Proctors Furloughs 80 Percent of Staff

SCHENECTADY — Proctors Collaborative – the organization which reopened Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs on Feb. 29 – announced March 18 it is furloughing roughly 80 percent of its workforce and that remaining staff will receive pay reductions.

The decision is the result of careful analysis about how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the organization in the near- and long-term, the organization announced in a statement. 

Proctors Collaborative has postponed programming at all three of its venues – Proctors, Universal Preservation Hall and Capital Repertory Theatre – through April 12. With the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that gatherings of 50 people or more be postponed or cancelled for eight weeks, it could be mid-May or later before Proctors Collaborative venues reopens its doors for performances and classes.

“It’s an extraordinary time with daily new and revising understandings about the virus and about its implications on what we, in the performing arts, do: share, connect, celebrate, embrace,” said Philip Morris, CEO. “It’s incredibly painful but for the near future, what we do must simply stop for the good of our whole community and by extension the country.”

The circumstances come at a historic juncture for the organization. Proctors Collaborative just opened UPH in Saratoga Springs on Feb. 29, and is planning to open a new Albany home for theREP in July. Patrons are encouraged to hold on to their tickets for postponed performances and to subscribe to the 2020-21 seasons at Proctors and theREP. “We need to ensure we have full houses as soon as we reopen our doors,” Morris emphasized. “That support will accelerate our recovery.”