San Jose theater company burglarized days before opening night

A theater company in San Jose says its theater was burglarized over the weekend, just as it’s preparing to open a new show next week. Two people were seen on surveillance video lurking around the building early Sunday morning.

SAN JOSE, CA - A theater company in San Jose says its theater was burglarized over the weekend, just as it’s preparing to open a new show next week. Two people were seen on surveillance video lurking around the building early Sunday morning.

This isn’t the first time City Lights Theater Company has been burglarized. Management says it’s been challenging to get people back into the theater and now this incident is just one more thing they’ll have to overcome.

"You used the correct word: violated. That’s exactly what I felt that morning," said Ron Gasparinetti.

Gasparinetti is the Production Manager and Scenic Designer for City Lights Theater Company in downtown San Jose. Theater management says they received a call from the alarm company about 7:15 on Sunday morning. Two people were seen on surveillance video near the theater and when police arrived minutes later, they were gone.

"It’s a slap in the face to have somebody come in here and just take stuff that doesn’t belong to them that we need to do the productions, and now we have to go replace that stuff, which costs money," said Gasparinetti.

Gasparinetti says they’re still calculating the damage but props for production, cell phones, iPads and other costly items were taken during the burglary. City Lights' General Manager says it’s been a struggle to fully rebound, even years after the pandemic.

"It’s been four years tomorrow, since the pandemic shut us down, and we’re still working to recover audiences, patron base and our donors," said Anne Younan, City Lights Theater Company General Manager.

Despite the burglary, the theater company is still preparing for the opening night of "King Liz" on March 21. It's a play about a tenacious female sports agent trying to reach the top of a male-dominated industry. City Lights Theater Company is in its 41st season of bringing community theater to San Jose.

"The best thing that can really happen right now, is that people support City Lights Theater Company and any theater company you belong to. This is a challenging time for arts organizations, and we all need support," said Younan.

City Lights says they’re grateful that the alarm system worked and that no one was hurt. They also have a fundraiser planned next month. For more information about show tickets, click the link.

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