ARTS Pick: Beyond the Pale crosses musical boundaries

Canadian chamber-folk group Beyond the Pale formed in 2001, employing expert musicianship and dynamic song-crafting to create a sound that takes from jazz, reggae and classical music, while being heavily accented by Balkan and Romanian tradition. The group crosses musical borderlines on instruments from around the world, including fiddle, accordion, guitar, mandolin, hammered dulcimer and […]

ARTS Pick: The Parking Lot Movie captures a different vantage point

In The Parking Lot Movie, the role of attendant goes beyond transactional and becomes a rite of passage. From their seat in the payment booth at The Corner Parking Lot on UVA Grounds, grads and undergrads spend their shifts intellectualizing and lamenting societal ills, from capitalism, anger and justice to car culture, privilege and the […]

ARTS Pick: Shakespeare sets the stage for family dysfunction

Aging does not come gracefully in William Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear, in which familial power struggles, corruption and a descent into madness mark the unraveling of a king and his kingdom. Sean Prunka takes on the juicy lead role, one that’s coveted by actors around the world, in Gorilla Theater Production’s staging of original family […]

In brief: Medicaid expanded, Building Bridges crashed and more

Medicaid expansion clears House For Terry McAuliffe’s entire term as governor, Medicaid expansion for 400,000 uninsured Virginians remained out of grasp. Last week, after Republican Delegate Terry Kilgore broke rank in favor of expansion, the House voted 68 to 32 in favor, with local delegates Rob Bell, Steve Landes and Matt Fariss in the no […]

Charlottesville Playwrights Collective finds its feet

By Leslie Scott-Jones Charlottesville has always looked at itself as a place where art can flourish, and the theater scene is no different. From Four County Players to the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center to Live Arts, our area has enough live theater to go around. On any given night there is an opportunity […]

Students light up over JUULing

By Sam Padgett living@c-ville.com There’s a new verb hanging in the Charlottesville air: JUULing. If you have heard it, most likely from a high school- or college-aged kid, rest assured it isn’t some odd youth mining craze. A JUUL, pronounced “jewel,” is a small vaping device that can be found in nearly any local convenience […]

ARTS Pick: WinterSongs brings together women in song

The fourth annual WinterSongs brings together hundreds of local female vocalists using their voices as a weapon to fight violence against women in our community. After a day of “joyful empowerment” where they “mix, share, support, cheer and sing for each other,” student ensembles from Charlottesville, Albemarle and the University of Virginia will perform a […]

ARTS Pick: Spit it out at Hip-Hop Karaoke

Can’t get Drake’s “God’s Plan” out of your head? Think you’ve got the pipes to take on Rhianna or ya feel some old school Jay-Z comin’ through? Spit it out at Hip-Hop Karaoke where SGtheDJ calls the role as the line for the stage fills with local MCs and wannabes, cued to drop rhymes from […]

ARTS Pick: Luke Bryan puts a new spin on country

Country superstar Luke Bryan’s hit songs put a contemporary spin on broken hearts and driving trucks, allowing him to shift from mainstream to the hip-hop, rock world of bro-country—a term he rejects, but it seems appropriate for a guy who’s been named Entertainer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music and Country Music […]