Poehler says she took the past year to work with Project Rethink, formed by UCB alums in order to get their feedback, and while she’s hopeful for some sort of “new version” of the space and group, she is unsure UCB will survive.
“I don’t know. It’s been brutal for us,” she told the NYT. “We’re basically using the fire of Covid to start some new version. We’re changing our school and our theater to not-for-profit. Whether or not we’ll be able to get there, I don’t know.”
In 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, employees at the UCB theaters in New York and Los Angeles were laid off.
Comedy clubs across the country are shuttering due to the pandemic, with famed club Dangerfield’s in New York City shutting its doors recently.