The last hurrah? Three generations of memories at Theatre-by-the-Sea BY BILL RODRIGUEZ

Will the chant after Labor Day be: Theatre-by-the-Sea is closing — long live Theatre-by-the-Sea?

After 70 years of summer musicals, could it be that this season will be the theater institution’s last?

Nah. Not if the present producers have their way.

Figures are hard to come by about the decline of summer stock, but in 1958 there were 166 summer theaters with Actors Equity contracts; by 1995 there were only 38. One year later, there were a dozen fewer.

But Theatre-by-the-Sea appears to be in good shape. Last summer’s shows averaged a very healthy 91 percent of its 500 seats sold.

Having spent the past 15 years making improvements, from on-stage production values to back-stage physical repairs, the current producer/owners are ready for a rest from the breakneck pace. They put out word that this is their last season and that they are willing to sell to the right people.

The theater was converted from a barn in 1933 — a young actor apprentice named John Housman slapped on some of the original paint inside. It is set on seven acres cooled by sea breezes on Card’s Pond Road, in Matunuck.

Back in the prime of summer stock, after World War II, actors with household names such as Groucho Marx and Mae West, Tallulah Bankhead, and Jessica Tandy strutted the stage.

"My landlord, when I first came, had a story about coming down here," says managing producer Renny Serre, 57. "Marlon Brando saw him on a lot, threw him the keys to his motorcycle and told him to go down to the corner and get him cigarettes. Never forget that."

Many a memory has been acquired over the years from actors as well as theatergoers, since summer stock has traditionally been a training ground for those on their way to Broadway.

"I should put a little ‘X’ mark whenever someone comes to audition and says, ‘I got my first job at Theatre-by-the-Sea, I got my Equity card at Theatre-by-the-Sea,’ " says associate producer Marcy Simpson, 50. And I knew that among the whole New York theater community, the name means something. When they see it on the blackboard, they come in droves."

But barn theater or not, this isn’t a matter of Mickey Rooney piping up with "Let’s put on a show!" and Judy Garland saying "Yeah! Why not?!"

"We’re asking people to be a team who have just met each other, and in two weeks mesh all their visions and be compatible," says artistic producer Laura Harris, 47. Rehearsals only run two weeks, in contrast to the five weeks behind, for example, Trinity Rep productions. "You’ve got the artistic personalities and you have the stress of having only two weeks to do it in. You don’t see all the give-and-take that has to go on among all these people."

Harris has the longest connection with the Matunuck theater. Not only did she work there for 11 summers, beginning at age 16, but her family — the Bontecous — owned the place. Harris, Serre, and then-artistic producer Ric Ericson met while producing an ill-fated Broadway adaptation of Wind In the Willows in 1984. As FourQuest, the partners took over Theatre-by-the-Sea four years later, purchasing the property in 1992. More than $3 million in renovations made improvements from new seats to new electrical wiring. More significantly, the quality standards improved on stage as they brought in Actors Equity members to anchor the shows. They certainly have turned things around. Starting with a subscriber base of less than 2000, they now have a little over 6000 — about 50 percent of their seats. Playing to houses averaging a bit more than 90 percent last summer was a big change from their first summer, when shows ranged from the 60s to the high 70s.

Ambitiously, in 1992 they started producing tours of particularly successful or promising shows, such as The Music Man and The Wizard of Oz, first cross-country and eventually internationally. That enterprise ended in 1998 when Ericson, who had been producing the tours, left FourQuest to produce independently. The following year Simpson signed on as associate producer, having been office manager a few years earlier and having produced shows for Jamestown Community Players before that.

The producers won’t say how many purchase inquiries they’ve gotten so far, just that there have been twice as many as they’ve expected. But until the price is negotiated, the contract is signed, and the check doesn’t bounce, even serious offers are only possibilities.

More than likely, if any interested institutions or individuals have both the financial and artistic wherewithal to carry on, Theatre-by-the-Sea will again open its doors next summer. Although — the Rhode Island institution was dark for a while in the 1950s, so there are no guarantees.

The FourQuest team wants to get out of show biz while they’re still enjoying themselves. Their next venture is a children’s book publishing imprint, The Back River Co. The first volume of a new series, "The Back River Adventures of Catfish Annie," will be out next year. As well as more hard work, they think that might be fun.

"We all decided," Serre adds, "that we don’t wanna get to the point where this isn’t fun anymore."

"We’ve reached the goals that we wanted to reach and felt we accomplished a lot," is how Harris puts it. "It’s time to move on and use our energies for something different."