The-Burg.com - Central Virgina's Arts, Culture and Entertainment Weekly

Joseph Cashore saw his first marionette hanging in a gift shop when he was 10 or 11 and on vacation with his family.

“I asked the lady if I could try it out,” he said in a phone interview last week. “She wouldn’t let me, so I went home and made my first marionette.”

Even he can admit that first effort — made from clothespins, wood, string and a tin can — was a bit crude, but it fascinated him.

“Every once in a while, by accident, it would move,” he said. “Just for a second, it looked like it was alive, and that’s what I remember.”

Stacy Sumpman has always been fascinated with movement.

Take, for instance, a piece the former dancer choreographed for Dance Theatre of Lynchburg’s Repertory Ensemble.

“Intersect” — which will be performed during Dance Theatre’s First Fridays reception this week — starts with a large group of dancers who then break off into smaller groups.

There’s nothing quite like laughing your way to a career milestone at the ripe old age of 30.

Just ask Lynchburg native Ryan Case, who has won an Emmy for Outstanding Editing for a Comedy Series for her work on the pilot episode of ABC’s “Modern Family.”

Before departing for Floyd, the last day trip in our monthlong series, I had no idea what to expect from the small mountain town.

I’d heard about the annual FloydFest and The Floyd Country Store’s Friday Night Jamboree — more on that later — and that was about it.

What I found was one cool, little town full of friendly faces and talented musicians.

It all started with a serious case of menopause.

The temperature dropped a good five degrees as we crossed the Blue Ridge over the mist-shrouded Rockfish Gap and coasted down into the verdant Shenandoah Valley.

As another summer winds down, we here at The Burg wanted to take advantage of these final days with a series of day trips that readers could easily duplicate.

So we started with Winston-Salem, a city rich in art and history (and don’t worry if that’s not your thing; we’ve included a box below that lists other activities the city has to offer for sports fans, families and more).

San Diego’s annual pop-culture convention wrapped up Sunday after four days of comic books, costumes, celebrity appearances and TV and movie previews.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It’s hard not to think of the long-awaited “Dark Night of the Soul” as a tragic album.

First delayed by legal wrangling, then indelibly marked by the suicides of co-creator Mark Linkous and contributor Vic Chesnutt, the album carried some heavy baggage when it finally came out last week.