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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

Fears
From Page A1

Jasmine Dent/ For the Smyth County News & Messenger

Smyth County Animal Shelter employee Eddie Bosley said many of the seized cats were unhealthy. Bosley said Cat Number 25 was missing several patches of fur and had a wounded
tail.

Cats
From Page A1

been integral in assisting

with the situation. The
Virginia Department of
Health and Department
of Agriculture have also
come to the shelters aide,
as well as the animal rights
organization PETA (People
for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals).
Turman said he did not
know how the shelter
would survive if it wasnt
for local volunteers.
Everybody heres just
totally overwhelmed, he

said. I cant stress enough

how much we appreciate our volunteers. We
just couldnt do it without
them.
Three large rooms at the
shelter are now dedicated
to stacks upon stacks of
cages housing the cats.
Volunteers continuously
assist with feeding, cleaning cages, changing litter
boxes and showing the felines attention.
Smyth County Humane
Society volunteer Lori
Carter said she found the
situation heartbreaking for
both the cats and for the
organization from which
they were seized.

Its extremely sad, she

said. You see things like
this on television, but
never did I expect to see
something like this in person. Its really unbelievable
until you see it in person.
Until Smyth County General District Court makes a
decision in the case June 5,
the cats will remain in the
shelters custody.
Turman said the shelter continues to seek help
from volunteers and encourages anyone interested in volunteering to
contact the Smyth County
Humane Society at 276780-7702.

cantile & Stillhouse Store,

also said as a board member hed made repeated
requests for audits of the
theaters finances but had
never seen one.
Marion Town Council
member Suzanne Jennings, who serves on the
theaters board, told Schumaker that she wished he
had stayed on the board.
She cited his good business sense. However, as
a theater board member,
she said there are definitely two sides to the situation.
She said the board is pursuing partnerships with
The Crooked Road and the
Birthplace of Country Music Alliance (BCMA) and
those organizations have
told the theater board that
they wont form those alliances unless Song of the
Mountains is restructured.
The Bristol-based BCMA
works to preserve and promote the music heritage
of this region, while The
Crooked Road is Virginias
Heritage Music Trail.
She asked Schumaker
and others to give the
Lincoln Theatre board a
chance.
Schumaker responded
that The Crooked Road
and the BCMA dont have
money to put into Song of
the Mountains.
On Tuesday, Kristin Untiedt-Barnett, executive
director of the Lincoln
Theatre, told the News &
Messenger that working
with other regional groups
is important for the Lincoln. Forming those partnerships and coordinating the use of resources
helps all the organizations
promote tourism and the

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From Page A1

LINDA BURCHETTE/SMYTH COUNTY NEWS & MESSENGER

The Hurricane Players of Marion Senior High School bring the Old West to life on the Lincoln
Theatre stage this weekend with the musical melodrama The Chicken Count of Marion.

Players present spring show

The Old West comes to
the stage of the Lincoln
Theatre on Friday, June 5,
and Saturday, June 6, as
the Marion Senior High
School Hurricane Players present The Chicken
Count of Marion by Dr.
Janice Pryor.
This musical melodrama
is a spoof of classic American melodrama, full of
impossible situations, lots
of local references, and
plenty of made-up facts.
For example, the action
begins long ago, when
Marion, a booming town
on the western frontier, is
threatened by that most
infamous of villains, the
evil Count Sonasty (Zach
Ashlin). It seems that
Sonasty is buying up all
the real estate in Marion
to use as breeding space
for his pedigreed poultry.
Lily (Erin Teaster), owner
of the Plug Nickel Saloon,
vows to fight Sonasty with
the help of the local sheriff
Radley (Mason Blevins),
her loyal barkeep (Casey
Price), and her band of
dance hall girls (Lauren
Rentz, Jenny Widener,
Mandi Widener, Deanna
Jackson, and Courtney
Roe).
Fearsome
gunslinger
Black Bart (Clint Helton)
and Bedealia (Shaly Farmer), a crafty entertainer,

