After Devastating Fire, Show Must Go On For Tulsa Theatre Company

After a fire caused several thousand dollars' worth of damage, "The show must go on," is more than just a phrase for a Tulsa non-profit theatre company.

November 1, 2015, smoke billowed out of the landmark U-haul Building at 5th and Archer in downtown Tulsa. Firefighters worked hard to get the flames under control, and while the building still stands, extensive damage was done to the items being stored inside - the non-profit, Tulsa Project Theatre was one of the victims.

11/2/2015 Related Story: Cleanup Underway After Downtown Tulsa U-Haul Fire

"We had the unfortunate incident where we have a storage unit at the U-haul on Archer where we house our costumes," Director Ron Spigelman said. "And so there was a fire that damaged, beyond repair, much of what we own."

Spigelman said not everything went up in flames, but because of smoke and water damage, the non-profit group lost custom costumes, props and sets for shows like Rocky Horror Picture Show, Seussical the Musical and more.

"Unfortunately, there wasn't a real comprehensive insurance policy to cover total cost of replacement, so we may get little if nothing out of that," he said.

Spigelman said the storage unit was being donated to the program as a favor, which is why they didn't benefit from an insurance claim.

The damage is being estimated at $60,000 and may cost them more, because, as they say in theatre, "The show must go on."

"So we haven't got anything now, so we have to rent everything from here on out and that is going to cost us, approximately, I would say in the region of $6,000 to $8,000 this year," Spigelman said.

Now the non-profit is hoping the Tulsa arts community will lend a helping hand to make sure the curtain goes up for 2016 and beyond.

TPT is taking donations on its website and on February 4, it's holding a fundraiser - more details will be released soon.

Even though the fire has put the non-profit back to square one, Spigelman said they're still planning for the future.

"We're gonna try to get through this season, we're gonna work with the board on a long-range plan..." Spigelman said. "The hope is, one day, the theatre can have its own building and theatre so it can do its own thing."

If you'd like to help TPT you can learn more about donations and their upcoming schedule for 2016 on their website.