Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 4, 1993 TAG: 9306030276
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Donna Alvis-Banks
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Thank you, chlorophyll!
There's only one thing all this green can mean:
It's time for concerts on the lawn.
The outdoor concert series, part of the Summer Arts Festival sponsored by Virginia Tech and the town of Blacksburg, features some top-notch talent from around the region. Performances are held each Friday through July on Henderson lawn next to College Avenue. The music starts at 6 p.m.
This evening, we're in for a real treat.
Stan Kingma and his Virginians will present their musical revue, a fast-paced show featuring 24 singers and instrumentalists performing a variety of popular music. The troupe is directed by Kingma, who also serves as master of ceremonies.
Kingma helped create Virginia Tech's New Virginians more than 20 years ago. His latest group is modeled after the original student program.
"The concept of this show centers around our desire to create a highly polished, entertaining musical show with talent that exists in the local community," Kingma explains. "Our cast members are all involved in some profession other than music, and we have set impossibly high musical goals for the organization."
The Virginians cast is made up of lawyers, bankers, homemakers, counselors, teachers, a school principal, accountants and contractors. The troupe is based in Roanoke.
Tonight's show includes standards such as "Unchained Melody," "The Rose," "Birth of the Blues" and "Unforgettable."
You'll also hear contemporary hits like "Love Can Build a Bridge" by the Judds, "Down at the Twist and Shout" by Mary Chapin-Carpenter and Gloria Estafan's "Live for Loving You." In addition, the group sings tunes from recent movies.
Admission is free. Bring blankets or lawn chairs for the outdoor seating, and feel free to pack a picnic.
If it rains, the show will go on inside Squires Student Center.
\ WHO SAYS FAMILIES DON'T STAY TOGETHER ANYMORE? G.T. and Lena Brock Speer - better known as Dad and Mom - formed The Speer Family gospel singers in 1921. As soon as the Speer children (Brock, Ben, Rosa Nell and Mary Tom) were old enough to start singing, they joined the group.
Dad gave them good advice:
"Always sing what you feel and feel what you sing."
Today, the second generation of Speers is teaching their children the same rule.
Current members of the group are Brock and Ben Speer, Brock's wife Faye, soprano Karen Apple and Daryl Williams. From time to time, Brock's three children, Susan, Marc and Brian, and two of Ben's, Stephen and Darin, join them.
Likewise, sisters Mary Tom and Rosa Nell are reunited with the group for special concerts.
Over the years, The Speer Family has recorded more than 70 albums on labels such as Columbia and RCA. The group is now signed exclusively to Homeland Records.
The musicians have received Grammy nominations for five albums: "Interceding," "Cornerstone," "Between the Cross and Heaven," "Something Good Is About to Happen" and "He's Still in the Fire." The Speers also won the Gospel Music Association's Dove Award for best mixed group eight consecutive times - an unprecedented record.
The Speer Family will give a concert tonight, beginning at 7:30, in the Pulaski Middle School Auditorium. Local favorites The Nippers will perform, too.
WBLB is sponsoring the gospel sing. Admission is free, but an offering will be accepted.
\ HELLO, CELLO: Blacksburg musicians Patrick Simpson and Jana Ruble will present "Music for Two Cellos" Saturday at The Plant Plant in Christiansburg.
Simpson is in Virginia Tech's music department, and Ruble is a member of both the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and the Laurel String Quartet. The duo has played together at chamber music festivals and in a variety of ensembles.
Their performance Saturday starts at 11:30 a.m. in the gazebo at The Plant Plant. It's south of Christiansburg off U.S. 11 on Barringer Mountain Road.
Admission to the concert is free, but you might want to bring some pocket change for refreshments. Herbal foods and beverages will be available.
\ SELF-SUFFICIENT: In American Indian families, everyone worked to provide the necessities of life.
David Parks will demonstrate several of the skills used by Native Americans Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m., in the Virginia Museum of Natural History at Virginia Tech. Parks, who recently worked on an archaeological dig at Lake Moomaw in Monroe County, W.Va., will explain the basic techniques for making arrowheads and stone tools he learned from his research.
In addition, Parks will demonstrate mount making, pelt preparation and other working methods. Projects at various stages of completion will be on display at the museum, 428 N. Main St., Blacksburg. Admission - to the museum and to the demonstration - is free. Call 231-3001.
\ THE ARTISTS ARE COMING! For the second year in a row, the artists are coming to Narrows.
The town's annual "Arts Creation on Location" is Saturday at the Narrows Town Park. Artists from Virginia and West Virginia will participate in a daylong contest where they create works in a variety of media. This is your chance to see them at work!
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In addition, there will be music, food, entertainment and recreational activities. Several of the artists will have works for sale throughout the day. Call 726-3020.
\ SHE SANG LIKE AN ANGEL: And she wore a gardenia in her hair.
Billie Holiday was known as the most moving jazz singer of her day. Born in Baltimore in 1915, she grew up in a ghetto and learned the blues the hard way. She made her first recordings with Benny Goodman in 1933 and wrote her autobiography, "Lady Sings the Blues," in 1956.
Her drug addiction led to failing health and eventually to her death in 1959.
Sandra Bowie, a professional actress, is starring in the off-Broadway hit, "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill," opening Tuesday at Virginia Tech. The Theatre Arts-University Theatre production is the first of three scheduled for the university's Summer Arts Festival '93.
Playwright Lanie Robertson tells the story of Holiday's life in this play. The setting is a Philadelphia bar where Holiday sang just before her death. Some of the singer's best-known songs are part of this moving musical production.
A native of South Carolina, Bowie was director of the acting program in the theater department at Howard University for 10 years. She's now teaching acting at Yale. She won the Helen Hayes Award for her performance in "A . . . My Name is Alice," and has television and film credits in "Law and Order," "Suspect," "Tanner '88" and "Powerhouse."
Virginia Tech Professor H.D. Flowers II, who directed last season's successful production of "Fences," is directing this first summer show.
"Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill" runs through June 12 with performances each evening at 8 in Squires Studio Theatre. Admission is free and reservations are not required. Seating in the theater is limited to 200. Call 231-5200 or 231-5921.
by CNB