Broadway casts and Grammy-winning musical performers will make their way onto the stage of Charlottesville’s Paramount Theater in its upcoming inaugural season.

After a 30-year intermission, the Paramount Theater on the Downtown Mall announced Friday the schedule for its upcoming season — including 25-cent tickets to showings of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Casablanca” and a pre-opening fundraising gala featuring Tony Bennett.

City leaders said they anticipate that the theater’s reopening, set for Dec. 16, will bring a boost to the downtown business district.

“All of the downtown merchants are tremendously excited,” said Robert F. Stroh, co-chair of the Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville.

The theater will be a welcomed addition to the downtown’s economy, which is based primarily on dining and entertainment, Stroh said.

“I think it is like a keystone to the continued success of the Mall,” Stroh said. “The Paramount’s reopening is the most important and noteworthy thing that has happened downtown in a long time.”

The theater first opened in 1931. But like many theaters in the 1970s, the Paramount was forced to close in 1974.

“This happened a lot at that time,” said Kristen Gleason, manager for development and community relations at the Paramount. “People weren’t coming to the downtown areas any more, whereas earlier in the century they had been the hub of all activity. A lot of downtown theaters faltered in that setting.”

The theater now is the last historical Paramount Theater in Virginia.

In 1992, a group of community leaders joined together to purchase the theater. They began to revitalize the theater a year and a half ago.

According to some who have observed the Paramount over time, the change has been dramatic.

“It is really impressive what they’ve done, most of all if you know what it was and where they brought it back from,” said Stroh, who moved to Charlottesville in 1961, when the theater’s condition was declining. “That is what will knock your socks off.”

The theater’s Board of Directors is responsible for the “Setting the Stage” capital campaign, launched three and a half years ago to fund the theater’s renovation and restoration.

“We’ve had a variety of funding sources, mostly individual contributors,” Gleason said. “Gifts have come in a variety of sizes, and we are glad to have every single one.”

The theater’s inaugural season includes more than 30 musical, comedic, dance and theatrical performances.

“We are trying to have a very diverse season, and I think we have done well,” Gleason said. “We have a little bit of something for everyone.”

As the Paramount embarks on its inaugural season and continues to plan performances for the future, programmers say they are eager to receive community feedback.

“It is really great to get that feedback because we want to present shows and performances that the community wants to see,” Gleason said. “After and during the first season we are looking for artists and booking performances, and we want to make sure the Paramount serves the community.”

Community members at the conference Friday said they are pleased to see the Paramount return.

“It brings new excitement to the downtown,” part-time Charlottesville resident Elizabeth Tankard said. “It will bring a lot of pleasure to a lot of people.”

At the beginning of the season, the Virginia volleyball team was uncertain to how its young players would perform.

“As far as court experience, we are pretty young,” junior co-captain Kristin Chaney said at the beginning of the season. “But I think we have a ton of talent — a ton of raw volleyball talent — and if we can bring it together, that’s going to be the key to our success.”

The young Cavaliers, who have only four upperclassmen on the roster, have responded well, as they have jumped out to an impressive 10-2 record to start the season. Virginia’s starting lineup has been crucial to its early success, and it reflects the team’s youth. Three of the four players who have started every match this season — Sarah Kirkwood, Emily Kirkwood and Lindsay Osco — are underclassmen.

Especially noteworthy is the play of freshmen Melissa Caldwell and Sarah Kirkwood. Caldwell has taken over the libero position, one that was left vacant when Cavalier legend Whitney Ashcraft graduated last May. Caldwell has flourished so far this season, leading the team in digs with 214 while playing in all 12 matches. Kirkwood also has played impressively this season, leading the Virginia offense with 224 kills. She has led the Cavaliers in kills in 10 of their 12 matches.

“We recruited these kids knowing we would need them to start right away, not developmental players,” Virginia coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton said. “We’re very pleased with their performance, and I think they add a great competitive spirit to our team.”

The other freshman to play this season, Katie Oakes, has started three matches and recorded 15 kills while hitting .324.

The 2004 season, however, has not been simply smooth sailing for the Cavaliers. Virginia has lost to two strong volleyball programs, then No. 23 Louisville and Wisconsin.

After both losses, the Cavaliers were able to respond with win streaks. The young Virginia team also was able to win against Penn after falling behind. That win was keyed by sophomore Emily Perilli, who was in the lineup in place of an injured Chaney.

Most recently, the youth movement of the team has continued, with Osco and Sarah Kirkwood being named to the all-tournament team for the Inn Towner Invitational this past weekend.

