UApresents, the University of Arizona arts presenter, posted a nearly $100,000 profit from its 2006-07 season, the first time it has used black ink in its books in six seasons.

And there's more good news, said Executive Director Natalie Bohnet. It already has sold nearly $1 million in tickets for the upcoming season — about 16 percent more than at this time last year. One event, the Jan. 16, 2008, concert with renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman, already has sold out.

"It feels good to have good news," Bohnet said Tuesday. "Many shows are well over 800 seats sold. I don't remember that ever happening before. Martha Graham (Dance Company) has already sold 900 seats. We think that's a good indication that people are happy with the offerings."

This is the first season in six years that the organization has posted a revenue surplus. Last year, it lost $145,000, which added to a deficit topping $1 million last September. This year's $98,878 profit comes largely from fundraising, belt-tightening and sellout performances including "A Scottish Christmas," Interpreti Veneziani, The Chieftains, The Peking Acrobats, Olympia Dukakis as "Rose," the Moscow Festival Ballet, Maya Angelou, and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell. UApresents relies on ticket sales for 65 percent of its revenue and fundraising — which pulled in $500,000 in 2006-07 — for most of the rest.

"It's fantastic news. We were working this year to try to improve that program, and I think Natalie and her employees and the advisory board have done a super job in terms of turning that program around," said UA Associate Vice President Ed Frisch, who oversees UApresents. "We think it's a first step toward a much more vibrant program."

The 2006-07 season also marked the first without a Broadway series, which over the years had proved to be a blessing and a burden. The touring musicals tended to draw big audiences, but they posed higher financial risks and escalating overhead that drained much of the profit. In the end, Bohnet and a committee of advisers argued that the series wasn't worth the cost.

UApresents has grappled with a bloated deficit since the 2004-05 season, when it lost $250,000 on the Broadway musical "Hairspray." The losses mounted the following season, when it lost $60,000 on its run of "Oklahoma!" and another $99,000 — including a lawsuit settlement of $83,856 — when it canceled "Little Shop of Horrors."

Last year, there was talk of eliminating UApresents altogether, Frisch said.

"We had a lot of serious discussion on campus about the future of the program," he said. "(UA President Robert) Shelton was very serious about giving the program a bit more time to turn around."

Shelton stepped in last September and forgave more than $1.2 million in debt — $952,000 from an accumulated deficit and $260,000 from a university loan used to purchase a new ticketing system. He told the agency it would have to repay the money, but he did not set a timetable. Shelton could not be reached for comment on Tuesday and Frisch said it's premature to begin talking about a repayment plan.

UApresents is focusing its attention on shoring its reserves to avoid its past financial pitfalls, Frisch said.

Bohnet said the university would like to see her organization have a half-million-dollar reserve.

But she said none of this year's surplus will go toward that fund. Instead, some will finance an overhaul of the agency's Web site (www.uapresents.org).

"We've got good community support and we think that we will be able to provide programming that the community will really enjoy for a number of years." Frisch said. "I think we're starting to get that program turned around. We needed to get a cushion. Last year we ran $145,000 negative. This year we came out almost $99,000 positive. That's a huge turnout."

● Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@azstarnet.com or 573-4642.