ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, April 12, 1996                 TAG: 9604120033
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1    EDITION: METRO 
COLUMN: The Tipoff
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES 

THE TIPOFF

SPRING SIGNS: The season can be considered to have officially arrived when:

The First Fridays at Five gatherings at First Union Plaza, downtown Roanoke, begin, as they do from 5 to 8 tonight. Reflections and Key West will provide the music; food and drink will be sold. You must be 21 or older. Admission costs $2. Call 983-8090.

The Valleypointe After Hours Summer Concerts start, as they do Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Valleypointe Corporate Center in North Roanoke County. The shows, on 20 consecutive Thursdays, featuring beach, variety and oldies bands, benefit The Easter Seal Society of Virginia. Admission is $3; children under 12 get in free. Call 362-1656.

KEY PLAYERS: Top players from Russia, Mexico and Norway will be among the contenders gathering at Radford University tonight through Sunday for the 16th Annual Bartok-Kabalevsky International Piano Competition. The principal judge, Gyorgy Sandor, a pupil and protege of Bela Bartok, also will present a solo recital on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the university's Preston Auditorium. Recital tickets cost $3 for general public; $1 for children; and are free to Radford students. For schedule information, call 831-5177 or 831-5201.

OVERLAND ORGANS: Sunday at 6 p.m. Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" will simultaneously resound in more than 200 locations in states throughout the country and in Scotland, marking the opening of the world's largest organ recital in celebration of the 100th birthday of the American Guild of Organists. South Roanoke United Methodist Church's four manual Moller organ, played by members of the Roanoke Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, will be among the participants. The concert is free. Call Joseph Kennedy at 344-4437.

Before the guild's concert gets going, internationally known organist Gerre Hancock will perform in and conduct the Organ Concert and Hymn Festival at Calvary Baptist Church, Roanoke. There is no admission charge for the show on Sunday at 3 p.m., and child care will be provided. Call 342-4224.

FIRST ARE LAST: Mark Twain's play "Diaries of Adam and Eve" (with guest star David Birney), about the first couple and their first love, is the last presentation of the season for the Alleghany Highlands Arts Council. The performance is at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Covington High School's Curfman Hall. Tickets range from $15 to $18. Call 962-6220.

MUNCHKINS' MUSICAL: Peter del Valle and John Ahearn's version of "Beauty and the Beast," Thursday through April 28 at Mill Mountain Theatre, downtown Roanoke, is said to rival if not completely remove from mind Walt Disney's cinematic interpretation. Admission costs $7 for adults, $4 for children. For performance schedule specifics, call 342-5740.

BITING DRAMA: Showtimers will present "The Passion of Dracula" at 8 p.m. Thursday through April 28 at the Showtimers Studio Theatre, Roanoke. Tickets cost $8. Call 774-2660.

STARS AND SPIKES: The Roanoke Civic Center, final stop of a five-city tour, will be the site of a match Friday at 7:30 p.m. between the United States women's national volleyball team and its Russian counterpart. A warm-up match between University of Virginia and Virginia Tech women's volleyball teams will begin at 5:45 p.m. Tickets cost $8 and $12. Call 343-8100.

SATIRICAL SHAW: The first of George Bernard Shaw's "peasant" plays, "Arms and the Man," will be presented Friday at 8 p.m. in Roanoke College's Olin Theater. The gently satiric comedy will be performed by The Acting Company, a not-for-profit professional theater company dedicated to developing American actors and a national theater audience by touring a repertoire of classic plays and contemporary works. Tickets cost $12; $8 for senior citizens and Roanoke College community. Call 375-2333.

EVERYTHING EQUINE: The Virginia Horse Festival, at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Friday through April 21, will run the gamut from commercial exhibitors to an authentic jousting tournament, complete with the pageantry of 16th-century England. Special clinics and events will be included. Tickets are $5 per day, or a 3-day pass is available for $7. Children under 4 are admitted free. Call 463-2194.

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