It took a strong dose of tough love, but after six years of operating in the red, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre yesterday unveiled a financial surplus for the 2006-07 season, capping a good year for three of the region's major cultural institutions.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra also said it balanced its budget for the first time in three years, while the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, which regularly covers an operating deficit through multiple dips into its endowment, said it expects to end that practice starting next year.

The fiscal news was particularly bright for the PBT, which took some hard steps to gets its finances in order, including reducing staff and performances, and eliminating, at times, the use of an orchestra.

Now, it expects to go on a national tour, bolstered by new contracts with the dancers and musicians.

"We're on a roll," Carolyn Byham, vice chairwoman of the PBT board and longtime supporter of the company, said at a news conference at the Benedum Center, Downtown.

Executive Director Harris Ferris agreed, citing a 26 percent increase in ticket sales that reversed an 11-year trend, aided by sold-out performances for "Swan Lake" and "Peter Pan."

The annual operating budget of $6.6 million reflects measures that include shaving marketing expenses by 6 percent, although the ballet company is planning a $3 million campaign, "Your City Your Ballet," to lure new revenue from the Pittsburgh community.

The PSO also cited rising ticket sales as a factor in its improved financial condition.

While an audit of its finances for the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31 is not yet complete, "we can say with confidence that we [ended] the year with at least a balanced budget," President Larry Tamburri said yesterday before the orchestra's annual meeting in Fifth Avenue Place, Downtown.

The orchestra last had a surplus -- $463,000 -- in 2003-04, but the season prior and the two seasons afterward resulted in deficits of more than $1 million, all on budgets around $30 million.

In addition to higher ticket sales, the PSO's annual fund grew, while its endowment earnings continue to be healthy, Mr. Tamburri said. The endowment stands at about $130 million, from which the PSO draws about 6.5 percent annually, considered high for the industry.

Revenue for the '06-07 season also was augmented by funds apportioned from the $29.5 million Simmons family gift, announced in November.

"While we have a long way to go to improve where we need to go in terms of our financial performance, the arrows are now pointing in the right direction," Mr. Tamburri said.

At the Carnegie Museums, President David Hillenbrand is making changes to stop using more than 5.5 percent of its endowment to help cover a typical $3.5 million annual deficit in the $55 million operating budget for the four museums.

He's also optimistic about three high-profile exhibits -- "Bodies ... The Exhibition," now showing at the Carnegie Science Center; next month's opening of the expanded dinosaur hall at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History; and next spring's 55th edition of the Carnegie International exhibition.

As for the coming year, the PBT has reached agreements with its two major unions that officials hope will provide much-needed stability.

Artistic director Terrence Orr said the company had signed a three-year American Guild of Music Artists contract with the dancers, some of whom attended yesterday's gathering in costumes from the upcoming season's productions.

And Mr. Ferris added that musicians from the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Orchestra have settled their two-year contract. The contract calls for live music to continue with two orchestral performances, but the musicians will remain sidelined for the annual production of "The Nutcracker."

There are other challenges ahead for the PBT.

After this year, it will have to find new revenue sources to keep the ensemble in the Benedum pit. The "Say It With Music Fund," which helped reinstate the orchestra, received a jump-start two years ago with a $75,000 matching gift for each year from an anonymous donor, but that donation will disappear in 2008-09.

It also needs to address nearly $1 million in accumulated debt and deferred maintenance on the company studios in the Strip District.

Mr. Ferris hopes to draw on the community for such support, bolstered by the addition of nearly 1,500 subscribers despite a reduction in the number of orchestra and company performances.

The PBT also hopes to generate more revenue by working with international booking agency Columbia Artists Management Inc. to develop a national tour of British choreographer Derek Deane's "Alice in Wonderland" for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. Columbia's roster includes American Ballet Theatre, Moscow Festival Ballet, Complexions Dance Company, Momix and Parsons Dance.

"CAMI is actively working with us not only nationally but internationally," Mr. Ferris said. "We have to play big-ticket venues like Wolf Trap with 4,000 people. We also have to shape ourselves to a small, lean touring ensemble for a place like Montgomery County Community College [near Philadelphia] with a 250-seat house.

"We know we want to compete on the touring circuit."