Despite the early accolades, Shelton would rather wait to play conference foes before rushing to judgment about her young players, especially her freshmen.

“[The freshmen] have met our expectations,” she said. “But we really won’t know where we will stand until ACC play begins.”

ACC competition begins Friday at Wake Forest. The Cavaliers would like to make a statement in conference play after going 8-8 last year. This year’s young team could be able to shake things up in a new-look ACC.

Coach Al Groh, is Wali Lundy more of a power runner or a speedster? What makes Wali Lundy such a productive back?

“You just answered it right there. It’s hard to describe him.”

Well, what does he do best?

“Getting yards, I guess.”

That’s not very descriptive, now is it? Can you elaborate?

“Obviously it would be pretty dumb if I couldn’t give you something specific, but basically I just like him. I like the way he runs.”

At times, Groh might speak in a deliberate manner, choosing his words carefully, but never has he been left so utterly speechless. Of course, he’s not the only one. Lundy has even made it difficult on his own quarterback to choose a definition.

“He’s got it all,” Marques Hagans said. “Just throw it in the pot and mix it all together, and you come out with Wali.”

But what exactly does that mean?

“He’s just one of those great running backs,” Hagans said. “He does it all — block, run, catch — what more could you ask for?”

No one seems able to give an answer to questions about Lundy, least of all opposing defenses who have seen the 5-foot-10-inch, 214-pound back run rampant in his first three games. He has rushed for 319 yards at a 5.5 yard-per-carry clip. His 106.3 yards per game are good for 20th in the nation.

And that’s not even to mention his touchdowns. Nine in his first three games. Fourteen in his last five, dating back to Tire Bowl II and Virginia Tech. The 54 points he’s scored this season beat everyone else in the country by 15.

Though six different Virginia runners have scored, he’s the primary reason the Cavaliers have converted 18 of their 19 red zone opportunities. The only one they missed, by the way, was in the final minutes of the UNC game when Virginia chose to let time expire with the ball on the Carolina one instead of run up the score even more.

What’s most remarkable about Lundy’s TD production is that everyone in the stadium, including the defense, knows that his number will be called on to score, and no one has yet been able to stop him.

“Down on the goal line it’s going to be really hard to stop our offense,” Lundy said. “I think it’s due to our o-line. Other teams know what we’re going to do. We run the same plays. We don’t try to fool nobody.”

Against the Tar Heels, Virginia dominated on the ground, running for 299 yards and seven TDs. But when Groh was asked after the game, he confessed that nearly all of that success came from constant repetition of three plays.

Clearly it is the personnel and not the surprise factor that makes these plays work so well. Lundy is certainly one who excels at finding the end zone.

“You need to put the guy in the game who’s proven he has the best chance of getting there,” Groh said. “Some guys have a vision for yardage wherever you give them ball.”

Lundy knows what it takes to carry the ball in for six, adjusting his running style accordingly.

“I think when you get down to the five- or 10-yard line or even in the red zone, you can start running straight forward,” Lundy said. “You try not to make as many cuts as you would if you were on the 50. You try not to make as many guys miss as running guys over.”

Against Temple, on back-to-back drives Lundy scored inside the five, first by sprinting past two defenders to the corner of the endzone, and second by bowling over a defensive lineman who had the misfortune of guarding the goal line when Lundy had the ball.

Wali does well with whatever he is called on to do. He’s logged 2,074 career rushing yards, but he also tied the ACC record for receptions by a freshman with 58. And he’s also willing to sacrifice his body to protect his quarterback with a block.

No one could settle on an accurate characterization or even pick his one strength. But when asked to discuss what he does well, everyone turns into a motor mouth.

“He’s got a good vision, he’s got a good toughness, he’s got a good burst, he’s got enough wiggle,” Groh said of Lundy. “He’s willing to take [defenders] on, but he tries to make them miss.”

Hagans added his own list.

“He makes people miss, he picks up blocks in the backfield, he runs the ball with authority, and he catches the ball out of the backfield,” Hagans said of his tailback.

Lundy understands the game. He may only excel in “gaining yards,” as Groh put it, but that’s common among the game’s best.

“All those backs who have been significant producers on every level, it’s the combination of things that they are able to do,” Groh said.

No one seems to know exactly what makes Lundy so good. It’s now up to the rest of the ACC to try to figure out what even his own coach can’t describe.

Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

With the Virginia men’s tennis program soaring to new heights and a women’s squad as solid as any in recent memory, there is a group of tennis players on Grounds whose national championship aspirations are easily overlooked.

