Connolly: They’ll never replace Tingle

By George P. Hassett

Jimmy Tingle’s Off-Broadway Theater packed the crowds into Davis Square every weekend for five years, but beginning next month those crowds will not be squeezing into the small, underground art space any more. The theater, which became a Davis Square landmark just a few years after opening, will close Oct. 31 after Tingle decided not to renew the lease.

“It’s been a dynamite 5 years,” said Tingle, a stand up comedian and the theater’s owner, artistic director, producer and principal performer. “But after 5 years, it got to be too much work and responsibility for me. I was losing the time I need to write, to perform, to sleep. I decided at the last minute not to renew the lease.”

For five years, the space beneath Elm Street presented a wide array of entertainment, community and political events including comedy, theater, music, fundraisers, poetry readings, kids shows and political debates. Tingle estimates his theater brought 75,000 people into Davis Square in five years.

“That’s a lot of folks. It wasn’t good for parking but I hope it was good for the neighborhood and the city,” he said.

Alderman-at-Large John M. Connolly helped Tingle open the theater in 2002 and he said its closing will be a cultural, economic and charitable loss for the city.

‚ÄúIt‚Äôs a sad day for Davis Square. The theater was a big attraction but I‚Äôll remember how Jimmy was always so quick to go out of his way to help people — he would do a fundraiser, offer free use of the space for youth groups on weekend mornings, anything to help. Whoever comes into that space will only be succeeding Jimmy, they‚Äôll never replace him,‚Äù he said.

Tingle said his favorite Off-Broadway moments include putting on shows for children free of charge with help from Connolly, the 2004 Unconventional Comedy Convention and the Ding-Ho reunion that brought together the comedians of the old Ding Ho Comedy Club in Inman Square.

“There were a lot of dynamite shows though,” he said. “Over 200 of them.”

The ‚Äúdynamite‚Äù will live on for another two weeks until the theater closes in November. The lineup is typical of the hundreds that came before — Tingle and impressionist Jim Morris will provide political humor in their shows, ‚ÄúJimmy Tingle for President‚Äù and  ‚ÄúJim Morris and the Presidential Follies‚Äù while Tingle pays tribute to a friend on Oct. 27 with ‚ÄúThe John Jay Clarke Memorial Comedy Show,‚Äù a benefit for ‚Äúa Cambridge guy I played ball with way back in the day, in the 70s,‚Äù Tingle said.    

    
The demise of Tingle’s Off-Broadway follows the closing of other Davis Square businesses that became neighborhood landmarks and symbols only to be replaced in the last year. La Contessa, an Italian pastry shop in the square for over 50 years, closed and will be replaced by a sushi restaurant. The Someday Café, a hipster hangout credited with helping to jumpstart the 1990s revival of the neighborhood, also closed and was replaced by a crepe restaurant earlier this year.

However, comedian Emily Singer said Jimmy Tingle‚Äôs Off-Broadway Theater will survive through the performers and audiences it hosted. ‚ÄúThe theater will live on in the memories of the people who performed there and made it what it was,‚Äù she said.