plot to help Sonasty with

his wicked schemes to
turn Marion into one big
chicken coop and to discover the secret past of
Just Kate, the mysterious
new girl in town (Daisy
Sturgill).
The action heats up
when a crackpot prospector (Isaac Rigdon) makes
a shocking discovery, and
chaos erupts at the Plug
Nickel.
MSHS faculty member
and music teacher Darren
Goad is the shows accompanist.
The performance is directed by Todd Necessary,
Hurricane Players theater
director.
This is a very different
show for most of my student-actors, said Necessary.
We have not attempted
a musical of any type in
my tenure at MSHS. This
is also our first melodramaa very different style
of acting that dominated
the American Theater
scene of the late 1800s. If
you have ever heard a parent, teacher or friend say
Stop being so melodramatic in response to you,
then youve been guilty
playing over the top over
acting. Actors in melodramas have to push comedic boundaries, develop

a very finely tuned comic

barometer, and be flexible
enough to play with the
audience members, who
are encouraged to become
vocal participants in the
dramatic action, Necessary said.
Back in 1989 when I first
began performing professional summer stock, The
Chicken Count was my
first attempt at melodrama, Necessary said. Ive
been fortunate to work
with Dr. Pryor in many
shows since then and truly
thank her for allowing us
to stage the showas well
as choreographing the
musical numbers.
The Chicken Count was
first produced at The Blue
Ridge Dinner Theatre in
1989 and playwright Janice Pryor said, I think the
audiences like it because
they are active participants in the drama, booing the villains, cheering
on the hero, and even deciding how the play will
end.
The Chicken Count of
Marion will be performed
at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Marions Lincoln
Theatre.
General admission for
the show is $8 for adults
and $5 for students.

Ellis, who was part of

the original group that
undertook renovating and
reopening the Lincoln
Theatre, said the matter
shouldnt be viewed as the
Lincoln Theatre versus
Song of the Mountains.
The theater and the concert series require different specializations and for
one board to manage both
is a huge undertaking, he
said.
Timing is everything,
said Ellis. While Song of
the Mountains has had its
TV slot with PBS for a decade, he said, if its lost, it
will be almost impossible
to regain. The enemy is
not Tim White. The enemy
is not us. The enemy is
time, he said. The acquisition proposal said, We
must move quickly to save
Song of the Mountains
relationship with UNCTV, the television series
presenting station. This
relationship is in grave
danger of dissolving. PBS
distribution simply cant
be turned off and turned
back on and the creation,
production and distribution of a new television
program is an expensive,
laborious, and time-consuming endeavor.
If the Lincoln should
agree to it, AMH is prepared to assume oversight
of the concert series with
the June 13 show.
In a press release, Lincoln Theatre board president Dr. T. Edward Damer
said that while Song of
the Mountains supporters,
including sponsors, performers and audiences,
have been very generous
over the years, the Lincoln
Theatre has found it in-

SMYTH COUNTY NEWS & MESSENGER

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regions heritage.
Untiedt-Barnett also said
that the Lincolns leadership understands the importance of the draw Song
of the Mountains has for
the community.
Regarding its financial
management,
UntiedtBarnett said, the theaters
accountants do monthly reconciliations of its
books. She also said a full
audit is done about every
three years. We are holding up our fiduciary responsibility, she said. Untiedt-Barnett also said she
would provide the newspaper with additional information and documents
regarding its finances.
Schumaker said the
community cant afford
the Lincoln boards high
vision of culture. Programming needs to be
evaluated on the results,
he said. He referred to a
concert pianist brought in
three times with 40 tickets
sold for the first show, 30
for the next one and 19 for
the last, while Song of the
Mountains brings in hundreds of people.
This is ground zero of
bluegrass in this country,
he said. Song of the Mountains features bluegrass,
old time, Celtic and Americana music. The show is
reported to be airing on
about 120 Public Television outlets across the
United States.
Bob Lincoln, general
manager of the General
Francis Marion Hotel, said
the hotel might not survive the winter without
the concert series. Guests
coming to see its performances are one of the hotels biggest revenue generators in slower months,
he said.
Lincoln called the firing of Tim White without

