information visit www.shawfest.com.