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metropolis | october 2007
Written by Nicci Ray
a family film fest
The 20th Annual Virginia Film Festival, scheduled November 1-4 at venues throughout Charlottesville, has announce it’s theme - Kin Flicks, a film rendition of a special family gathering. Hosted by the University of Virginia, the Festival will present more than a hundred speakers and films addressing popular and alternative images of family life. Designed as a four-day course on a cultural theme in which the public is invited to enroll, the Festival brings major talents to Charlottesville each year. Attendees can expect family films and an all around focus on family-depicting genres from melodrama to classic TV sitcoms to home movies. There will also be films about alternative family arrangements, including gay unions and marriages. There will also be more than a dozen new feature film Premere Selecctions screening in advance of their national release. As always, film lovers can expect an extensive catalog of art exhibits, musical performances and gala parties related to the Festival theme. www.vafilm.com a bountiful season indeed
The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra with Conductor David Wiley open the 2007-2008 season October 15 at 8 pm with a concert featuring Violinist, David Kim and Beethoven’s Immortal 5th to begin a season filled with beautiful music and many special performances. The Masterworks series this year will offer lower ticket prices and more concert options, continuing through the season with Tchaikovsky’s Fateful 4th on November 12, Firebird Dances & More on January 14, Love & Remembrance February 10 -11, Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony April 27-28 and a special break from the holiday rush in the form of the Christmas portion from Handel’s Messiah on December 2, 2007. Or, if you like your orchestra with a side of food and fun, opt for the lighter fare of Picnic at the Pops. Beginning October 26 with an exciting performance with the fabulous Pointer Sisters, these special Pops series events offer table seating so patrons can bring their own picnic and gnosh while listening to inspiring music. The series continues with Roanoke’s favorite holiday tradition - the Holiday Pops Spectacular December 7 that brings RSO together with the Roanoke Ballet Theatre and the Roanoke College Children’s Choir in a wonderfully festive event for all ages. The final Pops event features folk fave Art Garfunkel on April 11 performing from his eztensive repertoire with Simon & Garfunkel and over 30 years of hits. Pops events take place at the Salem Civic Center while Masterworks venues vary, some taking place at the Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre and a few being performed at the Jefferson Center. RSO’s new season is definitely a must hear and this year Masterworks ticket-holders are privy to Illuminations - special pre-concert presentations with David Wiley in the performance hall before the concerts. www.rso.com 540.343.9127 a creepy classic at mmt
This Halloween season Mill Mountain Theater brings us William Golding’s creepy classic, Lord of the Flies on Trinkle Main Stage from October 30 November 4. Kicking off the Mill Mountain Players touring season this stage version of the popular novel follows a group of young schoolboys who become stranded on a desert island. They see it as the chance of a lifetime, a picture perfect universe with new rules and new rulers, but before long shadows are creeping everywhere and the night is full of eyes. The once well behaved band is transformed into a bloodthirsty and murderous little tribe. It’s a terrific book…most of us older folk had to read it back in the day for high school English class, but this season MMT is bringing our children the unique opportunity to see it all live as Lord of the Flies will also tour local high schools throughout October. Adapted for the stage by Nigel Williams, both theater patrons and high school students will have the opportunity to witness this great literary work up close and personal. Show times and seating vary but if you’re interested, get your tickets soon - I feel like this show will sell out soon. www.millmountain.org 540.342.5740 ol’ blue eyes
Frank Sinatra fans be on the look out for a new book of personal photographs of the star, Sinatra: Frank & Friendly: A Unique Photographic Memoir of a Legend, by Terry O’Neill, his personal photographer of 30 years. “I was due in Miami to shoot a movie Frank was starring in…so I walked up to him and handed him my introduction (from Ava Gardner). Frank was crazy about Ava, always had been, always was. He opened it, read it, looked me in the eye, and loud enough for everyone to hear, said ‘You’re with me kid.’ And that was it. From there on in, his door was always open,” O’Neill says in the book, which includes over 100 photos, many being shown for the first time from O’Neill’s archives. For five decades O’Neill has chronicled the frontline of fame with photographs that have graced the covers of every major magazine in the world, from Time to Newsweek, Vogue to Premiere. He has dined in the White House with Presidents and at Buckingham Palace with the Queen and photographed greats from the Beatles to Princess Diana. As exemplified in this new collection, O’Neill has a gift for recognizing star potential, and for earning the trust and the friendship of the famous and the infamous. The book will be on shelves in October for $49.95. Healthy Kids
