The Lincoln Theatre: Where Magic Meets Meticulous Planning

What Is A Day In The Life Of The Lincoln Theatre Like In The Preparation For A Performance? 

What really happens before the applause begins at a historic theatre? In this revealing conversation with The Lincoln Theatre's Executive Director Bob Watkins, we pull back the curtain on the intricate dance that brings each performance to life in Marion, Virginia's iconic Mayan revival venue.

Bob shares the fascinating rhythm of show day preparations—from the moment performers arrive for their tour to the final load-out when the audience has gone home. The complexity varies wildly between shows: a simple acoustic set might require just a few guitars, while elaborate productions demand hours of heavy lifting, technical setup, and precise staging. Through it all, sound checks transform raw equipment into finely-tuned instruments of entertainment, creating what Bob calls that magical moment when "it just sounds amazing."

But theatre magic doesn't happen without challenges. Bob recounts handling water leaking onto the stage just days after Hurricane Helene hit, navigating technical emergencies minutes before showtime, and fulfilling those famous performer riders (yes, including a Van Halen tribute band requesting the original group's infamous contract demands). What makes it all work is the Lincoln's unique blend of dedicated staff and passionate volunteers—ushers, stage hands, and support team members who ensure this nearly 100-year-old cultural landmark continues to shine.

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

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to On Stage with the Lincoln Theatre, where
history and entertainment stealthe show Dive into the rich
legacy of this iconic Mayanrevival theatre, from its 1929
debut to its starring role inMarion, Virginia's entertainment
scene.
Guiding us through this journeyis the man in the spotlight,
our executive director, BobWatkins.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Behind every magical performance at the Lincoln
Theater is a day filled withenergy, coordination and passion
.
From technical setup tolast-minute rehearsals, the team
ensures everything runsseamlessly.
Welcome back everyone.
Skip Monty, co-host slashproducer, back in the studio
with executive director BobWatkins.
Bob, how's it going?

(00:50):
It's going great.
Skip, how are you doing?
I'm doing just fine, doing justfine, but I'm wondering what is
a day in the life of theLincoln Theater like in the
preparation for a show?

Speaker 3 (01:03):
Well, funny enough, every show is a little bit
different.
So every show requires a fewdifferent things for preparation
.
But leading up to the showthere's a significant amount of
behind-the-scenes work that amajority of the patrons don't
ever notice.
They just get to come in hereand enjoy the show.
There's a whole list of thingsthat we have to do to prepare
for it.
So each performance comes witha specific rider that they

(01:25):
request.
So we have to go ahead andcater to the behind the scenes
stuff up in the green room withdifferent hospitality things
that they're doing.
But basically what we do a dayof is we'll go ahead and receive
the performers and have themcome in tour the theater, show
them where all the exits are,where their areas are, stage
setup, then the grunt work comesto, where we go ahead and load

(01:49):
in all of the equipment.
And it varies from show to show, because some shows we have
acoustic shows that we just gotto bring in a couple guitars and
you know we're good to go, andthen other shows we have a
significant amount of stuff,stage props and platforms and
lights and everything like that.
So that can range from show toshow, with how sore my back is

(02:10):
at the end of it lifting andeverything.
But yeah, we'll go ahead andload in the performers.
Then our sound engineer willcome in and get everything set
up on stage, set all the micsand get everything going there.
And then the fun part comeswhen we start doing the sound
check.
And there's been severalperformances that I sat through
the soundcheck and I haveenjoyed just the whole breakdown

(02:31):
of sound to hear where itstarts and then where it ends to
be ready for the show.
And then when the show hits,it's just, it just sounds
amazing.
So but yeah, we'll go ahead andthen do all the soundcheck.
Once that's done, we have alittle bit of lull before all
the people come into the boxoffice wanting to get the
tickets.
So then Ashley and Kate in ourbox office will be hard at work

(02:53):
with handing out the will calltickets or purchasing tickets at
the box office.
Then we usually open up doorsabout 45 minutes prior to the
show.
Our ushers will come in andstart seating everybody.
Then it's lights, camera actionand we take off and enjoy the
next two hours of a ride.
Then we have our nice funcleanup there at the end.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
Oh yeah, you guys help the talent load and unload
usually.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
Usually that's in our agreements and contracts with
them to where we have to provideX number of stage hands based
on what equipment they're goingto be bringing in.
So I'll go ahead and securesome assistance with that.
Loadout tends to be a littlebit easier because you're not
having to put everything in aspecific area and make it look
nice for the show.

