
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 20, 1994                   TAG: 9405210009
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Joe Kennedy
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THE TIPOFF

UPPER: The word is that the one guaranteed good time in this burg is ``Five Guys Named Moe'' at Mill Mountain Theatre at Center in the Square. Understand, we haven't seen it ourselves, but when a moody friend comes in smiling and singing songs from the show, well, recommendations don't get any better than that.

Based on the life of jazzman Louis Jordan, packed with singing, dancing and audience participation, the show runs through May 29. Tickets are still available, but you'd better move fast - just for practice. They're priced from $15 to $20. Call 342-5740.

STREET LIFE: Streetwise gamblers, small-time cuties and noble soul-savers populate ``Guys and Dolls,'' the musical production that opens tonight at the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center. It continues on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons through June 5.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $11 for senior citizens and $8 for students and children. Call (804) 846-3804.

MOZARTIAN: ``The Marriage of Figaro'' continues Saturday, Monday and Wednesday nights at Olin Theater in Salem. It's from Opera Roanoke, with Victoria Bond conducting and Craig Fields directing. The curtain rises at 7. The show is sung in Italian with English supertitles. Tickets are $25 and $22, or $23 and $20 for seniors and $16 and $12 for students. Call 982-2742.

WATCH THE BATON: Andre Thomas, director of choral activities and associate professor of music education at Florida State University, will teach tonight and Saturday at the choral workshop and festival for children and adults at First Presbyterian Church in Roanoke.

Thomas will instruct the adult choirs, and Henry Leck, founder of the Indianapolis Children's Choir and music teacher at Butler University, will direct the children's choirs.

Four church choirs, both adult and children's will participate beginning at 5:30 this evening and concluding with a program Saturday afternoon at 2:30. The program is open to the public. You may participate in the learning for $10 per person. Questions? Call Phyllis Wampler at 344-6011. The event is sponsored by the Roanoke Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Thomas will be the guest artist, conductor and speaker at the 8:30 and 11 a.m. worship services of Raleigh Court United Methodist Church on Sunday.

SECOND CHANCE: ``The Marriage of Figaro'' is a popular show in these parts. The Music and Theatre Departments at Washington and Lee University in Lexington are presenting it, in English, tonight, Sunday and Tuesday nights at 8 in Keller Theater on the campus. Ticket information is at the Lenfest box office weekdays from noon to 4 p.m. Call 463-8000.

AFTERNOON SESSION: Victoria Bond, conductor of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, and Ann Goette, New River Valley author, will be featured in ``An Afternoon With....,'' a fund-raiser of Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge Inc., Sunday afternoon from 2:30 to 4:30 at Owens Banquet Hall on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg.

They will talk about and present excerpts from ``Travels,'' their opera in progress, which is based loosely on ``Gulliver's Travels.''

Gourmet coffees, herbal teas and desserts will be served the at reception that precedes the performance. For tickets, call 951-5289 in Blacksburg or 362-3968 in Roanoke.

by CNB