Community looks for ways to save Bridgeport's Downtown Cabaret Theatre
An online campaign is trying to put pressure on the city to buy back the theatre's building.
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One week after Bridgeport's Downtown Cabaret Theatre announced it would be closing at the end of June after 50 years, people who have come through its doors are trying to find ways to save it.
"It's been people's first theatre experience, it's been their last," said Robert Peterpaul, a member of the theater's community, who has spent years doing just about every role with it.
Peterpaul described how he felt the day the closure was announced.
"The whole day, I just felt this like weight, and then I just jumped into action and thought there's got to be a way we can save this," he said.
But the cabaret's executive director, Hugh Hallinan, tells News 12 the only way to save the theatre is to find a way to cover the extra $250,000 it has had to pay every year since the city sold the building in 2015, leaving it in an unsustainable place financially.
"We had no money in the bank, I mean it was really just like 'are we going to make payroll this week?' and all the credit cards are maxed out, so, I haven't been paid in the last year," Hallinan said.
While the money could come in the form of a gift, or a grant, Hallinan says the City of Bridgeport could also just buy the building back, and cover the Cabaret's rent and utilities like it used to do.
According to Hallinan, that would cost $2.5 million, something he has e-mailed Mayor Joe Ganim about, and visited City Hall to discuss, but says so far, he has gotten no response on.
"Its kind of stunning that I haven't heard a word from anybody, and I know a lot of people over there that I e-mailed," Hallinan said. "I feel like City Hall and this administration is just trying to wait for this news cycle to run out."
However Peterpaul is hoping to make the issue harder for them to ignore.
"If we can all just sort of just bombard them with our love for this place, I think it just takes one person to say yes and really champion it," he said.
Starting with an Instagram post, he says an online campaign has led to hundreds of e-mails and phone calls to city officials in just a few days.
"The spotlight's kind of on them now, and I do think we can get somewhere with at least giving Hugh and his family the final bow they deserve," Peterpaul said.
News 12 also reached out to both the Mayor's Office and City Council President, but so far has not heard back.
If June does end up being the end, Hallinan says a few outside groups have reached out to him about the possibility of continuing the Children's "Theatre For A Young Audience" and community theatre programs, so their legacies can live on.