My Gym in Roanoke, VA, is celebrating its Grand Opening from October 12th to 14th and 18th to 21st in Townside Festival at 3727 Franklin Road. My Gym has created an extraordinary program and facility devised to help children six weeks to thirteen years of age develop physically, cognitively and emotionally. Imaginations soar and children triumph at My Gym Children’s Fitness Center. Owner’s Alan and Victoria Hassall offer structured, age-appropriate weekly classes that incorporate music, dance, relays, games, special rides, gymnastics, sports and other original activities. My Gym kids have so much fun as they gain strength, balance, coordination, fine and gross motor proficiency, agility, flexibility and social skills. The most important benefit offered, however, is the building of confidence and self-esteem. My Gym is a state-of-the-art facility with custom- designed equipment, the configuration of which is changed each week to provide a new and exciting experience for the children. My Gym has been recognized for one of the best early learning program of its kind. www.my-gym.com 540.774.0037 homes for the holiday
Don a mask for a good cause Saturday, October 27 for the Second Annual Habitat for Humanity Halloween fund raiser at Schaal’s Metamorphosis from 7 to 11 pm. If you aren’t familiar with the organization, Habitat for Humanity in the Roanoke Valley (HFHRV) is a non-profit, Christian housing organization that uses donations of money, land, materials, and volunteer labor to provide homes for local low-income families purchase at no interest and no profit. Along with media partner WSLS NewsChannel 10, HFHRV brings together a festive evening of food, frivolity and dance. Costumes are a good idea if you want to get out there and shake your groove thing to the tunes of ever popular band, MonkeyFuzz with the safety of anonymity - depending on your groove skill of course. The $50 per person ticket price includes a frighteningly delicious buffet and bar provided by Schaal’s Catering, two drink tickets, fabulous costume prizes, a silent auction featuring original art, and more fun than Thriller, all for a great cause! www.habitat-roanoke.org 540.344.0747 good gourds
Get your gourd on at the largest and longest standing harvest festival around these parts, at Sinkland Farms Fourteenth Annual Pumpkin Festival on Riner Road in Christiansburg. Each Fall season, Sinkland offers up 18 acres of pumpkins, squash and gourds for transforming your home into an Autumn wonderland of orange, cinnamon, and yellow. And that’s just the fruit…festival activities include hayrides to the patch to pick the ideal jack-o-lantern, corn mazes, pony rides, kid’s face painting, kettle corn and other food concessions, antique farm equipment exhibits, an animal “barn”, local crafts, and local music. Each year families from all over the region and surrounding states attend this festival as a Fall tradition. It’s also a terrific event for families with smaller children (infants and toddlers or elementary school age) who may not be so interested in having their wits scared outta them at some of the area’s scarier, more “adult-oriented” Halloween events! The festival is open for five weekends, including the last weekend in September and every weekend in October. Hours are Saturdays from 10 am to 6 pm and Sundays from 1 to 6 pm. www.sinklandfarms.com 540.382.4640 o’zapft is!
In Bavarian it means “it’s tapped”- the traditional opening of Germany’s infamous Oktoberfest, this year in downtown Roanoke it means “let’s celebrate the season like the Germans do it!” So don your liederhosen and dirndl Saturday, October 13 from 11 am to 5 pm as Eventzone once again brings us a great party in the park. Featuring authentic German beer, fare, dance and Oompah music the event offers city-goers an authentic and entertaining Fall celebration. Once known as Fallfest on the Market, the new and improved Oktoberfest boasts free admission, free fun and free dancing! So come partake of some sausage and saurkraut and then pryvit (dance Ukraine-style) it off to some Oompah music and enjoy your Octoberfest the way they do in Munich! www.eventzone.org/oktoberfest 540.342.2640 oompah for pups
And then there’s Dogtoberfest. Brought to us by the Saint Francis of Assisi Service Dog Foundation on October 6 from 10 am to 4 pm, this free event provides fun for the whole family, including fido. The event will take place at the Saint Francis Service Dog Center on Enon Drive and will include a parade of breeds at 12 pm, games and contests for animals and owners, an agility course, vendors, a silent auction, PawCasso (paw painting & photos with your dog), a bake sale, a caricaturist, art, food and much, much more for man’s best friend. The scheduled rain date is October 7, and of course, all dogs must be leashed and have proof of rabies vaccination. www.saintfrancisdogs.org 2007 Screamin’ Soiree
The 5th annual fundraiser to benefit the historic Grandin Theatre. October 27 at Grandin Theatre, 7:30 pm. Presented by WSLS 10. The event will include a silent auction with hors d’oeurves and a desert buffet. DJ, Pharaoh Hugglesworth will provide music and entertainment. Costumes are encouraged. Tickets are $50 in advance, $60 at the door. Must be 21 or older to attend. Sponsors: WSLS 10, Bundy & Co., Valley Bank, and Reid’s Fine Furnishings. www.grandintheatre.org the dr. is in
