Lamp Theatre remains dark as 3 workers cut

Hurt by the cancellation of shows since mid-March because of the covid-19 shutdowns, coupled with a public as hesitant about mingling in crowds as performers were cautious about traveling, The Lamp Theatre in Irwin has furloughed its three employees.

With revenue slowed to a trickle, The Lamp Theatre decided it was best to decrease costs by laying off the staff at the end of July, said John Gdula, president of The Lamp Theatre Corp. The nonprofit operates the renovated theater on Main Street.

“For now, we as volunteers will figure out how to make the shows continue until the time we can bring (the laid off employees) back,” Gdula said. He hopes the board can recall them by late fall.

The workers were laid off a few weeks in the spring, but the Lamp was able to recall them when it received $15,000 in federal Paycheck Protection Program money, Gdula said.

Gdula said he was not certain how much money the Lamp had lost from being shutdown this spring, and then having to cancel some shows that were not selling well.

“We were set to have our best year ever … our best March and April. It (the pandemic) came at the worst time,” Gdula said.

When Westmoreland County entered the “green phase” of the covid-19 restrictions in early June and the restrictions loosened, Gdula said they were able to seat about 150 people in the 350-seat theater, while still following social distancing guidelines.

“We were doing our part,” Gdula said.

Prior to the furlough, William Elder, operations manager and one of those furloughed, said he planned to cancel performances scheduled for August because of the governor’s July 15 mandate limiting the number of people inside the theater to 25% of capacity. Elder said he was working with the performers to try to reschedule.

Whether the Lamp will host shows that are booked for September will be decided when the theater board meets on Friday, Gdula said.

But, even when they were able to book the acts for seating of less than 50% capacity, Gdula said they found that the ticket-buying patrons were not returning in the numbers they anticipated. Shows that traditionally drew strong ticket sales were not getting the crowds they had drawn before covid-19. Some out-of-state acts also did not want to travel to Pennsylvania, Gdula said.

“People aren’t quite ready yet” to come back to the theater, Gdula said.