Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 29, 1994 TAG: 9406300038
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
The outdoor theater presentation opens its 24th season Thursday at 8:30 p.m. in the Long Way Home Amphitheater near the Ingles family farm along the New River, just off Interstate 81 at Exit 105.
While Bob Legg is back for his second year as artistic director, newcomers have been cast in most major roles.
Kelly-Ann Burfeind, a 19-year-old New Jersey native and part-time Virginia Tech student, plays Mary Draper Ingles. She's perhaps known to some New River Valley theater-goers for her work in the Playmakers and Company production of "Road to Paradise."
Brian Gill takes over the role of Pierre LeValle, the crafty French trader. A Radford University theater major from Northern Virginia, Gill has performed in several university productions, including "The Man Who Came to Dinner" and "Night Must Fall."
Diana Heyne, a Radford artist with some experience in performance art, has been cast as Mrs. Bingamin, the older Dutch woman who escapes with Mary. (Her 13-year-old daughter, Marisa Hayes, plays an Indian and gets to steal from the character played by her mother in the play.)
Puerto Rico native Carlos Fischler, a Radford University theater student, will play John Draper. Baudi Ratcliffe, a New River Community College student from Belspring will reprise her role as his wife, Betty.
Newcomer Matthew Zeigler, a Radford University student (and a brand-new father), will be William Ingles. Zeigler is from Pennsylvania.
Eric Clymer of Fairlawn, a student at Pulaski County High School, is back this year as Wildhorse, an important Indian character in the Earl Hobson Smith play.
Alonzo Morton, a Radford High School student, will play Lone Eagle.
"Everything is ready to go," said Julie Crawford, who returns this season as the production's assistant director. She played Mary in past seasons.
Richard Buck is back as the show's producer.
Crawford said Legg has followed up on staging improvements made last season. "We've made some minor changes in the set," she said Monday. For example, the Ingles cabin now will revolve out of sight when it's not needed. Last season, Legg obscured it simply by not lighting it. In previous seasons, the stage crew struggled to roll the sizeable structure aside.
History abounds at the amphitheater site along the New River. Plans are on the drawing board to rebuild the pedestrian ferry, which carried travelers along the Wilderness Road across the river. The road was a major thoroughfare for westbound settlers.
Mary Draper Ingles is buried nearby. Tours of the ferry area and the grounds are conducted before each evening's performance.
The play itself has been designated by the General Assembly as Virginia's only historic outdoor drama. Area lawmakers will be on hand for a presentation Friday at 8 p.m., just before the performance.
Tickets for "The Long Way Home," which runs about two hours, still are $7 for adults and $3.50 for children 12 and younger. For tickets and performance information, call 639-0679.
by CNB