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Heller, then and now.
Published: 5/19/2010 5:48 PM
Last Modified: 5/19/2010 5:48 PM

The very first play I paid money to see in Tulsa was at Heller Theatre. It was "The Collection," by Harold Pinter, presented by the Tulsa Alliance for Classical Theatre, in 1986.

The following year, I was hired by The Tulsa Tribune to be the fine arts reporter -- the reviewing of classical music, ballet, opera, the visual arts and theater was already being handled by a cadre of very well-qualified writers. Reviews of the arts were something The Tribune took very seriously.

But there were times when too many things were happening at one time, and so the first performance I ever reviewed for The Tribune was of a play at Heller Theatre -- "Modigliani," Dennis McIntyre's play about a few tortured days in the life of the artist.

From then on, I ended up spending a number of nights in the intimate confines of Heller Theatre. And during those times I've seen a startling array of shows, from modern-dance productions (I vaguely remember one evening that included dancer Stephanie Hacking performing a duet with a small rubber ball as her "partner," sending it ricocheting around Heller's compact performance space and dancing nimbly around to catch it as it zinged back at her) to world-premieres plays (John Gunnison-Wiseman's "Jitterbug Waltz" and Gin Hobbs' "Never Take Me Alive" come immediately to mind) and off-trail works by famed playwrights (like David Mamet's "Boston Marriage").

This past week, I attended my first show in Heller's new digs at Henthorne Park. The stage area is larger, the seating is more plush -- and there are more of them. It is place that will give the Heller Theatre program room to grow, to present even more ambitious work (such as its current production of "The Good Woman of Setzuan," which continues through this weekend).

It's a home that Heller Theatre deserves. I have a feeling I will enjoy returning to the new Heller space, and taking in whatever it has to offer.

But I'll always remember fondly that sense of being almost literally a part of whatever show was going on in Heller's old and tiny, long time home.


Reader Comments 1 Total
lizzy (3 years ago)
I loved the old space, too. But it turns out I don't really miss it so much...the new space has bathrooms for the actors--backstage! It takes so little to makes us happy.
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ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

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