Marley Wyatt, a vibrant and charismatic local entertainer, was scheduled have a Christmas program this evening at the Palace Theater.  This was nothing new for Marley, who has been thrilling local audiences with her powerful singing voice for many years, including hundreds of performances at the Palace Theater.  To the shock and sorrow of Cumberland Countian’s, 29 year old Marley passed away early last week in her sleep of natural causes.  She had just completed a new CD which she was hoping to release this week to her many fans.  In honor of Marley, the Historic Downtown Palace Theater will go ‘dark’ tonight.  The brightly lit marquee outside  will be turned off this evening. Dimming marquee’s to honor deceased performers began as a tradition in the 1950’s at theaters on New York’s Broadway.  It has been Broadway’s equivalent to half mast for decades.  According to Playbill, on a show night just after the deceased has passed exactly at curtain time—usually 8 PM—the lights of all the Broadway theatres are shut off for a full minute. No announcement is made, aside for a press release issued by the League prior to the event. The lights then go up, and the show goes on.  Since Marley’s Christmas show tonight will not be going on and no other show was scheduled in the meantime, Palace Theater Manager Terry Ashburn says all the lights will be off this evening to honor Marley.  Several local performer’s  who knew Marley and performed with her over the years are planning a tribute show in the near future.