Like the rest of us, theater companies have to file taxes. This tax day, we look at some information from the most recent publicly available tax returns (generally 2012) for some major and independent Philadelphia companies.
Company income varies widely, with Walnut Street bringing in over $15 million, and some small companies a fraction of that. Management compensation generally follows company revenue.
| Company | Revenue* | Highest paid employee | Compensation** |
| Walnut Street Theatre | $15,799,616 | Bernard Havard | $316,414 |
| Arden Theatre Company | $5,455,528 | Terrence J Nolen | $100,966 |
| Philadelphia Theatre Company | $3,945,757 | Sarah Garonzik | $114,779 |
| Wilma Theater | $3,692,689 | Blanka Zizka | $88,683 |
| FringeArts | $3,404,158 | Nick Stuccio | $105,000 |
| Pig Iron Theatre Company | $1,188,126 | John Frisbee | $42,975 |
| Lantern Theater Company | $785,272 | Anne Shuff | $52,000 |
| InterAct Theatre Company | $702,447 | Seth Rozin | $46,500 |
| Theatre Exile | $619,763 | Deborah Block | $18,000 |
| Plays and Players | $352,015 | Daniel Student | $24,960*** |
| Quintessence Theatre Group | $233,759 | Alexander Burns | $12,400 |
| Inis Nua Theatre Company | $189,605 | Tom Reing | $23,250 |
| New City Stage Company | $135,705 | Ginger Dayle | $27,609 |
| Curio Theatre Company | $103,533 | Paul Kuhn | $1,656 |
*Revenue is not the same as operating budget and can come from a range of sources: ticket sales, schools, gifts, space rental, and investment income, among others. Those familiar with Quigs will be unsurprised that it contributed $147,000—almost half the company’s revenue—to Plays and Players.
**W2/1099 Compensation. Total compensation with incentives, health benefits, and others can add to this. Bernard Havard’s total compensation is listed as $669,133, Nick Stuccio’s $117,135, for examples.
***Estimate
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