Wildsong Theater & Arts Collective takes over OB Playhouse

Reviving live theater in Ocean Beach is well underway.

Wildsong Theater & Arts Collective, an OB nonprofit all-volunteer theater company, is working to bring accessible, professional-caliber theater to the beach community at 4944 Newport Ave. Wildsong inhabits the space previously occupied by OB Playhouse & Theatre Company.

Sara Hayes, a Wildsong board member and its director of community outreach, noted the Newport Avenue retail space has a long and varied history. “The venue known as The OB Playhouse was there when we came in and started producing,” she said. “The venue itself used to be an old VFW in OB, which is a fun bit of trivia. Lots of OBecians like to tell us they had come to party there back in the day.”

“We have been so very happy to watch the growth of Wildsong Productions in the OB Playhouse space and are so excited to see what they continue to bring to San Diego in their new space,” said previous theater owner Bill Connard who, along with his wife Jennie, took over the performance space in June 2016.

“Not only did they help us to move on when we needed and wanted to, but they have a similar sensibility to us when it comes to community theater. It’s been a pleasure watching what they’ve created and developed.”

Closing OB Playhouse multiple times during COVID hastened the Connards’ departure. Bill Connard is now a partner in an OB e-bike business. Under his stewardship, OB Playhouse held more than 30 productions of Broadway musicals, before closing at the end of 2023 following a rent increase.

Wildsong Productions has since stepped in to take the place of the Connards. They were the last company to perform in the theater space under the Connards doing “Rent,” a musical about artists facing eviction, which ended on Dec. 23, 2023.

“We were able to stick around here for the next three years (new lease) at a minimum thanks to the support of the community,” said Hayes noting Wildsong’s revival of the theater space continues with the production of “Footloose: The Musical” through April 7, to be followed by “Lizzie: The Musical” opening April 19.

All of its volunteer performers are wild about Wildsong. “Everyone is a volunteer and none of us make money working here,” Hayes pointed out adding, “We wanted to create a space that is diverse and inclusive and values collaboration.”

Running a profitable live theater company today is challenging. “To make art in general is very expensive with a lot of forces at play and difficult to do with inflation and rising costs,” Hayes pointed out. She added new nonprofits, like Wildsong, can’t even apply for grants until two years after forming. “We’re dealing with trying to survive in a hostile environment,” she said.

But there is nothing like performing theater live, which is why small production companies like Wildsong, and managers/performers like Hayes, exist. “It’s central to my being: I never feel more like myself than when I’m on stage,” she said adding, “It’s life-giving, affirming.”

Concerning theater’s appeal, Hayes noted: “For a lot of people, theater fills a gap. When you’re in the audience you feel like you’re on a journey with them (performers). The audience is a part of the show too. It is so interactive.”

Hayes said Wildsong hopes that community theater “is a rising tide” that will lift the fortunes of everyone involved. And OB is the perfect place to make a start – and a stand – in community theater.

“OB loves us and we love OB,” concluded Hayes adding Wildsong’s goal, beyond mere survival, is to “create a dance space featuring local artists and other visual media, host youth programs and have a bit of a nest egg to pay people for their time.”

WILDSONG THEATER & ARTS COLLECTIVE

Where: 4944 Newport Ave.

Contact: wildsongproductions.showit.site, thewildsongproductions@gmail.com, 760-500-2274.