Jacob's Pillow fire

A fire burns Tuesday at the Doris Duke Theatre at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket. Initially, none of the hydrants on the campus worked, according to Becket Fire Chief Paul Mikaniewicz.

 CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Arts organizations from around the country and world, along with countless fans of dance, took to Twitter to share messages of condolence and grief over the loss of a renowned performance hall at Jacob's Pillow in Becket. 

The Doris Duke Theatre burned to the ground Tuesday. The nonprofit's leader says they'll rebuild.

Among those to express sadness was U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who told her followers that Tuesday's fire dealt a second blow to the arts organization. 

Arts organizations around the Berkshires were among the first to call out support for their peer institution, some suggesting that now is the time to show financial support. 

From a fine arts museum in Williamstown, admirers of the Pillow sent "love."

With the same sentiment coming from a local arts group that counts itself as kin. 

From New Zealand, on the other side of the world, the news of the fire reached a school of dance — which promptly weighed in on the loss, not once but twice.

Closer to home, people in Pennsylvania took time, at the state university's performing arts center, to remark on the tragedy. 

From New York City, an arts organization offered its salute:

Perhaps this next tweet captured a thought held by others: why had the Duke theater space burned? It brought a caution about the need of theater companies to walk their grounds, and keep an eye on their spaces.

And then there were just all of the fans. People who knew of the Pillow from their seats in audiences, as well as performers, like this one named Callie Mae:

Many took time to mention the fact that the year 2020 has been rough on everyone already. And now this, they said, sometimes with words that would have to be bleeped on-air.

The final images go to Jake Mendel, a member of the staff of The Eagle, who provided video and other coverage of the fire.

Larry Parnass can be reached at lparnass@berkshireeagle.com and 413-588-8341.

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Investigations editor

Larry Parnass, investigations editor, joined The Eagle in 2016 from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, where he was editor in chief. His freelance work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant and CommonWealth Magazine.