A grinch has stolen the Christmas performance of a Laguna Niguel theater.
Twelve hours after a new lock box was installed on the front door of Ovations Performing Arts, someone broke into the nonprofit musical theater.
“The robbers took everything!” says owner Charla Moore. “We have a Christmas performance in just a few days and now have no lights, microphones, speakers, computers, etc.”
Moore estimated more than $10,000 worth of equipment was stolen.
She says a detective on the case mentioned a group of thieves have been targeting studios and theaters with lock boxes, with four knocked off in the past few weeks.
“One studio even had their Toys-for-Tots collection box stolen,” Moore says.
Before the Ovations Performing Arts burglary, it was already tough to maintain the Christmas spirit because, “We are eye shot away from the tragedy last week where Fire Captain Eric Weuve jumped to his tragic death,” Moore says, “and we were already shook up from this terrible loss.”
She wants to get her story out so other theaters can know they may be targeted, especially if they use lock boxes.
However, if anyone wants to help Moore with information about the thief or thieves, or to ensure the Ovations Performing Arts show goes on, give her a call at 949.287.9364 or email ov*********@gm***.com.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.