PASADENA, Calif. — Theater folks never miss a cue, so when Sen. Anthony Portantino prompted the crowd gathered at Boston Court Pasadena to deliver the line “Please sign this bill!,” they did it with gusto.

Boston Court’s main stage was filled with actors, advocates and local representatives Thursday morning, many of them introduced by Cheryl Rizzo, the company’s managing director. She’s been with the theater for 17 years but says these last few have been difficult for the entire community. AB5 went into effect in early 2020, increasing payroll costs for small theatres dramatically. Weeks later, COVID forced them to shut their doors.

“It’s been a bit of a double whammy,” Rizzo said, “plus the inflation now is really adding to that stress.”

Which makes the funding in SB 1116 all the more important, she said. The Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund would provide grants to nonprofit performing arts organizations to cover a portion of their payroll costs. Rizzo sees this as the lifeline intimate theaters need to get back to something close to pre-pandemic production levels.

“We are incapable of keeping up with it at the pace that we have been at,” Rizzo said, “and so that has left a lot of us very stagnant, or having to cut a lot of our programming.”

The bill was written by Portantino, who said the smaller and more vulnerable the company, the bigger the percentage they can get covered — up to 80% in some cases, an amount that gets scaled back as they become more self-sustaining.

“Again, we’re not talking about a major studio here,” he clarified. “We’re not talking about for profit, you know, multinational corporations. We’re talking about the local theater down the street, something like this that has less than 100 seats.”

Which is where actress Kirsten Vangsness of Criminal Minds got her start.

“I am a California kid and a theatre nerd through and through,” she announced proudly when she stepped up to the podium.

Vangsness began doing theatre in the Central Valley where she grew up, and went on to perform all over SoCal in Cerritos, Brea, Fullerton, Cypress and of course LA. She’s currently a member of Theatre of Note in Hollywood and has also done work with Boston Court. She said theater gave her a safe place and a sense of purpose.

“You can feel really invisible in Los Angeles as a creator,” she explained, “but when you’re making something, you don’t feel invisible.”

She passionately shared her story while sharing the stage with other notables from the industry. Kate Shindle, the president of the Actors’ Equity Association, flew in from New York to throw her support behind SB 1116. French Stewart and Alfred Molina appeared in video messages. And Kate Burton of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal,” who is also a longtime stage actress, reflected on the importance of theater, particularly during times of crisis.

“We need this legislation,” she said, imploring Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign the bill. “We need all the help we can get. There are passionate people and at the day it’s all about telling the stories.”

How this story ends is still up in the air. SB 1116 has been passed by both houses of the Legislature and at this point the bill just needs the governor’s signature. However, he vetoed a similar piece of legislation last year, stating that the “2021 Budget Act already appropriated $500,000 to the California Arts Council.” As for the fate of this latest bill, his office responded via email to say they don’t comment on pending legislation.

Supporters are eager for an answer. They see local theaters as economic engines and job creators and believe the grant program, which would still need to be funded in the coming budget, could lead to as many as 90,000 employment opportunities a year. They point out that many of the small nonprofit theaters run by people of color and women would qualify for the funding, and in turn be able to hire more people.

“And the people are the people of the global majority,” Vangsness said. “The people are the people that should be getting that money. They can’t do the work unless they can pay the rent. They can’t. It’s really fundamental.”

Rizzo feels confident that Boston Court Pasadena will weather this storm and so will theater as an art form.

“It’s been around since the Greeks,” she laughed. “It is not going anywhere.”

But without financial assistance, she worries there will be casualties.

“I think a lot of theatres are going to close if we don’t fund this bill,” Rizzo said. “I think that this is kind of everyone’s last hope.”

And she points out that’s not just dire news for theaters but for the communities they serve. Throughout the pandemic, she referred to theater artists as second responders.

“When this is all said and done,” she explained, “it’s the artists that are going to help us process what we have all just been through.”

Provided she said they are still stages around where they can tell the story.