Beast: Burglar kills play for special needs kids; Beauty: Show goes on

Dyanne Davies was heartbroken when she told her son with Down syndrome that he won’t be seeing a performance of the popular musical “Beauty and the Beast.”

A burglary at the Wick Theatre and Costume Museum in BocaRaton prevented dozens of teens and adults with special needs from seeing the Disney classic performed on stage Wednesday.

“He just looked at me andwas like, ‘Why?’ ” Davies recalled. “He was devastated.”

Marilynn Wick, founder and CEO of the theater, said she walked into the theater Wednesday afternoon and noticed the computer that had all the animations and projections for

the show was gone. Without that, the show couldn’t happen.

“By then, we realized the trouble we were facing,” Wick said.

About 150 people were planning to attend the play, Wick said. Some paying customers were given refunds while many specialneeds attendees, who were offered free admission, were turned away.

For families with specialneeds children, the event was a big deal, Davies said. She runs a nonprofit that hosts social events for specialkids. The group had planned to take about10 children, including her son, to Wednesday’s show.

“It costs money, and some of the parents can’t do it because they don’t have the resources,” Davies said.

Several other organizations — including the Miracle League, a baseball league for special-needs children— also had planned to take kids to the play before itwas canceled.

Luckily, organizers were able to replace the computer late Wednesday evening in order to do the play today, Wick said.

Wick for decades has owned Costume World, which boasts the nation’s largest collection of Broadway wardrobes. The Wick Theatre, which opened in 2013, is a nonprofit that relies on admissions and donations in order to keep presenting productions.

This wasn’t the first time the theater was burglarized, Wick said. About twoweeks ago, someone broke into the venue and stole cash and a laptop, Wick said.

Boca police showed up to investigate the burglary and dust for fingerprints, she said. A police spokesperson couldn’t be reached for comment late Wednesday.

“It really saddens me that a robber would come to this theater that already isn’t making a lot of money,” Wick said.