The Liars Bench Gazette: Full House at Liars Bench "Coy" Encore Show

Last Thursday evening at the Mountain Heritage Center was magical. It was the Liars Bench second show for February and an encore production of "Coy," a dramatic monologue written by Gary Carden.

A number of notables were there including Marvin Cole, a former classmate of Gary's, who most of us know as "Mark Twain."

Gary acknowledged Laura Chew in the audience, who will be starring in Gary's forthcoming play "Mother Jones." Gary also mentioned that Frank Lee (Freight Hoppers) of Bryson City had finished the music for the play "Outlander" which will be starting production at the Parkway Playhouse in Burnsville this June. William Ritter will be one of the actors in the production of "Outlander."

Paul Iarussi, our famous claw-hammer guitar player and old-time singer kicked the show off with "Fields of Brown."

Lloyd Arneach, internationally known Cherokee story teller held the audience spell-bound with "How the Milky way came to be."

Ken Beck, from Sylva, played and sang to the enjoyment of the audience.

William Ritter played a couple of versions of "Bonaparte's Retreat," a sad fiddle tune played by a Haywood County man before one of Kirk's raiders shot him and made famous by Charles Frazier's book (1997) and film "Cold Mountain" (2003).

Tom Dewees did a magnificent job as "Coy"

and the audience rewarded Tom with a standing ovation.

All the performers, Karen, William, Lloyd, Ken, and Paul came back again much to the delight of the audience.

Gary sent everybody home reminding them of the first production of "The Balsam Chronicles" coming in March.

Coming in March, the first of "The Balsam Chronicles", a series of ground-breaking culturally and historically significant shows about Jackson and the surrounding counties of Western North Carolina.
Why did Charlie Wright risk his life to save Gus Beaty from plunging two thousand feet to his death on Whiteside Mountain? Could a man unjustly accused, convicted, and executed be exonerated and brought back to life by modern (1880s) medical science? Did a Jackson County medical doctor actually invigorate elderly men with a special surgical procedure decades before Viagra? Please stay tuned and come to the next Liars Bench on Thursday March 15 at 7:00 pm at the Mountain Heritage Center and we guarantee you will be amazed at all the interesting things that have gone on in your back yard--brought to you by Western North Carolina's only live, authentic traditional Southern Appalachian storytelling, music, poetry, drama, and folk arts presentation: