Sequels are not just at the movie theaters this summer. At the Chantilly High School theater, Mother Goose returns to the stage in Even More Really Fabulous Fairy Tales from Mother Goose. Volunteer actors from the Chantilly Drama Department come together to perform in this summer’s children’s show, a fundraiser event for the department. There are four performances, two each on Wednesday, July 13 and Thursday, July 14. In the original, Jill accidentally dropped her pail on Mother Goose as she ran down the hill, and the resulting lump on her head caused some confused details in her familiar …

With the feeling of a family reunion in a fair atmosphere, the members of the South Riding community came together on Friday, July 1 to celebrate our nation’s birthday. The whole celebration was very family-oriented and had something for everyone. Many started to gather at 6 p.m., bringing lawn chairs or picnic blankets and toting a cooler, but the crowd really came in force half an hour later, when the neighborhood children paraded by, sporting their red, white and blue. People wandered about between booths of various types of food typically found at a fair: everything from a fish fry to …

Students from Chantilly and Westfield high schools represented Chantilly Sunday night at The Cappies annual awards gala, each school brought home awards. Throughout the year, theater programs from over 50 schools in the National Capital region chose one play to perform as their Cappie performance. Student critics from other schools attended, reviewed and nominated their peers for awards in 40 categories. The nominees gathered, dressed to the nines, on Sunday at the Kennedy Center to see who would win. “We’ve seen black-tie optional at its most unusual with all good fun,” said Cappies co-…

Members of the Northern Virginia community gathered on Saturday night at Westfield High School to celebrate the life of Centreville's Reema J. Samaha, one of the 32 victims of the Virginia Tech shooting on April 16, 2007. As a tribute to Samaha, musicians, dancers and actors across Northern Virginia, alumni of Westfield High School, Herndon High School and Virginia Tech came together in a cabaret, which all proceeds going to The Reema J Samaha Memorial Scholarship, granted each year to graduates of Westfield and Herndon high schools who “best exemplify the attributes of Reema J. Samaha,” and …

Freedom High School Theater Director Mark Rogers started talking about the complexity of the characters for his spring production several months ago. “In Les Mis,” Rogers said in an interview in February, “the lead roles require students with experience, who have really worked in class and out.” All of that work came to fruition this past weekend as the actors gave their final four performances of the school year. The production of the well-known musical Les Miserables was a collaborative effort that included members of the band, orchestra, choral and drama departments. The story is that of …

As an alternative to a traditional one-week summer camp, Westfield Summer Stage offers students a five-week theatre arts workshop culminating in an annual summer musical. Auditions are rapidly approaching for this year’s presentation of Chicago, made popular with the 2002 film staring Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones. “Chicago has everything that makes a musical great,” said Director Lori Knickerbocker. “[It has] a universal tale of fame, fortune and all that jazz; one show-stopping song after another; and the most astonishing dancing you've ever seen.” Westfield Theatre Boosters …

Before the show even started, the auditorium was full of appreciative murmurs. “Have you ever seen anything like it?” “That’s quite a piece of work!” “Incredible.” Those remarks were well-earned; the set of Chantilly’s latest play, Stage Door, is likely the most impressive set I’ve seen on a high school stage. The play is set in a 1950s boarding house for actresses in New York, and a two-level house graced the stage, complete with a rounded staircase, that went two rooms deep on the first floor and hallways of bedrooms on the second. For three performances this past weekend, the boarding …

This July, two South Riding restaurants will participate in the first year of an eat local initiative called Farm-to-Fork Loudoun. For the 11-day event this July 21-31, Chantilly’s Vintage 51 and Catch 52 are two of 21 restaurants and other food-based businesses that have committed to using products and ingredients that are at least 70% locally grown or produced. “I’ve spoken to many vintners, farmers and chefs who’ve not done this in the past and expressed they always wanted to, but either didn’t have the time or know-how to begin," said Farm-to-Fork founder Miriam Nasuti. "I’ve sort of been…

There are two questions that every vendor at the Bridal Showcase asks: Have you set a date? Where is your venue? If you don’t know one or the other or both, you are less important than everyone else.  I got engaged just eight weeks ago, so I don’t really have either. I have a tentative date set for October 2012 and a tentative idea of a venue, but the only definite is that it will be in Virginia. I went to the Expo Center’s Showcase Sunday with a soon-to-be-engaged friend on a reconnaissance mission. Since I’m the most excited about traveling for the honeymoon, the most wary of photography …

This past Sunday, people filled the Grace Covenant Church to attend a fundraiser to benefit abused women through the Time To Fly Foundation. Pianist Adlan Cruz had the stage for the majority of the concert, but program graduates of Time To Fly came forward to share their stories as well. “Let’s stop whispering about this and do something,” said Michelle Jones, Founder and President of the Time To Fly Foundation (TTF). “Let’s save a life.” According to Jones, Cruz heard about the TTF mission and reached out to them to see how he could help. Cruz began to play the piano at the age of three and …

