The Madison Cultural Arts District Board of Directors learned Tuesday its 2009 operating costs remain under budget.

MCAD was only down 6 percent, or $50,000, in revenue in January, according to Chris Hunjas-Duerner, chief financial officer of MCAD, who attributed part of the loss to a 13 percent drop in ticket sales at the Overture Center.

“February is typically a very low room rental month typically, and going forward we will [fix that] with the ’09-’10 budget,” Hunjas-Duerner said. “We are actually ahead of budget, slightly.”

Exemplifying how certain performances contributed to the financial state of MCAD, Hunjas-Duerner said the January performance of “Sweeney Todd” met capacity with performances, but lost guests at dress rehearsals and reserved too many tickets for student rush.?

Despite the loss, Hunjas-Duerner added the Overture Center is definitely up in ticket sales.?

“Ticket sales report … we completely sold clear for Bill Cosby. Two complete sellouts, and he performed for two straight hours the first night,” said Tom Carto, president and chief executive officer of the Overture Center.?

Carto added sales for “Stomp” look good, and MCAD is “gaining ground” with a 5 percent lead in ticket sales so far in 2009.?

However, Carto confessed to a loss in sales for “The Drowsy Chaperone,” which had a negative effect on the Center for not raking in as much revenue as expected.

Also, Art Garfunkel, who opened the 2008-09 season, was expected to bring in a gross of 73,000 people. However, he only brought in a crowd of about 60,000, Carto added.?

“I think our spring is turning out to be a lot better than last fall,” Carto said. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed to keep selling those tickets.”

MCAD Chair Linda Baldwin said MCAD may also receive money from the Wisconsin Arts Board for funding. The money would be used particularly for staffing, retention and bringing back staff members who were laid off for budget cuts.

If MCAD is granted the money, Carto said it will mainly be used for staff retention.?

However, the MCAD board hopes to get money from the Madison Repertory Theatre but is not optimistic the plan is viable.?

The Rep, which previously occupied the Playhouse at the Overture Center, closed early last month due to an insurmountable $500,000 in debt.

According to Hunjas-Duerner, the Rep owed Overture about $12,000 in production fees and $6,000 for some productions this season that did not bring in as much revenue as expected. Now the Rep owes another $45,000 in cancellations.

Jennifer Post Tyler, MCAD’s director of planning and analysis, said the Overture Center is having people observe its operations to “fine tune” its strategies and achieve long term goals.?

“We are given resources and we have to make smart choices,” Tyler said.