Even though he has a benefactor’s promise of money to help save The Cabaret Dinner Theatre, executive producer Kirk McConnell said he’s still nervous.

“The question is whether we’ll see it in time,” McConnell said. The benefactor has several hurdles to clear, including retrieving money from a trust in Texas, he said.

The theater is not closing, McConnell said, even though a Mesa County District Court judge ruled last week that he owes landlord Mary Donlan more than $28,000 for rent on the theater at 701 Main St.

Donlan needed the protection of the court order, McConnell said, and “her concerns are my concerns.”

The Cabaret is current with the state, which closed the theater briefly earlier this year because of unpaid taxes, and has reached an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service, McConnell said.

With that arrangement in place, McConnell said he has cut payroll from $80,000 monthly to less than half that amount by reducing staff from as many as 115 people to between 85 and 95, and has begun other efficiencies.

The Cabaret made money in the last quarter of 2007 and lost money in the first quarter of 2008, roughly balancing out, he said.

With the beginning of the current quarter, he said, he hopes to start drawing in more money than he’s spending.

“The long-term prognosis now is better than it has been in the entire history of our existence,” he said.

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E-mail Gary Harmon at gharmon@gjds.com.