Last week it was announced that NYC cabaret venue The Laurie Beechman Theatre would close along with its host, the West Bank Cafe, in August due to financial difficulties. But if some of its most passionate fans have anything to say about it, that won't happen without a fight.

Tom D'Angora, Michael D'Angora, Tim Guinee, and Joe Iconis have joined forces to save the restaurant and performance space, launching a GoFundMe campaign that is seeking to raise nearly $1 million. The team is the same group that rallied to get the joint through the 2020 pandemic shut-down, then hosting a telethon that raised more than a quarter of a million dollars.

In a press release, Tom D'Angora says that the restaurant and cabaret venue's troubles are due, in part, to being denied support from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and the Shuttered Venue Operating Grant. D'Angora goes on to share that, as the venue approaches its 50th anniversary, "the community wants the West Bank Café and the community must come together to save this invaluable cultural institution."

Originally opened in 1983 as the West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theater Bar, the space was renamed for late Broadway and cabaret icon Laurie Beechman following her death in 1998, at the age of 44. The theatre, located at 42nd Street and 9th Avenue, has long served as one of NYC's most prominent cabaret venues, hosting play readings, concerts, and more over its long run. Notably, comedian Joan Rivers used to work out material with regular shows at the space, including the final performance she gave before her 2014 death.

To support the effort, visit GoFundMe.com.