The Lyric Theatre Blog

Michael Cooper is an eye-popping visual artist and virtuoso mime whose exquisite performances have dazzled audiences for almost thirty years. His one-man extravaganza combines his breathtaking handcrafted masks, original stories of courage and wonder, outlandish stilt dancing and a physical repertoire that ranges from the madcap to the sublime. The result is a “moving sculpture. ”Taking up to three hundred hours to produce a single paper or cloth mask, Michael has elevated this most ancient of theater crafts to the level of a fine art. His ability as a wordsmith enables him to reel in the most discerning of crowds with the nuance of a poet, the joy and timing of a first rate comedian and the twists and intrigue of a master storyteller. And whether he’s high kicking on giant legs, animating one of his magical creations or quite literally “leaning on air,” the unending enthusiasm of this masked marvel captivates both young and old.

Michael Cooper’s Marvelous Masked Marvels and Wondertales

Time:3:00PM Saturday, April 10th

Location:The Lyric Theatre, 135 College Ave, Blacksburg, VA 24060

The fall series is past and gone.  What a great series it was!  Romeo and Juliet, Cowboy Junkies, Mark Nizer, and Cadillac Sky. There was entertainment for everyone.  I help work backstage helping with the technical stuff and am still amazed, after 4 years of volunteering and 4 years of getting paid, how the Lyric pulls these things off.

First, Betsy and Susan choose what acts they think are viable and available at an affordable price.  They  chase after and eventually get them  booked.  Even when all seems set, things go wrong - a band cancels, a performer dies, other things beyond control pop up.  Then comes the “what are you going to need and can we get the stuff at a reasonable price and still keep ticket prices low?” part.  It does no good to have a great act if no one can afford the tickets!

Show time!  The theatre is prepped, screen raised, movie speakers moved, floor swept, sound equipment, if it is being used, brought out and set up.  We use Midway Sound sometimes and John and Eric do a fantastic job getting a backline together and teaching the ignorant part time tech guys (Matt Ford and me) how stuff needs to go.  They are very fussy, and rightly so, about how our equipment and theirs is treated.  This ensures that when they are  not part of the show, the tech staff knows how and what to do to keep the show running.

Load in.  The act arrives.  Flavio and Betsy have made parking arrangements.  The van/bus/trailer/car whatever is unloaded and the performer’s stuff is brought in to the theatre and melded with the theatre’s equipment.  Tech people make sure things work as they are supposed to and rehearsals and sound checks take place.

The show goes on!

The tech crews tear down while volunteers and the Front of House clean the theatre.  The act’s equipment is loaded back into their vehicles, the Lyric sound equipment is put to bed and Midway hauls their extra gear back to Midway.  The stage is cleaned and the screen is lowered and put in place and the Lyric is once again a movie theatre.

You gotta love this place.  In my eight years working with the Lyric I have seen top national music acts, opera, plays, puppet shows, student recitals, panel discussions, political debates, weddings, and yes, even movies.  What a magical place!

As we rest up a little and get ready for the December 4th Holiday Parade (The Lyric Theatre All Volunteer Anti-lyrics Kazoo Marching Band will highlight the parade!), it has been good to reflect on whaat a great fall season we’ve had and the many people who have attended.  It is the audience, you see, that makes the magic. The music filling an empty space drifts into nothingness, but with a full theatre, the music and all lives on in a collective memory.  ”Remember Sam Bush/Tony Rice/Romeo and Juliet when they were here?  Remebmer that great gospel set by Cadillac Sky?”  The performances are still alive!

What a great fall season we  had at the Lyric.  And what a great spring season we have coming to Live @ The Lyric.  The Lyric Theatre - The Heart of Downtown Blacksburg!

Friday the 13th - don’t worry, be happy!  Cadillac Sky will be rocking the Lyric with their high energy newgrass!  These guys can kick some serious hay bales and still have roots to Bill, Earl, Lester and Jimmy.  Apache Relay will be the opening act and they are a pretty serious band as well.  So if your Friday the 13th was a little sour, put away your chain saw and hockey mask and head on down to the Lyric.  Beer and wine are available!  And of course, great popcorn as always to go with two great newgrass acts!

Next, December 4th is the Blacksburg Holiday Parade.  We are looking for untalented, left footed non-musicians who don’t know the words to holiday songs but like to hum along.  The Lyric Theatre Anti-lyrics All Volunteer Marching Kazoo Band is marching in the parade.  We have 72 kazoos and so far only seven marchers.  We can do better than that.  Get your best Christmas hat and join us!  WE WILL BE JUDGED AS A PARADE UNIT BY THE TOWN!  Never been in a parade before? Now is your big chance and hey, we may get our 15 minutes of fame!  Join us and haave some fun.

