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.