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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Lancaster County's lively arts and entertainment scene
gives the lie to all those negative stereotypes of country towns closing
down at sunset. Theatrical productions, concerts and dance performances fill
the community calendar. A year-round series of fairs, festivals and special
events provides a showcase for the work of local artists and crafters. And
if you've always dreamed of being part of the action, not just part of the
audience, now is your chance. Art is a community activity here. If you can
act, sing, play an instrument, wield a hammer or help staff a ticket booth,
you can get involved. So, yes, you might find nothing to do here in Lancaster
County. But only if nothing is what you want to do.
Theater
Good food, good theater and a good time. That's what you get with your ticket
to a dinner theater production by the Lancaster Players. A local drama group
originally dedicated to children's theater, the Players have expanded their
repertoire to include adult fare such as the recent production of Joe DiPietro's
long-running Broadway hit, "Over the River and Through the Woods," which
played recently to an SRO crowd in the group's White Stone theater.
Kilmarnock's Center for the Arts also sees to it that children in Lancaster
County get the chance to enjoy good theater. The Center sponsors performance
by groups from outside the area and mounts an annual community musical, drawing
on local talent both onstage and behind the scenes.
Music and Dance
From folk to funk and bluegrass to Beethoven, Lancaster County is alive with
music year-round. Irvington's summer series of concerts on the green features
folk singers, jazz artists, brass bands and soft rock. The Rappahannock Foundation
for the Arts sponsors performances by the Richmond Symphony, among other
events. Two local groups, the Northern Neck Chorus and the Northern Neck
Orchestra, perform in tandem twice a year. And festivals, fairs and fundraising
events fill in the gaps with beach music, military bands, soloists, Native
American dance and drum troupes and more.
The Visual Arts
In Lancaster County, you'll find fine art on office walls, in restaurants and
gift shops, art galleries (naturally), even in a White Stone seafood market.
You can be the first to discover a hometown Hockney before he (or she) becomes
famous. Or you can select from prints and original works by artists who have
already made it. And if you'd rather make your own, sign up for classes offered
by the Rappahannock Art League, the Lower Northern Neck Family YMCA or any
of several private art and crafts galleries.
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