World Photo by Lou Sennick On the set of “The 1940s Radio Hour” at the Egyptian Theatre Friday evening, David Engholm, right, president of the Egyptian Theatre Preservation Association, signs a contract with the On Broadway Thespians, just signed by Joe Vos, president of On Broadway.

On one side of the street was the South Coast's most active theater group, soon to be without a home due to looming rent increases.

On the other side of the street was an empty theater, a landmark building that had been unused for almost nine months.

It was August, and both the On Broadway Thespians and the Egyptian Theatre Preservation Association had a problem. Neither had to look very far to find a solution.

The two groups announced a partnership Friday, after three and a half months of negotiations. On Broadway will stage four productions in the next year at the Egyptian, and the Egyptian will receive 50 percent of the ticket sales from those productions.

“We think it's fabulous,” said David Engholm, president of the Egyptian Theatre Preservation Association. “It's been over 60 years since there was live entertainment here. We're all happy about it, and we hope that we get some good crowds in here.”

“It's like a weight lifting off our shoulders,” said Joe Vos, president of On Broadway Thespians.

Instead of facing rent that was slated to almost double, the group will not be paying rent at the Egyptian.

“That is huge for an almost-broke, totally volunteer group,” said Jevanna Toribio, a board member at On Broadway.

As a bonus, shifting to another location on the same street avoids a conflict with the group's name.

“We can still be the On Broadway Thespians,” she added.

The groups held a signing ceremony to celebrate the deal at Friday's opening of “The 1940's Radio Hour,” On Broadway's first production at the Egyptian. The show will run through Dec. 17.

Vos said the agreement was reached Wednesday, a year and a day after the Egyptian was closed by former owner Coming Attractions Theatres Inc. of Ashland. The city of Coos Bay bought the building in March and turned over its management to the preservation association in July.

It was Mike Tribble, a board member of the association who has worked on productions for On Broadway and other theater groups, who had the idea to bring the two groups together. He said he first mentioned it in February, when the city was still negotiating the purchase.

Little Theatre on the Bay had previously backed out of negotiations with Coming Attractions and the city, but the idea of having live theater at the Egyptian still appealed to many people, and Tribble said On Broadway seemed like a logical choice for a resident theatrical company.

“We're sitting here with 520 beautiful seats and an empty theater, and it seemed like it could work,” Tribble said.

But in February, On Broadway wasn't looking for another location. It was paying $775 a month in rent to former owner Wally Hazen - quite a sweet deal for about 5,000 square feet of space, according to Brian Menten, who bought the building in June with his wife, Lia Deatherage.

When Menten and Deatherage, owners of the adjacent Waxers Surf and Skate, bought the building that includes both their store and the theater, they went from paying $825 a month in rent on the store to almost $2,000 a month in mortgage, taxes and insurance on the building, Menten said. To make up some of the difference, they intended to raise the rent on the theater to what they felt was a fair market price.

Though Menten said other downtown businesses pay around 65 cents a square foot in rent, he considered 48 cents per square foot a fair price for the nonprofit theater. Because the rent was figured on only the area of the main floor, the true cost was actually less, including the green room and upstairs area, which account for about 2,000 square feet, he said.

To help the theater group adjust to the cost increase, Menten said he gave it two months at the old price and then phased in the new cost at increases of $100 a month beginning in September.

“I used up about $4,000 out of my own pocket trying to work with them,” Menten said. “It was a total of $600 over the three months (that the theater paid additional rent). We didn't really make any extra money on it.”

Menten said he bought the building because Hazen had been approached by another buyer and was ready to sell but wanted to offer it to the tenants first.

“We didn't want to get left behind,” Menten said. “We wanted to survive and be able to raise a family here.”

But the cost proved to be too much for the theater group, and Tribble's idea to move into the Egyptian became more attractive.

“We're happy to see them go next door,” Menten said. “We think that's an appropriate place for them, and kind of a win-win situation for all of us.”

Though the deal with the Egyptian solved On Broadway's money problem, the major tradeoff is a reduction in the number of productions it can stage. The group has been putting on an average of nine productions a year, more than any other South Coast community theater group - most offer three to six shows a year - and the reduction is a significant concern.

“We want to give as many opportunities as we possibly can, for directors and for players,” Vos said. He said the group is continuing to look for other venues to stage additional shows. He also noted that the agreement is for only one year.

Engholm said that the limitation to four shows a year was so that the Egyptian could continue to show movies and hold special events, such as the annual Christmas concert on Dec. 16. After going 11 months without, the Egyptian began showing movies again in late October.

“This is something new for us and them,” Engholm said. “If the live shows take off, we may have more. It's all on a wait-and-see basis.”

Engholm also said the size difference in the theaters - 520 seats versus 80 - would be an adjustment On Broadway would need some time to get used to.

“It's like comparing a Rolls Royce and a Volkswagen,” Engholm said. “This is a far larger theater than they're used to performing in, and it's going to take more time to set (the shows) up.”

Vos agreed, noting that lighting is a particular challenge at the Egyptian. Tribble added that the lack of a green room and storage space also were concerns. Tribble is the producer of “The 1940's Radio Hour” and is in the cast.

Another challenge for both groups is filling the seats in the larger venue. Tribble said he hopes the appeal of the Egyptian will bring larger audiences than On Broadway has typically drawn - sometimes as few as two people a night, according to Leatha Lewison-Gonzalez, vice president of the group. About 40 people attended the opening on Friday.

“Our idea is we want them to make enough money to put it away so that eventually if they want their own theater again, they'll have that option,” Tribble said.

Tribble also noted that the Egyptian's stage remains available to all local theater groups.

“If any of them wanted a bigger venue, we'd be open to talking to them,” he said. “This is a community arts center. It's open to the entire community.”