By AMY ROSE

Staff Writer

The future of The Capitol Theatre remains uncertain this weekend after the final performance Friday night of the Little Theatre of Greeneville Inc.'s production of "Kilroy Was Here."

The patriotic play that paid tribute to America's veterans of World War II was allowed to end its scheduled run on the Capitol stage -- and actually extend the run to July 4 -- after foreclosure on the building on June 26 by the Rural Development Agency (RDA) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In an auction on the steps of the Greene County Courthouse, RDA placed the only bid of $378,335 for the financially-strapped theatre.

The Capitol was owned and operated by Little Theatre, which was facing a two-year delinquency in mortgage payments owed to RDA on a 39-year, $500,000 loan made to the theatre group in early 2002.

Jennifer Yeip, president of the Little Theatre's board of directors, said the organization hopes to buy back the building through its Save The Capitol fund-raising effort, which has raised a little more than $25,000 so far.

Yeip said in an interview Friday afternoon that she still plans to speak to RDA officials about the necessary process for buying back the building.

Enthusiastic Audience

An enthusiastic, predominantly older audience of about 50 people attended Friday night's final performance of "Kilroy Was Here" at the theatre.

In keeping with the strongly patriotic theme of the production, members of the Greene County Honor Guard presented the nation's colors in a brief opening ceremony prior to the beginning of the play itself.

In addition, perhaps as a gesture to the fact that the performance was coming on July 4, Dr. Joseph Borden, artistic and musical director of the play, read portions of the Declaration of Independence from the stage.

He then led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, and in the singing of the National Anthem.

The production itself included numerous familiar patriotic songs, including "America the Beautiful" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Members of the Honor Guard returned to the stage at the end of the play -- but before the final musical number -- for a rousing musical salute by the full company to veterans of each of the five branches of the armed forces: the Coast Guard, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Marines.

Both the company and the audience joined in singing a final patriotic song that brought cheers, whistles, and applause from the audience.

Bluegrass To Resume

Meanwhile, tonight's prevously scheduled performance in The Capitol Theatre's popular bluegrass series has been canceled.

The Aug. 2 bluegrass performance by The Gibson Brothers will be held, Yeip said, but the location has not been determined.

"We're going to try to keep going until we know what's going on," Yeip said.

The bluegrass performances are held on the first Saturday of each month.

No Little Theatre productions are in the works at this time, according to Yeip.

She said the organization hopes to continue to store its props and electronic devices in The Capitol for the time being, but will have to get approval from RDA to do so.

Donations to assist in the fund-raising effort may be mailed to: Save The Capitol Fund, P.O. Box 160, Greeneville, TN 37744.

For more information, interested persons may call 638-7712, e-mail capitoltheatre@comcast.net or visit The Capitol Theatre's Web site: www.capitoltheatreofgreeneville.com.