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July 31, 2025 14 mins

What's It Like Backstage At The Lincoln?

Step behind the curtain of Marion, Virginia's historic Lincoln Theatre as Executive Director Bob Watkins reveals what really happens on show day. This rare glimpse into the unseen world of theatre production transforms how you'll experience your next live performance.

While audiences enjoy a polished 2.5-hour show, Watkins and his team orchestrate a 14-hour symphony of preparation, from the morning's equipment load-in to the evening's final breakdown. Through intimate video footage, we witness sound engineers meticulously crafting the perfect acoustic environment, volunteer ushers preparing to guide patrons, and performers readying themselves for the spotlight. "Sound check is usually my most enjoyable part of the day," confesses Watkins, highlighting the raw authenticity of these pre-show moments.

The Lincoln Theatre itself stands as a magnificent example of Mayan revival architecture, dating back to its 1929 debut. Beyond the ornate murals that immediately capture visitors' attention, Watkins points to Lola's—the box office area named after the original mural artist—as an often-overlooked gem showcasing local artistic talent. This dedication to preserving heritage while creating vibrant contemporary experiences epitomizes the Lincoln's enduring mission.

The episode features electrifying performance clips from Landslide, a beloved Fleetwood Mac tribute band that consistently sells out the venue. The footage captures not just the musical magic but the special connection between performers and the Marion community—a relationship that continues after the show during merchandise table meet-and-greets. For Watkins and his team, these moments fulfill the purpose behind their exhaustive day: creating unforgettable experiences that keep patrons returning year after year.

Ready to experience The Lincoln Theatre magic yourself? Visit TheLincoln.org to discover upcoming performances or stop by 117 East Main Street to see this historic treasure in person. After watching this episode, you'll never view a performance the same way again!

To learn more about The Lincoln Theatre visit:
https://www.TheLincoln.org/
The Lincoln Theatre
117 E. Main Street
Marion, Virginia 24354
276-783-6092

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to On Stage with the Lincoln Theatre, where
history and entertainment stealthe show.
Dive into the rich legacy ofthis iconic Mayan revival
theatre, from its 1929 debut toits starring role in Marion,
Virginia's entertainment scene.
Guiding us through this journeyis the man in the spotlight,
our executive director, BobWatkins.

(00:23):
Spotlight, our executivedirector, bob Watkins.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
From the moment you step through the doors, the
Lincoln Theater transports you.
Today we're taking a walkthrough its ornate beauty,
unique design and deep history,and what a day in the life of a
Lincoln performance is like.
Welcome back everyone.
Skip Monaco slash producer,back in the studio with Bob
Watkins, executive director ofthe Lincoln Theater.
Great to see you again, bob.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
Hey, good to be back.
Skip, how have?

Speaker 2 (00:52):
you been.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Not too bad, Just always busy here for sure.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Always busy, always busy, I'm sure, and you've had
some great shows lately, andsomething we've talked about for
a long time is to find out whatis it like from your
perspective and from a band'sperspective actually, what's it
like on show day?
So, bob, I'll turn it over toyou.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
It's always a little bit different each show day and
it's always difficult to explaina little bit different each
show day and it's alwaysdifficult to explain.
So I believe we've got a videohere that I'd like to share, to
just let people see the day inthe life there, and I'll kind of
talk you through some of thestuff that happens.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
All right, sounds good.

Speaker 4 (01:36):
The crowd is great.
Everybody welcomes us.
We always have a lot of peopleafter the show.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
That come and take a lot of pictures and we've made
genuine friends, so yeah,basically, we just start the day
with a load in, so when theartists show up, they'll go
ahead and bring their equipmentin.

Speaker 4 (01:51):
We go ahead and load it out onto the stage.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
Start setting it up to set the scene for the night,
and this is a view of that.
And that's our sound engineerthere.
He's getting everything set andmic'd up for the show and start
doing some tests and we'llprobably start up some sound
check here pretty soon.
But that process is prettytedious because we want to

(02:13):
obviously set the scene and makeit nice but at the same time
make it sound good too.
So there's a lot of stuff thatgoes on during this process.
For sure.
Such a beautiful game, ah,thank you, yeah.
And then this is a another areathat's kind of taken off of the
scene, but this is in our boxoffice, so they're just setting

(02:35):
up their merch table to sell topatrons and go ahead and zoom
back in here, and I believethey're gonna go ahead and zoom
back in here and I believethey're gonna go ahead and start
up some of this out.