a replacement and plan a

strategic failure.
Mike Edwards, a co-owner of the Collins House Inn
in downtown Marion, said
his business is already receiving cancellations from
people who planned to
attend a concert and taping. It will take a lot of fly
fishermen and motorcycle
riders to make up the difference, Edwards said.
Schumaker,
acknowledging Bob Lincoln, said,
His business, my business, the Wooden Pickle
and everyone else on Main
Street pay the price for
this decision.
Schumaker asked the
council to withhold its
funding to the Lincoln.
Jennings told the group
that a restructuring plan
is in the works. She reiterated her earlier appeal,
saying, Give us a chance.
The town annually budgets $100,000 for the theater and concert series.
Later in the meeting as
the council prepared to
vote on its 2015-16 budget, Vice Mayor Jim Gates
asked the council members if they wanted to consider Schumakers request
prior to that decision.
Town Manager Bill Rush
reminded the council that
even though the money
is included in the budget,
a later vote is required to
authorize its payment.
Councilman Bill Weaver
said, The future will dictate what we do there.
Following a closed session to discuss the investment of public funds, the
council voted to ask Jennings to convey to the
Lincoln Theatre board its
concerns about the future
viability of Song of the
Mountains and the theater.

creasingly more difficult to

bear the financial burden
of producing the show.
Ellis said if the Lincoln
board accepts the AMH
proposal, it will provide
$50,000 to the theater.
That, he said, will give an
infusion of cash to the theater and take the burden
off the board.
The AMH plan would
also restore Tim White as
Song of the Mountains
host. White said Tuesday afternoon that under
AMH he would return. I
will come back with a big
smile on my face, he said,
reiterating his love for the
series, the music and Marion.
White said AMH is right
to be worried about Song
of the Mountains future.
He received word from the
August shows headliner
yesterday that the band
wouldnt perform because
of all the uproar and fears
that the show wont make
it to air. White said his
band, the VW Boys, was
also slated to perform in
August and wouldnt under current circumstances.
White also said hes heard
from other bands that
they wont perform for the
series.
I know the clock is ticking, he said.
In speaking with UNCTV staff, Ellis said, the programs and White get tons
of compliments from the
TV stations that air Song of
the Mountains.
The AMH leaders have
prepared a Song of the
Mountains budget that
puts total annual expenses
at $142,048 and revenue at
$153,200.
We have the budget,
ability and talent, said
Ellis, speaking about his
hopes that the Lincoln
board will accept the

proposal. Its too big a

risk to be in hiatus for six
months.
Ellis said the AMHs leadership presented its plan
to Damer, board member
Dave Haney and Kristin
Untiedt-Barnett, the Lincolns executive director.
They hope the full board
will meet Thursday and
discuss the proposal.
Ellis lauded the board
for its desire to partner
with other organizations
with similar missions and
to seek grants, but, he said,
theres not time to wait on
grants. From his experience, Ellis said, it can
take nine months to three
years for some grants to be
achieved.
On Tuesday, UntiedtBarnett said the reorganization
committee
had met with Ellis, Russell and Stringer and had
sought a more detailed
proposal from them.
To purchase a brand like
Song of the Mountains,
she said, is a lengthy process and cant be done
hastily. The Lincoln board
must consider whats best
for the theater and is exploring all options.
While the theater is
awaiting the more detailed plan from the AMH
leaders, she said, it plans
to hold a called meeting
Thursday.
She also said that work
is ongoing with UNC-TV
about season 10s production. If theres a delay,
Untiedt-Barnett said, past
seasons of Song of the
Mountains are still in syndication and the stations
will continue to show
them.
As work goes on, she
said, the theater hopes to
make that TV presence of
the series even stronger.

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