Courtesy of Jim Bullington

David Stewart Wiley conducts the RSO at the 2008 "Rock Symphony Circus" concert.

Elizabeth Futral

The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra will join forces with a rock band and a circus Saturday in a new version of "Rock Symphony Cirque" at the Salem Civic Center.

It is the second year the RSO has offered the innovative combination of acts, which Executive Director Beth Pline said no other orchestra in the country is offering, to her knowledge.

Last year's show featured the music of the Beatles. The theme this year will be Motown, and includes songs such as "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "Dancing in the Street," "My Girl" and "You Keep Me Hangin' On."

In addition to the RSO under the direction of David Stewart Wiley, performers will include the Canadian rock band Jeans 'n Classics and the Georgia-based Cirque de la Symphonie.

"Audience members will be tantalized by the soaring, seductive, graceful panache of the Cirque performers on stage and overhead," promises an RSO news release. This year's performance will also include an aerial acrobat who plays the violin, Pline said.

The event is the RSO's premier fundraiser. Tickets start at $25. There will also be picnic baskets available for purchase and a full bar. Call 343-6221 or visit rso.com.

Keep them hanging on

Star City Playhouse concluded its second season with May 17's matinee performance of the coming of age play "Of Human Bondage," adapted from the Somerset Maugham novel by Karon Sue Semones Ferguson.

And while the theater located in the former Pete Moore Warehouse at 2914 Williamson Road is in no danger of shutting down, owner Marlow Ferguson said, it could use a little help to get through the summer months, when there will be no revenue-generating plays.

"We've gotten a little behind on our taxes," admitted Ferguson, whose theater is a nonprofit but still pays some taxes on its building to Roanoke. "If we had 10 people each donating $100 a month through the summer months, we would not have any problems at all. Or a thousand people donating one dollar."

The Fergusons rent out a large portion of their building to help raise money for theater operations. Saturday, they held a "yard sale" in the parking lot. They also are working to refinance their construction loan through the Bank of Floyd. "They're very nice people up there," Ferguson said.

Marlow Ferguson is a longtime New York City actor who directs all Star City Playhouse plays. His wife, Karon Sue, is a Hollins University-educated playwright and novelist with family here. The couple moved to Roanoke several years ago from Elizabeth, N.J., where they also ran a theater. They opened Star City Playhouse in the summer of 2007 with Sidney Howard's "The Silver Cord."

In most ways, the first two years have gone well, Marlow Ferguson said. The house has averaged more than 50 percent attendance, and the May 16 evening "Of Human Bondage" performance was a sellout. Also, "I have a wonderful group of actors," he said.

Next year's season will open in September, he said, and may include a play by Tennessee Williams, though the schedule is not yet set. For more information about Star City Playhouse, including how to become involved or make a donation, call 366-0060 or visit starcityplayhouse.org

New face at transportation museum

Fran Ferguson is the new development director at the Virginia Museum of Transportation. Ferguson's last job -- the same position at the Science Museum of Western Virginia -- was eliminated earlier this year, she said.

Ferguson arrives as the museum is making plans for a major fundraising drive. The museum has been offered $1 million by Norfolk Southern Corp. on the condition that it raise $2 million more from public and private sources.

Ferguson, who said she had other job offers, sounded upbeat recently about her new job: "We've got incredible artifacts and these incredible locomotives. What people have accomplished here in Roanoke is pretty amazing. The museum could do a better job of telling their stories."

She also said, "I've got a lot to learn about historical preservation."

Ferguson has also worked for Center in the Square. To contact her call 342-5670 ext. 105.

Praise for Futral

Franklin County's Elizabeth Futral, wife of Opera Roanoke Artistic Director Steven White, got a rave review in the Houston Chronicle for her co-starring role in Andre Previn's opera about an adulterous affair, "Brief Encounter," at the Houston Grand Opera this month.

Chronicle arts writer Everett Evans said Futral's "heart-wrenching performance is the central factor in the premiere's success. This is a great role for a soprano with strong dramatic instincts, and Futral rises to its challenge. With intelligence and expressiveness, she touches every vocal and emotional color as she charts Laura's inner life."

Futral has performed around the world and starred in productions at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.