‘Fire Up 611!’ campaign not running at locomotive speed
The Virginia Museum of Transportation’s race against time to put the Norfolk & Western J-Class 611 steam engine back on the rails next year continues its uphill climb. Launched June 28, the “Fire Up 611!” campaign seeks $3.5 million by Oct. 31 to make the 611 operational and construct a shop on the museum’s property where the engine can be housed and serviced. The goal is to have the 611
Out & about: ‘WIND DRIVEN II’ concert to raise money for Guitars For Vets
The music of Brahms and Bach will help bring guitar lessons to veterans of the U.S. military coping with post-traumatic stress disorder. First Presbyterian Church in Roanoke will hold a concert Sunday made up of classical, jazz and folk tunes called “Wind Driven II.” Though the concert is free, a free will offering will be collected to benefit Guitars For Vets, a nonprofit that provides free acoustic guitars and lessons
Tony Award-winning play 'Proof' coming to Washington and Lee University
An independent theater troupe is bringing the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play “Proof” to Washington and Lee University . The performance in the Stackhouse Theatre in the Lexington university’s Elrod Commons is being put on by Broken Fourth. The Lexington-based group’s name is a reference to the “fourth wall” concept in theater that imagines the audience is looking in at the actors on stage through an invisible wall. The
A night at Christiansburg's Starlite Drive-In Theater
This year, the Starlite Drive-In Theater celebrates its 60th anniversary. But when the Christiansburg business started in 1953, staying open for that long was never part of the plan for owners Richard and Dorothy Beasley. The idea was to work there for no more than 25 years. “Once it kind of took off and did as well as it did, they kind of just went ahead with it,” said Peggy
Rocky Mount Center reunites cars, crafts for fundraiser
Combining a car show and an arts show might seem counterintuitive. Yet the Rocky Mount Center for the Arts in Franklin County tried it last year and ended up surprised by how well it went. More than 1,500 attended, raising $5,000 for the center. “We’re really pleased,” said Joan Rogers, 64, the center’s founder and co-director. She’s hopeful the second go-round will go even better. The center’s Arts & Crafts
Theater review: ‘Nunsense’ sequel is delightful
Theatergoers who don’t care for country music may change their minds after seeing “Sister Amnesia’s Country Western Nunsense Jamboree,” currently at Attic Productions in Fincastle. The show is playwright Dan Goggin’s sequel to his very successful “Nunsense.” It is a celebration centered on Sister Amnesia, a wacky, childlike nun who, in “Nunsense,” lost her memory when a crucifix fell on her head. In “Jamboree” her memory returns and she learns
Taubman Museum of Art's new exhibit features familiar works
The Taubman Museum of Art’s newest gallery exhibition has some curious sights tucked in among the familiar. American painter Robert Riggs’ world-famous “The Brown Bomber,” depicting Joe Louis’ boxing triumph over German fighter Max Schmeling, hangs catty-cornered from “The Debutante” by Roanoke painter Antoinette Hale, depicting a Roanoke girl dressed up for a cotillion. Paintings by American artist Thomas Eakins and his wife Susan, gifts from the museum benefactor Peggy
San Diego's Comic Con offers sneak peek at upcoming films
Last weekend’s San Diego Comic Con offered a lot of surprises for comics and movie fans. I watched live feeds of the events online (I’m a comic geek — went to the New York Comic Con last October) and am most excited about these five upcoming projects. Man of Steel & Batman “Man of Steel” director Zack Snyder came on stage in Hall H to talk about the “Man of
Bill Cosby likes to build a relationship with his audience
When Bill Cosby was a younger man, he aimed to walk onstage and destroy a room with his stand-up comedy. Then he found himself dissatisfied with comedic destruction, and with standing up, too. Nowadays it’s about sharing comfort with an audience, building a relationship and bringing smiles. Laughs are good, too, but for Cosby, who returns to Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre on Saturday night, smiles are even better. “In 52
Theater review: Showtimers gives ‘Once Upon a Mattress’ the royal treatment
A timid prince — the son of a domineering queen and a mute king — seeks love and marriage in the current Showtimers musical, “Once Upon a Mattress.” Will the prince find his true love and the spine to stand up to his cruel mother? Will the plucky princess so eager to find her happy ending that she leaves her home and swims a castle moat prove worthy of his
Photo exhibit addresses legacy of Civil War on modern culture
A Union soldier fills his plate at General Pickett’s Buffet in Gettysburg, while behind him a mural depicts the razing of the Confederacy. A Confederate soldier clutches his bayonet and keeps a sharp lookout — with a Staples office supply store plainly visible behind him. Two Union soldiers camp in front of a Domino’s Pizza at the site where the Battle of Fredericksburg took place in 1862. California photographer Gregg
