For coverage information contact Tiffany Woods, Director of Public Relations for Roanoke City Public Schools, at tdwoods@rcps.info or 540.853.2905.

 

EVENT:  Tribute Concert for Don Pullen to Make Special Stop at Jazz Performer’s Former School, Lucy Addison

SCHOOL:  Lucy Addison Middle School

DATE/TIME:  Friday, Jan. 13 at 12 PM

DETAILS: A jazz quintet celebrating the music of Roanoke native Don Pullen will perform January 13 at Lucy Addison Middle School, where Pullen was a student. Pullen graduated from Lucy Addison in 1959 when it was a high school, and he played for the school choir. The special performance coincides with the Don Pullen Art Exhibit currently housed at the Jefferson Center and the Don Pullen Tribute Concert featuring special guest presenter Nikki Giovanni on January 14. The events are the result of a partnership between the Jefferson Center and the Harrison Museum of African American Culture. Don Pullen was born in Roanoke on December 25, 1941 and developed a passion for music that led him into a professional career travelling the world with his innovative take on jazz piano. He died April 22, 1995.  

 

EVENT:  Three Roanoke City Schools Earn Performance Awards from Virginia Board of Education

SCHOOL:  Crystal Spring, Fishburn Park, Grandin Court

DETAILS: Three Roanoke elementary schools earned the 2012 Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) awards for advanced learning and achievement – a distinguished honor from Governor Bob McDonnell and the state Board of Education. Crystal Spring Elementary was one of 188 schools to earn the Board of Education Excellence Award, which honors schools displaying significant progress toward board goals for student achievement. Fishburn Park Elementary and Grandin Court Elementary were among 171 schools to earn the Board of Education Competence to Excellence Award, which honors schools that have shown progress toward the goals of the governor and the board. Both awards require that the school has met all state and federal benchmarks for at least two consecutive years. The results are based on data provided for the 2010-2011 school year.

EVENT:  William Fleming Presents Comedy “I’m Not Rappaport”

SCHOOL:  William Fleming High School

DATE/TIME:  Friday-Saturday January 27,28 and Friday-Saturday, February 3,4; Performances at 7:30 pm

DETAILS: On January 27-28 and February 3-4, William Fleming High School students in the Colonel’s Theatre Company will present their next comedy romp, I’m Not Rappaport.

 

The Tony-award-winning play—set in a secluded spot in New York’s Central Park—follows two men in their 80s as they doggedly fight off all attempts to put them “out to pasture.” The pair includes Nat, a lifelong Jewish radical determined to fight injustice (real or imagined), and Midge, a black apartment super who spends his days in the park hiding from tenants trying to force him into retirement. The “odd couple” forms an unlikely friendship that will warm your heart. Combined with a zany cast of characters, this is an evening of laughter you won’t want to miss!

 

All performances will be at 7:30 PM in William Fleming’s Black Box Theatre. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. For ticket information, call 362-0139 or 853-6241.

 

Tickets will also be available on the nights of the show, but seating is limited to 90 seats per performance.

EVENT:  Patrick Henry Students to Perform Original Play Based on Macbeth at VHSL Festival

SCHOOL:  Patrick Henry High School

DATE/TIME:  Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 4 pm (tentative)

DETAILS: At this year’s VHSL District One-Act Play Festival, the PH Players will perform an original play called “The Sound and the Fury,” a modern presidential campaign loosely based on William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Like the original story, a successful and popular soldier (General Macbeth) is promised a position of power by three witches (three political pundits) but is reluctant until his ambitious wife convinces him that only through his presidency can he fulfill his—or her—destiny. The festival will take place in the Patrick Henry auditorium and will begin at 4 PM. Later this year, the PH Players will perform West Side Story as their spring musical.