SoCal theatre district on verge of extinction due to coronavirus and community shutdown

NORTH HOLLYWOOD (KABC) -- In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, performing arts communities all over Southern California are hoping their curtain calls aren't over. Case in point: The NoHo Arts District, where there's a campaign going on to save the theatres that helped create the neighborhood.

Back in the '90s, some small theatres moved into a North Hollywood neighborhood in need of some change for the better. And that's just what happened. Then restaurants, bars and other businesses followed. The NoHo Arts District has 22 theatres. And 18 of them need help staying alive.

"If you've been on stage, if you've sat in an audience of a play, you know how important it is," said Ronnie Marmo, co-founder of Theater 68. "So we're going to fight like heck to keep this going. And I hope we can, George!"

Ronnie Marmo is also an actor who performs at this venue... devoted to the theatre community here and to the surrounding businesses.

"We're a partnership so I get really nervous that if you take the theatres out of the No Ho District, there's no longer an arts district. It's just NoHo," said Marmo.

So in an attempt to help save the theatres, The NoHo Arts District set up a GoFundMe page. If it can raise about $108,000, all 18 theatres will have their rent paid for two months.

"We're here for the long run and we're going to do our best to make sure that these theatres are here two months, four months, six months from now," said Nancy Bianconi, president of NoHoArtsDistrict.com.

The NoHo Arts District is also where performers go to learn. Bianconi says theatres here were once able to offer up to 35 different acting classes on any given night. For now, that is gone. And for the owner of one NoHo Theatre, that's a shame.

"It really is the incubator for the arts in L.A.," said Rick Shaw of the Secret Rose Theatre. "We are where young creatives get to star... writers, actors, directors, dancers, comedians, filmmakers. We're there they get to do what they do. We're also the home for older artists who don't work in TV anymore."

'We have 22 theatres in one square mile and that's the second largest concentration of theatres in the country behind New York," said Marmo.

If you have theatres in your community, they may need your help. To help this community, head to gofundme.com/savenohotheatres.