People’s parties: The one and only Joni Mitchell—the legendary musician behind the iconic songs “Free Man in Paris,” “Help Me,” and “Big Yellow Taxi”—turned 75 years old last November, and the occasion didn’t pass quietly. JONI 75 is a concert celebration of Mitchell’s career from Canada to California, with a diverse list of guest artists including […]
People’s parties: The one and only Joni Mitchell—the legendary musician behind the iconic songs “Free Man in Paris,” “Help Me,” and “Big Yellow Taxi”—turned 75 years old last November, and the occasion didn’t pass quietly. JONI 75 is a concert celebration of Mitchell’s career from Canada to California, with a diverse list of guest artists including […]
Going to twelve: Something about Kristian Dunn and Tim Fogarty’s music makes you think they know something about life. Daring and enlightened, the indie project El Ten Eleven uses complex instrumentals and spellbinding lyrics to be at once reflective and forward-thinking. The Los Angeles-based post-rock outfit is named for an airliner, and rightly so, as the […]
Paul Curreri remembers getting rid of his CD collection. He and his wife, Devon Sproule, both musicians, were packing up their Austin, Texas, home to move back to Charlottesville in 2015, when Curreri realized he hadn’t added to his CD collection in a while. “There wasn’t a bad one in the bunch,” he says of […]
Birds of a feather: Wild is an accurate descriptor for Baltimore’s banging bunch of birds, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, a funky foursome that channels happy vibes all around. The group’s latest release, the psychedelic LP Pizazz, features driving bass and heavy drums with a positive twist. Live performances allow the group to flourish, as it […]
Mindful Magic: Based on Mark Haddon’s novel, written from the perspective of a teenager with autism, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time brings insight and humor to the stage. Christopher Boone’s mathematical prowess has some innovative applications, and with the discovery of Wellington, the late neighborhood dog, sleuthing becomes one of them. He […]
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were one of the great comedy pairings of Hollywood’s Golden Age, bringing vaudeville sensibilities to audiences around the world. A classic partnering of a physically mismatched pair—one an innocent fool, the other an arrogant straight man—they sold their gags with sincerity and perfect timing. Even if you saw a punchline […]
When artist Karina A. Monroy moved from California to Charlottesville in February 2017, she started making pieces that comforted her. She reinterpreted or slightly altered scenes from her mother’s and grandmother’s homes, places where she rooted and grew not just herself, but the bonds with the women in her family. “It’s been really difficult being […]
Staging it: UVA Drama’s New Works Festival highlights fledgling playwrights in collaboration with other students for three original works. They’re Still Friends by Savannah Hard explores trauma and connection; I’m Game by Jessica Harris finds a group of recent high school grads pondering their lives as they prepare for next steps; and Ibrahim Muhammad’s Play […]
Tallies S/T (Kanine) Tallies kicks off with a frosty amalgam of ‘80s and ‘90s atmospheric alt rock—the Bunnymen and The Cran- berries come to mind—and when “Mother” follows up somewhere halfway between The Smiths and The Go-Go’s, it becomes clear that the past is where Tallies live. Sarah Cogan’s vocals get a little yelpy, and […]
In Shoplifters, director Hirokazu Kore-eda explores the beauty and morality that forms within societal fractures. The characters live as any family ought: They are supportive, caring, loving, and do what they must to help each other survive. They uphold the epitome of family values, except they are criminals and none of them are related. Every […]