How are smaller theater companies doing in this recession?

The economic storm has blown countless businesses out of the water.

In every town, a portion of the restaurants and shops has simply shuttered, and even successful services are being cut back. If straightforward commerce is doing that poorly, what's happening to the arts, which in America is not usually on the steadiest of financial footing to begin with?

We wanted to know how theater companies are doing in this climate. On a recent trip to Kansas City, we dropped by the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, which is producing a reconceived version of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musical Into the Woods, to find out how theater companies in mid-size cities are faring, and what sort of things they're doing to combat lower budgets.