ROCHESTER — In 2019, when That Theatre Company debuted its

raunchy original show “Jeff on the Shelf,”

about four dozen people squeezed into an upstairs black box space at the Rochester Repertory Theatre building.

After the first performance, the fire marshal’s assessment of the room set its capacity at 30 people.

“That’s including the cast,” said Blake Hogue, the writer of the show and founder of That Theatre Company. With eight cast members and a production coordinator, that left fewer than two dozen seats available for each subsequent performance.

This year, after a two-year hiatus, Hogue has revived the show, but in a new location. It’s been performed to packed audiences in the black box space at the Rochester Civic Theatre building. This time, it would take more than two dozen people to sell it out. The black box holds an audience of more than 120.

Consequently, this run of “Jeff on the Shelf” has so far brought in more revenue than any show That Theatre Company has performed, Hogue said. And the run isn’t over. Ticket sales point to another weekend of sellout crowds through the closing performance Dec. 21.

“The crowds definitely are very vocally having a blast,” Hogue said.

That Theatre Company had access to the black box thanks to a rental agreement that is now standard at Rochester Civic Theatre. Misha Johnson, outgoing managing director of the Civic, helped develop a new business plan that gives other performing arts organizations affordable access to the building’s stages, facilities, costumes, props and more.

As a result, there are more events at the Civic than ever before.

“Our space, right now, is so activated that we can have three, four activities going on at once,” said Melissa Adams-Goihl, Civic board president.

The arrangement has allowed theater companies, dance groups, musicians and others to use spaces, costumes and props that otherwise might be out of financial reach for small arts groups.

Johnson said access to those resources is the only reason theater is thriving in Rochester at a time when community theaters in other places are struggling or closing.

“I’m so glad the city invested in the arts and saw a path forward with this new model,” Johnson said.

The “Jeff on the Shelf” show was running concurrently with Civic Theatre’s three-weekend main stage production of the classic “A Christmas Carol,” which has also drawn good crowds following sellout runs of “Newsies” and “Dracula.”

As well as the Civic’s own productions have done, its runs have been shortened to give other groups access to rehearsal and performance space. The situation has leaders of Rochester Civic Theatre considering how the organization can expand.

Solving that puzzle will be the next managing director’s main challenge, says Johnson, who will leave Civic Theatre after directing the upcoming production of “Waitress,” which closes Feb. 23, 2025. She accepted the managing director position with Kahilu Theatre in Hawaii.

The Civic Theatre building is owned by the city of Rochester.

Its main user, the Rochester Civic Theater Co., began its first lease in the building in 1964. That lease ran through 2012. The agreement was revised in 2009 for a 20-year term, city records show.

In 2020, though, the lease nearly was terminated after city leaders learned the nonprofit organization had fallen more than $300,000 in debt. The debt had not been disclosed to the city nor to members of the Civic’s nonprofit board. Johnson was brought in as interim managing director. She cut staff and proposed renting the facilities to other arts organizations to help bolster the organization’s finances — and to help performing arts in Rochester.

A big boost came from COVID-19 relief funds. The Civic Theatre received around $300,000 in grant money from the “Save Our Stages Act” in 2021. The federal legislation, championed by Minnesota’s U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, delivered $16 billion in relief to independent music venues, movie theaters and similar cultural institutions in the U.S. that struggled during the pandemic. In the case of Rochester Civic Theatre, Johnson said, the funds helped “keep our doors open” in 2021.

In 2021, the Civic entered into a “one roof” agreement in which Experience Rochester, the operator of Mayo Civic Center, is responsible for utilities, maintenance, repair, and capital needs related to the building.

The Civic is responsible for all other operations and programming and for leasing the space. However, that space is now full.

With Center Street on one side and Mayo Civic Center on the other, physical expansion of the theater so far appears out of the question. It’s unclear whether the lease even would allow an expansion, said Megan Moeller, communications coordinator at Rochester Public Works Department.

“We haven’t had any formal requests, so it is difficult to speculate on how or what might be viable,” Moeller said.

Although Mayo Civic Center could offer some usable space, that would depend on the say of Experience Rochester and the needs for use of the space. Civic Theatre leaders have asked nor proposed using Civic Center space.

Bill Von Bank, vice president of marketing and communications at Experience Rochester, also said the possibility of using Civic Center space would be speculation so far.

“We understand the challenges of space limitations and would be glad to explore how our flexible facilities at Mayo Civic Center could accommodate additional programming from local performing arts organizations,” he said.

“My pie in the sky dream is we would imitate other theater communities and have a little block of performance spaces — a theater row,” he said.

Wherever the Civic expands, performance organizations say they’re eager for more opportunities to partner with the Civic. Rochester Dance Company leaders said having access to Civic Theatre’s facilities has expanded what that group has been able to do.

Hogue said getting That Theatre’s show posters and performance schedules in front of theater-going audiences has definitely helped grow his company’s audiences.

“It gives us a bigger level of visibility,” he said. “It definitely puts a shine on our name.”

The space issue may come to a head in 2025 as some maintenance work and facility improvement work will eat into the performance schedule.

For That Theater Company, the Civic’s calendar and scheduled work made it tricky to schedule the company’s upcoming Tony-winning musical, “Gutenburg! The Musical.” The musical is scheduled to run April 17 through April 27. It will be That’s first musical. An opportunity to produce the musical might not have happened at all without use of the Civic’s space and revenue from the bigger audiences it has offered, Hogue said.

“The revenues from the Christmas show are going to that,” Hogue said. “I’m not sure how we could have gotten here otherwise.”

AllVibez Production and Rochester Civic Theater Present a drag gala “End of Year: Black & White Ball”

When: 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 28.

How much: $10 presale; $12 week of; $20 at the door.

18 years or older

“Waitress”

When: Feb. 6 – 9; 13 – 15; 21 – 23.