To hear Lorcan Otway tell it, he’s in a fight for his life. If he finds someone willing to refinance his debt, Theatre 80 — the iconic East Village venue where Otway has lived and worked since he was 9 years old — will be saved, New York Post reported. If he doesn’t, the off-Broadway theater where “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” was born and countless stars have thrived will likely be sold at bankruptcy auction to the highest bidder. Otway is facing nearly $10.5 million in debts after COVID shutdowns left him unable to pay a loan. “[The creditors] are literally trying to take away everything I have ever done and everything I ever will be,” said Otway of the theater, pub and museum that are his life’s work as well as his home. (He and his wife Genie live in an adjacent townhouse that is also part of the bankruptcy.) On July 21, a judge will decide whether to convert Otway’s chapter 11, filed in December 2020, into chapter 7 — which will most likely end in an auction. Neither the court-appointed trustee nor her attorney returned calls seeking comment. As Otway scrambles to find financial help, politicians and celebrities are rallying to his cause. Among them is Malachy McCourt, the Irish actor and bestselling author of A Monk Swimming, who is a longtime friend of the Otway family. Last month, the 90-year-old became the latest star to add his handprint and signature to the Walk of Fame outside Theatre 80. After filing for pandemic-induced bankruptcy in 2020, and with a $6.1 million loan in default, Otway’s debt on the adjoined buildings was sold to Maverick Real Estate Partners and the interest rate soared. His dad, Howard, used a $64,000 loan from a Lower East Side mobster to buy the two adjoined buildings at 78 and 80 St. Marks Place in 1964. Lorcan Otway’s father bought the building, and the townhouse attached to it, in 1964 and his family has been there since.
