ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040016
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: out & about
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS-BANKS
Stop!
Take a deep breath.
Your olfactory sense is trying to tell you something.
Sweet apples and cinnamon, spicy Polish sausages, pungent pumpkins - yep, it's autumn.
The fall fun(d)-raising time of year brings an avalanche of festivals, fairs, bazaars and sales. You'll have no trouble finding good food, fun and fellowship in the coming days.
Follow your nose this weekend to Oktoberfest at Mountain Lake, Count Pulaskifest in Pulaski or Mount Tabor Harvestfest in Blacksburg.
You'll also find the Lord's Acre Sale in Radford, the fall festival in Narrows and the 30th annual arts and crafts festival in Floyd.
The list keeps going and going and ... Check it out in the "Etc." section of today's Current!
RESPECT: Mary Wilson has earned it.
The singing phenomenon -one of the founding members of the Supremes - helped the group climb to the top of the music charts in the '60s. The Supremes produced 40 albums and 33 hit songs - 12 reached the No. 1 spot!
Can you name those tunes?
"Where Did Our Love Go?"
"Baby Love"
"Come See About Me"
"Stop! In the Name of Love"
"Back in My Arms Again"
"I Hear a Symphony"
"You Can't Hurry Love"
"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
"Love Is Here and Now You're Gone"
"The Happening"
"Love Child"
"Someday We'll Be Together"
Wilson will perform some of the best-known songs from the Supremes' playlist when she visits Virginia Tech on Tuesday. The 52-year-old Detroit dynamo will light up the stage in Burruss Hall at 7:30 p.m. The concert is part of the Virginia Tech Union's Entertainment Series.
Tickets, on sale now in Squires Student Center, are $15 for adults, $7 for kids under 12, $12 for Tech faculty and staff and $5 for Tech students. Call 231-5615 for information.
MO MOTOWN: "The music was profoundly different from the gentle pleasantries of white pop," wrote filmmaker Tony Palmer, "the difference between an endless diet of whipped cream and a bunch of people digging for a plate of ribs and coleslaw. But there was also an emotional difference."
Palmer was talking about Motown music - the '60s sound created by such groups as Martha and the Vandellas, the Miracles and Stevie Wonder.
And let's not forget the Drifters, the Coasters and the Marvelettes.
In 1961, the Marvelettes took the No. 1 spot on the pop charts with their first release, "Please, Mr. Postman." The trio paved the way for other "girl groups," including the Supremes.
The Coasters produced such popular comedy songs as "Yakety Yak" and "Charlie Brown," and the Drifters poured soul into their hit songs - "There Goes My Baby," "This Magic Moment" and "Save the Last Dance for Me," to name a few.
The Marvelettes, the Drifters and the Coasters will return to Radford University for their second appearance Saturday. They'll perform at 8 p.m. in the Dedmon Center as part of the university's annual "Family Weekend."
Tickets are on sale at Heth Student Center. The cost is $9 for the public or $4 for students and staff.
PARADOX: That's the key word in understanding Luigi Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author." The play is the latest offering from the Virginia Tech Theatre Arts-University Theatre.
The Italian playwright who called himself "son of Chaos" used theater as a vehicle for his philosophical belief that truth is unstable and variable. "Six Characters in Search of an Author," written in 1921, exemplifies Pirandello's quest for the answer to his own questions: What is real? What is the truth?
The comedy uses the play-within-a-play structure where the audience interacts with the actors. Six characters walk in off the street to a rehearsal in progress. They are looking for an author to guide them.
David Johnson, an associate professor in the theater department, directs the Virginia Tech production and also joins the cast in the role of the Director.
Paradox?
"Six Characters in Search of an Author" continues tonight and Saturday at 8 and Sunday afternoon at 2 in Squires Haymarket Theatre. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens. To make reservations, call 231-5615.
MAN, OH, MAN! This man can flat out play guitar!
He's been written up in Guitar Player, Guitar World and Guitar.
Tom Principato was born to pick.
His fingerpicking style is what distinguishes Principato as a blues guitarist. He's quick to admit he's a guitarist first and a singer second.
Principato has released six solo albums on his own label, Powerhouse. His recordings have worldwide distribution.
You can catch this guitar man's live performance tonight at the Cafe at Champs, 111 N. Main St., Blacksburg. The groovin' starts at 9. A $5 cover gets you in.
IN THE MOVE: The best way to shake off the Friday stiffies is to put on those dancing shoes.
The Southwest Virginia Swing Dance Society is inviting you and your shoes to the Blacksburg Community Center tonight for an evening of swing dancing. Beginners will want to come early for the dance class at 7. The main event runs from 8 to 11.
Six String Swing will play Texas swing and "Big Band" standards, including familiar favorites by Duke Ellington, Fats Walker and George Gershwin.
Admission is $7. Students and members of the SWVSDS get in for $5. Alcohol and smoking aren't allowed at the dances.
LENGTH: Long : 112 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Blues guitarist Tom Prinicpato performs tonight at theby CNBCafe at Champs in Blacksburg. Principato has released six albums
with worldwide distribution on his onw label, Powerhouse.