{"product_id":"the-barter-theatre-story-love-made-visible-9781469638133","title":"The Barter Theatre Story: Love Made Visible","description":"Published in 1982, \u003ci\u003eThe Barter Theatre Story: Love Made Visible\u003c\/i\u003e tells the colorful history of a remarkable American cultural institution. Opened by native Virginian Robert Porterfield in 1933, the Barter Theatre offered the people of Abingdon, Virginia, and the surrounding area entertainment and a much-needed escape from their Depression-era working lives. It became the State Theatre of Virginia in 1946 and it is where the likes of Gregory Peck, Ernest Borgnine, Patricia Neal, Ned Beatty, and Hume Cronyn got their starts. Mark Dawidziak, a journalist from New York who spent much of his twenties in Appalachia and grew to admire the theater, tells the improbable story of the Barter Theatre, which remains one of the last year-round professional resident repertory theaters in the country.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDawidziak, Mark:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Mark Dawidziak has been a theater, film, and television critic for more than thirty-five years. He has been the TV critic at the Cleveland\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003ePlain Dealer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003esince 1999. His many books include the horror novel \u003ci\u003eGrave Secrets\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eand such nonfiction works as \u003ci\u003eThe Bedside, Bathtub \u0026amp; Armchair Companion to Dracula\u003c\/i\u003e and two acclaimed histories of landmark TV series: \u003ci\u003eThe Columbo Phile\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Night Stalker Companion\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eFive of his books are about Mark Twain.","brand":"Appalachian State University","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50415639003410,"sku":"9781469638133","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_4b5fedd4-9a19-407b-ba0d-a362700af035.jpg?v=1729407444","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-barter-theatre-story-love-made-visible-9781469638133","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}