Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Kimmel Center, Inc. to End 2006-07 Fifth Anniversary Season with Numerous Artistic and Financial Accomplishments
July 2, 2007

Kimmel Center, Inc. today announced several early significant end-of-year artistic, audience and financial accomplishments as it ended its 2006-07 Fifth Anniversary Season. The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts continues to fulfill its mission of providing a home to eight resident performing arts organizations, and has become a must-play venue for many of the world’s great performing artists on tour, touring Broadway hit shows as well as a favorite destination for concert-goers throughout the region.

Highlights of the 2007 fiscal year (which ended on June 30, 2007) include the following:

  • Together, the Kimmel Center Presents and Cadillac Broadway Series presented 369 performances and events and attracted more than 481,000 attendees.

  • The 2006-2007 Cadillac Broadway season closed with several significant accomplishments, having entertained more than 353,000 patrons with 155 performances (19 weeks) at the Academy of Music, 69 performances in Innovation Studio, eight performances at the Forrest Theatre, and four in Perelman Theatre. Relative to the national theatre touring industry, the Cadillac Broadway ticket sales are usually ranked within the top 5 metropolitan markets (based on attendance, ticket sales revenue).

  • Many of the world’s leading performers continue to make Kimmel Center stages their "home away from home." The Kimmel Center Presents 2006-07 season featured many great artists and performances, including more than 80 ticketed and 50 free performances across multiple genres.

  • On Sunday, December 17, 2006, the Kimmel Center marked its Fifth Season of presenting world-class performing arts with a day-long celebration of free performances and events throughout the facility’s many performance spaces, capped by a ticketed performance with rising superstar R&B singer KEM and the legendary O’Jays in Verizon Hall. Following the evening concert, Philly’s own "The Geator" celebrated in style with one of his signature dance parties on the Commonwealth Plaza Stage.

  • Disney’s THE LION KING established box office records in Philadelphia with its 14-week engagement at the Academy of Music, having entertained a total audience of 240,000 and generated box office receipts of $18 million, ranking it as the most successful touring theatrical engagement in Philadelphia history. Making a major economic impact on the city, Disney’s THE LION KING generated approximately $19 million in additional revenue for the Philadelphia region, including parking, restaurants, hotels, retail purchases and public transportation.

  • Top-selling Kimmel Center Presents performances included the great tenor man Sonny Rollins, whose appearance in Philly brought the audience to its feet and blanketed the press with numerous interviews, features and rave reviews; Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig with Riccardo Chailly; organist Paul Jacobs; pianist Evgeny Kissin; Tiempo Libre; the opening night performance with Nancy Wilson and jazz organist Trudy Pitts; Lyle Lovett; a live broadcast of Garrison Keillor’s "A Prairie Home Companion"; Soweto Gospel Choir; Barbara Cook and Audra McDonald; Loreena McKennitt; and Harry Connick, Jr.

  • As part of the Kimmel Center Presents series, artists and ensembles from 21 countries made the Kimmel Center a stop on their international and national tours. This season 45 artists made their debuts on Kimmel Center stages. In addition, Kimmel Center Presents offered eight Philadelphia premieres, and co-commissioned the world premiere of a new work by Jennifer Higdon performed by Jennifer Koh.

  • The Kimmel Center’s recently inaugurated Fred J. Copper Memorial Organ continued the momentum from its critically acclaimed opening in May 2006 with more than 50 instances of use during the 2006-07 season, including a Sing-Along Messiah, an organ recital series, silent films, an organ marathon, family concerts, postlude presentations at numerous orchestra concerts and rental events, as well as a return of the highly successful "Pay To Play" event during Summer Solstice.

  • Kimmel Center, Inc. and The Shubert Organization, Inc. announced plans to collaborate on theatrical presentations in the Philadelphia market. Presentations take place at the Academy of Music or the Forrest Theatre, allowing both organizations the opportunity to perpetuate and enhance the presentation of legitimate theatrical attractions in Philadelphia.


"The 2006-07 season at the Kimmel Center has been another strong and positive year with accomplishments which cut across the entire operation. We must thank our region’s elected officials and dedicated funders. I especially want to acknowledge Harold Honickman’s leadership of the Endowment Campaign. His stewardship allowed us to meet our endowment goals this year," said Kimmel Center Chairman William P. Hankowsky. "I also want to acknowledge the hard work of the Kimmel Center team this year, led by Acting President and COO Natalye Paquin. There are many successes to build upon as we welcome our new president Anne Ewers, who joins us on July 9th."

"Each year our Philadelphia and regional audiences tell us they value the Kimmel Center through their support and attendance," said Acting President and COO Natalye Paquin. "Our cultural and economic impact is significant. The Fifth Anniversary season included many distinctive standouts, from Cadillac Broadway’s hit shows to the expansion of our educational programs with generous support from PNC. We are especially pleased about the recent addition of Citi as a multi-year presenting sponsor."

