(AP) ASHLAND, Ore. - With the recession cutting back travel and entertainment spending, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival was anticipating a tough 2009 season _ so much so that it cut the budget $1 million and actors tripled-up on roles.

But the repertory theater Monday reported record attendance of 410,034 _ 89 percent of capacity for the three theaters _ and revenues of $17,098,115.

Executive director Paul Nicholson called the turnaround "astonishing," and credited loyal festival patrons.

Among the most popular plays of the season were a modern adaptation of a 250-year-old Italian farce, "The Servant of Two Masters;" the quirky "Dead Man’s Cell Phone," and the classic American musical, "The Music Man."