(03:40):
We just go ahead and tear down,put in the boxes and cases and
roll out and loadout's not asdifficult as load in, but it is
equally time consuming, for sure.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Packing down is usually easier.
I used to play in a band andunloading is usually easier than
reloading.
I guess packing a truck.

Speaker 3 (03:59):
I can see your anxiety kind of changes because
the show's done, you know theperformance is over and now
you're like, okay, I'm relaxedand I'm ready to just go ahead
and close the night, Right.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
Well, what are some of the biggest challenges that,
in your experience?
That has arisen on performanceday.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
It depends on the day for sure, but during Hurricane
Helene I think it was two daysafter that we had a performance
come in.
It was Beatles Beatles tributeperformance and we had some
issues with water that wascoming in through areas of the
roof that got blown over andcausing some water to leak, and
unfortunately it was directly ontop of stage.

(04:36):
So we were in the process oftrying to get that all taken
care of.
So I've come to realize thatany given performance I can come
in here and have a curve ballthrown at me.
So I've got to get used to that.
But trying to think, you know,leading up to it, the
preparation is really beneficialso it helps take away a lot of
that stuff.
But you know, certain thingsthat can arise are staff members

(05:00):
are under the weather, unableto come in, so you're
shorthanded, especially on bigshows bringing people in with
that.
We've had some technical issueswith the audio-visual stuff for
our projection that we've hadto work through in a pinch, so
real quickly correcting that.
But you know, fortunately I'vebeen blessed to have a
significant amount of staff thatare a good support team Our

(05:21):
sound engineer that we generallyuse, kevin Leonard.
He's phenomenal, he's able togo ahead and adjust on a dime
and get everything prepped andready for the show Usually
always makes a fantastic showtoo Electrical stuff.
We've had some areas wherepeople were trying to tie into
cam locks and we've had somefuses that'll blow that.
We've got to have a little bitof work with on that.

(05:42):
It's one of those things thatyou never really know what
you're going to face until youface it here.
That's the fun part and thestressful part of the position,
I guess.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
I've watched a lot of horror films about movie
theaters that are haunted andyou know the classic guy get
killed when a big light dropsdown to the stage and hits him
in the head and kills him.
And who sabotaged that?
You ever had a light fall likethat or anything during a
performance?

Speaker 3 (06:08):
No, but thanks for jinxing us there, Skip, You're
never having that yet, but we'venot had any issues with that.
We do try to, like I said, thelead up to the performances.
We do a nice walkthrough on aregular basis here to make sure
all the equipment is set andstill in good working order and
stuff like that.
But yeah we haven't had anyissues like that, but we do have

(06:29):
some individuals that havementioned that the theater here
is haunted, but I guess that'sto be expected from a almost a
hundred year old building.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
Well, on a little more serious note, you mentioned
that we, depending on thetalent and what they require to
load in, load out and green M&Ms, whatever you mentioned you
always have to make sure youhave brown M&Ms.
When you said you have peoplelined up to be able to handle
whatever the need is, dovolunteers play a role in

(06:58):
helping with that?

Speaker 3 (07:00):
Oh yeah, A majority of our assistance here comes
from volunteer work.
So our ushers are all volunteerpatrons as well, but they'll
volunteer to usher people in.
But we have a house managerthat manages all the issues with
patrons bar managers, soundengineers, slide engineer and
box office managers so those arepaid employees and then the

(07:22):
supporting cast with some stagehelp and as well as the ushers
are volunteer services there.
So it's an all hands on deckhere, because we are a small
organization, but fortunately wedo have a fantastic team and we
run really smooth together.
So it makes for show nights tobe fun and exciting and less
stressful and concerning.
So, yeah, we, we get it alltaken care of and it's ends up

(07:44):
being a fun night for everybody.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
Awesome, awesome.
Well, bob, I appreciate yourtime today.
There's a lot more we couldtalk about with this.
Maybe we could touch on thisagain in another episode,
because it's fascinating to methe behind the scenes stuff, oh
yeah, those writers andhospitality requests and
everything, like you said, theBrown M&Ms.

Speaker 3 (08:02):
We did have a Van Halen tribute come in and they
did request the same writer thatVan Halen had.
So you all sit there and readthose.
Some just kind of scratch yourhead in amazement, but you still
have to accommodate it becauseyou want a good show.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
All right, very good, we'll talk again about this in
another episode.
Sounds good.
All right, bob, thanks so much.
Sounds good.
All right, bob, thanks so much.
All right, take care, skip.
You too.
Have a great rest of the day.

Speaker 1 (08:25):
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 ourtheater at 117 East Main Street.
Let's keep the arts alive andkicking together.