The Klein Memorial Auditorium, Bridgeport: A Complete Guide
The Klein Memorial Auditorium — "the Klein" to locals — is Bridgeport's classic concert hall: a handsome 1940 Art Deco room with one of the few remaining Broadway-sized stages in Connecticut. It's best known as the home of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony, but its calendar runs well beyond classical, with concerts, comedy, and touring productions throughout the year.
A 1940 Art Deco landmark
The Klein opened in 1940, designed by local architect Leonard Asheim in a clean Art Deco style — bronze doors, a marble lobby, inlaid wood and geometric detailing. It was built with funds willed to the City of Bridgeport by Jacob B. Klein, a Bridgeport-born lawyer, and named in memory of the Klein family. The main auditorium seats 1,447, big enough for full orchestras and touring shows but intimate enough to feel like a real room.
Who runs it
It's an unusual arrangement worth knowing: the building is owned by the City of Bridgeport, but it's operated by a separate nonprofit foundation. The Greater Bridgeport Symphony is a resident company — not the operator — and the Fairfield Theatre Company has long presented shows at the Klein as well, so a single venue ends up hosting several organizations' programming. (More on FTC's own rooms in our Fairfield Theatre Company guide.)
Never miss a Klein show
See every upcoming concert and show at the Klein — and 40+ other Connecticut venues — in the free CT Concert Center app.
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Beyond the symphony's season, the Klein books concerts across jazz, R&B, soul and rock, comedy, dance, and touring shows, and it's a civic gathering place for ceremonies and graduations too. Over its 85-plus years it's hosted an astonishing range of names — from Leonard Bernstein and Martin Luther King Jr. in its earlier decades to B.B. King and Wynton Marsalis more recently. It also runs a tuition-free youth arts program, so it's as much a community institution as a concert hall.
Getting there
The Klein is at 910 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport, just off the Route 8/25 connector and a short hop from downtown, with parking available in the surrounding area. It's an easy stop whether you're coming up from lower Fairfield County or down from the Naugatuck Valley.
Around Bridgeport
The Klein is one of several major rooms in the city — see the full picture in our guide to concert venues in Bridgeport, including the waterfront Total Mortgage Arena. It's also among the state's notable historic theaters.
Every Klein show lands in the CT Concert Center app, alongside every other venue across the state.