Regarding the recent economic survey of Off Off Broadway conducted by the New York Innovative Theater Foundation, the Times published an article with a quote that really tickles the ol' funny bone.

"We've been dying for numbers," said Paul Bargetto, the artistic director of East River Commedia, based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and one of the founders of an Off Off Broadway lobbying group called the League of Independent Theater. "It's been really hard for us to say 'Look what we do' beyond the artistic arguments."

All the number-crunching is a sign that Off Off Broadway is trying to move past its "Hey, let's put on a show" reputation and fight for concrete gains, Mr. Bargetto said. But that, in turn, indicates how tough conditions are becoming.

"You start to show people the numbers involved here," he said. "What city wouldn't want to have 350 to 400 not-for-profit theater companies?"

Is he kidding? All that me-tooism concentrated in one city would tear the urban fabric apart. Even if there's no such thing as too much theatre, might there be such a thing as too many theater companies?

Read the full Times article right here.