Sunday, September 30, 2007
Stop, look listen
Performances in the inaugural Roanoke Arts Festival run the gamut from musical theater to jazz to rock 'n' roll.
Ramsey Lewis
Judy Collins
Getting there
Five years ago, pianist Norman Krieger performed a ravishing version of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra to open Roanoke's new performing arts showcase, Shaftman Performance Hall.
If you're searching for the one don't-miss performance at the city's first arts festival, which starts Thursday, it might be Saturday night's "Great American Concert" at the 2,400-seat Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre. "Rhapsody in Blue" is featured again, with the piano solo this time by RSO maestro David Wiley.
The program also includes Opera Roanoke and a performance of Samuel Barber's popular "Adagio for Strings," with a spoken narrative by D-Day veteran Bob Slaughter, author of "Omaha Beach and Beyond: The Long March of Sergeant Bob Slaughter." "Adagio" was the theme for the acclaimed Vietnam War movie, "Platoon."
"I think Bob's a real hero," Wiley said.
The arts festival runs Thursday through Sunday, with performances at multiple venues, most of them within walking distance of downtown.
Many of the region's major arts and cultural organizations will take part, including not only the opera and symphony, but Mill Mountain Theatre, the Science Museum of Western Virginia, Hollins University's theater and writing departments, Roanoke Ballet Theatre, the Southwest Virginia Ballet and the Audubon Quartet.
The menu runs the gamut from musical theater to jazz to rock 'n' roll. There will be an original ballet, "Roanoke Primeval," and a one-man play, "The Neon Man and Me."
A chalk artist will transform SunTrust Plaza -- at least until it rains -- into a work of art.
The O. Winston Link Museum will unveil a treasure trove of Civil War photos. The Grandin Theatre will show a silent movie. There will be a workshop for arts entrepreneurs and a reprise of the popular Downtown Living Tour.
Nobody will see all of it, of course. But why not see something, even if it means taking a chance or two?
"Sometimes you need to expose people to something different," City Manager Darlene Burcham said.
