🔒Despite pandemic, startup Legacy Theatre preps for its Branford debut

It took more than 10 years of wooing residents, town officials and donors, raising $5.4 million and weathering a pandemic, but the new Legacy Theatre — located in the Stony Creek section of Branford — is finally opening, even as indoor restrictions for gatherings remain.

The 127-seat, not-for-profit theater officially joins the region’s collection of professional theaters when it opens for a live, inaugural concert April 23 at 7 p.m. Broadway’s Telly Leung (who starred in Disney’s “Aladdin,” Allegiance,” and “Pacific Overtures”) will be on stage for a socially-distant, one-quarter capacity concert.

So how did a few dedicated theater enthusiasts manage to raise millions of dollars to start — in the middle of a pandemic — an entertainment venue that declares a triumph if it simply breaks even?

“We have so many wonderful theaters in Connecticut but I just wanted to have a venue in this quaint neighborhood that was multi-generational, that wasn’t elitist, that was fully supported by the community,” says co-founder and Artistic Director Keely Baisden Knudsen, an actress, director, choreographer and professor.

“Theater can be as expensive as you want it to be,” she says, “and I feel we can create great work without a tremendous amount of waste. I’m coming to it from an artistic point of view but also a very business point of view, too.”

After a 2011 feasibility study by Webb Management indicated potential for the mid-shoreline theater market, Knudsen and co-founder Stephanie Stiefel Williams, an actress and former attorney, zeroed in on the boarded-up and vacant building at 128 Thimble Islands Road in this seaside enclave.

The building, built in 1903, had previously been a silent movie house; community and professional summer theater that included a legendary production by Orson Welles; girdle factory; and lastly, a home for Sicilian puppets before being dormant for years.

After raising $400,000 in mostly private donations, led by the Stiefel Williams family, it purchased the building and its adjacent “artist cottage” in 2013. Knudsen and her supporters then began the four-year-long process of fundraising and getting local approvals.

Permits were granted in 2017 after neighborhood concerns had been satisfied. For instance, there will be shuttles to a commuter parking lot off nearby I-95 and the number of performances will be limited. Also, the theater’s agreement with the town excludes rap, hard rock and heavy metal concerts, as well as raves, open mike events, weddings and parties, “but we can do musicals, plays, comedies, cabarets, dance presentations, recitals, poetry readings, film presentations, lectures and classes,” Knudsen said.

Physical renovations began in 2019, headed by the design firms Wyeth Architects and GWG Architects. While the outside of the building will reflect the original wooden facade, the inside was gutted to create a new lobby, stage, backstage and audience section on risers. The theater will also feature a state-of-the-art HVAC system and back-of-house area for recording shows to offer live-streaming when permitted.

Fundraising totaled more than $5 million — including $1.1 million in historic rehabilitation tax credits from the state — which will take the theater through construction and the first year of operation.

Community benefit

But even at sell-out capacity, the gross potential for a 127-seat theater is limited so the annual operating budget will greatly depend on sponsorships and contributed income. They are targeting a $450,000 first-year budget.

“I have confidence in our development director and the numbers she’s provided me with are those she believes she can deliver,” said Knudsen.

Development Director Gina Marcantonio says the pandemic has complicated fundraising.

“It’s going a little slower than what I would have liked,” she says, adding she is “mindful of what is happening around us but will still be making the case for this fully restored, state-of-the-art theater for this region.”

She adds there are also “naming opportunities” for donors and seasonal branding plans for sponsors.

“Once we’re open we’re really hoping people will really see the benefit and will help with that,” Marcantonio said.

With the inaugural concert sold-out, Knudsen says it's a good feeling to finally bring in income through ticket sales.

Programming will offer small-scale productions such as “Barefoot in the Park,” “Oedipus Rex” and musicals “Just Desserts” and “The Last Five Years.” There will also be “A Christmas Carol” for a December run, concerts by Broadway performers, family shows, special events, classes and theater for people with mobile disabilities

“You never know ‘if you build it will they come?’ But people have been calling saying they’ve been so careful and vaccinated and that they’re excited to come and see a show,” Knudsen said. “On top of that, I get notifications from people buying tickets for the entire season. We have shows starting now and continuing all the way to December. We spent the last year fundraising, so now it’s come-and-see-a-show time.”