Something twisted this way comes…Dr. Pain brings us something new to celebrate bringing terror to the masses for five years…Dr. Pain’s Twisted Carnival begins Friday, October 12 - bring a fresh pair of panties because this freak show is bound to freak you out. This year the group has transformed 5200 square feet of crazed patients and blood-thirsty doctors into a carnival theme where you decide your own twisted fate…freak show or fun house? And the fun runs outside this year too, with games, food, entertainment and vendors every weekend throughout October and November 2-3 from 8 pm until the last patron screams! Come see what new fiendish plans the doctor has in store for you this year. A special, toned-down event (suitable for children under 14) will be held October 24 from 1 to 4 pm. www.drpainshauntedasylum.com field of screams
The Salem Avalanche is once again bringing Halloween to the diamond with the Field of Screams haunted “house”. The event includes outdoor hay rides, indoor scenes, a maze, a tunnel of death and the doorways to hell. Tickets cost $10 and according to Director of Marketing, Josh Eagan “We aim to scare…”, the PG-13 event runs from 7 pm to 12 am every weekend in October and the whole week of halloween. www.salemavalanche.com 540. 389.3333 haunted caverns
After a year hiatus, local natural-wonder Dixie Caverns once again opens the Haunted Caverns. The event will run October 19 - 21, 26-28, and the 31st with Friday and Saturday hours from 7 - 11 pm and Sundays from 7 - 10 pm. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and though I prodded Cavern Employee, Julie Carper for details, her response was “We don’t give anything away…if I did the Director would kill me and I would be body parts in the caves.” One important thing to remember if you get scared and try and back out, there will be no refunds this year! www.dixiecaverns.com 540.380.2085 annual zoo boo
There is always at least one area Halloween event designed to be safe and scare-free for smaller children, the ever-popular Zoo Boo at Mill Mountain Zoo. Harmless ghosts, goblins, and ghouls will take to the zoo October 27 from 10 am to 5 pm to celebrate the holiday with candy stations, animal enrichment activities and a costume contest at 3 pm. Zoo Boo is included in the cost of regular admission for the day - $7.12 for adults, $4.75 for children 3-11 years old, children age two and under are free, this event is always fun for the young and the young at heart. www.mmzoo.org (540) 343-3241 terror at the station
The Roanoke Jaycees have announced plans for the groups annual Haunted House, titled Terror at the Station . The event will be held October 19-20, 26-27 and 29-31 from 7-11 pm at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Downtown Roanoke. Project Chairman Jeff Carr is very excited about this year s theme, stating Terror at the Station will be something new and unique for those looking for a good Halloween scare. A train carrying passengers infected with a deadly virus has just arrived at the station. The Army and local law enforcement have tried to contain the scene, but things are getting out of control. Those stuck in the station now have to escape without falling victim to the terrifying virus. Our goal is to have the scariest haunted house in town , said Carr. The cost of admission is $9, or $8 with a canned food item, proceeds will be used to support the Jaycees, a leadership training and community service organization for young professionals, as well as the charities and organizations the Jaycees support, including Camp Virginia Jaycee, the Virginia Museum of Transportation, the Rescue Mission and Turning Point Battered Women s Shelter. Canned food donations will be given to the Southwest Virginia Second Harvest Food Bank. www.roanokejaycees.com 540.345.1316 scaremare
Liberty University Center for Youth Ministry in Lynchburg once again brings us Scaremare, a different take on a haunted house that celebrates it’s 35 year this season. More than 21,000 attendees were led on this approximately 20-minute tour last year, which leads through different scenes and nerve-wracking corridors. According to scaremare.com, Scaremare presents fun-house rooms and scenes of death in order to confront people with the question, ‘What happens after I die?’ At the end of a tour through the house, each group is presented with a short gospel message. The event runs October 11-13, 18-20, and 25-27 from 7 - 11 pm at 2300 Carroll Ave. The cost is $8 per person, or $6 per person in groups of 10 or more. www.scaremare.com 434.582.2179 Posted: October 1st, 2007 under Performing Arts. ~Nicci Ray is a freelance writer whose interests lie in arts, entertainment, fiction and fine cuisine. A Roanoke resident by birth, she has worked with such publications as The Roanoke Times & World News, Artbeat Magazine, Radford News Journal, Christiansburg Messenger, NRV News, and In the Loop Magazine of The Tampa Tribune. She holds a degree in Print Journalism from Radford University. Nicci can be contacted in care of City Magazine at 540.345.6300 or contact@citymagazineonline.com. |
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