For theaters across New York, the show did not go on during the peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, upstate theaters are asking for assistance from the state to keep them from shutting their doors.

Philip Morris, spokesperson for the Upstate Theater Coalition and CEO of Proctors and TheRep, told Capital Tonight that theaters in upstate are seeing smaller audiences than they would expect and that some people are “not quite ready to be shoulder to shoulder” amid the ongoing pandemic and omicron surge. Proctors, a theater that Morris runs in Schenectady, saw its operation shrink from $35 million in 2019 to just $2 million in 2020.

While Morris applauds the inclusion of a tax credit in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal, his group is asking for up to $25 million to ensure theaters in upstate can keep their doors open. The money would help theaters break even and reach 80% of their potential 2022 revenue, if they fall short. Morris said “the broken supply chain for arts and culture from March of 2019 is just starting to return” and the fund could help theaters survive in 2022 and return to normal in the coming years. Morris warns that without a safety net, theaters could cut back productions and their workforce.

The clock is ticking to get this fund included in a final budget deal. The state’s budget is due by April 1. Legislative hearings on Gov. Hochul’s proposed budget continue through Feb. 16.