After a little over a decade of hosting more than 30 productions of Broadway musicals, OB Playhouse will soon close following a hefty rent increase at its space at 4944 Newport Ave in Ocean Beach. And the current and last show at OB Playhouse is “Rent.”
The current tenants, Bill and Jennie Connard, own and manage OB eBikes in front of the theater, were given a commercial eviction action against them in March 2022 by Lyle and Linda Cocking, who own the playhouse property. However, the case was dismissed back then.
Bill Connard was quoted by Tyler Faurot in the U-T:
“The rent on the space is about $8,500 [per month] before utilities and the equipment, and the landlords were looking to raise it to about $14,000 a month. With that said, it’s not the landlord’s fault that the playhouse is going away. It’s that commercial rents are too high to support community theater.”
With the news that their rent would be increasing, the Connards concluded they couldn’t afford to keep leasing the space. Consequently, OB Playhouse will cease and Wildsong Productions will have to find a new venue for its productions.
The significance of “Rent” — a musical about artists facing eviction from their space and struggling to make ends meet — being the final performance at OB Playhouse is not lost on the cast and crew.
Will Corkery, a volunteer performer who plays Benny in “Rent,” lamented the passing of the theater and the uncertainty it leaves for Wildsong. He said:
“There’s something about this company that pushes people to bring their all to it. It’s not something that I’ve experienced anywhere else that I’ve done theater. … I’m not ready to give that up.”
Wildsong Artistic Director Brooke Aliceon said:
“I think on the subconscious level it’s affected everyone. I don’t know how it wouldn’t. There’s this constant emotional tug of war between the doom of it all and being really proud of what we’ve done. This show means a lot.”
The playhouse site, formerly used as a bar, was renovated into an amateur music venue by Paul Bolton, owner of the former Electric Chair hair salon on Newport Avenue. Bolton rented out the space to production companies to put on musical theater shows, which is how OB Playhouse came to be.
But the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be a hefty challenge for the Connards after about five years of productions. The theater had to shut down seven different times, Bill Connard said, meaning it lost ticket revenue while still needing to scrape together enough money to make rent. …
“After COVID shut us down, and [after] we did ‘Spamalot,’ I opened the bike shop out in front,” Bill Connard said. “We were looking for someone that wanted to rent the space on a temporary basis in order to cover our rent until we got through our lease.”
That’s when Wildsong came in. That was then. Now Wildsong is seeking a new space as well as financial support for its efforts.
The group has launched a membership campaign at givebutter.com/RGnix4 to raise funds to help it keep operating following the playhouse closure. The effort has generated more than $6,600 so far.
The Connards have been able to find another storefront in Ocean Beach for their bike shop. But they said the end of the playhouse will create a void in the OB arts community, and they fear that bringing such a theater back is unlikely in the current climate.
“What’s really a bummer isn’t just that we won’t be doing it anymore, it’s … that there won’t be a theater in OB,” Jennie Connard said. “The people of OB were really behind it and happy to have something to do in town that wasn’t just drinking and eating.
“The music scene is alive and well, and there’s other arts and culture for sure, but you won’t be able to watch a show there anymore. Something special was going on here.”
‘Rent’
Where: OB Playhouse, 4944 Newport Ave., Ocean Beach
When: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 6 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 23
Cost: $30-$38
Information: wildsongproductions.showit.site
