ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 29, 1996 TAG: 9603290049
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: out & about
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS BANKS
"Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory,
Of His Flesh the mystery sing;
Of the Blood, all price exceeding,
Shed by our immortal King."
- St. Thomas Aquinas
Singers from around the Blacksburg and Christiansburg area will gather this Palm Sunday for a very special concert.
"God With Us - A Worship Experience for All Seasons" is the title of the program. The newly formed Christiansburg Inter-Faith Choir, featuring nearly 100 choir members from various churches, will perform at 7 p.m. in the Christiansburg High School Auditorium.
Charlotte Smith, music director at Main Street Baptist Church, will lead the combined choirs. The group will be accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra of local musicians.
Admission is free but a love offering will be accepted at the door. Donations will go to the Knowles Family Fund.
A nursery's available for little ones. For more information, call Main Street Baptist Church at 382-2160.
LOVELY TO BEHOLD: More than 100 local artists have donated their works for the New River Valley Free Clinic's 14th annual "Art Benefit," a silent and live auction happening Saturday at the Blacksburg Holiday Inn. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the live bidding commences at 7:30.
You'll find all kinds of lovely things at this event. Best of all, proceeds from sales benefit the Free Clinic which provides free medical and dental care for needy local residents.
Admission to the benefit is $6 per person or $10 per couple. For more information, call 381-0820.
FEAST FOR THE EYES: "An Artist's Feast" is the theme for the exhibition showing at the Fine Arts Center for the New River Valley in Pulaski. It showcases work by young people from around the valley.
The centerpiece for the exhibit was done by students at Radford's Belle Heth Elementary School. Children created a banquet table with each place setting representing a different artist or artistic style.
Michael Dowell, the center's executive director, says you won't want to miss the Van Gogh setting.
"As always, the creations of the region's young people are fresh and energetic," Dowell noted.
In addition to works by elementary school kids, the exhibit features pieces by middle and high school students.
"A wonderful black lab has been rendered by Robbie Wallace of Pulaski County High School," said Dowell. "This charcoal, while very realistic, has a slightly cartoonish touch which gives the dog that special man's-best-friend look. ..."
A reception for the young artists will be held Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at the museum on West Main Street. It's open to everyone and it's free.
MARCHING ON : We couldn't let March get away from us without hearing Gerry Timlin!
The Irish musician and folk singer visits Virginia Tech's Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center tonight for a concert with Celtic harpist Sharon Scully. It starts at 7:30.
The University Club is sponsoring tonight's musical treat. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. Students with ID get in for $5.
A reception will be held at the University Club, 100 Otey St., after the concert. For more information, call 231-3870.
NATIONAL LAMPOONERY: "Typically, the Republicans goof up and the Democrats party," says Elaina Newport. "Then the Democrats goof up and the Republicans party. That's what we call the two-party system."
Newport is one of the founders of The Capitol Steps, the group claiming to be the only show out of Washington that's funnier than Congress.
The Capitol Steps emerged during the Reagan administration when three staffers for Sen. Charles Percy were asked to provide entertainment for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Christmas party. Bill Strauss and Jim Aidala shared Newport's rationale: If entertainers can become politicians, why can't politicians become entertainers?
Since then, the group has grown to 20 performers and has recorded 15 albums, the latest being "A Whole Newt World." Known for their razor sharp satire, the Steps belt out songs such as Bill Clinton's "I've Taken Stands on Both Sides Now" (to the tune of Judy Collins' "Both Sides Now") and Bob Dole's "Fifty Ways to Peeve Your Leader."
You can catch the Capitol Steps in Blacksburg Wednesday when the troupe comes to Virginia Tech's Burruss Hall for one show at 7:30 p.m. It's part of the Virginia Tech Union's Entertainment Series.
Tickets - on sale at the box office in Squires Student Center - are $14 for adults, $7 for children under 12, $11 for Tech faculty and staff and $4 for Tech students. Call 231-5615.
SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE: This year marks the centennial of Doris Humphrey's birth.
Humphrey, one of the founders of modern dance, created many choreographic works that are still widely performed.
The Radford University Dance Theatre will perform two of the works in its spring dance production, "Celebration!" It continues tonight and Saturday at 8 in Preston Auditorium.
Humphrey's "Passacaglia" and "Fugue in C Minor" have been staged for the university's dancers by Jennifer Scanlon.
"The Radford dancers are indeed celebrating and honoring this remarkable woman who contributed so much to the development of modern dance between 1928 and 1958," noted dance professor Pegeen Albig.
As an added tribute, Humphrey's son, Charles Woodford, will give a lecture before Saturday's performance. Woodford will comment on the Doris Humphrey Centennial Exhibit, a collection of photographs, on display in the lower lobby of Preston Hall. His talk starts at 6:30 p.m.
Admission to Woodford's talk is free. Tickets for "Celebration!" are $4 for adults and $2 for children. Radford University students and staff get in free.
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