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The Hills are Alive: Summer Music & Theatre
Early Summer 2010by Lynette Johnson
It’s true. The hills and valleys are alive with music... and live theatre! Especially in the summer, you’ll find festivals and seasonal programming throughout the Valley and beyond, guaranteed to set your toes tapping and your heart soaring. Read on, and we’ll get you there!
If an evening under the stars appeals to you, how about an outdoor drama? Two possibilities come to mind, if you have time for a drive and want to stay over. Theatre West Virginia in Beckley (about two hours west of Lexington, VA) offers a full summer season of shows in its ampitheatre playhouse. This summer, catch Hatfields and McCoys, Footloose, Willy Wonka, Honey in the Rock, or Phil Dirt and the Dozers. While you’re in Beckley, make time to visit Tamarack, the ‘Best of West Virginia’ conference and art center. You’ll be glad you did!
Over in Wise County, VA, the little town of Big Stone Gap tells the story of the industrialization of Appalachia, as mountain child June Tolliver grows to adulthood in the long-running outdoor drama, Trail of the Lonesome Pine. Play season this year is June 25–August 28. The story has an underlying basis in local history, so stay long enough to visit the John Fox Museum and other actual sites referenced in the play.
Ash Lawn Opera Festival presents Brigadoon and Don Giovanni this summer, perfect for musical and opera lovers. Charlottesville’s Paramount Theater is the regular venue for Ash Lawn performances, but check their schedule for an occasional evening of Opera Under the Stars, as well.
Many communities throughout the Valley offer occasional (or even weekly) summer fresh air concerts by local performers, often in town parks—and often free of charge. Ask at the local Visitor Center to find out whether you’ll be able to catch a performance while you’re in town. One Valley staple is the Stonewall Brigade Band, performing every Monday at 8pm, June–August, at Gypsy Hill Park in Staunton. Though we have it on good authority that no founding members of the band remain active, the Stonewall Brigade Band itself has been in existence and performing regularly since its inception, as the Mountain Saxhorn Band, in 1855!
Indoor repertory theatre is big here year ’round, with the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton and the Wayside Theatre in Middletown. Both offer top-notch productions all the time.
But summertime brings summer stock, with high-energy young actors eagerly honing their craft. Winchester’s Shenandoah University is home to the Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre, running June 9–August 1, with Broadway standards performed Wednesday through Sunday each week. All this summer’s shows are winners: Showboat, Oklahoma!, Seussical, and White Christmas. (I’m thinking White Christmas should feel pretty good in late July!)
Abingdon’s Barter Theater hosts the Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwright Competition July 27–August 7. Hear six plays (submitted in a competition earlier this year) as staged readings, followed by discussion with the competition’s judges. The top two plays will be selected for performance during the Barter Theater’s next season!
Much further north, Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV is home to the renowned Contemporary American Theater Festival, a month-long celebration of (you guessed it!) contemporary theatre, with often-challenging plays, issue-laden and emotionally charged, staged to spark discussion and critique. You’ll be glad you stayed a few days to see these plays, performed in rotating repertory—but don’t expect cheery, light, feel-good or escapist theatre here! Take in Bread Crumbs, White People, Lidless, Inana, or The Eelwax Jesus 3-D Pop Music Show. Lectures, readings, art, and music complete the CATF schedule.
Summer music festivals abound, so name your style and choose your destination! Bluegrass and mountain music venues dot the landscape in southwestern Virginia, along The Crooked Road—Virginia's Heritage Music Trail. Further north, in Buena Vista, the Maury River Fiddlers Convention (June 17–19) draws big crowds year after year for jam sessions, concerts, and competition. At the crest of the mountains, near Charlottesville, Wintergreen Performing Arts hosts the Blue Ridge Mountain Music Fest on August 21—sure to be a treat, in a lovely mountain setting. Pickin’ in the Panhandle: The West Virginia State BBQ & Bluegrass Festival brings summer to a close, with awesome music and terrific food September 10–12 in Martinsburg, WV.
Jazz and classical are always in style at Garth Newel Music Center in Warm Springs. The Virginia Blues & Jazz Festival here (June 11–13) showcases both big-name performers and up-and-comers to the scene. Buy your tickets early, wear long pants, and bring a jacket! (Trust me on this...) Garth Newel offers excellent concerts and programs weekends, all summer long.
Eastern Mennonite University’s Bach Festival brings the classics to life in Harrisonburg, with music not just by Bach, but also by Schumann, Chopin, Barber, Mahler, and others. Enjoy three festival concerts and six noontime chamber music concerts June 13–20, along with Exploritas (Elderhostel) and youth programs, and many other festival events. Versatile folk musician John McCutcheon will be the featured artist this year.
If one week is not enough to satisfy your thirst for music, then check out Wintergreen Performing Arts Summer Music Festival, July 3–August 1, this season highlighting the music of Vienna and all of Austria, with 300 (300!!) events over 28 days, all in scenic splendor.
A side trip to Orkney Springs (near Bryce Resort) will lead you to the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival, with great live concerts on select Friday and Saturday evenings in July and August. Ronnie Millsap is on the calendar here for July 23, just one performer in what promises to be an eclectic and exciting summer of music on the grounds of Shrine Mont Conference Center.
For a great party, Massanutten Resort is the place to go, and its Summer Jam on July 3 is a “can’t miss” event, with music and beer, incredible food, and holiday fireworks. Massanutten brings the summer to a close with a new event, the Mountain Jamboree, September 5.
Believe it or not, this whirlwind tour only scratches the surface of all there is to see, hear, and enjoy in the world of music and theatre this summer in the Shenandoah Valley and beyond, so start making your itinerary and packing your bags!
Article text ©2010, Shenandoah Specialty Publishing, LLC.
May be printed for personal use only.
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