Last year, six members of the Virginia club tennis team traveled to Daytona Beach, Fla., and took the silver medal in a field of 40 teams at the USA Team Tennis National Campus Championships. Two years ago, they finished third, and this year, the goal is obvious.

“Our strongest players are all still here, plus we have new girls,” senior Shoa Tavassoli said. “The club tennis team gets stronger every year, and whoever goes to nationals will definitely bring home the gold.”

A few years ago, that sort of bravado and Virginia tennis went together about as well as lamb and tuna fish, but now things are different.

Both the varsity program and the club team have seen recent success like never before, and the correlation is no coincidence.

“A lot of guys were hoping to play varsity,” said men’s president Elliot Rosenblum. “With the success of the varsity, they’ve had to come down to the club team. The strength of our team just goes to show how much stronger the varsity squad is this year.”

This trickle-down effect is not just indicative of the new level of the men’s team. The women’s side also is reaping the benefits of a stronger varsity program.

“I think it’s because of the varsity level increasing that we’ve been able to increase as well,” said women’s captain Nari Ker. “This group of girls is probably the top group that we’ve had. [The freshmen] get better every year. It makes me glad to be on the team already.”

The group’s first big step on the road to this year’s national championships, taking place in sunny San Diego, is a tournament they are hosting the first weekend in October. Cornell and Georgetown are among the teams slated to come, and Ker stressed how the Virginia teams are trying to make the tournament as open as possible, welcoming a slew of schools that recently started club tennis programs.

That sort of attitude is common now in club tennis, as the sport is growing by leaps and bounds. About 50 teams are expected to play at this year’s national championships. In the first year of competition in 2000, there were only 10.

There has also been a great deal of growth within the Virginia club program, with over 100 athletes trying out this year and plans to send two teams of six — three men, three women — to represent the school at nationals.

The expectations will be high for whoever represents the team in San Diego. After all, with a third-place finish two years ago and a second-place finish last year, it’s clear what should come next.

The men’s soccer team this year is big ­– and not because of their 4-1 record or their stunning defeat of then-No. 2 Wake Forest. This big refers to the team’s roster.

Look at the official men’s team photograph, and you will find 35 faces staring back at you. For a sport that places only 11 people on the field at any given time, that’s huge. Far from hindering Virginia, these numbers may be giving the Cavaliers the edge they need to win.

Last week’s victory against Wake Forest skyrocketed Virginia from a No. 20 ranking by Soccer America to an 11th place ranking in the nation. The victory was probably owed in a large part to the size of the new team and the skill of the new players Virginia has acquired.

“We are a really deep team this year,” senior defender Matt Oliver said. “I’m not surprised at how well [the freshmen subs] are doing because they came to preseason and showed us what they can do.”

Last season, the team had 22 players on its roster. Since then, it has lost none and acquired plenty. Eleven new freshmen and one transfer student have joined the team. This size has enabled Virginia to substitute freely during games and still maintain the same level of talent on the field.

Against Wake Forest, Virginia trailed by one the entire first half, only to come back fresh in the second and defeat the Demon Deacons with two straight goals.

What’s more, both goals were scored by players who had just come off the bench. Sophomore Ian Holder, who came into the game for the second half, scored 15 minutes into play, and Matt Ayotte, who was sent in as a substitute for Holder, scored 10 minutes later. This subbing trend has been a strategy in many games, and it has clearly been working.

In the last five games, Virginia has started 16 different players and subbed in eight. The Cavaliers have been averaging about seven subs per game, whereas opposing teams have been averaging about four. This allows Virginia to put fresh players out on the field just as the other team is getting tired.

Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said that it’s not keeping good players on the field that’s a problem now.

“We got a lot of good players,” he said “Everyone of them is making it tough for me to get them off the field.”

The Cavaliers host Manhattan tonight at 7 p.m. They hope their numbers and skill will help them bring home something else that has been pretty big with the team this year: victory.

While No. 12 Virginia (3-0, 1-0 ACC) has dominated its first three opponents, outscoring them 151 to 28 and out-rushing them 911 yards to 269, the Cavaliers now enter a new phase of their schedule.

The second part begins with this week’s test against Big East challenger, Syracuse (2-1). The Orange bring a power running game led by senior Walter Reyes — the fourth all-time leading rusher in Syracuse history with 2,830 yards and the first ever Orange player with 40 touchdowns.

“I think we’re eager for what the next part of the schedule brings on,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “This is the most physical team that we’ve played for sure. I think this is the most balanced team we’ve played in terms of efficiency on both sides of the ball.”

