Primary Stages Company Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133258765
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2128409705
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,797,974
Expenses
$2,700,527
Assets
$603,678
Liabilities
$266,294

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHANE D HUDSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • Marla Persky (President)
  • SHIREEN A BARDAY (Vice President)
  • ARLINE VOGEL (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHANE D HUDSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $182,985 total reported compensation
  • ERIN DALEY (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $143,006 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Primary Stages is an Off-Broadway theater company dedicated to inspiring, supporting, producing and sharing the art of playwriting. We operate on the strongly held belief that the future of American theater relies on nurturing individual playwrights and giving them the artistic support needed to create new work. Since our founding in 1984, we have produced 150+ new plays. Primary Stages was honored with the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work, which encompasses much more than the plays we produce for the stage. Primary Stages supports playwrights and develops new works through commissions, workshops, readings and our two flagship programs: The Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group and the Marvin and Anne Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA). Through these programs, Primary Stages advocates for our artists, helping them make important-and often transformative-connections within the theater community.

What it reported doing in 2024

In the 2024/25 Season, Primary Stages celebrated our 40th Anniversary as a leading Off-Broadway home for new American plays and produced 2 plays at 59E59 Theaters: THE LIGHT AND THE DARK: (THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI by Kate Hamill and AMERIKIN by Chisa Hutchinson. These two plays attracted a total audience of 10,700. We also supported 5 emerging writers in our Dorothy Streslin New American Writers Group, 8 women and non-binary writers in our Echoes Writers Group, and launched our new Liff Lab play development program. We served 400 playwrights, actors, and directors at all career levels through classes and workshops at the Einhorn School for Performing Arts taught by working theater artists. We also served over 1,100 NYC public school students through our Free Student Matinees.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.8%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 69.1%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.5%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.22; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.1%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.3% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.3% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.8% of revenue deployed · 69.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 26 of 28 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $183K · 28 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G fundraiser detail did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.