Thirty-four high school and middle school jazz ensembles from throughout Virginia and Maryland gathered on Friday and Saturday to participate in Chantilly High School’s annual Invitational Jazz Festival. On Saturday night, the three bands with the highest scores took the stage in a Battle of the Bands to see who would win. The Walt Whitman Jazz Ensemble took home the first place trophy, but they weren’t the only winners. Individual students from various bands were recognized for outstanding performances with scholarships and gift certificates. “The students who perform at the Chantilly Jazz …

Following two first place wins in two qualifying competitions, Chantilly High School’s drama department is going to Charlottesville to compete in the Virginia High School League’s theatre championship for one-act plays. On Saturday, March 5 at the Piedmont Virginia Community College, eight schools will compete before four judges to become state theatre champions. Each school has had to place first or second at both a district competition and a regional competition to qualify for states. And there is plenty of competition. “This is our most popular activity in terms of student participation,” …

In true Disney fashion, the students of the Freedom High School drama department made dreams come true over the weekend, pulling some children from the audience up to the stage to be a part of each of Fairy Tale Plays. The show consisted of three fairy tales: Emperor’s New Clothes, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, keeping a consistent castle set. During each act, a narrator would wander the aisles, interacting with the audience and eventually selecting a few students to become part of the court, usually greeting the princess with gasps of awe as she emerges in her wedding gown. During Sleeping…

The Virginia Wine Showcase was at the Westfields Marriott this past weekend, bringing with it an exciting selection of food pairings and demonstrations. Thirteen hours simply isn’t enough time to peruse the more than 300 wines presented at the fifth annual Virginia Wine Showcase this Valentine’s Day weekend. Spread over two days, the showcase took over both floors of the Westfields Marriott, lining the rooms with booths, which were lined with wine bottles, which had thousands of people lined up for unlimited tastings of award-winning Virginia wines. “We’re going to overtake California one day…

Over the weekend, the freshmen and sophomore members of Chantilly High School’s drama department presented Mother Goose’s Really Fabulous Fairytales as their annual children’s show, in which Mother Goose puts on a play of her fairy tales. The production had two casts and four performances in order to include all of the 68 students who auditioned.  Is it any wonder that Jill dropped her pail on Mother Goose? Though an excellent storyteller, Mother Goose, played by Emily Sakowitz, is not a very nice boss. As one of Mother Goose’s disgruntled staff of actors, Jill, played by Abby Gwin, was not …

One of the English classes at South Lakes High School analyzed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous speech, "I Have a Dream," in anticipation of yesterday’s holiday. Only two of the students in the class understood the biblical references of the speech, which provides the context and the cadences, and really, the power behind the words. “You can’t understand King’s rhetoric without knowing his context,” said Tom Berlin, the senior pastor of Floris United Methodist Church. King was primarily a Baptist preacher, following his father and grandfather as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in …

Several years ago, I bought a guitar. My parents made me take piano lessons when I was little, and I hated it on principal. When I hit high school, playing the guitar seemed very cool, so I went out and bought the prettiest one, a black acoustic. Since then, quite a few people have learned to play guitar on it. I’m not one of them. I tried. Several times in fact. I took a lesson here or there from my music minister, or a friend, and a cousin even showed me how to change the strings. I bought all kinds of gadgets so I could teach myself, including a tuner and a Guitar For Dummies book. But by …

Planning a dinner party can be a little daunting. Planning a dinner party for 15 people makes daunting look easy. Planning a dinner party for 15 people on Christmas, well, talk about some pressure. I've found the best way to make it fun to plan, as well as execute, is to cook around a theme. This year, my theme was Christmas carols. Ok, and one Christmas story. Luckily, I've got family who was willing to go with the theme and bring a dish to dinner. Ever listen to a tune and wonder what on earth wassail is? Or figgy pudding? I'll share a few of the most popular recipes with you at the end of …

For a show traditionally targeted for preschoolers, this year’s Ho-Ho Holiday Show at Westfield High School certainly had a lot of adults chuckling, too. Don’t get me wrong, the auditorium was definitely ringing with that overly giddy, half-laughing, half-screaming sound that can only come from little kids.    Each year, just before the winter holiday, the Westfield theater students present a holiday show featuring brief vignettes of classic holiday tales. This year, over 100 actors performed in "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "The Grinch," "The Hanukah Story" …

Whether you're feeling more like Scrooge or Santa, a little bit of jolly never hurt anyone. Our community is bursting with holiday spirit; come be a part of it at these events.  Sunday, Dec. 12 5 p.m. – "Sounds of the Season" at Westfield High School      4700 Stonecroft Blvd, Chantilly, VA 20151   Thursday, Dec. 16 7:30 p.m. – "Prepare The Way Of The World" at St. Timothy Catholic Church      13807 Poplar Tree Rd, Chantilly, VA 20151 7:30 p.m. – "Candlelight Carols" at Westfield High School      4700 Stonecroft Blvd, Chantilly, VA 20151   Friday, Dec. 17 7:15 p.m. – "Bows of Holly" at Grace …