WINTER PARK, Fla. | Breakthrough Theatre Company, a family operated theatre in Winter Park, is still trying to wrap their heads around an incident that involved a bomb scare that happened earlier this month.
Wade Hair, the owner of Breakthrough Theatre, was overseeing the first day of the theatre’s Original Play Festival on Aug. 7 when authorities received a bomb threat after the second show of the day.
The company was told to stop operating and to evacuate the building immediately. Neighboring businesses were also forced to evacuate as the threat potentially could have reached them. Hair was in the building when it happened.
“My father came in the theatre and said, ‘We got to clear out of the theater everybody’; we had a bomb threat,” he says. “Everybody’s like, well, what in the world are they talking about?”
Shortly after, Hair says he received a shocking phone call from authorities. The officer on the line told him that the potential bomber also threatened his home. At the moment, Hair says that’s when the situation fully settled in for him.
“At first it was just kind of hard to believe,” he says. “But when I got that phone call about that, they also had called it a bomb threat for my house; that’s when it hit me like a punch in the gut.”
He was escorted to his home, where police investigated for any potential danger. Bomb dogs sniffed throughout his home to identify any threat. In the end, nothing was found in his home or the theatre.
Hair later found out that the reason his business was threatened was because one of the festival plays that was supposed to be performed that night was called “Drag Queen Story Hour.” The play had pulled out of the festival before opening night but had been announced about three weeks ahead of the event.
Hair described that moment as an “awful feeling.” His 83-year-old father and his 80-year-old mother both reside in the same home as him. He was concerned about their current and future safety and well-being and discussed the possibility of moving because of it.
“It’s very scary to think that someone, because of drag queens wanting to read stories that they thought was inappropriate, could call in a bomb threat,” he says.
Hair is moving forward with pressing charges against the threat and will pursue legal action in court. He adds that despite the challenges, he will continue to show performances with LBGTQ+ themes and people.
“I do plays for everybody, and I’m not going to stop,” he says. “I mean, I’m a gay man. If I want to do a show about LGBT issues, I’m going to do it.”
Breakthrough Theatre has leaned on community support through all of its years of operation. Hair says it’s one of the many ways the business has been able to thrive throughout its hardships.
This year, Breakthrough Theater Company celebrates its 16th anniversary.
In 2020, the company shut down and sold everything at its prior theatre but has since returned with a new location. Hair said that 16 brings a new feeling that embraces growth.
“I think we’re back in a good space,” he says. “We’re doing big musicals again, we’re doing big plays and I’m just excited. I think it’s the best season we’ve had in years.”
The theater is solely funded by donations, ticket sales and its yearly fundraiser. The company is asking for people to donate $16 in honor of the theatre’s 16th year.
“Every little dollar helps,” says Hair. “If they can only send five dollars, that five dollars is going to be so appreciated.”
The funds will be used to get new equipment for sound and lighting for the theatre and costumes.
Breakthrough Theatre Company, located at 6900 Aloma Ave. in Winter Park, is currently presenting “Hee Haw” through Sept. 1. General admission is $20. Tickets are available at BreakthroughTheatre.com/tickets.
To donate, visit Breakthrough Theatre’s website at BreakthroughTheatre.com/donations.
