Tacoma Arts Live cancels gala, will cut jobs after coronavirus ban on large events
Tacoma Arts Live, the nonprofit theater group in downtown Tacoma, will lay off some of its part-time staff and cut pay for salaried employees in light of the governor’s decree Wednesday to cancel all large-scale events in the Puget Sound region.
It has also postponed its annual gala — its biggest fundraiser — at the Tacoma Armory, moving it from next Saturday, March 21 to Friday, May 29. (Last year’s gala also was rescheduled after record snowfall in February 2019 conflicted with the original date.)
The ban on events of 250 or more people — meant to stem the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 25 people in Washington state, most in King County — affects 14 other events at the organization’s four venues: the Pantages Theater, the Rialto Theater, Theater on the Square and the Tacoma Armory.
Executive director David Fischer told The News Tribune that financial losses from these cancellations will run into the million-dollar range, and the fallout will reverberate to some 12,000 people, including staff, artists and audience members.
In addition to upcoming performances through early April, the organization will lose some part-time staff and cut salaries for staffers by 25%, according to Fischer.
“We’re immediately tightening our payroll belt, but at the same time, we need to take care of our people,” he told The News Tribune in a phone call.
He cautioned of the delicate balance between staying afloat and ensuring that employees don’t need to fall back on emergency government assistance.
“We don’t want to make things worse for everybody,” Fischer said. “We’re trying to find the balance point on that.”
Certain events, like the gala, have been rescheduled. Shows will be handled on a case-by-case basis regarding artist and venue availability, with some moved later into the spring and others through summer to fall.
How to bounce back from the financial losses of these changes will “come in several layers,” said Fischer. “One part will be rescheduling, but we have sunk costs that we’ll never recoup. Other parts are going to hopefully be filled by philanthropic support and certainly from patience and loyalty of our ticket buyers.”
He emphasized that Tacoma Arts Live is not the only nonprofit that will feel the effects of the ban.
“We are not alone. There are a lot of community nonprofits that are vulnerable in this position,” Fischer told The News Tribune. “We are not a big corporation. We are not the government. We do not have massive access to rainy day funds, and so we are having to manage with a very tight set of resources, and it’s challenging.”
The question of dealing with events under 250 people is complicated by social distancing guidance, he added. In a theater, that might mean that guests be placed with a seat between every seat, but the precise solution remains unclear.
AFFECTED SHOWS AT TACOMA ARTS LIVE
All told, performances through early April are off the table, including several one-night-only shows, a jiu jitsu competition at the Armory and educational programming. The box office is working to connect with subscribers and ticket holders to address the changes.
“We are trying to ask people to be patient as we try to find rescheduled dates ... and to hang tight until we can work through those details,” said Fischer.
- March 14: “Disenchanted!” the musical
- March 21: Symphony Tacoma performance of Ludwig and Beethoven
- March 22: The Queen’s Coronation program of The Daffodil Festival
- March 26, 27, and 28: Tribes
- March 28: The Righteous Brothers
- March 29: ABBA The Concert
- March 31: The Black Collective community dialogue
- April 3: Meow Meow cabaret
- April 4: Steep Canyon Rangers and Amy Grant
- April 5: “Finding Neverland”