The theater's creators and overseers, the Mayfair Community Development Corporation, announced over the weekend in letters to about 700 subscribers that a state budget cut left the agency with no money to create productions from scratch.

"It's a huge disappointment, and it wasn't a decision we made lightly," said the agency's executive director, Brian Patrick King, by phone yesterday. "At this point, we cannot be producing shows," he said, adding that the 400-seat Devon may book visiting troupes, and will be open for arts education programs, corporate and private functions, and one-nighters - film, comedy, or concerts.

King would not say how much state money the agency had expected in order to support the Devon's first full season. He did say, in response to a question, that the five productions slated for this season would have cost a minimum of $100,000 each.

About 700 subscribers have been offered extra tickets to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which opened Thursday after previews. They had paid $100 for a five-show season - a bargain price for live theater in the city - and are holding tickets for three more shows after Joseph: the comedy Noises Off, and the musicals Pump Boys and Dinettes and Forever Plaid.

King said yesterday that the theater was looking into other options for subscribers who already paid for shows.

The Devon's productions are run by Fuse Management, a theatrical and special events company that produced its shows. Earlier this season, its founding artistic director, Michael Pickering, departed suddenly and without comment, and his assistant, Kimberly Reilly, was named associate artistic director in his place. No one returned calls yesterday from the theater, which like many live theaters is dark on Mondays.

The letter to subscribers was signed "Devon Theater Inc. Mgt & Staff" and cited "difficult and uncertain financial times" that led to "a significant cut in funding for community and economic development across the state."

"As a result of these budget cuts," it said "the state grant allocated to cover stage productions and operational costs associated with these productions for the Devon Theater was cut from the budget."

The Mayfair community development organization is attempting to make the Devon a key part of its programs to revitalize Frankford Avenue, a local main artery, and has invested $6 million in the project, including the surrounding streetscape. The theater, which the group purchased for $800,000, is the last survivor of several Northeast Philadelphia single-screen movie theaters that became second-run houses as the business changed. At one point, the Devon was a porno house.

It was revitalized as a state-of-the-art theater for live shows, with a crystal-clear sound system and some trappings of film houses and arenas - cupholders for drinks, and a skybox-type balcony. The theater opened March 27, with Nunsense.