When the Fairfield Community Theatre first opened in 1920 at Unquowa Road and the Post Road in the center of Fairfield, a pandemic was ravaging the world and the question of wearing masks was being hotly debated. Now, 101 years later, another pandemic is sparking a fresh debate on masks while the venue has taken on new life as a performance space and an arts and education center.
The Sacred Heart University Community Theatre is designed to capture both its history as a nostalgic small-town cinema and a venue that hosts variety shows like Connecticut’s Got Talent, national grade musical acts, including The Bernie Williams Collective and intimate Q-and-A sessions with authors and creators of all stripes.
While Sacred Heart University owns the building, those responsible for running the Community Theatre have a long connection to this integral part of downtown Fairfield.
“I grew up around here,” said Matt Oestricher, a musician and producer who serves as the theater’s director. “This was my movie theater. I saw my first film here. I think it was “Back to the Future” or the first “Indiana Jones.”
“My earliest memories of movies were right here,” he said, standing under the marquee while pointing out how the Now Playing posters harken back to the ones of his youth. “I didn’t expect it, but it really feels like a full-circle experience.”
Oestricher has traveled the country and is leveraging a years’ long relationship with the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem to bring performers to the Community Theatre, but he stressed there is a feeling of homecoming in running the project.
Jason Ebert, Sacred Heart’s director of special events, is responsible for overseeing the university’s side of the operation. He also has ties to the city and the theater itself.
“I took my wife there on our second date,” he recalled. “The tickets are still in our scrapbook.”
Ebert has a full command of the theater’s history, recalling that the venue was conceived by the owners of an adjacent restaurant — the eatery’s operation was eventually converted into the old green room and while the backstage space became apartments. Over time, the building became three disjointed elements until Sacred Heart acquired the entire structure with the help of the Kleban Properties, with Old Post Tavern occupying the original restaurant space while the green room and make-up spaces are once again used by performers ready to go on-stage.
The real struggle, Ebert confided, was coming up with a new name for the space.
“It’s all about staying connected to the community,” Ebert said. “We were struggling with the logo and the design, and we kept coming back to the marquee. People kept referring to it as the “SHU’ or “Sacred Heart Theater’Â and we were like, ‘No, you have to use “Community’ because that’s what it is.’ We insisted on keeping “Community’ in the name.”
Sacred Heart University Community Theatre is now open for business, offering reasonably priced showing of classic movies and musical performances. For the week of Dec. 13, the venue is offering a sing-along version of the 1954 film classic “White Christmas” (Dec. 15), the New Haven Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Handel’s “Messiah” (Dec. 16), the Will Ferrell comedy “Elf” (Dec. 17) and “Connecticut’s Got Talent” (Dec. 18). The venue is also available to rent, with special rates for nonprofit organizations.
