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What are your favorite local places for shopping, pampering or entertaining? Vote now in this year's Best Of Holiday Shopping readers' choice poll.
Roanoke plays part in campy remake of Ed Wood's terrible classic 'Plan 9'
If you missed the premiere of “Plan 9” at The Grandin Theatre in Roanoke last month, then it may still be a while before you’ll get to see this homegrown remake of the worst film ever made. Charlottesville filmmaker John Johnson filmed portions of his reimagining of Ed Wood’s classic of terrible cinema, “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” in Roanoke back in spring 2011. On Aug. 24 a packed house
Old art, new home at Parkway Brewing Co. in Salem
For decades, Italian restaurant Villa Sorrento on Patterson Avenue was a Roanoke landmark. Anyone who dined there in the 1980s and ’90s remembers the murals evoking fanciful Mediterranean scenes — a young couple on a rocky cliff looking out on the ocean, a Venetian panorama with boats carrying passengers through canals dividing old world buildings. Villa Sorrento may be long gone — the restaurant left the murals behind in 2000
Volunteer help needed at Center in the Square
The Athenian Society for the Arts and Sciences has been helping Center in the Square with its day-to-day operations since the downtown Roanoke institution opened in 1983. But the Athenians, as they call themselves, were pitching in even before Center opened. The group formed in 1980. “We were a group of lonely ladies,” joked charter member Margaret Ann Hoag. “We were all interested in arts and sciences.” Now that Center
Astronaut who visited moon to visit Blacksburg, Roanoke
Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell walked on the moon in February 1971. Later this month, he’ll walk the streets of Southwest Virginia. On Sept. 20 he will visit Blacksburg to make free appearances at 11 a.m. at the Lyric Theatre and at 1 p.m. at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Life Science Institute . At the Lyric he’ll have autographed books for sale and donate a portion of the proceeds to the
Va. Tech grad racking up Hollywood stunt credits
Everyone knows Superman comes from the planet Krypton. Yet it’s perhaps not so well known that his stunt double was born in Virginia. Virginia Tech graduate Paul Darnell, 31, helped introduce the 75-year-old superhero to a new audience in the Zack Snyder-helmed summer blockbuster “Man of Steel.” This doesn’t mean that there’s much to see of Darnell on-screen. He acted more as a proverbial guinea pig, testing and rehearsing stunts
‘Canstruction’ aids food bank
A truly unusual art competition will take place in October at the Taubman Museum of Art — one that doubles as a food drive. “Canstruction” pits nine teams against one another. Each has 12 hours to build an 8-foot tall sculpture using 900 to 1,500 cans of food . The sculptures will be built Oct. 3 on the museum’s first floor and displayed from Oct. 4 through Oct. 12. Visitors
Media notes: Dan Dennison leaves WDBJ
Dan Dennison’s new job as a roving reporter at WDBJ put him on the move — right out the door. Dennison, the former news director at WDBJ-TV (Channel 7), has left the Roanoke CBS affiliate less than three weeks after he was replaced as head of the news department and made a features reporter. WDBJ president and general manager Jeff Marks named Kelly Zuber as news director on July 31,
Florida couple open art school in Salem
A couple from Florida has founded a new art school in Salem that they hope will boost the city’s small art scene. Joe and Jessica Palotas are opening the Salem Art Center at 203 4th St. East, where they’ll teach art classes for children and adults. The first classes start Aug. 26; at 8 a.m. Aug. 30 there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony. Joe Palotas, 36, draws and paints
‘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
1. Britney Spears spotted at Lynchburg restaurant
2. Roanoke resource officer's quick action saved young girl
3. One person injured in Friday night shooting in Roanoke
4. East Carolina poses new challenge for Virginia Tech football
5. Captive in Roanoke County describes harrowing time with angry friend
6. Lowe's tapes may hold clues to Roanoke woman's death
7. Roanoke County electrical short quiets 5 Wheeler radio stations
8. William Byrd stuns Salem in football win
9. History says this one will matter for Virginia Tech
10. Concert review: Timeless Willie Nelson plays to appreciative crowd
THE ROANOKE TIMES
