Next Saturday will be a dream come true for William “Smooth” Wardlaw.

“I've always wanted to be on a big stage with this type of venue,” Wardlaw said this morning in advance of his show at the Roanoke Rapids Theatre. “This is the moment for me. This is a dream come true for me.”

Wardlaw was at the theater with his manager, Deginal Boykin, and the men promoting the Luther Vandross tribute, Robert Smoot and James Jackson, who make up BRENCORE Entertainment, introducing the entertainer and themselves to members of the Halifax County Arts Council.

“What you're going to see is dynamic,” said Boykin, a journeyman musician, manager and bassist for the show. “We have a sax player that will make you cry.”

Wardlaw serenades the arts council.

Wardlaw has been in the studio for most of the 20 years he has been in music, said Boykin. They started touring in the last three years.

BRENCORE has been promoting the concert heavily, Smoot said, getting some 2,200 hits web hits, getting set for its next show, a Motown tribute, and planning events for Mother's Day and Father's Day, as well as an event in July.

“I'm very excited,” Wardlaw, who serenaded arts council members, said. “The show is a tribute to Luther, love songs, we've got a lot of fun things planned … We want everyone to feel good about what we do.”

Wardlaw, Smoot said, “Was the first person I thought about when I thought about the theater.”

Smoot, left, and Jackson discuss the show.

Sherry Wade, chair of the arts council, said, “It's refreshing to hear BRENCORE come in and want to know the community. It's refreshing you want to change the perception of the theater. I think the community is looking for this theater to have life again.”

Said Smoot: “This is an opportunity for us. If you were to have this in a venue in D.C., you would have to pay $20,000 to $30,000. I know the history (of the theater). We want to bring great entertainment.”

Tony Short, a member of the arts council, said, “I'm blown away that you would come talk to us. To see the venue being used, we need it.”

Said Smoot: “If you're here, you see it as a ghost. It's about blessings and how they come. We would like to have a sold out show but if we only have 500 they'll have the best show they've ever seen.”