Theater Mu Incorporated

What it reported doing in 2024

As the largest asian american theater in the midwest, theater mu has been providing programs in mainstage, education, artist development, and community events since 1992. Theater mu's 2024-25 season was the final season programmed by former artistic director, lily tung crystal. The season continues ms. Tung crystal's vision of "widening circles" of asian american representation by programming a season of productions featuring south asian and queer stories. The season opened with a newly reformatted new eyes festival where the company opened up the submission process to playwrights nation-wide for the first time since 2011. This was followed by the world premiere of ankita raturi's fifty boxes of earth about a nonbinary immigrant's journey to a new land and the suspicion from the existing residents of the community garden with the arrival of the foreigner. Mu produced an updated production of diana son's glaas and obie award winning play stop kiss to critic and audience acclaim. The themes of ms. Son's play ringing true today as much as it did in it's premiere in 1998. Theater mu's production being the first time the majority of the roles cast with asian american actors. The season ended with a co-presentation of adil mansoou's amm(i)gone. In this achingly tender one-man show adil takes the audience on his journey on the exploration of his identity as a gay man growing up in a south asian muslim home. This season was also the first time where theater mu worked with a focus group of family members, youth and teaching artists to receive feedback on mu's community education programming. The cohort working with mu's program manager to provide suggestions for programmatic suggestions for mu's youth education program, mu training institute and mu explorations. With the absence of a artistic director, long time mu artist katie bradley was hired as an interim artistic director for the season. Ms. Bradley not only served as artistic producer for the season but also worked closely with the education program as well as the artistic advisory cohort to systematize community agreements.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 68.7%; rating input score 69
• Fundraising efficiency: $3.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • 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: -57.4%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 7.9%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings