SPOKANE, Wash. – A man broke into The Spokane Children’s Theatre Tuesday morning by entering through a small window.
Around 1:30 AM, the man entered and stole wireless microphones, stage props, and costumes from the theatre, among other things.
He also broke into the locked donations box and stole the money which is collected during shows put on at the theatre.
The man was seen on security cameras inside going through the cast members personal belongings, before cutting most of the security cameras wires.
Tanya Brownlee, the Executive Director of the theatre, says that performing on Wednesday without items they are used to having is a challenge.
“A full day of performing for the local schools when they come in. So, to come in not knowing what props are missing, what costumes are missing, what personal items to perform the show are missing, makes it extremely difficult,” Brownlee said.
The theatre is still making a list of all that was stolen, but Brownlee says the estimate is in the thousands of dollars. The theatre does have insurance, but they are unsure what will be covered from the break-in.
After roughly hours in the building, the thief broke through three layers of drywall with a steel pipe to get into the business next door. Brownlee says they now are having to adjust quickly to continue with their performances.
“The video cameras being clipped, it means they can’t see what’s going on on stage, so a lot of it is going in blind, and in theater it’s kind of nice to know what’s going on, on the stage,” Brownlee said.
The drywall was fixed, and performances of Tuck Everlasting will continue, as March 16-18 is closing weekend. Brownlee says the community has stepped in to help fill some needs the theatre now has, and they will continue with the scheduled performance of Charlie Brown beginning in April.
