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Theatre Tulsa on the move.
Published: 3/17/2012 11:21 AM
Last Modified: 3/17/2012 11:45 AM

This evening (Saturday, March 17) Theatre Tulsa will give the final performance of its current production, “The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds,” at the Tulsa PAC.

That same day, the company will begin the process of moving from its headquarters, costume and scenic shop down the road and around the corner from its current home at 207 N. Main St. – next door to the Brady Tavern – to a new location, 12 N. Cheyenne Ave., next to a railroad track.

Both buildings are owned by David Sharp and the company acknowledges that “It is due to Mr. Sharp's generosity that Theatre Tulsa has a place in which to continue its legacy.”

That legacy is being not simply Tulsa’s oldest theatre company but the oldest community theater troupe west of the Mississippi River still in operation. Next season will mark the company’s 90th year of producing plays and musicals.

As the company describes itself, it is “an everyman's theatre group,” one that has for nearly a century given opportunities for local actors, directors, set designers, carpenters, electricians, stage hands and the like to share their talents with their fellow citizens.

The company presented its first plays in a canvas tent at what is now 15th Street and Delaware Avenue. That is also the site of what was the company’s long-time home, now the Tulsa Little Theatre (which was the original name of the company before switching to Theatre Tulsa).

It set up housekeeping on North Main Street in 1990, in a building that served as office, rehearsal space, storage for the company’s large collection of costumes, and a shop for building its sets, such as multi-level dwelling of the Hunsdorfers in “The Effect of Gamma Rays of Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds.”

Theatre Tulsa represented the United States in the World Festival of Amateur Theatre in 1981 held in Monaco, performing the play "Stations" by Tulsa playwright Jim Vance; earned special recognition at the Governor's Arts Awards in 1981; was the winner of the very first Tulsa Award for Theatre Excellence, for its 2009 production of “Up the Down Staircase,” presented in collaboration with Clark Theatre, the city of Tulsa’s youth theater program; and won the 2011 Oklahoma Community Theater Association Theatre of the Year Award.

Theatre Tulsa plans to spend this weekend and next transporting its theatrical goods and chattels to its new location. The company is looking for volunteers to help, either in assisting with the physical move, making in-kind donations of goods and services, or making a tax-deductible contribution to offset the cost of the move and the building rehab. If you’re willing to help, call Sally Barnes at 918-587-8402 or send email to
info@theatretulsa.org.

And be sure to catch the final performance of "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Tulsa PAC, 110 E. Second St. Tickets are $12 at the door or via tulsaworld.com/mytix.




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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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