The second phase contrasts starkly with the Cavaliers’ first three contests against inferior opponents, and Virginia’s statistics likely won’t continue to be as one-sided.

The Cavaliers play host to Syracuse and the Clemson Tigers (Thursday night on ESPN) before hitting the road for matchups with No. 8 Florida State and Duke. Clemson has the ACC’s leading quarterback in Charlie Whitehurst and top receiver in senior Airese Currie, while Florida State has the ACC’s No. 1 rushing defense to matchup with Virginia’s ACC-leading rushing offense.

“Any football team likes to go out there and pound them,” senior running back Alvin Pearman said. “The true tests come when you get put in adverse situations in the second half, whether you have to run the two-minute drill or whatever it is. We haven’t been faced with that thus far, but we’ll be ready for it.”

News and Notes

Virginia tight end Heath Miller was named ACC offensive lineman of the week for the fourth time in his career. A week after posting zero catches, the junior grabbed six receptions for 54 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Cavalier receiving corps. … Virginia is averaging 50.3 points per game and 525 yards per game, both tops in the ACC. … Cavalier junior quarterback Marques Hagans leads the ACC with a 167.1 pass efficiency rating, as he has completed 72.9 percent of his passes for 568 yards and three touchdowns. … Alvin Pearman is the ACC leader in all-purpose yards, averaging 144.7 per game. … Wali Lundy’s 54 points on nine touchdowns almost double the next highest scorer in the ACC, Maryland kicker Nick Novak, who has scored 30 points. … Of the ACC’s 11 teams, Virginia ranks dead last in average yards per punt. … The Virginia offensive line has yet to allow a sack in three games. … Groh said the offense eliminated plays last Friday afternoon based on which ones Hagans liked the best. … Groh estimated they played an excess of 70 players against Akron. … Virginia is 18 of 19 in the red zone this year, but Groh pointed out that in the one they missed, the game finished on the one-yard line. … Tickets are still available for this Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. contest. It will be the second-straight non-televised game for the Cavaliers and Virginia’s fourth game out of their last six versus a Big East school dating back to last season.

The Virginia men’s tennis team opened its fall season last week, sending two players to the United States Tennis Association Futures Event in Claremont, Calif., and three to the Wolfpack Invitational in Raleigh, N.C.

At the Futures event, freshman Somdev Dev Varman defeated Ohio State All-American Jeremy Wurtzman (2-6, 6-2, 6-3) before falling in the second round. Wurtzman was ranked No. 1 in college singles last year and was No. 3 at the 2004 NCAA championships. Junior Doug Stewart fell in the first round (6-3, 6-4) to the world’s No. 341 ranked player, Austria’s Zbynek Mlynarik.

At the Wolfpack Invitational, sophomore Burak Ahmed and freshman Eric Riley reached the second round of Flight A, and freshman Andrew Downing reached the second round of flight B.

Deidre Downs, Miss Alabama and a former Virginia volleyball player, was selected as Miss America 2005 at the Sept. 18 pageant in Atlantic City.

Downs played volleyball for the Cavaliers during the 1998 season. She appeared in 24 matches as a back-up setter, posting 53 assists, 43 digs and three service aces for the Cavaliers, who went on to a 26-8 record and their first-ever appearance in the NCAA championship.

Her Virginia career would be brief, however, as she transferred to Samford University after her sophomore year.

Lack of diversity in health care professions could lead to poor health care for minorities, according to a study issued yesterday and outlined in the Chronicle of Higher of Education.

In a report by the Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce, commission members found that “minority physicians, dentists, and nurses are more likely to serve minority and medically underserved populations.”

A shortage of minorities in health care professions harms minority populations, and since healthy communities tend to prosper, the population at large will suffer if the trend continues, the report concluded.

“Cultural differences, a lack of access to health care, combined with high rates of poverty and unemployment, contribute to the substantial ethnic and racial disparities in health status and health outcomes,” the report said.

The report, titled “Missing Persons: Minorities in the Health Professions,” was funded by Duke University’s School of Medicine.

The report suggests colleges and universities can play an important role in bringing more minorities into health care professions.

The percentage of blacks, Hispanics and American Indians is not only disproportionate in the health care work force, it is also low in the faculty and student bodies of professional schools, the study found.

Whether it is by shifting from loans to scholarships, decreasing the focus on standardized tests or boosting the image of two-year colleges in training minorities, the commission strongly advocated making education more achievable and financially reasonable to increase diversity.

Officials at the University’s medical and nursing schools could not be reached by press time.

–Compiled by Esther Kim