The Pearl Theatre Company Inc

What it reported doing in 2015

2015-2016 Mainstage: Our Mainstage programming in the 2015-2016 Season exposed challenges in communicating The Pearls true artistic vision versus its perceived mission. This season continued our tradition of close-knit ensembles and historically significant texts, yet a contingent of our audience could not see beyond unfamiliar titles, innovative staging, or a perceived sophomoric style. We believe this seasons programming offered some of the most intellectually complex, emotionally nuanced, and artistically rewarding work that The Pearl has ever staged. The critics validated our efforts. For the first time in The Pearls history, our theatrical productions were significant enough for both lead critics of The New York Times to reviewboth wrote Critics Pick reviews (for A Midsummer Nights Dream and Stupid Fu**ing Bird.) Glowing reactions in The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and throughout the theatrical community showed that, for those without preconceived notions of The Pearl, our work was an exciting alchemy of past and present. The three mainstage productions, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Stupid Fu**ing Bird and The Dingdong served a total of 14,699 audience members over 115 performances, averaging nearly 5,000 per production, with the average ticket price at an accessible $26.Education Initiatives: With the reinvigoration of the mission, and the strategic goal of greater cohesion among our programming, The Pearls education initiatives have also embarked on a period of investigation, innovation, and revitalization. During this exploratory phase, the seasons Classics in the Classroom (Arts-in-Education) emphasis was placed on upholding existing relationships with our long-time core schools as we expand our reputation among the educational landscape of New York and crystalize our goals for participants. Participants this year included 387 students at High School for Environmental Studies, Notre Dame High School, Queens High School for the Sciences, and Young Womens Leadership Academy.All core schools were provided with free tickets to attend performances at The Pearl; each performance was followed by a talkback with both the teaching artist and the cast of the production, at which time students had a give-and-take with the artists who made the work. Our education outreach went far beyond our core schools, with student groups from Barnard, Baruch, Marymount of Manhattan College, BMCC, Cardinal Spellman High School, Fordham, Hofstra, Tisch School for the Arts, Regis High School, Sarah Lawrence College, St. Johns, Stony Brook, The New School, and the Lycee Francais; all were offered study guides and talkbacks gratis, if inclined.The Pearls continuing education programs provided opportunities for audiences to engage with both the artists and the history of productions they attended. A total of 753 audience members had the opportunity to attend a Tuesday Talks performance where Kate Farrington led talkbacks with the creative team; the corollary salon program Curtain Up Classics brought literature to life for approximately 40 participants in this free, 90-minute series lead by Ms. Farrington and members of the Resident Acting Company. Ms. Farrington also penned a total of four dramaturgical articles for this seasons Insiderincluding a special year-end edition on What is classical? for a total of nearly 16,000 distributed copies.Actor Development and Training: Our theatre company continued to welcome the participation of our Resident Actors within each of our productions, as well as within administrative, educational, and executive roles at The Pearl. On stage, eight members of our core company performed on Equity contracts within the casts of our three mainstage productions, as well as in our developmental reading series Modern/Classics. Continuing to be compensated with a stipend for their off-stage participation, resident actors served on the Board of Trustees (Dan Daily), and in youth education programs (Rachel Botchan, Domini

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 97.6%; rating input score 98
• Program expense ratio: 86.8%; rating input score 87
• Fundraising efficiency: $17.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 21st percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -12.5%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.18; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 3.16; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -8.6% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -19.4% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings