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Check It Out:
See if our Paparazzi cameras caught you or your friends at any recent events around town.
Blacksburg's Lyric Theatre celebrates its crowd-funding success
The Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg was struggling to raise funds to pay for its new digital projection system. So the nonprofit broke with traditional methods to test the waters of Internet crowd-funding. In May, the Lyric launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $50,000 for its digital upgrade. The Kickstarter website allows a creator to pitch a project and ask people to pledge money to make it happen. It turned out
HVAC system star of show in new Taubman tours
The Taubman Museum of Art has begun offering an unusual behind-the-scenes tour. For $25 ($20 for members), this hour -long tour will take visitors to the heart of what makes the museum’s signature building work — its state-of-the-art boiler room and air conditioning units, its heated and air-conditioned dock for receiving artwork, its massive freight elevator. The artistically inclined might wonder what the appeal would be, but the mechanically inclined
Roanoke painter David Ramey’s art is from the heart
Every morning David Ramey sits down at his kitchen table and draws what’s on his mind. He might be responding to a news story that bothers him, or re- creating a beautiful mountain view he saw years ago. Or he might set down on paper one of his memories of Henry Street, back when its clubs were hopping and its businesses thrived, before that center of Roanoke’s black business community
Roanoke Children’s Theater's ‘Stuart Little’ lively and fun
Generations of children have been captivated by the adventures of “Stuart Little” — and Roanoke Children’s Theater chose to introduce the tiny hero to his newest young fans in an energetic musical. The production has all the key ingredients for an entertaining experience for youngsters: colorful characters, not-too-scary villains and whimsical songs. Mixed well by the company’s artistic director, Pat Wilhelms, this retelling of the tales of the metropolitan mouse
'Papercuts' traveling exhibition on display at Hollins University
A single sheet of a paper like construction material called Tyvek stretches along one wall, with incredibly detailed scenes cut out by hand all along its length that depict people moving through a surreal city. Nearby a paper tornado rises 14 feet to the ceiling, with dozens of toy soldiers suspended between the paper strips. That’s just a sample of the meticulously crafted, thought-provoking art assembled in “Papercuts,” a traveling
Showtimers' 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is lively, inventive
Long before The Everly Brothers told us that “Love Hurts,” there was William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” in which the playwright sowed enough romantic misery to last hundreds of years. Wait … his tale has lasted hundreds of years! Written late in the 16th century, it’s still going strong, as the current Showtimers version demonstrates with agreeable proficiency, verve and humor. Yes, humor. For all the distress that is
In time to stage ‘Cinderella,’ Roanoke Ballet Theatre welcomes dancer home
Roanoke Ballet Theatre tries on the glass slipper with its upcoming production of “Cinderella.” In assembling this ballet adapted from the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale, RBT executive and artistic director Sandra Meythaler is getting some help from a Roanoke dancer returned home after considerable success abroad. William Fleming High School graduate William Smith, 31, started with the Post School of Ballet in Roanoke. He trained at Joffrey Ballet School
Art galore at 55th Annual Sidewalk Art Show
The Sidewalk Art Show is back for its 55th year, and so far it appears the weather will be favorable. “It looks at this point like we’re going to luck out,” said Paige Kauffman, events manager for the Taubman Museum of Art. If the weather turns sour it still won’t be a wash, as the museum is continuing the new practice of keeping the show entirely under tents. More than
Floyd is home of inaugural Virginia’s Blue Ridge Music Festival
Classical music will once again resonate through the performance halls of Floyd. Yet this time there’s a familiar face at the conductor’s stand. David Stewart Wiley, conductor and music director of Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, leads Virginia’s Blue Ridge Music Festival, an 11-day gathering of master musicians and talented apprentices — referred to in the program as academy fellows — who will give concerts in Floyd EcoVillage, Natasha’s Market Cafe, Chateau
Taubman's Executive Director Della Watkins knows the art of managing pressure
You never see Della Watkins without a notebook. As the Taubman Museum of Art’s new executive director races through days “slammed straight through with meetings, crisis management, problem solving,” as she puts it, she has to have a steno pad with her, for data collection. “I keep it with me all the time.” In her office, when she opens her planner, her schedule’s neatly mapped out by the month, day
Roanoke's Park & Arts performance series kicks off in June
