The $21.5 million boondoggle known as the Randy Parton Theater has some new twists.

Don Carrington reports that State Treasurer Richard Moore somehow — he isn’t talking — dropped the requirement that Randy Parton’s huge $1.5 million “artist fee” come out of the back-end of the deal. As a result, now Parton gets paid before real property debt or operating costs for the theater get paid.

Should the theater be a bust — and it doesn’t look good — it’ll be local taxpayers who pick up the tab for those expenses.