YELLING "FIRE" IN A CROWDED THEATER...

Well, it wasn't really crowded at the time, but The Shreveport Little Theater was gutted by flames on Tuesday. It's a darned shame, too. As the oldest continually operating community theater in the US, a whole lot of history went up in smoke. It seems that the fire was started by a spark from a welding rig while doing some new construction on the theater which was built in 1927. It was a neat place. Darned shame...

From The Times of Shreveport article:

Shreveport Little Theatre, an 80-year-old historical landmark that drew national attention for its famous productions, was reduced to smoldering, charred debris when a fire raced through the single-story structure on Tuesday.

"From what I'm told it's a total loss," said Robert Darrow, SLT managing and artistic director. "The structure of the new addition to the lobby may be saved, but everything is lost."

The Tudor-style building was undergoing a $1.8 million expansion project to replace backstage space lost in a 1986 fire.

"It's not only a loss for the community but for the entire nation," Darrow said, as he and a group of supporters looked on as dozens of firefighters doused fire and smoke. "It's the oldest continuously producing theater in the country."

"We were so careful in preserving anything of historical nature at the theater and to keep its original structure — the huge wooden beams and brick walls," Darrow said. "But as you can see, it's all gone now.

"It's devastating to see a place where generations and generations of Shreveport families have come just go up in smoke. It's sad."