Artists and performers will bring classical music, gospel, silly children’s songs, kaleidoscopes, balloons and more to seven Roanoke parks starting next month. The new program, called Parks & Arts, began as a collaboration between the Roanoke Arts Commission and the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. The $100,000 initiative was made possible by a $50,000 matching grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. To meet the match, the symphony contributed $5,000; the
Roanoke Art Mural Project aims to reflect city’s new vitality
Roanoke is in a state of renewal — but that state’s not reflected in the fading murals that have adorned its public walls for decades. Florida native and Grandin Village resident Mim Young, a dynamo who’s passionate about Roanoke’s art scene, saw this as a problem to tackle and took it on herself. “I felt that it was time that Roanoke updated its image through its imagery,” she said. In
Race, history reflected in Harlem artist’s work at Center in the Square
Butcher paper represents a number of things for Harlem, N.Y., artist Dianne Smith. “It’s at once durable and yet there’s a fragility to it,” she said. She has used it in her art as a way of representing the treatment of black people in America through history, showing how the paper can be manipulated and pushed into corners. It also calls to mind elders, aging, and the way history leaves
Star City Playhouse does commendable ‘Menagerie’
A highlight of the current Star City Playhouse production of “The Glass Menagerie” takes place before the show even begins. It’s the brief speech that director Marlow Ferguson delivers before turning the stage over to his actors. Ferguson doesn’t use those few moments merely to hype future shows, point out the exits and admonish patrons to squelch their cellphones. Instead, he speaks informatively about the life of the playwright, the
Out & about: Washington & Lee University performs "Taking Flight"
Washington and Lee University dance students will be bouncing off the walls on Wednesday and Thursday. They’ll swing, spin and flip, too. Those with memories long enough to recall when W&L Artistic Director and Dance Professor Jenefer Davies was director of Roanoke Ballet Theatre might experience some deja vu at these outdoor performances by W&L Repertory Dance Company, called “Taking Flight.” Music and props will augment the artistic acrobatics. Davies
Theater review: ‘Too Soon for Daisies’ is a hoot
It’s a risky choice when a community theater stages a comedy that requires a glossary in the playbill to help the audience understand the jokes. Yet Attic Productions takes that risk in its latest production, “Too Soon for Daisies,” a dark British comedy-thriller penned by William Dinner and William Morum, and pulls it off thanks to enthusiastic direction and a talented cast. The setting is Trotley, a small seaside village
Center for the Arts inaugurates new home with variety of acts
The Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech will open its first full season in its new home with a performance by a legendary American composer, end with a multimedia theater performance for children by an Italian troupe, and in between will host professional dance companies, experimental plays, a popular NPR host, a bluegrass festival and even a Pops performance by the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. Executive director Ruth Waalkes has
Love's labor emerges at Center in the Square
Aquariums, iPads and flat screen televisions. Chandeliers and sculpted ceilings. Floor tiles arranged to make the shape of a giant butterfly. A skylight with colored glass in irregular shapes that seems to match the late Dorothy Gillespie’s aluminum sculptures ascending toward it. There’s no question that more than $27 million in renovations has transformed Center in the Square. At a Tuesday morning news conference, Center President and General Manager Jim
Roanoke Symphony 'Appalachian Spring' program showcases virtuosity
The Roanoke Symphony presented a program of mainly American works Sunday afternoon in Shaftman Performance Hall at Jefferson Center to an almost sold-out house of 800. Maestro David Stewart Wiley led a smaller ensemble of 13 players in a varied and pleasing program, dominated by the works of Aaron Copland. The concert began with solo "fiddling" from Akemi Takayama as a lead-in to the familiar "Hoe-Down" from Copland's ballet "Rodeo,"
Va. Tech architecture students create installation at Smithsonian
A Virginia Tech architecture professor and her students created a technologically interactive art installation modelled on Japanese lanterns at the Smithsonian. Part of a series called “The Lantern Field,” the installation consisted of swaths of paper folded into flowery shapes hung from bamboo poles. Motion sensors caused the lighting to change colors and electronic bamboo chime sounds to change rhythm as people moved through the space beneath the “lanterns.” “The
1. COMMENTARY: A letter to the ones left behind
2. Meteorologist Jamey Singleton fined $200 for February wreck
3. Smith Mountain Lake man's steam boat is a step back in time
4. Christiansburg man pleads guilty to assault on 2 deputies
5. 2 suspects arrested, 2 at large after Sunday burglary in Salem
6. WOYM: Who pays for coaches’ personal police protection?
7. Two more suspects arrested in Salem burglary
8. 5 things to know about The Avett Brothers
9. Billionaire Jim Justice's Roanoke-based mining company owes money, suits allege
10. Police investigate Monday armed robbery at SW Roanoke convenience store
THE ROANOKE TIMES
