The 2008 economic downturn led to renewed financial difficulties over the next three years which reached a crisis in November 2011 when the company was forced to retrench and cancel its productions of "Tosca" and "The Flying Dutchman" scheduled for the spring of 2012. The problems were compounded when it was discovered that a bookkeeper had stolen thousands of dollars from the company as well as from the Canadian Council of Archives. In July 2012, John Peter "Jeep" Jefferies, who had previously been the Executive Director of Tulsa Opera, was appointed as the company's new General Director. Opera Lyra reopened in September of that year with a fully staged production of "La Bohème" and a concert version of "La Traviata" scheduled for March 2013.