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“I was able to affect some positive change, and that’s kind of my (method of operation),” she says. She hopes her positivity and energy “will keep (OLT) successful, and maybe we can throw a little bit of growth in.”

She adds that she likes Ottawa, where she studied and worked in the late 1980s.

Sounding friendly and upbeat, Proctor declines to discuss exactly how she plans to help OLT meet its challenges, until she has a better handle on the job.

Those challenges include a deficit of $140,987 in 2014-15, which reduced the theatre’s accumulated surplus to $299,186. The result of factors like less investment income because of a sluggish market and a decline in box office receipts, it was the first deficit in six years. Board of directors president John Mark Keyes says this year will see another deficit, but that a balanced budget is expected next year, thanks to changes like increased ticket prices.

He says that despite that hoped-for balanced budget, “You’ve got to think of the future, not just the next year.”

He says that while the theatre’s financial status resulted in a “lively” town hall meeting earlier this year – one suggestion was to sell the valuable building, which OLT owns outright, and start afresh in a new location — the board is not in panic mode and is focusing on practical solutions.

For example, one and a half positions have been eliminated (McGuigan left because she was not interested in retaining her restructured position according to Keyes). As well, Tuesday performances will disappear in the coming season, freeing up the space for potential extra rental revenue.

The theatre, like so many others, is also plagued by fewer subscriptions.

Where runs used to practically sell out, OLT audiences now average about 64 per cent capacity as its subscriber base ages and people have an ever-greater range of entertainment options.

Even so, Keyes says attendance runs around 50,000 people a year. “That’s an enormous number of people coming to see live theatre, so I think we’re still in business.”

Exactly what OLT’s new managing director wants to hear.