In just about 2 weeks, Orlando's Theatre Downtown closes forever.

"Oh it's going to be a mess," performer Aaron Babcock said, thinking about closing night. "It's going to be a mess. I don't know what I'll do after the bows."

The theater — located at the corner of Orange Avenue and Princeton Street in Orlando — has been open for 25 years.

Babcock was there way back on move-in day.

"We were told we weren't going to last a year," he said, adding how proud he was of the longevity.

Neighboring Florida Hospital is the landlord. They have the legal right to break the lease, and they did so with a six-month notice. So, it's all over Dec. 31. Props, sets, costumes, staging — everything — needs to be moved out by the end of January.

We were there Thursday to speak with the cast of "A Christmas Carol," now in its 14th year. It's the venue's best-selling show.

"To be able to finish with 'A Christmas Carol,' artistic director Frank Hilgenberg told me, "I think is fitting."

Hilgenberg joined the cast out on the lobby stage for pre-show caroling. Some of the regular theater-goers we spoke with — like Jerry Vasil from Plant City — are trying to swallow that this is the end.

"I don't like it," Vasil said, "but there's not much we can do about it."

Even 11-year-old Melinda Cheatham understands the significance of the closure. She literally spent her entire life on and around that stage.

"It just has a lot of memories and my sisters sometimes tell me about what I used to do here when I was younger," she said.

Tim DeBaun is "Scrooge." He's another Theatre Downtown veteran.

"We have a tendency to sign the walls in the dressing room so you can look back and see the shows you've done years ago," an emotional DeBaun said.

Hilgenberg said he's shopping around, adding: "We're going to have to go and find a new building." No location has been determined, but Hilgenberg promises a 2015 season.

"I anticipate that we'll find another space," DeBaun said. "The theater really is all of us."

The remaining performances of "A Christmas Carol" are just about sold out. Dr. Phillips High School, The King Center for the Performing Arts, The Venue, SAK Comedy Lab and the Orlando Shakespeare Theater are putting on their own versions of the classic Christmas story this season, as well.