Yes, the folks who brought you the Carolina Chocolate Drops last year have again outdone themselves!  Darrell Scott, one of the MOST FANTASTIC  acts in music, my all time favorite songwriter, will again grace the Lyric Theatre’s stage thanks to the wonderful Community Opportunities people.  (More information at Community Opportunities.)  Charley Fox, we love you!  Many many people have had hits with his songs but no one does them better than he does.  And he never does them the same way twice, always finding a new twist or lick or whatever.  WOW!  You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive - and after he sings it, you’ll know why.  GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!!!!!!!!!!

Darrell Scott - (LM)
“Southern rock - gritty, bluesy, powerful…Scott is a creative mind and musical talent way beyond genre…on par with some of the best in blues, country, and Southern rock.” CD Reviews.com
“…powerful writing, passionate vocals, and masterful picking.” Entertainment Weekly
“…he ranks as the most outstanding and underrated songwriter and performer in the United States today.” Vintage Guitar

All proceeds benefit Community Opportunities, Inc., a non-profit association committed to helping people with significant disabilities lead full, rich lives as active, contributing members of their communities.
More information at Community Opportunities.

For advance tickets sales, call the Lyric Theatre at 951-4771.

View Official Site

Time to get serious about some GREAT live events coming to th e Lyric Theatre - the Heart of Downtown Blacksburg.  Let’s see some enthusiasm for the first two shows!!!

Friday, September 11, at 8 pm, The American Shakespeare Center On Tour presents Romeo and Juliet.  Okay, so it is an old play.  The theme is timeless and believe me, the acting is superb.  The American Shakespeare Company makes this play burst out with  passion, wit, ribaldry and tragedy.  ”Romeo, romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” gets answered live on our stage.  This is NOT the Bugs Bunny version from Saturday morning cartoons.  Flashing swords, swooning, beautiful maidens, death and despair … what more could you ask for on a fall September Friday?  Tickets are on sale now aat the Lyric box office.  Gold seating is $20, Silver $15 and students, you are in luck - $12.

Get in line, brothers (and sisters).  Members can start buying their tickets August 27 and the rest of the public can join the line on September 3 for The Cowboy Junkies coming to the Lyric on Thursday October 15 at 8 pm!  Yes, there’ll be Murder in the Trailer Park Tonight at the Lyric Theatre as the Timmins family and drummer blow Blacksburg away with their soulful lyrics backed by flawless guitar.  I can guarantee tickets will fly out the box office (after being purchased, of course) at the amazing low price of $30 for Gold seating and $25 for Silver.

Stay tuned and check back later for news of the fabulous Mark Nizer and the hard driving Cadilac Sky shows coming later in the fall!

Tragically, not long after we had signed Mike Seeger for a Live @ The Lyric concert Friday November 13, we were notified that he had a rapidly spreading cancer and would have to cancel.  As has been reported in  many locations, we were sad to learn of Mike Seeger’s death shortly there after.  I speak for many who were looking forward to this concert by such a renowned scholar of Appalachian music.  Mike Seeger was a hero to me as a musician from when I first heard of the New Lost City Ramblers up to today.  Others have spoken more eloquently than I could ever hope to, but, while  his presence will be sorely missed, the Angel Band has one heck of an addition!

In place of Mike Seeger we will be welcoming the band Cadillac Sky to the Lyric stage.  Cadillac Sky is an up and coming bluegrass band that I find reminiscent of the Del McCoury Band: hard driving contemporary bluegrass highlighted by great original songs that can still harken one’s heart back to Bill, Jimmy, Lester and Earl.  From what I have seen, they put on one heck of a good show as entertainers instead of just pickers.  Let’s give them a warm Blacksburg/NRV welcome and let them know they aren’t second in out thoughts but rather a band we want to see and buy their CDs!

Somehow all the comments have disappeared!  I don’t know if it was me or Qwerty the Computer God or what but all the comments have disappeared.  Please keep responding and hopefully the comments won’t disappear again, although this has happened before.  I welcome any and all comments.

Live @ The Lyric! We’re gearing up for a wild and crazy fall season and you won’t want to miss it. We have a GREAT line up of four acts that really knocks my socks off.

First, the American Shakespeare Center is bringing Romeo and Juliet to our stage. Direct from the Blackfriar’s Playhouse in Staunton, VA, the cast and crew will bring their props and chops back to the Lyric for yet another fine show. Who doesn’t know the story, possibly stolen from West Side Story to be sure, of forbidden love and lust from a timeless century? Family friendly sex and violence abounds in Shakespeare’s classic tale of the star crossed lovers. Tickets go on sale 7/31 and the show is on 9/11.

