In The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, the Herdman kids—a bunch of foul-mouthed smokers, thieves, and drinkers—are uncontestedly the worst choices to cast in their church’s annual Christmas play. Other children are shocked at the news of their involvement: There’s no way these six unruly delinquents can lead the production to success, short of a miracle. Released […]
In The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, the Herdman kids—a bunch of foul-mouthed smokers, thieves, and drinkers—are uncontestedly the worst choices to cast in their church’s annual Christmas play. Other children are shocked at the news of their involvement: There’s no way these six unruly delinquents can lead the production to success, short of a miracle. Released […]
When Rufus Wainwright’s second album, Poses, came out in 2001, the singer-songwriter extraordinaire was in the throes of critical adoration, collecting awards and accolades, but lacking commercial success and struggling with addiction. Good pal Elton John helped him into rehab, and Wainwright quickly got back on track, defining himself over the next 15 years through […]
While working on her newest series of paintings, Uzo Njoku learned the importance of telling a story through portraiture. The story Njoku tells with “Out of the Shadows,” on view this month at the New City Arts Welcome Gallery, is one that has global reach and widespread effects, and is perhaps not told—or heard—nearly enough. […]
By its very nature, portraying the life of an artist of any medium on film while incorporating the substance of his work into the overall aesthetic is a risky endeavor. Perhaps it’s no coincidence, then, that visual artist and director Julian Schnabel has helmed two of the most resonant films about the lives and work […]
It’s a Saturday morning in Richmond, and L.E. Zarling has ordered a chocolate croissant to go with her latte at Lamplighter Coffee. She looks at the pastry, covered in a heavy-handed sprinkle of powdered sugar. Then she looks at her black turtleneck sweater. “Fuck it,” she says before taking a bite. “I’m going to enjoy […]
Ask Soraya Chemaly why she wrote Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, and she will say with a laugh, “First, I was mad.” Chemaly works by day as director of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project in Washington, D.C., an initiative developed to “raise awareness about the way women’s freedom of expression, freedom […]
Orgon and his wife Elmire face a disastrous spiritual crisis, and the swindler Tartuffe is definitely not helping. Orgon’s children understand the truth: that the supposedly pious man doesn’t actually possess divine ability, and when a wounding announcement takes the stunt too far, the family must dislodge the impostor before more damage is done. Tartuffe […]
It’s been 30 years since the release of Copperhead Road, an album that revived the gritty rebelliousness founded in the early days of country music. Steve Earle & The Dukes pay homage to his Austin, Texas, roots with a special anniversary set that, in addition to celebrating the album, offers a retrospective of Earle’s career, […]
Southern duo Sarah and Austin McCombie have a bright soulful love for old-time music. It’s the reason they formed Chatham Rabbits, a name inspired by a string band out of their hometown of Bynum, North Carolina. The couple crafts lively melodies and lyrics ripe with metaphors—picking through the U.S. as they live a musical life […]
From African gospels to American pop songs, the uplifting music of the Soweto Gospel Choir has something to put a smile on anyone’s face. Formed in South Africa in 2002, the group is praised for its international reach, and has earned two Grammys. The singers aren’t in it for the fame, though: all they aim […]