Roanoke photographer's project explores the lives of tobacco farmers
For more than two years, Roanoker Sarah Hazlegrove has been globe-hopping, landing in Brazil, Malawi and Indonesia so she could visit each country’s tobacco farms with her camera and bring back images that would show what life was like for these farmers. “I’ve never won anything in my life, but I feel like with this project, I’ve been so lucky,” Hazlegrove said. The project is “Tobacco People,” a documentary photo
Portraits shine in Alleghany Camera Club exhibit
The Alleghany Camera Club is sharing the fruits of an unusual project, now in its third year. “True Grit-3: Character in the Alleghany Highlands” opened last week at the Clifton Forge School of the Arts (518 Church St., Clifton Forge) and will remain on display through the end of August. For the “True Grit” shows, members of the club go out into their community and conduct interviews. The subjects can
July theater calendar
Our monthly guide to live theater in and around the Roanoke Valley. Be sure to check out the Calendar in Inside Out every Thursday for the most current information. If you have a play to list in August, please email mike.allen@roanoke.com. Play: "Sister Amnesia's Country Western Nunsense Jamboree," by Dan Goggin Venue: D. Geraldine Lawson Performing Arts Center, 7490 Roanoke Road, Fincastle Summary: A sequel to Goggin's popular "Nunsense," in which
River Laker Cultural Center poised to become alternative art hub
The name of Roanoke’s newest artistic hub will no doubt raise eyebrows — in delight or, most likely, surprise. And that’s just fine with developer and retired engineer John Garland, who welcomes the attention for the River Laker Cultural Center. “I’ve always been attracted to unique people,” said Garland, who has known Laker for more than 10 years. Laker, president and founder of Silver Seas PR, remains most notorious as
Star City Playhouse pulls off challenging, lively ‘Black Comedy’
“Black Comedy” requires suspension of disbelief by patrons, but they’re in for 90 minutes of fun once they get used to the idea that light is dark and dark is light in Peter Shaffer’s durable farce. A lively Star City Playhouse production of the one-act show continues through July 14 at the Metropolitan Community Church in southeast Roanoke. Shaffer, who’s better known for “Amadeus,” “Equus” and “Royal Hunt of the
Cuban refugee displays paintings, sculpture at Roanoke library
A Cuban artist’s exploration of his cultural heritage stands by the entrance to the Roanoke Main Public Library on Jefferson Street, featuring brightly colored figures influenced by African art much the way Picasso’s paintings were. Roanoke City Public Libraries and Blue Ridge Literacy collaborated to bring together the display by Yudel Martinez, 43, who in 2007 escaped from Cuba with his family on a boat that took him to Miami.
Free screening Saturday of thriller filmed in Floyd
“House of Good and Evil,” a psychological thriller filmed in Floyd, follows the misfortunes of a troubled young couple whose move to a quiet, isolated country house might be the biggest mistake of their lives. The movie’s creators will screen the film admission free at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Chantilly Festival Farm. Lead actress Rachel Marie Lewis will attend the screening, as will Christiansburg actor Bo Keister, who plays the
Theater review: Cast, direction shine in Gamut’s ‘Eleemosynary’
Relations between mothers and daughters are sometimes prickly and sometimes loving and almost always challenging for your average guy to comprehend. On the evidence of “Eleemosynary,” however, male playwright Lee Blessing seems to be the exception. His one-act play tackles the bonds and fractures among three generations of one family’s women and does a pretty good job of showing what makes them tick. “Eleemosynary,” a drama that is leavened by
Taubman Museum of Art's summer exhibits explore identity, flux
On first perusal, the four newly opened summer exhibitions at the Taubman Museum of Art seem far removed from one another. One consists of mixed media collages of Virginia maps and sketches of our state’s flora and fauna. One involves experimenting with remote controls and video projections. One includes surreal paintings and drawings of alter egos and alternative realities. The last is a collaborative installation by 43 artists who are
1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County
2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day
3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
4. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping
5. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football
6. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust
7. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible
8. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen
9. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
10. Man's drowning is 5th in Lynchburg area
THE ROANOKE TIMES
