(Last update July 22, 2010)
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Performing Arts Luray presents Charlotte’s Web, The Musical
LURAY – Performing Arts Luray will present Charlotte's Web, The Musical as its Fifth Annual Summer Musical Theater Workshop are July 30 and 31 and August 6 and 7 at 7:30 pm and August 1 and 8 at 2:30 pm at the BB&T Center for the Performing Arts.
Based on the original story by E. B. White, the musical has a script adapted by Joseph Robinette, with music and lyrics by Charles Strouse. Kira Newman returns as director, with Paul Loman as music director and Barb Baker as producer. Newman is the owner and director for Blue Ridge Youth Theater.
Charlotte's Web, The Musical, is produced through special arrangement with The Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Illinois and is funded, in part, by a grant from the Marion Park Lewis Foundation (www.mplfarts.org).
The musical tells the story of Wilbur, a “radiant” pig who is destined to become bacon. He is saved from this fate by a young girl named Fern and a spider named Charlotte. It is a story about loyalty, courage and friendship.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $5 for youth under 18 and are available at Luray-Page County Chamber of Commerce, McKim and Huffman Pharmacy, Luray Copy Service, Luray Apothecary and Stanley Pharmacy and through InstantSeats.com. Tickets are usually available at the door, however PAL recommends purchasing tickets in advance. The box office opens 45 minutes before the show. ‘The Vault,’ PAL’s cash bar, will be open. For more information about Performing Arts Luray, call the center at 540-743-3311 or visit the website at PerformingArtsLuray.org.
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Stories of “Mountain Folk” in the Blue Ridge …
Backroads – Plain Folk & Simple Livin’
STAUNTON - When Lynn Coffey moved to the tiny mountain hamlet of Love, Virginia in 1980, she immediately realized the Appalachian culture was slowly slipping away and needed to be preserved, somehow. Without any formal journalistic training, Lynn began talking to her elderly neighbors … asking about their early lifestyles, and take photographs of them and their mountain crafts. What began as a natural interest suddenly turned into a monthly newspaper called “Backroads,” and for 25 years Lynn roamed the hills and hollers interviewing the mountain people about every facet of their lives, chronicling the lifestyles of these sturdy Scots-Irish folk who made their homes in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Backroads – Plain Folk & Simple Livin’ is a compilation of many of the old stories, crafts, and interviews from the archives of that newspaper stretching from 1981 through 2006.
Earl Hamner said … “Lynn Coffey and I share a common heritage. I wrote about our Southern highland people in The Waltons. In Backroads, Lynn celebrates in even richer detail the daily lives of these sturdy, proud, self-reliant folks. As she tells their stories, you come to know and love Lynn, and if I ever meet her I’m going to haul off and kiss her!”
Noted author Jan Karon – “Not everyone hits the right key when singing the praises of our lost mountain ways. Lynn Coffey hits it, and has written a rich and nuanced book of love songs about the culture I love best. Thanks Lynn – we needed this.”
About the Author:
Lynn Coffey spent the formative years of her life in the urban flatlands of southern Florida wondering what she was missing in life – she knew that it had to be more to it than dances and shopping! As the only girl in her high school agriculture class, she learned the ways fo farm life and ‘knew’ that one day she’d use those skills to achieve fulfillment in life. Years later she discovered the Blue Ridge Mountains and the hamlet of Love, Virginia. It was love at first sight, and she’s never looked back!
Call Bookworks at (540) 887-0007, or visit the shop at 101 W. Beverley Street in historic downtown Staunton, with any questions.
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Wooden and Paper Icons by Joshua Barber
HARRISONBURG – In July, the Arts Council of the Valley is proud to present Wooden and Paper Icons, a series of modern day paintings and drawings by Richmond-based artist Joshua Barber. The exhibition will open with a public reception in the Darrin-McHone Art Gallery in the Smith House at 311 South Main Street.The exhibition will remain on view until July 30.
Barber paints personal icons and otherworldly landscapes by layering both delicate and agitated lines in pencil and chalk over rough, tactile painted surfaces. With poignancy and humor, the eighteen works of art featured at the Smith House collectively communicate the human story of both loneliness and togetherness. The paintings on wood and paper range from large-scale artworks, reflecting universal feelings shared by all, to small-scale works the size of a postcard, indicating the personal quality of vulnerable emotions. The artist explores these intimate moments in time with each abstracted figure he depicts.
All of the images stem from Barber’s belief that “We are all lonely. Each one of us is surrounded by a sphere of solitude that not even the closest intimacy can break.” However, though all people are lonely, this is not necessarily a negative experience. Barber explains, “When we're alone, we pay attention. Small events take on deep significance and hold the answer that we wish we could share with the world.” The artist takes these sometimes awkward and sometimes secret moments and turns them into modern icons and so “makes light of the darkest corners.”
Barber's paintings have been exhibited in major U.S. cities and internationally, including New York, Los Angeles, and the United Kingdom (London and Bristol). His work also has been exhibited at the prestigious Virginia Museum of Fine Art's Art After Hours for the last three consecutive years. Scarlett Suhy-Pons of PONSHOP, an art studio in Fredericksburg, Virginia, wrote about Barber’s work: "I enjoy their purity, the freedom of the lines, and their nocturnal quality." To learn more about Barber and his work, please visit www.joshuabarberfineart.com.
Since opening its doors in 2002, the Arts Council of the Valley and its Court Square Theater have emerged as a dynamic force in the cultural, economic, and educational life of our community. It produces, manages, and promotes the visual and performing arts from its two locations: the Smith House and Court Square Theater. Art openings occur the first Friday of the month from 5-7 p.m. and are open to the public. For more information on the Arts Council visit www.valleyarts.org or call (540)-801-8779.
