Coming to a lobby near you.(National Corporate Theatre Fund)

AROUND THE COUNTRY: Some observers have called them a step toward commercialization. But more and more nonprofit theatres are jumping on board to place video monitors in their lobbies to display advertising and original programming aimed at theatregoers. The scheme is being touted as a smart approach to finding new sources of financing to support the works of nonprofit theatres.

StageVision hookups are already ensconced in the lobbies of eight companies, namely Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta, American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Mass., Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., ...