Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 20, 1995 TAG: 9510200024
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS BANKS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
- Satchel Paige
Timeless themes are what you'll uncover in "The Oldest Living Graduate," the latest offering from Radford University's theater department.
The thought-provoking play - about love, greed and clashing generational values - shows Monday through Thursday at 8 p.m. in Radford University's Porterfield Theatre.
Col. Kinkaid is the crabby but lovable head of his brood, an upper-middle class Texas family. The colonel, determined to preserve the Kinkaid land but confined to a wheelchair, tries to hold the reins on his family. The colonel's son, Floyd, can't understand his father's values. He wants to develop the family's land.
Director Roberto Pomo, chairman of the theater department, said "The Oldest Living Graduate" is a humorous but complex study of a southern family. The cast, he noted, is made up of actors from an eclectic mix of disciplines at the university.
Theater professor Charles Hayes plays Col. Kinkaid, and Chad Sokolowski, a student actor from Burke, is the son.
The rest of the cast is made up of students: Melissa Canaday of Fredericksburg, Brian Gill of Great Falls, Rebekah Compton of Nora, Joseph Gardner of Radford, Brett McGarry of Shipman, Tony Neuron of Roanoke and Jessica Serensits of Silver Spring, Md.
Admission is $5 for the public and free with Radford University identification.
SHOWING OFF: Virginia Tech musicians will try their best to impress this weekend. The university's music department has planned a series of concerts for Family Weekend.
Chamber music is the ticket tonight. Four popular campus groups - the Quintessence Woodwind Quintet, the Synchronicity Saxophone Quartet, the Critical Adjustment Saxophone Quartet and Quantum Brass - will show you how they make beautiful music together.
On Saturday, Virginia Tech faculty musician David Jacobsen will join Caryl Conger of Radford University's music faculty for an evening of classical works for saxophone and piano. You don't want to miss this dynamic duo.
Sunday's treat is a performance by Virginia Tech student Britt East, flute, with pianist James Bryant. The two will play works by Vivaldi, Hoover, Griffes and Franck.
All concerts start at 8 p.m. in Squires Recital Salon. Admission tonight and Sunday is free. Tickets for Saturday's concert are $3 and you may pick them up at the box office in Squires Student Center Saturday evening.
SWAP AND SHOP: Gather your produce, bring your crafts, clean out your attic, too!
The 12th annual Barter Faire, put on by the Floyd Community Educational Resource Cooperative, is Saturday and Sunday. Folks will get together to barter and sell their goods.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days at the Wintergreen Farm on U.S. 221 south of Floyd. Vendors will begin setting up at 8 a.m. Saturday.
The fee for vendors is $15 for the weekend or $10 for one day. You don't have to make reservations to participate.
In addition to the swapping and shopping, the weekend features music, kids' activities, food and fall fun. Proceeds from the food sales benefit the Blue Mountain School, a parent cooperative school in Floyd County. Admission to the fair is free.
HE'S BEEN AROUND: ...and around and around and around!
George Clinton has been making music since the mid-1950s when he started his first band, Parliament. The group hit the Top 20 chart in 1967 with the songs "(I Wanna) Testify" and "All Your Goodies Are Gone."
In 1969, Clinton and company formed Funkadelic, a more progressive version of the original group. A bunch of big albums followed: "Motor Booty Affair," "Up for the Down Stroke," "Nation Under a Groove," "Uncle Jam Wants You" and "The Electric Spanking of War Babies."
Clinton became known for his splashy stage shows, featuring multimedia spectacles. The Los Angeles Times recently noted that his shows predated music videos which are "just now catching up with this man's musical imagination."
In the last few years, George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars have been touring all over the world and still wowing audiences.
"I don't think people expected us to be around ... But we refused to go," Clinton said in an interview a couple of years ago. "We sat down for awhile and now it's time to get up and get funky."
Clinton and his band will get funky Wednesday night at Radford University's Dedmon Center. The concert starts at 7:30.
Tickets are on sale now at the information desk in Heth Student Center. Advance tickets for Radford University students and staff are $10. Admission for the public and for everyone on the day of the show is $14.
FESTIVALS, FESTIVALS! It's the time of year for hayrides, carving plump orange pumpkins and sipping apple cider.
Make plans to visit one or all of the many festivals, bazaars and fairs happening this weekend around the valley.
The annual fall harvest bazaar at Christiansburg's Park United Methodist Church gets under way at 9 a.m. Saturday. Arts, crafts, a country store and activities for children are waiting for you. The church's famous turkey dinner is waiting for you, too. Turkey and dressing with gravy, green beans, sweet potato balls, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, hot rolls, desserts and drinks - it's an autumn feast!
You'll also find fun on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The fall crafts festival at Wormy Chestnut and Blu Goose is Saturday and Sunday. Mountain music, crafts and demonstrations continue Saturday and Sunday at Mabry Mill, too.
Craig County is the place for hayrides, live entertainment and more each weekend through Oct. 29. Misty Mountain Farm on Virginia 42 is just a hop, skip and a jump to a good time.
Check out "Etc." in today's Arts & Entertainment calendar for these and other outings.
THE SPICE OF LIFE: It's variety, of course.
Cellophane Rain is the local band with lots of spice. The group plays originals and covers from funk to jazz, reggae to blues. You can catch the music tonight at Pedro's in Blacksburg.
Cellophane Rain features musicians Susan Paulette, Todd "Mookie" Pukanecz, Tim Taylor, Alex and Keith Cooley.
Tonight's show starts at 10:30. Pedro's is at 211-B Draper Road. A $3 cover charge gets you in.
by CNB