Wilton Playhouse producers Gary Waldman and Jamison Troutman closed their 300-seat theater in Wilton Manors on Monday — and within 24 hours, two offers to reopen under new management were on the table.
The closing marks the second time a live theater operation has folded there in the past 15 months.
Former operator Brian C. Smith converted the space from a movie house in 1988, but after several years of declining business, lost his lease in mid-1999 for nonpayment of rent.
At that time, more than half a dozen serious inquiries were made to property owners Tom and Hully Gill of Gill Realty. Hully Gill said on Tuesday that this time, two offers have already been made and he expects more.
The comedy Bungalow Bunnies, originally planned to run through December, closed after Sunday’s performance. Troutman said the final decision not to reopen was made Monday.
“When Brian [Smith] failed, we thought a theater couldn’t work there, and we almost tore the building down,” Hully Gill said. “But people came out of the woodwork asking to lease it. I think that’s going to happen again. There appears to be a demand for a theater here.”
Gill said he felt Waldman and Troutman were undercapitalized, echoing the duo’s own statements.
“We closed down rather than being closed down,” Waldman said. “We had a few shows that did very well, but never enough to catch up after those that didn’t. We plan to continue doing shows in South Florida but not to run our own theater and all that entails.”
Some employee checks bounced in recent weeks. But the producers said the corporation is not heavily in debt, and all bills will eventually be paid.
“We didn’t want to continue and get in a position where we would owe a fortune and not be able to pay it,” Waldman said.
Prominent theatrical investor Jay Harris said he lost money on the show.
Individual ticket holders will be contacted this week about refunds, Waldman said.
Actor Oscar Cheda said the performers’ union, Actor’s Equity, confirmed the actors will be paid via a bond posted by the theater before Bungalow Bunnies opened.
“We were having a lot of fun with the show [about life in working-class vacation “bungalows” in the Catskills],” Cheda said. “Audiences who came seemed to like it, too. But it was geared to a specific audience familiar with the bungalows, and it appears there wasn’t a large enough audience for that.”