OMG – the Cowboy Junkies rock the Theatre on 10/15. With 20 years on the road, Margo Timmins purrs in her soft alto while Michael Timmins plays crystal clear riffs backed by Alan Anton’s solid bass riffs and Peter Timmins tasteful drumming. Their albums have gone gold, platinum and double platinum. Sweet Jane and Murder in the Trailer Park are two of my all time favorites. Tickets go on sale 9/3.

Two years ago we had a juggler named Mark Nizer play at the Lyric. I thought “Yawn.” Mark Nizer is a dynamo that will have you on the edge of your seat to see what he will do next. Will he lose another arm juggling chainsaws? Will his hang glider crash into the theatre? He had a fantastic computer designed juggling partner last time and he assured me that this time the computer part of the show will dwarf the last computer show tenfold! Everyone in the family will want to see this guy juggle like a crazy man. Tickets go on sale 9/11 and the show is 10/24.

Not all Friday the 13ths are bad! Growing up I found the Kingston Trio and folk music then found Pete Seeger and the banjo. On a whim, I bought a New Lost City Ramblers album in 1963 because it had Pete’s brother Mike on it. I hadn’t heard three finger picking before – not even Earl Scruggs – but Mike Seeger set my fingers on fire. His soulful mountain singing style is a perfect match to his multi-instrumental mountain music picking. Opening for Mike is the Giles Mountain String Band. Tickets go on sale 10/2 for an 11/13 concert.

What a great season! See you Live @ The Lyric!!!!!

I had some feedback from a previous post that The Lyric no longer brought good bands to play anymore.  Several things have changed over the years: first, there are more venues for music.  Floyd County has added several new venues, the Jefferson Center has created several popular showcase series, other counties are refurbishing old theatres, a la Lyric, and they are drawing off crowds.  Second, let’s face it, the economy has gone in the toilet which means three things - higher band costs to make their touring worthwhile, higher ticket prices to meet the rising band costs and less money for consumers so they need to pick their concerts with more care.  So here is a chance for you to let The Lyric know who you’d like to hear AND who you and your 300-477 closest friends would pay $25-30 per ticket to hear.  Ground rules: be realistic - the Rolling Stones ain’t coming here - remember The Lyric doesn’t serve alcohol, and be honest that you think we could make enough of a big chunk of cash to pay the band.  

Another thought has occurred to me - do you know of companies or individuals who would help sponsor getting the band of your choice to help keep ticket prices down?  A corporate endowment would gladly be taken under consideration, I am sure.   If you would like to help sponsor a show or know of a company or organization that would like to support Live @ The Lyric shows, call 540-951-4771 to let The Lyric know you would support Live @ The Lyric shows with cash sponsorship.  

I have no say in who The Lyric books, but I WILL let the booking person know who you think you would like to hear and who you think would bring in a crowd.

I have found Jonatha Brooke to be a very pleasant surprise.  She has joined a number of top recording artists who are going back to the master - Woodie Guthrie - as an inspiration to their own work.  We had John McCutcheon not long ago who is in charge of the Guthrie collection of songs and poetry held by the Guthrie family.  He spoke of the wealth of material that had yet to be discovered.  Jonatha Brooke is one of the new discoverers!

Jonatha Brooke is known for a variety of different music genres.  The Dollhouse, the OC, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer  has featured her music as has Disney.  She has recorded in collaboration with other musicians including one of my favorites, Ke’b Mo.  We’ve heard her and wondered who was making that great music - now we can hear her in person!

From her website:  ”

“Eye in the Sky” and “Careful What You Wish For” were used in two new episodes of MTV’s THE HILLS that aired Sept. 7th and 8th, 2008. Check listings for reruns.

Jonatha’s written a new song coming out on Disney Records October 14. All about Tinkerbell! The song is called: “Be True” and is part of a compilation of music from the first two movies in the new Tinkerbell series.

Jonatha and Eric Bazilian have collaborated on the theme song for the new Fox series: Dollhouse, directed by Joss Whedon. The show premiers in January and will be paired with 24. Joss also used Jonatha’s song “Inconsolable” for his other hit show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Jonatha Brooke is coming to Live @ the Lyric Tuesday April 7th!  Tickets are still available.  This is going to be a great show from an artist with such a widely varied background of styles.  Get off your couch and get on line or call the Lyric to get your tickets for this concert!  Let’s show the Lyric that we appreciate good music and great musicians.