[rwhealey]

I have been taking photographs in caves for a while, which shares a bit of the same limitations as taking pictures in theaters.

I use a Nikon D200 - got it used for $750. I'm limited by my lens, which the Nikon 18-55 F3.5-5.6

I have found that the biggest help is manual control. I'll take a picture in apature priority, look at it in the LCD screen and then adjust from there. I usually set ISO between 800 and 1250 and don't see too much noise. Tripods are great for pictures without movment.

I also find that taking black and white pictures can turn a poor photo into a good one. That might not work here (can't see lighting design too well).