Photo by JOEL HAWKSLEY | The Roanoke Times. A monarch butterfly perches on a flower in the garden at the Science Museum of Western Virginia.

Don’t touch the butterflies.

Don’t pick them up. Don’t try to catch them. Don’t step on them. Don’t leave with any of them on your clothes.

Entering and leaving the new butterfly garden at the Science Museum of Western Virginia isn’t like a simple traipse into a field. There are rules you have to follow — many of them required by federal law.

The butterfly garden with its fragile resident monarchs and painted ladies will open its doors to the public Saturday during Center in the Square’s Family Day of Discovery that serves as its grand reopening. Enforcing the rules will keep volunteers fluttering.

Derek Kellogg, the museum’s lead animal care specialist, explained that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has strict rules designed to prevent non-native butterfly species from escaping from the garden.

The no-escape rules apply to unregulated butterfly species as well, as the USDA sees potential for those butterflies to become carriers of germs and parasites contracted from more exotic tropical butterflies that will eventually join them.

To minimize chances of escape, there are two vestibules that function like air locks. One is for entering, one is for exiting. There will be volunteers stationed at each vestibule. A visitor will be escorted inside, then asked to remain in the vestibule while the volunteer explains the rules.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

From my Inbox to you. Virginia Museum of Transportation Director of Marketing informs me there are still a few Sunday slots left open.

The Virginia Museum of Transportation
to give rail fans a chance to operate a steam locomotive

At the Throttle
Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19

Train lovers will have the rare opportunity to operate the
New Hope Valley Railway #17 0-4-0 Tank Steam Locomotive.  

“At the Throttle” sessions will last 30 minutes. A qualified railroad engineer will
be in the cab with participants at all times.
Cost for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is $125.

The Virginia Museum of Transportation (VMT) announces the “At the Throttle” program, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will put train lovers in the operator’s seat of a steam locomotive on Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19.

Participants in the program will be in control of the New Hope Valley Railways #17 steam locomotive, a 0-4-0 tank engine, for 30 minutes. A qualified railroad engineer will be in the cab with participants at all times.

“Train lovers will experience what it was like to run a steam engine during the golden age of railroads,” said Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr., executive director of the Virginia Museum of Transportation. “They can reach up, open the throttle and feel the engine move at their command.”

Participants in “At the Throttle” must be at least 18-years-old and have a valid driver’s license. Clothing appropriate to a working railyard should be worn at all times. Long sleeves, long pants, work boots and gloves are recommended.

Those wishing to participate in the program can register online at vmt.org or in person at the Museum’s downtown Roanoke location. Read more »

Courtesy Virginia Tech. Chromatmos I (top) and Chromatmos II by Truman Capone. Each piece measures 5 inches by 19 inches.

Blacksburg artist Truman Capone, a professor emeritus and former director of Virginia Tech’s School of Visual Arts, had works “Chromatmos I” and “Chromatmos II” selected for “SMALL WONDERS, Piccole Meraviglie,” a juried show that took place at LINEA Spazio Arte Contemporanea (the LINEA Contemporary Art Space) in Florence, Italy from April 20 to May 4. Though being selected for the show was an honor in its own right, the show’s jury awarded Capone the grand prize, full participation in the Florence Biennale, to be held Nov. 30 to Dec. 8 in the Fortezza da Basso. Capone’s art competed against artists from 20 other countries.

According to a bio provided by Tech, Capone received his bachelor’s degree from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree from Virginia Tech, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Radford University.

From my Inbox to you. RSO Marketing Director Rodney Overstreet informs me that:

Of the 13 who will receive contracts as a result of this audition, 11 are new contracted positions, and 2 are replacing previously contracted musicians.

The number of musicians on stage at any given concert is dependent on the program/repertoire. With the 2013-2014 season, the maximum total number is now 83.

The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra announces the selection of thirteen new musician members. Auditions took place on Monday, May 6, 2013 at the RSO’s location on East Campbell Avenue in Roanoke. Sixty-five, out of more than one hundred applicants, were invited to audition. Applications came from across the U.S. and as far away as Europe for three Principal positions and ten Section positions.

Music Director & Conductor David Stewart Wiley commented, “In my 17 years at the RSO, I have never been as impressed as I was this week with the artistic level of our Strings auditionees.  Their great artistry, diversity, and a vast range of professional experience bodes well for the continued artistic growth and versatility of the RSO. We welcome these new colleagues and raise the bar of what we can achieve as a stable and innovative regional orchestra.”

Matvey Lapin, currently of Gosport, Indiana, was selected by the RSO to fulfill the position of Principal Second Violin. Lapin earned his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. Previous performance experience includes positions with the Columbus (IN) Symphony Orchestra, Terre Haute Symphony, and St. Petersburg String Quartet, among others. Lapin was the 2006 winner of the Indiana University Jacob School of Music Concerto Competition.

Kathleen Overfield-Zook of Harrisonburg, Virginia was selected for the Principal Viola position. Overfield-Zook earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from University of Michigan. Her performance experience includes Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, and The Bloom Trio, among others. Read more »

Have you seen the Star City Playhouse production of “The Glass Menagerie”? Do you agree with reviewer Jeff DeBell? Let us know in the comments.

Star City Playhouse does commendable ‘Menagerie’
by Jeff DeBell

A highlight of the current Star City Playhouse production of “The Glass Menagerie” takes place before the show even begins.

It’s the brief speech that director Marlow Ferguson delivers before turning the stage over to his actors.

Ferguson doesn’t use those few moments merely to hype future shows, point out the exits and admonish patrons to squelch their cellphones.

