Harlequin Playhouse-Turned-Club Files for Bankruptcy Protection

Harlequin Dinner Playhouse, the Santa Ana dinner theater that became a short-lived concert club called Hamptons, has filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code.

The Harlequin’s owners, Al and Barbara Hampton, listed assets for the club of $1 million and liabilities of $475,000 in documents filed earlier this week. Several radio stations with whom the club advertised were listed among the playhouse’s creditors. Additionally, a number of musicians who played at the club in 1989 and 1990 told The Times that they were never paid.

Neither the Hamptons nor their attorney could be reached for comment Tuesday.

According to federal documents, the Hamptons also filed for personal bankruptcy Jan. 9 and another of their companies, ABL Enterprises, filed for protection under Chapter 11 on Dec. 19, 1990.

In 1988, the Harlequin was offered for sale for $1.5 million but later taken off the market. Shortly thereafter, the 490-seat dinner theater announced a policy change featuring celebrity performers in starring roles of productions.

The playhouse, renamed Hamptons, was launched as a restaurant and concert venue in December, 1989 with the appearance of Buster Poindexter, the alter-ego of rocker David Johansen, and his group the Banshees of Blue. Other groups who played the club before it closed in 1990 included Blood, Sweat and Tears and Gary Puckett.

The Hamptons also operated 325-seat Southampton Dinner Theatre in San Clemente, which they acquired for $80,000 in a bankruptcy sale in 1986. That venue gave up theatrical performances in September, 1988.