Austin's ZACH Theatre furloughs 75% of staff

After cancelling or postponing all of its upcoming shows, camps and fundraisers through April and most of May due to city and county orders intended to slow down the spread of the coronavirus, the ZACH Theatre announced the loss of revenue would force it to furlough 75% of its employees.

The furloughed employees will receive their current health benefits from the theater, and the remaining staff will work on reduced salaries, “with leadership taking the largest cut,” according to a media release.

Furloughs and salary reductions will impact a staff of nearly 200, according to a spokesperson for the theater.

"While we are doing everything we can to support these employees in the coming months, they do not deserve this. The ZACH staff work with a passion, creativity, and dedication that is unmatched and delivering this news to them is the low point of our careers,” said the theater’s Producing Artistic Director Dave Steakley and Managing Director Elisbeth Challener in a statement.

The theater, located at 202 S. Lamar Blvd., Austin, was founded in 1932 as Austin Civic Theatre. Canceled shows include “Roe,” “The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show” and “Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch.” Spring break camps have also been canceled, but summer camps, scheduled to begin June 1, are still on as scheduled.

Customers who had tickets to the canceled shows can contact the theater at [email protected] to either request a refund, exchange tickets for a future performance or donate the amount of the ticket to the nonprofit organization.