THE NIGHTINGALE THEATER

The Nightingale Theater is an affordable, alternative venue available to local and touring companies. Since February 2000, the theater has been host to over 275 individual theatrical events, with more than 750 actual performance dates; that averages to over 100 performances per calendar year, making us one of the busiest stages in the region. We are booking our calendar months in advance with companies such as Theatre Club, Thunder Road Theatre Company, Evandrake Productions, SuperOVUM Improv, Living Arts New Genre Festival, and, of course, both Midwestern Theater Troupe and Nightingale Theater Productions.

The Nightingale Theater is located in a small industrial park on Fourth Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma; the theater's rounded metal facade immediately sets it apart from the surrounding brick and concrete buildings. One block East of Peoria, the theater borders both the East Village and downtown, and is easily accessible to the Brady and Blue Dome districts. Inside, our stadium-style seating is mobile to accommodate any type of traditional or non-traditional seating arrangements, and the backstage area has a 40-foot ceiling ideal for set and prop construction. Local and touring artists are invited to utilize the back-bay area as workshop or studio space in addition to holding performances in the main auditorium. Interested parties can submit a short proposal illustrating their ideas for the space; take a look at the Nightingale floorplan, or contact us directly with any questions or comments.

Some awards

       Absolute Best of Tulsa (Urban Tulsa)
       Hot 100 Movers and Shakers (Urban Tulsa)
       Best of Tulsa Theatre (Tulsa World)
       Best of Greater Tulsa (Greater Tulsa Reporter)
       Best in Oklahoma (Oklahoma Community Theatre Association)

What folks say

• Notorious for presenting raw, unapologetic theatre... the theater also hosts traveling acts that other theaters wouldn’t dare let through their doors (Urban Tulsa, 03/26/08)
• Original and eye-opening dramatic productions (Urban Tulsa, 01/02/08)
• I'm used to walking into this small, dark theater and being as far removed from tradition as possible (Urban Tulsa, 12/19/07)
• Nearly everything at Nightingale is a little creepy (Urban Tulsa, 10/17/07)
• This theater and company of actors host and perform the edgiest theatre in Tulsa. You won’t see anything like it anywhere else in town, promise. (Urban Tulsa, 07/19/07)
• Inside those doors lies a challenge (Urban Tulsa, 06/27/07)
• You go to the Nightingale to see something you've never seen before, and likely wouldn't otherwise, to laugh, to squirm, to feel nervous, to think (Urban Tulsa, 06/27/07)
• Well-known around these parts for its unique and edgy short-form, high-impact brand of theatre... pushing the envelope with everything they do (Urban Tulsa, 06/13/07)
• They produce high-quality shows that should be outselling their small space (Urban Tulsa, 03/28/07)
• Offbeat dramatic style (Tulsa World, 03/23/07)
• Completely provocative and totally unafraid. No subject is taboo (Urban Tulsa, 02/07/07)
• Preferring art over money, these groups [Midwestern Theater Troupe and the Nightingale Theater] are consistently producing edgy, ground-breaking material (Urban Tulsa, 01/03/07)
• You can be sure to count on the Midwestern Theatre Company and Nightingale Theater for something a little off kilter (Urban Tulsa, 12/20/06)
• "Safe" theater has never been an attribute of the Nightingale (Tulsa World, 10/04/06)
• By far Tulsa's most daring theatre enterprise (Urban Tulsa, 07/20/06)
• Often the setting for risky productions (Tulsa World, 07/13/06)
• Presenting original and oftentimes bizarre works (Tulsa World, 04/02/06)
• Edgy theatre (Urban Tulsa, 08/11/05)
• The only local company who dares to regularly tackle works by new and emerging playwrights (Urban Tulsa, 07/21/05)
• Tulsa's home for unconventional entertainment (Tulsa World, 03/14/05)
• Controversially fun; a flashpoint for new theater productions; charming, art-driven idealism (Urban Tulsa, 02/24/2005)
• Daring fantasy (Tulsa World, 02/15/05)
• I don't know what we just saw, but I sure liked it! (Tulsa World, 12/17/04)
• Something original, something frightening, something hilarious and something completely different - that's Nightingale Theater in a nutshell. (Tulsa World, 10/29/04)
• Presenting theater that you won't see anywhere else in Tulsa. (Tulsa World, 9/15/04)
• Thinking outside the box and creating original art (Tulsa World, 9/13/04)
• Keeping theatre alive (Urban Tulsa, 1/15/04)
• Savvy productions (Tulsa World, 2/15/03)
• Groundbreaking (Urban Tulsa, 12/15/02)
• Anything but boring (Tulsa World, 10/23/02)
• Audacious (Tulsa World, 9/8/02)
• Enough freaks to make Tod Browning proud (Tulsa World, 9/8/02)
• A circus atmosphere in which anything is possible (Tulsa World, 8/11/01)
• They take their playtime pretty seriously. (Tulsa World, 8/5/01)
• Creating compelling, yet entertaining works (Tulsa World, 8/5/01)
• Irreverent clown pirates of theater (Tulsa World, 8/5/01)
• Offering the area's prime avant-garde venue (Tulsa World, 6/22/01)
• Adventurous programming (Tulsa World, 1/16/01)
• Tulsa's rough-housing clown princes of adventure and dramatic risk-taking (Tulsa World, 12/3/00)
• Wild, rule-breaking production (Tulsa World, 7/1/00)
• Merry band of theater aesthetes (Tulsa World, 3/18/00)
• Full of high drama and challenging theatrics (Tulsa World, 7/9/98)
• Ever striving for a unique theatrical offering for Tulsans (Tulsa World, 11/13/97)
• Something a tad extraordinary in local theater (Tulsa World, 10/19/95)
• An investment in your future (Tulsa World, 6/24/1995)

Thanks

Thanks go to the following foundations for their support of the Nightingale; we are grateful for everything we receive.

• KJRH, Channel 2 (The Scripps Howard Foundation), May 2005
• The Gay & Lesbian Fund for Tulsa, sponsoring Jade Esteban Estrada in January 2005
• Charles W. and Pauline K. Flint Foundation, June 2003