Movie review: Life of the Party relies on recycled gags

Credit is due to Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy for their efforts to inject meaningful emotions into broad comedies without punching down or relying on unwarranted meanness for their punchlines. But it would help if those punchlines were funny. Back in 2013, their collaboration on Tammy used McCarthy’s star power to tell a sweet story […]

Aja Gabel strikes a chord with The Ensemble

Around the same time Aja Gabel began learning the alphabet, she began playing the violin. As she became more adept at writing, filling “notebooks with stories as kind of a way to play,” she became more skilled at reading and playing music. When she was 10 years old she traded the violin for the cello […]

Lord Nelson explores heritage and movement

After a Lord Nelson show at a venue in the southeast, an audience member approached lead singer and guitarist Kai Crowe-Getty. “You guys aren’t for erasing history, right?” the attendee asked. “Every now and then,” Crowe-Getty says, “we have to diffuse a situation like that and stand by what we believe.” Listen to Lord Nelson’s […]

ARTS Pick: The Liar is riddled with wit

Piecing together a Jenga-style puzzle of arranged marriages, mistaken identities and wicked ways, David Ives’ adaptation of The Liar is a cleverly constructed ride through a plot riddled with cutting banter, silliness, jealousy and lies, lies and more lies. The villainous, witty Dorante (Mark McLane) charms his way into impossibly funny situations that teeter on […]

Jenny Wales ushers in a new era at Heritage Theatre Festival

By Dan Goff arts@c-ville.com It’s a Friday afternoon at Grit Coffee on Elliewood Avenue. Jenny Wales sits at an outdoor table, one of the few open seats. Finals are fast approaching and the shop is swarming with students. Wales doesn’t seem to mind, and, in fact, seems perfectly at ease—she’s home. “This is my 20-year […]

ARTS Pick: The Gina Clowes Project puts modern spin on the banjo

The solid accolades directed at The Gina Clowes Project are the result of the singer-songwriter’s years spent at competitions and gigging with other pros. Well-known in the world of bluegrass, banjoist Clowes’ modern approach reaches to crossover as she pushes mood and emotion through the frets, complemented by her thoughtfully constructed songwriting. Friday, May 11. […]

ARTS Pick: Ani DiFranco loves pushing boundaries

Ani DiFranco feels most comfortable when she’s pushing boundaries. After some downtime following her daughter’s birth, the singer-songwriter/activist/poet/DIY feminist is ready to be back onstage, connecting with like minds and “kicking ass and taking names.” DiFranco’s album Binary was released a year ago, but written before the 2016 election, and its themes are eerily clairvoyant. “I’m […]

ARTS Pick: Jump for Vance Joy

In 2009, James Keogh was a promising player in Australia’s Victorian Football League. He also played music, and, taking an alias from a Peter Carey novel he was reading, put himself into rotation in the Melbourne open mic scene as Vance Joy. He released his indie debut EP, God Loves You When You’re Dancing, in […]

ARTS Pick: Antoine Scott will keep you laughing

If it’s your goal to keep mama happy this Mother’s Day weekend—and it better be—then comedian Antoine Scott has you covered. Scott built a reputation for delivering beyond expectations in comedy clubs around the country. Fans say he leaves them gasping from laughter and they call him one of the funniest raw comics of all […]