BRIDGEPORT – If any local arts and culture afficionado would be the happiest to see the fruition of the $3.8 million expansion and renovation of The Klein Auditorium, it would have to be Marilyn Moore and Tenisi Davis.
These aren’t just any big fans of the auditorium and its theater.
One is a state senator representing Bridgeport and the other is a professional actor who got his start on the very stage at The Klein when he was just 11 years old. State Sen. Moore, a Democrat who chairs the state Bonding Committee, was instrumental in lining up the bond funds used to fund the work at the 85-year-old institution. City funds were also used in the project.
Davis, 36, has been in such TV shows as “Black List,” “Blue Bloods,” “FBI,” and “Daredevil.” He has also performed at TheaterSquared in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and the National Black Theater in Harlem. He is now The Klein’s director of education and acting instructor.
The two, who have known each other since Davis started performing at The Klein, showed their affinity for the Bridgeport theater and their endearing relationship that has developed at Friday’s ribbon cutting with The Klein Executive Director Laurence Caso and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz.
“I remember what this building was like when I was a kid. It was closed,” Davis said. “The neighborhood was a little bit different. And now, to be here in this building and to see this expansion, to see the building is full and there is programming, it really brings extreme joy to my heart.”
For Davis, his lifepath has brought him back to Bridgeport after success as a professional actor.
“When I was on the stage at The Klein, I really didn’t know where my life was going to go, what I was going to do,” he said. “So, years later after being on TV and films and doing all this great stuff, I’m so happy to be back here and working with KTA (Klein Theater Arts).”
Moore, who couldn’t hold back tears of joy during Friday’s ribbon cutting, remembered watching a young Davis grow up on stage into a successful actor. That was because she could remember being a young actor on that same stage when she was only a kid.
“I performed on that stage when I was 7 years old,” the state senator said. “Who would have thought that I when I was 7 I would be on an even larger stage as a state senator and help this organization build what it needs to build.”
And for Moore, it was more about just standing in the foyer of The Klein for the ribbon cutting press conference. She played a major role along with the rest of the state legislative delegation that included state Sen. Herron Gaston and state representatives Andre Baker (District 124), Fred Gee (District 126), Marcus Brown (District 127), Christopher Rosario (District 128), Steve Stafstrom (District 129), Antonio Felipe (District 130), and Cristin McCarthy Vahey (District 133).
“Today we get to turn the page in The Klein’s history book because we are unveiling the first new addition since its [opening] in 1940,” Bysiewicz said. “It was with the support of $3.8 million from our bond commission.
“There’s going to be space to accommodate over 70,000 patrons that attend events year after year. The governor and I are very proud to invest in Bridgeport and arts and cultural organizations.”
The new Klein
The new 4,950-square-foot wing includes the installation of an elevator to the mezzanine, a wheelchair-accessible restroom, a conference room, and three new offices. Earlier phases of the project included technical upgrades to the theater’s lighting, audio, and video projection systems, new carpeting, and an exterior digital billboard to promote upcoming events. The technical upgrades have mostly eliminated rental costs for audio and lighting equipment.
Caso explained the changes to the new wing at the theater.
“We’re just a few weeks away from being fully operable,” he said. “We started in 2016 with a bond commission grant that enabled us to make technical upgrades to the theater and upgrades to our video, audio and lights.”
Caso pointed to immediate dividends from having the technical upgrades as the theater hosted R&B star artist Maysa last week.
“We’re going to pay $1,500 for technical equipment for backlighting that would have cost us $8,500 if we didn’t have the [new lighting] system,” he said during the press conference.
And for the KTA, Friday night’s “Fame Jr.” production at The Klein included virtual sets that were made available because of the upgrades, Caso said.
[Friday night] “our kids in our after-school program are performing ‘Fame Jr.’ Instead of invest in sets, we could project background images as the sets,” he said. “All of these cost savings enable us to do more shows, create more jobs and create more economic activity.”
The Klein at 910 Fairfield Ave. has also hosted the prestigious Bridgeport Film Festival on its 30-foot screen since its inception in 2021 and will do so this year during the weekend of Sept. 12-14.