(02:59):
All right, we've got a fullcrowd tonight.
We've got a lot of ushers aswell, so we're gonna have three
people up on the balcony.
We're gonna have seven peoplein the back row as well.
We're going to have two peopledown on the front to lock people
up on the stage.
So we'll go ahead and have youup at the security in the front
and everybody else.
If you guys want to sign stage,we'll get ready to rock and

(03:20):
roll.
Okay, All right.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
Go ahead and grab Mark ready to rock and roll,
okay all right there you go.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
I'm sorry.
From backstage I'll say thatsound check is usually my most
enjoyable part of the day of theshow, actually, because you get
to see it all in a raw form.
So now this just goes ahead andshows kind of like a walk-in.
This is walking in to get ready.
Everybody's chomping at the bitto get into the doors and
everything.
And right down here to theright we've got Lola's, which is

(04:43):
our box office.
That's where people go pick uptheir ticket, pick up their
concession stands.
That's where we always set upall of the merchandise.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Those are all volunteer ushers, right.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
Yeah, we have a large group of fantastic volunteer
ushers and, as you can see,especially with the sellout
crowd, like we had for thislandslide show, we do need them
a lot to kind of take people andwalk people through.
Fortunately, landslide brings alot of repeat patrons so they
know their way around.
Unfortunately, landslide bringsa lot of repeat patrons so they
know their way around, but forshows that don't, we have ushers

(05:39):
that are sitting here right atthe ticket-taking.
This is Caroline.
She's one of our ushers as well, so we just take them, walk
them right to their seats, so ittakes out all the guests for
them.
It makes the process a loteasier for the patrons to come
in so they don't have to try tofind where they're at.

Speaker 4 (06:01):
What's your favorite detail in the theater?

Speaker 3 (06:02):
that visitors often miss.
Well, I mean, everybody seesthe murals up on stage or up on
the sides of the building andeverything but.

Speaker 4 (06:13):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
The detail that I think people miss is probably
down here at Lola's, becausetucked in Lola's we have a
picture of Lola, who was theartist for the mural, and Lola's
is all dedicated to artists,local artists like Marianne.
Um, that's probably the thingthat I think people don't
acknowledge the most is, uh,we're still sticking to that

(06:40):
historical heritage, with thetheater going with the local
artists full of hope.
You always have my five seconds, you, uh, do you always
introduce the band, do you?

Speaker 2 (06:54):
always introduce the band.

Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, I always do a little brief introduction and
everything, and the band willget on stage and fire up.

Speaker 4 (07:10):
Here we go, illusions of love, and is it over now?
Do you know how to pick up thepieces and go home?
Well, did she make you cry,make you break down?
Shatter your illusions of loveand now tell me Is it over now?
Do you know how to pick up thepieces and go home?

(07:35):
Go home, go home.
Guitar solo Baby.

(08:26):
You come knocking on my frontdoor, same old line you used to
use before.
I said yeah.
Well, what am I supposed to do?
I didn't know what I wasgetting into, so you had a
little trouble inside.
Now you're keeping some demonsdown.

(08:48):
Stop dragging my, stop draggingmy, stop dragging my heart
around.

(09:16):
The end End rings like a bellThrough the night and once you
love to love, her Takes to thesky Like a bird in flight.
And who will be your lover Allyour life?
You've never seen A woman takenby the wind.

(09:38):
Would you stay if she promisedyou heaven?
Will you ever win?
She is like a cat in the dark.
She is the darkness.
Well, I've been afraid ofchanging Cause I've built my

(10:02):
life around you.
But time makes you older.
Even children get older, andI'm getting older too, and I'm
getting older too.
You can go your own way.

(10:32):
Go your own way.
You can call it another lonelyday.
You can go your own way.
If you wake up, the door won'tspy.

(10:56):
If the dream's just a littlewild, open your eyes and look at
the day.
You'll see things in adifferent way.
Don't stop thinking abouttomorrow.
Don't stop.
It'll soon be here.
It'll be better than before.

(11:19):
Yesterday's gone, yesterday'sgone.
Oh yeah, thank you.

Speaker 3 (11:47):
This was a really cool part of the night.

Speaker 4 (11:49):
Thank you, thank you guys again so much.
We're going to see you over atthe merch booth.
Come see us.
Thank you again.
Thank you, guys again so much.
We're going to see you over atthe merch booth.
Come see us.
Thank you again, thank youAnother satisfied crowd.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
Absolutely, wow, man talk about electric.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
Oh yeah, I mean, after the show ends, that
usually, uh, the artists willusually go down to their merch
table and lola's and, uh, allthe fans that that want to come
down and meet them, do a littlemeet and greet and everything.
It's just a really nice wrap upfor the night and after that
the work starts again to wherewe just everything that we
started with, we just do it inreverse and get the stuff out

(12:36):
and usually it ends up beingabout a 13, 14-hour day.
Start to finish for us All thepatrons see is a
two-and-a-half-hour night ofentertainment.
But there's a lot that goesinto that two-and-a-half hours
for sure.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
It looks like it.
Well, man, I can't tell you howmuch I appreciate that it was
an electric show.
I'd love to see those guysagain actually landslide, and
they're a big.

Speaker 3 (13:02):
I'm sure they'll be here again next year.
We we they're a crowd favor Um.
Every time we put them on thethe venue list, we we definitely
get people wanting tickets.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
So I'm sure they'll be back.
Awesome, awesome.
Well, we'll look forward tothat.
Once again, bob, thanks for agreat tour and a look behind the
scenes on performance day.
We really appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (13:23):
All right appreciate it skip.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
Thanks for coming yes , sir, we'll see you in the next
episode.

Speaker 1 (13:28):
Bye thanks for tuning in to on stage with the lincoln
theater.
Want more of Mary andVirginia's entertainment scene?
Visit us online atthelincolnorg yes, that's
thelincolnorg or drop by ourtheatre at 117 East Main Street.
Let's keep the arts alive andkicking together.
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