Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 31, 1995 TAG: 9503310048
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS BANKS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Smithfield Plantation will unlock its doors and let the spring sunshine in this weekend. The 18th century landmark opens for tours Saturday.
Originally the home of Col. and Mrs. William Preston, the Williamsburg-style home was the birthplace of two Virginia governors, James Patton Preston and John Buchanan Floyd. Gov. John Floyd Jr. also lived there for a time.
The house has been restored and maintained through the efforts of the Montgomery chapter of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.
Visitors to the plantation will be guided through the house by costumed docents. Attractions include authentically furnished rooms, a colonial kitchen and vegetable and herb gardens. A smokehouse and cabin outbuildings are adjacent to the main house.
The plantation also houses a museum and a gift shop featuring brass from Virginia Metalcrafters, stoneware from the Williamsburg Pottery and a variety of crafts made by Virginia artisans. Early American toys and items made by Cherokee Indians are available for kids.
Operating hours are 1 to 5 p.m. every Thursday through Sunday during the warm months. Tours for school children and groups over 10 may be scheduled in advance.
Admission to the plantation is $4 for adults and $1.50 for children 12 and under.
The plantation is on an 11-acre site adjacent to the Virginia Tech campus off the U.S. 460 bypass in Blacksburg. To set up tours, call Alice Payne, 552-2108, or Smithfield, 951-2060.
DRAMA DE FACTO: Scenes from "The Ballad of Baby Doe," an opera by Douglas Moore, highlight the upcoming Opera Workshop production at Radford University. Make plans to be there Sunday or Tuesday for the 8 p.m. curtain in Preston Auditorium.
"The opera is about real people during the silver mining heyday of Colorado," noted director Clarity James of Radford University's music department.
The story is based on a love triangle involving the wealthy and powerful Horace Tabor, his wife, Augusta, and a younger woman, Elizabeth "Baby" Doe.
James said the story isn't "just a case of a lecherous old man and a young floozy. They really do love each other."
David Neal plays Horace Tabor, Marci Clontz is "Baby" Doe and Susan Creasey is Augusta Tabor in Radford's production of this tender opera.
The production also includes scenes from Otto Nicolai's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and Gian-Carlo Menotti's "The Consul." Two pieces from Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and "The Magic Flute" are on the program, as well.
Other singers in the production are Patricia Clevenger, Stefani Peikin, Darius Liptrap, Sharon Welborn and Alice Reeve.
Elizabeth Curtis assists with the directing and Diane Altizer is the pianist.
This is the first year the workshop will offer two performances. Both will be fully staged and costumed.
Admission is $3 for adults, $1 for children and free with Radford University identification.
WELL VERSED: Nikki Giovanni will read from her poetry and talk about her work Sunday from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Owens Banquet Hall on the Virginia Tech campus. The event is a fund-raiser for the New River Valley Chapter of Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge.
Giovanni, now an English professor at Virginia Tech, is the award-winning author of 17 books of poetry and essays for children and adults. She has made six recordings and has had a film about her poetry, "Spirit to Spirit," on PBS.
Locally, Giovanni is known for the work she does with children and senior citizens. She has taught poetry classes at the Warm Hearth Village Retirement Community and frequently visits with school children around the New River Valley.
Tickets for Sunday's presentation are $15 per person and are available at the door or by calling 951-7009. The admission fee includes a reception with gourmet coffees, herbal teas and desserts.
THE RING: Made by primeval forces that decide the fate of the world, the ring was safely guarded by the creature Gollum until it accidentally fell into the unworldly hands of Frodo, the Hobbit.
The balance was upset. The evil forces were roused, and the struggle for the ring began.
Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien are familiar with the story of the ring. The British author enthralled readers with his best-selling fantasy, "The Lord of the Rings."
Dutch composer Johan de Meij was one of those fans. His first work for symphonic band, Symphony No. 1, The Lord of the Rings, won the Sudler International Band Composition Competition in 1989. It was based on the Tolkien tale.
Virginia Tech's University Symphony Band will present the piece Wednesday. The concert starts at 8 p.m. in Squires Student Center's Commonwealth Ballroom.
Paul A. "Tony" Distler, a University Alumni Professor and director of the Division of Performing Arts, will narrate as part of the performance.
Admission is $2. Tickets will be sold at the door.
FROM BACH TO BASIE: Thurlowe Scudder is interested in all kinds of music. The director of the Ferrum College Jazz Combo has organized many bands and chamber groups and, best of all, he performs with them. Scudder is accomplished on violin, viola, cello, bass and drums.
Scudder will bring the Ferrum College Jazz Combo to the Jessie Peterman Branch library Monday for an 8 p.m. concert. It's part of a "Meet-the-Celebrity" series this spring in Floyd.
In recent years, the combo has performed with a number of professional jazz musicians, including Eddie Gray of New York and Joe Kennedy Jr., the world renowned jazz violinist in Virginia Tech's music department.
A reception starts at 7:30 before the concert. Tickets are $4 at the door.
Series tickets for four consecutive Monday evenings in April are $15. Upcoming events include a talk by artist Joni Pienkowski, an evening of Appalachian music by Kathy and John Hollandsworth with the Mountain Fling Band and a dramatic presentation by the Wytheville Community College Players. Proceeds from ticket sales benefit the library's endowment fund.
Tickets are available at the circulation desk in the Jessie Peterman Memorial Branch library.
WANNA DANCE? The Virginia Tech YMCA Folk Dancing Club will fill your dance card with line dances, circle dances and other international folk dances Saturday. The fun runs from 7:30 to 10 p.m. in room 37 of the War Memorial Gym on campus.
The event is open to everyone - no experience required!
Admission is free. You're asked to wear shoes that won't mark the floor.
For more information, call the Virginia Tech YMCA at 231-6860.
by CNB