Local improv theatre company faces financial set back during pandemic

ATLANTA - As small businesses wait for relief from the Federal government, many are struggling to stay alive during the pandemic.

Many businesses, specifically the entertainment industry, have taken a hard hit.

Live theatre is a business that thrives off lots of people packed together in a room laughing.

"To go from almost a show every single night to no shows, has been quite a change for us," said Matthew Terrell, Communications Director of Dad's Garage.

But the laughs came to a halt in March when Dad's Garage, an improv theatre in the Old Fourth Ward, shut down because of COVID-19.

"In a regular, non-pandemic year, we perform about 300 performances at least yearly and have about 30,000 people come through our facility," said Terrell.

The theatre is projecting a loss of about a half-million dollars this year.

"It's been really hard to not have shows running. We are losing money every single week," said Terrell.

Some shows still do go on virtually. The theatre is hosting a holiday performance online, but it had to cancel one of its biggest annual shows based off the Christmas classic, A Christmas Carol.

"We need to come up with ways to build revenue," explained Terrell, "I thought wouldn't it be really fun to have holiday yards signs based on Invasion Christmas Carol?"

Dad's Garage is a nonprofit which means every dollar it makes goes back to its mission of making people laugh. They told FOX 5 reopening is in the future, but not for a while.

"We are scheduling that to be probably one year after a vaccine is released," said Terrell.

That's why they're asking you to help keep the laughs alive.

If you would like to purchase an Invasion Christmas Carol yard sign, click here.

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