CALGARY (660 NEWS) – While Calgarians work to save money, one thing they don’t seem to be sacrificing is tickets to the theatre.

Vertigo Theatre and the Alberta Theatre Projects (ATP) say they’re enjoying a record year, despite seeing a dip in sponsorship.

Both theatres said they found efficiencies in their administrative staff and focused on the stage while reviewing audience feedback.

Darcy Evans, Executive and Artistic Director at ATP said their efforts have paid off.

“The result is that attendance is up 78 per cent. It’s just really exciting to us to dream big and be really careful with our pennies, but to see people turn out in the numbers that they are is really satisfying.”

The Theatre Project’s current show, ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ is their highest-grossing ever, performing so well, additional shows have been added.

Meanwhile, Vertigo has broken its own record with the current production of ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Raven’s Curse’.

Artistic Director, Craig Hall said the theatre has the most subscribers ever this year, and the downturn has actually brought an increase in patrons.

“My sense is that people are spending their disposable income at home. We all think of ourselves (theatre) as a place to go for an escape and I think a lot of people are looking to step out of their own reality for a while and have a little bit of phone.”

‘Sherlock Holmes’ finishes its run at Vertigo on Saturday while ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ has been extended until Dec. 29.