Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 1, 1991 TAG: 9102280195
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Donna Alvis
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
He decided to follow in his brother's footsteps and become a chemist. He enrolled at Cornell University, studied chemistry for three years and, he says, "was delighted to catch pneumonia during my third year and . . . forget everything I ever knew about chemistry. . . ."
But don't believe everything that Kurt Vonnegut Jr. says.
In 1963, the author put everything he ever knew about chemistry to good use. His acclaimed novel "Cat's Cradle" was published that year. It centers on the development of a new chemical - "Ice 9" - that threatens to freeze the entire world.
Vonnegut's essays, short stories, articles and novels - among them "Slaughterhouse-Five," "The Sirens of Titan" and "Breakfast of Champions" - stress the need for values and humanity in a world threatened by powerful politicians and powerful technology.
In fact, Vonnegut admits he has every intention of "poisoning" his readers' minds with humanity.
Vonnegut will speak in Virginia Tech's Burruss Hall Sunday at 7:30 p.m. His lecture, "How to Get a Job Like Mine," is sponsored by the Virginia Tech Union.
"I will discuss my own work in a whimsical manner, touch on current events and give the best advice I can to those who would like to become writers," Vonnegut writes of this current lecture tour.
Tickets for the talk are available at the box office in University Bookstore today.
Tickets also will be sold at the door Sunday evening. Admission is $3 for the public and $2 for Tech students.
\ THE PLAY'S THE THING: You have four - count 'em, four - to choose from this week.
"The Crane Wife," that enchanting folk tale from ancient Japan, continues through Saturday at Playhouse 460. Curtain time for the Virginia Tech Theatre Arts-University Theatre production is at 8 each evening.
For reservations, call 231-5615 during business hours today.
\ Note: "The Crane Wife" is good entertainment for children as well as adults.
\ DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA: This studio production, now playing in Radford University's Porterfield Theatre, has a thought-provoking theme aimed at mature audiences.
Directed by Rusty Cloyes, a senior at Radford University, the play deals with the relationship between a tough guy from the Bronx and a lonely young woman who tries to change him.
Admission to the play is free but reserved tickets are needed. Call 831-5475.
"Danny and the Deep Blue Sea" will be presented today and Saturday at 8 p.m.
\ VANITIES: Laura Bernado, Nora Hansen and Elaine Fields make up the cast for the current Playmakers & Company production.
It's being staged in the fellowship hall of the Blacksburg Presbyterian Church today and Saturday and will continue Thursday through March 9. All shows start at 8 p.m.
"Vanities" is an engrossing look at the development of three very different women from their days as high school cheerleaders to their 30-something years.
The play, written by Jack Heifner, originally opened off-Broadway in 1976.
Sandy Wiedegreen is directing this production by the community theater.
Admission is $5 for the public and $2 for children under 12 and senior citizens.
\ AFTER HAPPILY EVER AFTER: Giants, witches and fairies are the stuff it's made of.
"Into the Woods," Stephen Sondheim's award-winning musical, looks at what happens when the characters you feared, hated, loved and embraced in your childhood come to life in the same forest at the same time.
Based on four Grimm's favorites - "Cinderella," "Jack and the Beanstalk," "The Baker and His Wife" and "Little Red Riding Hood" - this play is full of fun.
Delightful puns, dazzling scenes and even a bit of deliberate moralizing are what you can expect. Don't expect even one moment of boredom.
The touring production of "Into the Woods" will stop in Blacksburg for one performance Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Virginia Tech's Burruss Hall.
Tickets are on sale now at University Bookstore. Admission for the public is $16. Tech faculty and staff tickets are $13 and Tech student tickets are $5.
For ticket information, call 231-5615.
The production is a Virginia Tech Union Lively Arts Broadway Series show.
\ A TRADITION SINCE 1821: That's when one of Franz Schubert's friends held the first "Schubertiad."
It is described as "a delightful evening of music-making," celebrating Schubert's work.
A group of Virginia Tech musicians will recreate the "Schubertiad" with a program of the composer's music Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Donaldson Brown Auditorium.
The Audubon Quartet will join pianist Mary Louise Hallauer and baritone Craig Fields for the event.
Schubert, who was born in Vienna in 1797, completed his first surviving song when he was 13. By age 16, he was working on his first symphony. He was 31 when he died of typhus.
The musicians will play pieces from each period in the composer's life, including selections from "Schwanengesang" - the "Swan Song" - a collection written just before Schubert's death.
Admission to the concert is $5 for adults or $3 for students and senior citizens.
Tickets will be sold at the door. Advance tickets also are available in University Bookstore.
by CNB