Despite the termination of Theater Manager Kaine Riggan, the Royal Palace Theatre continues to book shows and is already in negotiation for at least one Christmas show, one of the partners in HSV Entertainment LLC said this afternoon.

“We’re exactly where we were before this rogue press release was printed in the local paper,” J.T. Smith said.

Smith was referring to a press release Riggan sent out saying the entire theater production staff was terminated when the truth was only he was let go. The press release quoted Smith without his knowledge and the manager of the Hilton Garden Inn.

“What we realized in the last five months was we came to a business decision that we did not need a full-time theater manager,” Smith said in an interview at the venue. “We have qualified personnel in technical, administrative with cooperation from the city to put on quality entertainment.”

Despite a setback from a state Supreme Court ruling on Internet sweepstakes, Smith said, “We’re happy with our business. We had to reorganize and retool and had a seven to 10-day period to get some of the machines out and some in.”

Now the theater has three different gaming systems in place and continues to focus on shows such as a wrestling event in March and .38 Special on May 3. “We have to work with talent buyers and think of shows that will work here,” Smith said.

The theater looks at routes varying artists take and the owners remain open to booking regional and local acts.

The only thing that’s changed, he said, “Is we no longer have a theater manager.”

Lisa Brusca continues to serve as director of operations.

“We’re excited about where our business is at and excited about talking to our talent buyer.”

From the city’s perspective, the venue has paid $80,000 in the form of a business license fee plus a $50,000 good faith deposit. The theater has paid the city $11,442 in ticket fees and $95,750 in lease payments, according to information requested earlier from rrspin.com.

Mayor Emery Doughtie said HSV has paid off more than monetarily, freeing various departments to not have to worry about maintenance of the building. “The overall impact is the economy continues to slowly recover and hopefully will get better, giving way to putting another business out there.”

Doughtie said HSV has met the Supreme Court matter and the Riggan matter with aplomb. “They have never led us to believe they are not committed. They were upfront on the replacement of the machines and have been very dedicated to bringing entertainment here.”