BRIDGEPORT – After 50 years, the Downtown Cabaret Theatre will have its final curtain call after the run of “A Chorus Line” ends in June, according to theater Chair Bob Scinto.
“It is with a heavy heart that I need to inform you we are closing the doors of the Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport,” Scinto wrote in an open letter posted to his company’s website.
While Scinto thanked the local banks and the City of Bridgeport itself for keeping the lights on for so many years, he knew the theatre’s survival was not long after the city sold the 263 Golden Hill St. building to a private developer in 2015.
“The city once owned the building and paid the electric bills,” Scinto wrote. “Unfortunately, they sold the building to a private developer in 2015, who had economic motives and did not share the same interests the city had. I am a landlord myself and understand that position. However, once this occurred, the economics no longer worked.”
The 86-year-old building is now owned by Golden Hill Street Owner Realty LLC of Great Neck, Long Island, which bought it in 2024 from 263 Golden Street LLC for $2 million.
The Downtown Cabaret Theatre was established in 1976 under the artistic direction of Claude McNeal. The theatre was a passion project inspired by the success of the Sacred Heart University Cabaret. After witnessing several successful seasons of the cabaret in an academic setting, Mayor Nicholas Panuzio and other business and civic leaders took the initiative to create a resident professional theatre company, deeming it essential for the development of the downtown area.
In 1995, the Cabaret underwent a $1.3 million renovation to the facility. Renovations included the construction of a fly house over the stage, the remodeling of the backstage bathrooms, lobby, and house, as well as major upgrades to lighting, sound, and air conditioning equipment. These renovations were funded by a $900,000 grant from the state of Connecticut and a capital fundraising campaign. The newly renovated theatre now holds 290 people.
“I have been chairman of this theatre for over 40 years,” Scinto wrote. “I became chairman for two reasons. First, the Hallinan family, whom I love and respect. We lost our beloved Richard Hallinan in 2006. His wonderful wife, Susan, is still with us and she left such a huge impression in a very gentle and loving way on the theatre and everyone who walked through those doors.”
He said the second reason he became chair was that he was “genuinely invested” in the family they created on Golden Hill Street.
“Many weeks, I personally wrote checks to make payroll,” he wrote. “At one point, an impressive 80,000 people a year came to see off-Broadway-style productions at night in Bridgeport. I believed I could make a difference in the perception of the city and its development.”