Instead, he speaks informatively about the life of the playwright, the play itself and the strong links between the two. As a result, the audience probably enjoys the play — and understands it — more than it might have otherwise.

Other directors might do well to follow Ferguson’s example, especially when the works they are presenting are more than usually challenging intellectually.

Now, on to Star City Playhouse’s creditable performance of Tennessee Williams’ 1944 drama. It is set in the shabby St. Louis household of the dysfunctional Wingfield family — a place where memory is strong but faulty, where one man’s escape is another’s abandonment, and where fantasy may be mistaken for reality.

There is Tom, a young shoe warehouse employee and aspiring poet. He yearns to escape his domestic ties for a life of adventures like those enjoyed by the stars of his beloved movies. Tom serves as both a character and the play’s present-time narrator. He is portrayed by Christopher Reidy in the production’s standout performance.

Click here to read the rest of the review.

“The Glass Menagerie”
Where: Presented by Star City Playhouse at Metropolitan Community Church, 806 Jamison Ave., S.E.
When: 7 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 7 p.m. May 24; 2 p.m. May 25-26
How much: $12 general; $8 seniors and students
Info: 366-1446; Star City Playhouse on Facebook

“TAKING FLIGHT”
What: W&L Repertory Dance Company in an outdoor aerial performance
When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday
Where: Wilson Hall, Washington and Lee University, Lexington
How much: Free
Info: daviesj@wlu.edu; www.wlu.edu/x58321.xml

Washington and Lee University dance students will be bouncing off the walls on Wednesday and Thursday. They’ll swing, spin and flip, too.

Those with memories long enough to recall when W&L Artistic Director and Dance Professor Jenefer Davies was director of Roanoke Ballet Theatre might experience some deja vu at these outdoor performances by W&L Repertory Dance Company, called “Taking Flight.” Music and props will augment the artistic acrobatics.

Davies first experimented with aerial ballet in 2002 while she was with RBT. Her dance classes at W&L sometimes look more like courses on rappelling.

Davies has written articles and traveled to Europe to give lectures on her methods of training college students to handle aerial dance.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

Over at their Twitter account, Fighting Gravity says:

If we reach $40,000 by Sunday at midnight, a new supporter will match the $10,000 to bring us home! kck.st/17vLWSF

— Fighting Gravity (@fgravity) May 14, 2013

The Blacksburg-based blacklight illusion group and former “America’s Got Talent” finalists are using Kickstarter to raise $50,000 to fund the workshopping of a full length New York stage show. Click here to read more about their campaign.

David Stewart Wiley is the artistic director of the Virginia’s Blue Ridge Music Festival, a part-time position he’ll hold in addition to his regular duties as music director and conductor for the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and the Long Island Philharmonic.

The Virginia’s Blue Ridge Musical Festival in Floyd starts May 30. It’s  a week-long program of classical music concerts and classes helmed by David Stewart Wiley of Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. The festival is selling passes for $99 until Wednesday, after which the price goes up to $110. For students the cost is half-price.

Read more about the festival here.

Check out the schedule here.

The festival’s orchestra will be comprised of master musicians and apprentices who are themselves accomplished players.

This isn’t the first event like this to be held in Floyd. The organizers of the National Music Festival came to Floyd in 2011, presided over a two-week festival that summer, but left that winter after determining the funding wasn’t available to support their salaries.

Photo courtesy Colleen Redman. Wiley and Akemi Takayama perform at a gala held at Floyd EcoVillage.

Wiley said the National Music Festival showed there’s enthusiasm in Floyd for classical music. The new festival, which shares some of the same board members, has a smaller budget and realistic financial goals, he said, with a year’s worth of fundraising undertaken beforehand. About $50,000 has been raised to support the festival’s $88,000 budget.

The programming will include a reprise of Jeff Midkiff’s “From the Blue Ridge,” debuted by RSO in 2011, and the debut of a composition by Steven Brown, “Fanfare for Floyd.”

Though concerts will happen in venues all over Floyd, the Floyd EcoVillage has served as the festival’s home, Wiley said.

Theater review Nona Nelson had a good time at Attic Productions’ “Too Soon for Daisies.” Did you you see it yourself? What did you think?

Theater review: ‘Too Soon for Daisies’ is a hoot
By Nona Nelson

A rehearsal photo from “Too Soon for Daisies,” with Trina Yancey, Nancy Lawrence, James Honaker, Joann Hoyt and Piper Gaul.

It’s a risky choice when a community theater stages a comedy that requires a glossary in the playbill to help the audience understand the jokes.

Yet Attic Productions takes that risk in its latest production, “Too Soon for Daisies,” a dark British comedy-thriller penned by William Dinner and William Morum, and pulls it off thanks to enthusiastic direction and a talented cast.

The setting is Trotley, a small seaside village in Suffolk, England, in the 1950s. Three elderly women — Freda Grey , Joy Philpotts and Edie Boggs — have liberated themselves from Even Tide, a retirement home for the impoverished where they feel like hopeless captives. After making their escape in a row boat, they stumble upon what appears to be an abandoned cottage and begin to make themselves at home.

Things get complicated when the house’s new owner, Paul Vanderbloom, comes to claim his property and tries to send the uninvited trio on their way. Things get even more complicated when Vanderbloom suffers a fatal heart attack.

Desperate to avoid returning to the dreadful old-age home, the ladies hatch a convoluted plot to take control of their lives and adopt the “orphaned” house.

Click here to read the rest of the review.

“Too Soon for Daisies”
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Attic Productions, D. Geraldine Lawson Performing Arts Center, 7490 Roanoke Road, Fincastle
Cost: $12; $10 for 18 and younger and for groups of 10 or more
Info: www.atticproductions.info; 473-1001