When The Tyrone Community Players left the theater in the Tyrone Area YMCA for the final time, the last thing they did was turn off the imposing isenglass chandelier that has graced that facility since 1914.
It was a symbolic gesture that left a deep void in the hearts and spirit of the members of Tyrone’s award winning theater company.
When the Players moved into the historic theater housed in the Tyrone Y 20 years ago, the chandelier was not there, the only clue to its previous habitation being the ornate plaster rosette on the ceiling where the light had once hung.
No one seemed to know of its whereabouts, or how and why it was removed. The Players began an attempt to solve the mystery.
What had happened to the chandelier that had been originally designed and constructed as a gift from the PRR to the Y and the community of Tyrone in 1914?
After following many leads, and with the help of The Daily Herald appealing for its return, the chandelier mysteriously found its way back into the theater and was placed on the stage. No one has ever been able to account for its unexplained absence or return, but TCP has always been extremely grateful to whoever gave the theater and community its light back.
This lovely, leaded glass fixture then became a symbol of survival to The Players. As long as that light hung and illuminated the theater this company called home, everything was as it should be.
Then, the Players had to leave, closing the door on that symbol of hope that had become intertwined with their success! It was a difficult day, indeed.
When word came to the TCP that some of the contents inside the building that had been the YMCA were going to be disposed of, they contacted the Y Board Of Directors about the future of the fixture. After some deliberation, the Tyrone Players agreed to purchase the isenglass chandelier.
This light will be used as the centerpiece for the design being created to provide the TCP and Tyrone with a new theater space. Until then, the chandelier that has been a part of this community for its 91-year existence, shall be removed from the theater, cleaned, rewired and stored safely until it can once again be hung in a performance venue, and called upon to begin and end the excitement that is live theater.
If anyone is interested in making a donation toward saving this small piece of Tyrone history, send contributions to PO Box 209, Tyrone, PA 16686. A plaque, being created to thank each contributor for their generosity, shall presently be hung in the TCP building, but will hang near the chandelier once its new home is completed.
The members of The Tyrone Community Players are confident that this beautiful, graceful and meaningful piece of Tyrone’s history shall once again light the way into an evening of theater, helping to illuminate the audience’s journey into an adventure, a mystery, a fantasy, a musical.
