Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 11, 1994 TAG: 9403110185
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Well . . . . . . . . . . . almost spring.
Pianist Nitza Kats will present what she calls her "almost spring" recital Monday. The Radford University music instructor will play a variety of works for piano.
A highlight of the recital is Kats' rendering of the Second Piano Concerto by Camille Saint-Saens. The French composer wrote great quantities of music (he once said he wrote as easily "as an apple tree produces fruit") and was himself a remarkable pianist and organist.
Caryl Conger will assist Kats on the Saint-Saens piece. Conger is an assistant professor in the university's music department.
The recital starts at 8 p.m. Monday in Preston Auditorium. Admission is $3 for adults, $1 for children and free for Radford University students and staff.
STEWING: The Wilderness Road Regional Museum in Pulaski County's historic Newbern is where you'll find the home cooking this weekend. On Sunday, museum volunteers will dish up their traditional "stone stew," Newbern's Founder's Day specialty.
From noon to 4 p.m., you may dine on the beef and vegetable stew, as well as corn bread, a drink and dessert, for only $3.50. The stew will be available to take home in pint and quart jars.
The Founder's Day celebration also features a military reenactors' boot camp on the museum grounds. The reenactors will be recruiting and training new members from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. History enthusiasts and adventure seekers are invited.
The current exhibit at the museum is "Heritage Highlights of Giles County." The museum gift shop has a variety of local history books, pamphlets and maps
for sale, too.
Admission to the museum is free. To get there from Interstate 81, take Exit 98 and follow the brown signs.
SWEET AND SWING: Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller - those were the boys with the bands.
The Old Pros will bring the "Big Band" sounds of the '40s to Radford University's Preston Auditorium this Sunday. The local band, sponsored by New River Community College, will give a public concert at 2 p.m. Radford University's College of Visual and Performing Arts is co-sponsoring this musical treat.
Admission at the door is $3 for the public. Students and staff at Radford University and New River Community College get in free with identification.
YEE-HA! Fescue 911 is the band with the motto, "Bluegrass to the rescue!"
In addition to contemporary, foot-stompin' bluegrass music, the group plays Top 40 country and blues numbers.
The band features Neil Epperly on guitar, Kenny Abate on lead guitar and piano, Jeff Gustafson on bass guitar and Dickie Kesling on drums. Marcia Semones is the female vocalist.
Fescue 911 will play at Frizbee's in the Blacksburg Holiday Inn tonight and Saturday. The shows start at 9:30 both evenings. The cover charge is $3.
LAVISH IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT: Musicals America, a theatrical company out of Wakefield, R.I., will bring its 15-foot "Oz" head, three singing apple trees, legions of winged monkeys and a full munchkin chorus to Virginia Tech on Wednesday. The touring group is putting on a Broadway-style production of "The Wizard of Oz" in Burruss Auditorium.
The troupe will perform the Royal Shakespeare Company's version of the play with music and lyrics of the original MGM motion picture. You'll even hear one tune, "The Jitter Bug," that was cut from the film.
MGM bought the rights to "The Wizard of Oz" for $75,000 in 1938. In 1988, the black wool witch's hat was auctioned by Sotheby's for $33,000 and later that same year Dorothy's ruby slippers sold for $165,000 at Christie's East.
Over the years, it is estimated that more than a billion people have seen "The Wizard of Oz." It has been watched by more people than any other entertainment in history.
Then, of course, there are those of us who have watched it over and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and over.
Wednesday's production at Virginia Tech starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, on sale now at the box office in Squires Student Center, are $16 for adults, $8 for children under 12, $13 for Tech faculty and staff or $5 for Tech students.
FUNNY FARMER: Jerry Carroll, alias "Willow Spring Wildman," was born and raised in the middle of tobacco road. He now farms 1,000 acres with his family. When he's not shoveling manure, he's the life of the party.
Carroll is a professional comedian who has appeared at comedy clubs and colleges along the East Coast. He entertains audiences with down-home rural humor - '90s style.
Carroll is the headliner at this Wednesday's comedy club in the Blacksburg Marriott's Jacobs Lounge. Opening for Carroll is Dave Reynolds of Greensboro, N.C. Reynolds is a popular act at clubs in North Carolina and Virginia. He is a former winner of the "ACC Chuckle" competition at the Omni Europa Comedy Zone in Chapel Hill.
The laughs start at 9:30 p.m. in Jacob's Lounge. Dinner specials will be available before the show. The cover charge is $5 at the door.
MAKING MUSIC: "New Horizons '94" is the concert Thursday at Radford University's Preston Auditorium. The program promises a variety of styles, including new music from some innovative composers. A piece by music professor Bruce Mahin, "Monhegan Island," is featured.
Al Wojtera, Caryl Conger and Jill Coggiolo of the university's music faculty will perform. The music starts at 8 p.m.
A panel discussion with five visiting composers will be held at 7 p.m. before the concert. The guests are Anthony Stark from Washington, D.C.; Stephen Syverud from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.; Jim Caldwell from Western Illinois University; Margaret Brouwer from Washington and Lee University; and Robert Stewart of Lexington. They will talk about issues facing contemporary composers.
Admission at the door Thursday is $3 for adults, $1 for children and free for Radford University students and staff.
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