Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503180036
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS BANKS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
He has no sense of humor.
His personality is nonexistent.
He just wants people to leave him alone.
Meet Charlie this weekend at the opening of Playmakers & Company's latest production, ``The Foreigner.'' The comedy by Larry Shue opens today and runs for the next several weekends at Playmakers' Playhouse in Blacksburg's University Mall.
The play is set at a fishing resort in the Georgia Appalachians. Froggy LeSeur, a British demolitions expert who visits the resort each month so he can teach American soldiers from a nearby Army base how to use explosives, brings his friend Charlie with him, and the fun begins.
Because he wants to be left alone, Charlie pretends he is a foreigner who can't speak or understand English. In no time at all, the other people at the resort are talking freely around Charlie and unwittingly revealing strange stuff.
The Playmakers & Company production is directed by Bob Gribben and features Dan Davidson as Charlie Baker and Tyler Barden as Froggy LeSeur. Other cast members are Nora Hansen, Brian Compton, Laura Neily, Ken Crank and Andy Davis.
The play shows tonight and Saturday at 7:30, or you can catch the matinee at 2 on Sunday. It reopens Thursday and continues with weekend performances through April 2.
Tickets are $6 for adults or $4 for senior citizens, children and students. To make reservations or for more ticket information, call 381-1913.
SONGFEST: Yes, it's time again for the big gospel sing put on by The Martin Family of Christiansburg. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the popular event, which draws well-known gospel groups from all over.
It starts tonight with music by The Brazells and Tony Gore & Majesty. On Saturday, The Wilburns and Charles Johnson & The Revivers will lift their voices. The Martin Family performs both evenings.
The Southern gospel music starts at 7 p.m. in Auburn High School. Advance tickets are $8, and admission at the door is $10. Children ages 3 to 10 get in for $5.
For ticket information, call Blue Ridge Heating & Air in Christiansburg, 381-1137; Nipper Auto Parts in Pulaski, 980-2535; or WBLB in Pulaski, 980-3411.
BIRDS ARE SINGING: The grass is getting green. Flowers are popping out of the ground.
Of course, it's almost spring!
Radford University Professor Nitza Kats will celebrate the season with her traditional ``Almost Spring'' recital Monday at 8 p.m. in Preston Auditorium. The pianist will play a variety of lively works, including selections by Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann and Yardena Alotin.
Admission is $3 for adults, $1 for children, and free for Radford University faculty and staff.
FINDERS, KEEPERS: Sculptor Jann Rosen-Queralt can create a work of art from sticks, nails, pins, buttons and pieces of broken toys. She uses objects she finds to express her feelings and thoughts in sculpture.
``Commonplace materials, when combined in unusual ways, can trigger multiple sensory associations and challenge familiar perceptions,'' she says.
Rosen-Queralt has been an instructor at the Maryland Institute of Art for more than 13 years and has had her work displayed all over the United States, Canada and Europe. She will visit the New River Valley next week to work with students at Christiansburg High School.
The sculptor will give a public lecture and slide show Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the community room at the Blacksburg Police Station. It's free, sponsored by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Affiliates Program and the Blacksburg Regional Art Association.
For more information, call Betty Moore at 951-7933.
LIFE IS A RIVER: ``We are water, like the river, just passing through.''
David Budbill, a poet and playwright from rural Vermont, writes of the trials and joys of life in northern Appalachia. His play, ``Judevine,'' about a small community by the same name, is the latest workshop production at Virginia Tech.
Graduate student Jodi Schoenbrun directed the production as part of a semester study of Appalachian rural life. Performers and production members even went on a trip to Vermont during the winter break to see the culture of northern Appalachia firsthand and compare it with the southern Appalachian culture of the New River Valley area. While they were there, they spent an afternoon talking to Budbill at his home in Vermont.
The acting crew for ``Judevine'' includes five men and four women, playing 36 different characters. The piece is unusual because all the music and sound effects are created by the ensemble.
``Judevine'' opens Thursday and shows through March 25 in room 204 of the Performing Arts Building on the Virginia Tech campus. The play starts at 8 each evening, but you should get there early for a seat.
Admission is free.
LIGHT ON HIS FEET: John Parks' talk is titled ``Contributions of Black Artists to the Field of Dance.''
He should know his subject.
Parks performed in the Broadway production ``The Wiz'' and also served as assistant choreographer, dance captain, rehearsal director and swing dancer for the hit show.
Now an assistant professor of dance at the University of South Florida, Parks has danced with several world-class companies, including the Jose Limon and Alvin Ailey ensembles. He taught dance at the Harvard Summer Dance School and in Zimbabwe, Africa.
Parks is participating in a residency at Radford University to create a new dance work for ``The Art of Motion,'' the university's spring dance program coming up April 20-22.
He will give his lecture Thursday at 8 p.m. in the ballroom of Heth Hall. The talk is free and is sponsored by the dance department in conjunction with the Black Action Programming Board as part of Radford University's Scholarly Lecture Series.
by CNB