Perhaps no two people have taken up the cause for reviving the Roanoke Rapids Theatre like Robert Smoot and James Jackson, the names and faces behind a D.C. area entertainment company called BRENCORE.

Saturday was their first venture at the venue and from interviews with them and from comments made on the stage Saturday night at the William “Smooth” Wardlaw Luther Vandross Tribute it certainly won't be their last.

(The complete series of photos can be found on our Facebook page or on Lance Martin's personal photo blog)

More shows are planned and the pair, who have had success with their shows at the Northern Virginia Carlyle Club, are hoping to continue to bring their vision down here for a taste of what this theater was made for, not to stand stagnant, but to come alive with the sound of music.

We think it is important for the public to get behind these gentlemen because they have a vision, want this theater to succeed and are passionate about it.

They already have a Motown Tribute planned for next month and will be bringing a Whitney Houston tribute for Mother's Day. They are planning an event for Father's Day and one in July.

They have also told us they want to expand acts at the theater beyond R&B and soul and are looking for more genres to bring in to satisfy the taste for music that the diverse population of the area wants to hear, whether it is rock, jazz, country or blues.

Saturday's show was a great start for Smoot and Jackson as a small, but enthusiastic, audience was taken back to remember the music of a legend and even listen to a little P-Funk and a stirring tribute to the late Houston.

We firmly believe in what BRENCORE is doing and want to hear more and see more from them and would like for the public, whose tastes we find it sometimes hard to judge, to free their minds and attend their shows because they have been most enthusiastic to the cause of seeing this asset being used rather than seeing it closed and gathering dust.

For us, as we shot photographs, listened to the music and realized we knew more Luther songs than we gave ourselves credit for, it was an enjoyable evening with quality musicians backing a quality voice.

We also realized that it is time to let whatever happens with Lafayette Gatling happen and to support Smoot and Jackson and whoever else wants to bring music to this venue.

It's unfortunate that what has happened has happened but in the same breath it is unfortunate that what has happened has bred negativity and armchair quarterbacks whose only solution is to raze the building rather than to let it stand and use it for what it was intended to be.

As the next BRENCORE shows come around, support these men, because they are doing what few who have been there in the past have done — try to provide entertainment — Editor.