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For the first time in 33 seasons, the N.C. Shakespeare Festival will stage only one play this month, instead of two.

Greensboro Opera will cut November performances of "La Traviata" from two to one and will cut back on costumes and scenery.

And Triad Stage will produce five MainStage plays this season instead of six.

As Guilford County's performing arts organizations open their 2009-10 seasons, the troubled economy has forced them to get more creative about producing enticing shows at lower costs.

When recession hit last year, these nonprofit groups faced national declines in single-ticket sales, grants, endowments, sponsorships and donations.

Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, Triad Stage and Community Theatre of Greensboro ended the last fiscal year with budget deficits.

"Last season kind of hit us all by surprise," says Community Theatre executive director Mitchel Sommers.

So, this season, groups cut expenses and risk to protect their futures.

"Everyone wants to maintain their performances, and everyone is trying to find ways without compromising their financial situations and their artistic product," says Barbara Peters, Greensboro Opera executive director.

Arts groups aim to avoid the drastic step taken by the Hayes Performing Arts Center, 120 miles west in Blowing Rock. It will suspend operations this month because

of the economy, with hopes to resume by next summer.

"We would rather batten down the hatches during these uncertain times than to sail full out," says Pedro Silva, Shakespeare Festival managing and artistic director.

This fall, the High Point-based festival planned to stage both "Macbeth" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

But summer dreams gave way to autumn realities.

Ticket sales for last season fell short of expectations. High gasoline prices prompted schools to cut back on sending students to shows.

Faced with uncertainty, the Shakespeare festival canceled this fall's drama "Macbeth" and kept the comic "Dream," a popular show it last produced in 2003.

That will save $80,000.

"If we had gone ahead and done two shows, what if we had a continued drop-off in school attendance and ticket sales?" Silva said. "We could end the year many tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and that would jeopardize our existence."

It still plans to present its traditional "A Christmas Carol" in December and hopes to reschedule "Macbeth" in 2010.

Greensboro Opera will save $100,000 by trimming its November production of Verdi's "La Traviata," without hurting artistic quality, says Peters, its executive director.

Instead of renting scenery and costumes, it will project scenery on a scrim or sheer fabric backdrop. Singers will dress primarily in glamorous dresses and tuxedos.

And it will reduce performances from two to one.

The moves will protect the opera's long-term financial health and keep it debt-free.

"We intend to keep presenting opera, but it may just be in a little different form, in line with what we can afford," Peters said.

The Greensboro Symphony, which faced a $52,000 deficit last season, received a boost this summer from $50,000 in federal stimulus money.

That enabled it to keep two of its four full-time staff jobs.

But it still had to find ways to control expenses and meet its $1.8 million budget for its 50th anniversary season.

"The board, the musicians, the music director -- everyone is saying that we have to be careful," CEO Lisa Crawford said.

Unlike the North Carolina Symphony in Raleigh, the local orchestra hasn't slashed pay. But it froze staff salaries and musician fees and cut a part-time office manager.

It will play music that comes from its library or the public domain to save rental fees that can run $1,200 to $2,500. It programmed pieces that won't require more than its 77 musicians under contract.

But its 50th anniversary show will go on. Emanuel Ax, one of the world's finest classical pianists, will open the season on Sept. 25 and 26.

Other concerts will feature popular artists from years past, including pianist Bella Davidovich and Time for Three. Music director Dmitry Sitkovetsky, a renowned violinist, will trade his conductor's baton for his violin to solo with the orchestra in October.

Crawford predicts that audiences will appreciate the familiar faces and music.

"When you are in better economic conditions, sometimes you give musicians and the music director more leeway so that they can experiment with new music," Crawford said. "Sometimes audiences like it, and sometimes they don't."

The Broach Theatre and Open Space Café Theatre have found that familiar shows draw larger audiences and can be safer bets when times are tight.

Neil Simon's comedy "Chapter Two" did well at the Broach this summer because "it was a known commodity," theater co-founder Stephen Gee said.

For that reason, Open Space artistic director Joe Nierle has programmed "The Odd Couple" and "On Golden Pond" for January and February.

"We will be conservative and careful in choice of shows and might not pick a more daring show," Nierle said.

As Triad Stage planned its 2009-10 shows back in January, artistic director Preston Lane and managing director Richard Whittington discussed whether to change its programming mix in response to the economy.

They decided against it, Whittington said.

"We felt that people have come to rely on our programming and there is a balance with our seasons, and to mess with that balance would be the wrong direction," Whittington said.

The downtown professional theater plans seasons with a mix of drama and comedy, male and female voices, classics and world premieres, a play on the African American experience and at least one with a Southern voice.

It opens its ninth season today with a classic -- William Inge's drama, "Picnic" -- and ends next summer with "Providence Gap," its fourth original work by Lane and musician Laurelyn Dossett.

"For us, the new and bold works are where we see better ticket sales," Whittington said. "When we take artistic risks, Greensboro seems to reward us."

But Triad Stage was not untouched by the economic downtown.

It expected to end its fiscal year last week with a deficit, likely $100,000 to $150,000, Whittington said. It hopes that fundraising will close the gap.

For the fiscal year that began Tuesday, it cut its budget by 15 percent to $1.63 million, and reduced MainStage plays from six to five.

That lowered the price of a season pass, pleasing patrons and keeping renewals on pace with last season, Whittington said.

"I think we have taken proactive steps to make sure that Triad Stage is positioned to weather this storm," Whittington said.

"We are talking about our 10th anniversary season, and we want to make sure that we are here for the 20th and 30th, as well."

Community Theatre knows about survival.

This year, it celebrates 60 years of showcasing local talent in dramas, comedies and musicals. In November, it will mark its 15th year of presenting "The Wizard of Oz."

It, too, had to cut costs.

It did not present its standard summer musical.

Staff took a 20 percent summer pay cut to avoid layoffs.

In April, it will present only one weekend of its 60th anniversary show at the Carolina Theatre, instead of two. And it has put on hold its plans to buy the downtown Masonic Temple for a permanent home.

Its option to buy the $2 million property expired, and the temple board of directors opted not to extend it. As a result, Community Theatre will stage plays in other venues this season.

"We have to pay our staff before we buy a $2 million building," Sommers said.

Because it opted not to dip into its endowment to pay for project feasibility and architectural studies, it ended last season with a $30,000 deficit.

But Sommers predicts a good year as supporters rally to acknowledge Community Theatre's season of milestones.

"We are 60 years old," he said, "and someone does not get to old age unless they have learned to pull in the belt when times are tough and enjoy spending a little extra when times are good."

Contact Dawn DeCwikiel-Kane at 373-5204 or dawn.kane@news-record.com