Additional highlights of the Kimmel Center’s 2006-07 Fifth Anniversary Season include:

  • In all, more than 856 performances and events took place at the Kimmel Center, the Academy of Music and the Forrest Theatre in the 2006-07 season. Of these, 83 were Kimmel Center Presents events, 155 were Cadillac Broadway, 50 were Free in the Plaza, and 487 were resident company performances or community rentals. App. 1,218,000 people attended events at the three facilities (including resident company performances and rentals), of which app. 98,277 attended Kimmel Center Presents and app. 353,000 attended Cadillac Broadway Series events, ranking the Kimmel Center among the four most widely attended cultural institutions in the region. This represents an overall increase of app. 21 percent from 1,010,000 in the 2005-06 season.

  • Kimmel Center, Inc. and six of its resident performing arts companies signed new license agreements, thereby extending both the long term artistic and creative vitality of each company, including: American Theater Arts for Youth; The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia; the Opera Company of Philadelphia; Pennsylvania Ballet; PHILADANCO; and The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.

  • The Kimmel Center and Academy of Music facilitated 170 independent presentations including public performances and lectures, private corporate events, non-profit and social events, and graduations. Independent presentations brought more than 130,000 patrons to the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music.

  • The economic impact of the Kimmel Center during its 2006-07 season was measured to be app. $45 million and for the 2005-06 season to be app. $41 million. In total, over the course of five performance seasons, the Kimmel Center has contributed more than $407 million to the local economy.

  • Kimmel Center, Inc. raised $10 million for its endowment campaign in FY 2007 as part of its five-year Pew Annenberg Lenfest challenge grant. The Kimmel Center Endowment now stands at app. $40 million in confirmed gifts and pledges.

  • A new strategic partnership with Citi was announced in June 2007. This $2.5 million five-year season sponsorship set multiple new records for Kimmel Center, Inc. as the largest overall season sponsor and the largest multi-year sponsor in Kimmel Center history.

  • Kimmel Center, Inc.’s education offerings have grown over the years and received a large boost with a $1 million endowment gift from The PNC Financial Services Group, through the PNC Foundation, with interest from the endowment earmarked to support the Kimmel's preschool education programs.

  • The annual Summer in the City Gala exceeded expectations, making it the second most profitable Gala in the Kimmel Center’s history.

  • In June 2007 Philadelphia Mayor John Street announced grants to the area’s cultural institutions, including $2 million to the Kimmel Center specifically for use in the area of capital improvements.

  • Kimmel Center, Inc. will end its fiscal year with an operating surplus of approximately $900,000* after interest but before depreciation and amortization. This represents an improvement over both its current year budget and the prior year operating results.

  • In fall 2006 the Kimmel Center announced the formation of new free weekly Art and Architecture Tours exploring the Kimmel Center's art and architecture and that of selected sites along the Avenue of the Arts. Led by a team of experienced volunteers with a deep knowledge of the Kimmel Center and the Avenue, the new weekly tours are offered on Saturday mornings at 10:30am.

  • Summer programming returned to the Kimmel Center in June 2006 with its all day and night Summer Solstice Celebration. Featuring 15 hours of entertainment in all venues of the Kimmel Center, the June 2007 Summer Solstice Celebration was highlighted by music and events in all corners of the Kimmel Center, doubling attendance from the previous year. The Kimmel Center’s popular World Music Wednesdays dance parties returned as well to the Perelman Theater in July and August, 2006. Artists from around the world were highlighted in this series which transformed the Perelman Theater into a dance club.

  • On May 15, 2007, Kimmel Center, Inc. announced the appointment of Anne Ewers as its new president and chief executive officer, effective July 9, 2007. Previously, Ms. Ewers was the president and chief executive officer of the Utah Symphony & Opera.

Kimmel Center audiences express their enthusiasm for attending performances on the Kimmel Center blog:

  • "I can't remember ever laughing so long or so hard. I expected it to be good but, it was way beyond good. I would never have imagined you could have surpassed the movie, but you did. THANK YOU !!!! Ni Ni Ni"—Posted by Mike Brennan (Spamalot)

  • "It was an incredible, unforgettable evening…it certainly will keep us coming back."—Posted by Laura (Sonny Rollins)

  • "Wonderful…I don’t get to see live classical music often, so each time I’m initially taken aback at how physical one of these performances really is. This part of the experience would be lost on a CD…" ---Posted by Chris (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra)

  • "What a joyful and uplifting concert! ...Thank you for an evening of exquisite music"—Posted by Wendy (Gary Graffman Celebration)


*2007 Year End Operating Results subject to audit.

(Please note, audience attendance and event revenue figures subject to change)

Kimmel Center, Inc. is a non-profit organization that owns, manages, supports and maintains the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts as well as the Academy of Music which is owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association. The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Academy of Music serve as the home to eight Resident Company performing arts organizations including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, American Theatre Arts for Youth, PHILADANCO, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Peter Nero and the Philly Pops. Kimmel Center, Inc.’s mission also includes arts in education, community outreach and a rich diversity in programming through its Kimmel Center Presents and Cadillac Broadway series of performances.

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