A large fire tore through a historic theatre in Stratford, Connecticut, early Sunday morning.

Firefighters received the call around 1 am, arriving to find a heavy fire engulfing the Shakespeare Theatre. Due to the size of the fire, they had to fight flames from outside the building, which collapsed when they were trying to put out the blaze.

Opened in 1955 and closed in 1989 after declaring bankruptcy, the theatre has seen the likes of famed actors and actresses including Christopher Walken and Katherine Hepburn.

STRATFORD, CT - Shortly before 1:00am on January 13, 2019, the Stratford Fire Department began receiving multiple calls for a fire at the historic Shakespeare Theatre at 320 Shore Rd. First units on scene found the unoccupied, vacant structure heavily involved and immediately started called for more resources. Mutual aid responded to the scene from Bridgeport and Milford.