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O'Cain and Penny and dogs and cats win Theatre with the Stars

Lynn Penny (right) celebrates with Lutrelle O'Cain as John Bryant applauds.

By Lightning Reports, Published: February 24, 2016

Animal lovers who voted with their dollars and a celebrity panel that judged talent propelled Lutrelle O’Cain and Lynn Penny to the top spot in the second annual Theatre with the Stars, the showcase that pairs amateur performers with  professional actors to raise money for charity.

The 2016 edition of Theatre with the Stars on Saturday afternoon at the Playhouse Downtown pulled in just under $22,000, half of that going to eight local nonprofits that the community stars chose.
The other nonprofits that received funds from the benefit were the Boys and Girls Club of Henderson County, Children & Family Resource Center, Salvation Army, Safelight, Blue Ridge Humane Society, Pardee Hospital Foundation, Believe Child Advocacy Center and Vocational Solutions.
The $50-a-seat sellout nearly doubled the fundraising total inaugural event raised last year.

A skit by O'Cain and Penny had the audience in stitches as O'Cain, the executive director of the Blue Ridge Humane Society, gushed about her enthusiasm for neutering animals.
Other community stars were Erica Allison of Allison Development Group, competing for Boys and Girls Club of Henderson County, with Dane Whitlock; Tanya Blackford for Safelight (formerly Mainstay), with Brian Robinson; John Bryant of Henderson County Public Schools, for the Children & Family Resource Center, with Paige Posey; Pardee Hospital CEO Jay Kirby, for the Pardee Hospital Foundation, with Scott Treadway; Horizon Heating & Air Conditioning president Dan Poeta, for Vocational Solutions, with Amy Jones; Sandie Salvaggio-Walker, for Believe Child Advocacy Center, with Steve Carlisle; and Flat Rock Mayor Bob Staton, for the Salvation Army, with Ryan Guerra.
The panel of judges was McCray Benson, Dr. Scott Donaldson, Victoria Dunkle and Sheriff Charlie McDonald, the 2015 Theatre with the Stars Champion.

Guest singer Wendy Jones also performed, backed up by the Theatre with the Stars Trio of George Wilkins on piano, Charles Holland on bass and Paul Babelay on drums.