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You learned an important lesson and an answer for Catherine
by Lynda Kennedy
Honey- always spend your budget!!! If you don't, it could get cut. No matter how good or popular or even lucrative your program is (and this is true for non- theater programs as well) if the powers that be can shave off money they will. As Jim brought up at the conference, it's never even good to let it be known that one person shows are as effective as three person shows or you could have your staffing budget cut.
Now, for Catherine's question. I think we have to have two strands of research. First- the "prove ourselves useful to the bean counters" research which is all about $ generated- either through earned income or grants, increased visitation to the museum as a whole,impact on return visits and increased visibility for the institution. But for ourselves as professionals and museum theater as a profession we should also be doing research like we saw at the conference on museum theater's impact on construction of meaning in the museum setting, on the impact of museum theater on reaching educational goals (very helpful for getting grant money- therefore pleasing the bean counters) on museum theater's impact on emotion and memory.
And I truly feel that one should never ever feel the need to prove your program's worth. You have to just know it, be prepared with your research and walk the halls with 'tude. Then if your worth is questioned you whip out the documentation on the dollars you've brought in, the stats of visitors who say they returned for your theater piece, the newspaper clipping with the photo of one of your costumed performers/interpreters with the mayor at some street fair where the caption mentions your institution's name. 1/2 the ballgame is not seeing ourselves like second class citizens within the institution.