Butler Eagle Digital Team

A long-standing entertainment establishment in Cranberry Township is shuttering its doors.

In a Facebook post Saturday afternoon, officials announced Comtra Theatre would permanently close after being unable to meet ongoing financial demands.

“Unfortunately, we can no longer sustain the operational costs and demands required to maintain our operations,” a portion of the post stated. “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all who have supported us throughout the years, including our loyal audiences, dedicated volunteers, talented actors, directors, musicians, costumers, set builders, choreographers, and many others who have contributed to our theatre.”

For more than four decades, the performing arts venue located off Route 19 hosted plays, comedy shows, drag shows, musicals and summer camps.

The post garnered more than 850 reactions, 300 comments and 120 shares as members of the impassioned theater community shared memories and expressed their gratitude for what the space provided over the years.

Some of the people who shared their thoughts and well wishes, such as Beth Taylor-Ackelson, said the theater became ingrained into the culture of the township and gave thousands of people an outlet for entertainment and art of all kinds.

“The Comtra Theatre was part of the heartbeat of Cranberry for many years,” Taylor-Ackelson said. “It was a place where the community could go to experience local talent performing in full-scale musicals and plays. Marie Teets created a small cultural hub that was a special home for people who loved performing in shows together and ended up feeling like a large extended family.”

As a veteran of 10 shows at Comtra, Taylor-Ackelson said the performances often developed into a family affair.

“Most of the shows I was in included several of my family members,” she said. “I have fond memories of sharing the stage with my daughter, Lyric Sessa, on many occasions.”

Teets founded Comtra Theatre in 1983 and named the space after the comedy and tragedy masks that are featured in the iconic logo. At that time, the theater was an abandoned barn that Teets renovated over the years. In the years that followed, she declined multiple offers from real estate developers who wanted to buy the property and turn it into a more lucrative venture.

She served as the managing director and an active performer until her death in 2013 following an extended battle with breast cancer. She was 79.

While the time between performances became increasingly long, the space has been used in recent years by a growing theater organization based out of McCandless in Allegheny County. A for-profit group called Paragon Studios has been renting the Comtra for the past four years while putting on about five shows every year.

Deborah Metzger, owner of Paragon Studios, noted that the unique “theater-in-the-round” set up — with audience on all sides and no backdrop — made it a “challenging” place to perform, but also one that she loved.

Theater officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday regarding the closure.