Congratulations to Gary Baker, Bill Landry, and Michael Golbiewski on their success with the “Appalachian Dreams” show, held at Roane State Theater last evening. I have yet to hear a negative comment and the feedback, in comments and applause, after the show warmed the hearts of all 120+ participants in the show. Everyone worked very hard behind the scenes to ensure attendees were entertained.

The most mentioned acts were the “Lantana Drifters” and Edd Webb’s train whistle during the song “Wabash Cannonball”, and the voices of the Phillippi Primitive Baptist Church. However, all the acts were top notch and very professional, and the show would not have been the same without them. Each added its own unique flavor to the show and the over all enjoyment of the show. The audience, both the matinee and the evening show, got into the show by clapping time to the music and applauding the acts, sometime even in the middle of their performances.

If you missed the show…shame on you, but rest assured there will be more coming. As a matter of fact, once the Princess is restored, you could be privileged to have shows performed weekly! That’s just one of the reasons to back the project! Roane County needs entertainment, and there are no better performers than our own to provide it. The talents showcased in Saturday’s program just scratched the surface of the talent in our area!

The matinee at 2PM Saturday was a near sellout, while the evening show was completely packed! So, it’s evident that a lot of you got the message, were entertained, and are 100% behind the Princess Project. To paraphrase what Chris Mason has said, “The Princess will not be showing first run movies, but will instead be providing arts education, conferencing, and live entertainment to area!” The 900 seat auditorium will be a place for live entertainment, while the buildings on the right and left of the theater building will house facilities for teaching the arts, a TV and a radio station operated by the students of Roane County.

With such an “arts center” in place and functioning, other businesses will come to the cities of Roane County. As Muse Watson said Saturday night, “We can do this!”

Many more photos on the Princess Theater blog. Keep up with the latest on this blog!