{"id":138,"date":"2014-05-02T00:14:02","date_gmt":"2014-05-02T00:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wobp.us\/?page_id=138"},"modified":"2021-05-27T15:01:14","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T15:01:14","slug":"ratliff-theater","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wobp.us\/?page_id=138","title":{"rendered":"About WOBP"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Tom Ratliff Civic Theater
\n<\/strong>103 SW Main
\n<\/strong>Eldorado,\u00a0TX\u00a076936
\n<\/strong>\u00a0Ticket or show information: 325-277-0635.<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Tom Ratliff Civic Theater History<\/big><\/big><\/big><\/strong><\/big><\/big><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/big>The picture show building, known as The Lone Star Theater, was built in 1930 by Mr. and Mrs. T.K. Jones.\u00a0 It was built shortly after the Whitten oil well made history.\u00a0 Having profited from this venture, Mr. Jones wanted to invest in real estate in Eldorado.\u00a0 To give the town some class, he built the picture show building.\u00a0 The construction was done by a Mr. Chidester from Menard who also did other construction work for Mr. Jones.\u00a0 The advent of the oil well triggered growth in the community and several other buildings on Main Street were constructed about the same time.\u00a0 Despite the fact that it was a boost to the community, some felt that talking pictures would be the downfall of the town.\u00a0<\/strong><\/big><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 T.K. and his wife sold it to Catherine Creigh Hall in 1944.\u00a0 It remained in that family until 1961, when Tom Ratliff purchased it from the Halls to house the insurance business he had purchased from his brother Jack Ratliff.\u00a0 Tom Ratliff modernized the very front of the building only, leaving the auditorium in tact to be used for storage.<\/strong><\/big><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 1986, Tom Ratliff decided to retire and considered selling the building.\u00a0 He quoted a selling price which his wife, Winnie Helen considered to be ridiculously low.\u00a0 She made him a better offer on the spot, and he quickly said, “Sold!”\u00a0 Tom felt he had made a good business deal, but before the sale could be finalized, he had to put on a new roof and install new air conditioning.\u00a0 He was not so sure of his good business deal after that!<\/strong><\/big><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 1986, a community theater group began to produce plays and developed into an organized group called ” The Way Off Broadway Players”.\u00a0 Their first show was in 1986.\u00a0 They became incorporated in October of 1989.<\/strong><\/big><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Shortly after incorporating, the group needed a permanent home and they approached Winnie Helen about the possibility of purchasing the old picture show from her.\u00a0 To their great surprise and delight she gave them the building on March 16, 1994.\u00a0 She stipulated that it be called the “Tom Ratliff Civic Theater” in memory of her husband Tom who died September 3, 1991.\u00a0 The Way Off Broadway Players as well as the community were deeply grateful, and plans for renovation were started immediately.\u00a0 The renovation was done by Herman Walker Construction of Eldorado.\u00a0<\/strong><\/big><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Way Off Broadway Players are a non-profit, tax exempt corporation (501-C corporation).\u00a0 There has been wonderful support from the community and neighboring communities from the beginning.<\/strong><\/big><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0T<\/span>hese pictures are of the ever popular play “Smoke on the Mountain”.<\/h6>\n
\u00a0 Not only did they perform in Eldorado, but had tremendous success in the San Angelo Civic Theater.<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n
\u00a0 It was their longest running play.<\/span><\/h6>\n

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Tom Ratliff Civic Theater 103 SW Main Eldorado,\u00a0TX\u00a076936 \u00a0Ticket or show information: 325-277-0635. The Tom Ratliff Civic Theater History \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The picture show building, known as The Lone Star Theater, was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-138","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wobp.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wobp.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wobp.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wobp.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wobp.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=138"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.wobp.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":658,"href":"https:\/\/www.wobp.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/138\/revisions\/658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wobp.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}