Through songs and discussion, Horace Scruggs reveals messages, maps and signals in A View from a Train: Decoding the Stories and Music of the Underground Railroad. In this original presentation, Scruggs traces the geographical path and the contributions of abolitionists, including Harriet Tubman, William Still, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Frederick Douglass, whose remarkable work aided […]
Through songs and discussion, Horace Scruggs reveals messages, maps and signals in A View from a Train: Decoding the Stories and Music of the Underground Railroad. In this original presentation, Scruggs traces the geographical path and the contributions of abolitionists, including Harriet Tubman, William Still, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Frederick Douglass, whose remarkable work aided […]
Before playing in C’ville, American rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, slam poet, writer and actor Saul Williams has appearances in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium and Austria on his calendar. The global schedule speaks to the broad messages of the art activist, who emphasizes them with album titles such as The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!, NGH […]
Childhood friends Taylor Meier and Evan Westfall had been playing music together for years when they decided to form the duo Caamp in 2015. Combining folk guitar with rhythmic banjo picking raised up by seamless harmonies, the act quickly became known for its authentic live performances. The fast rise in popularity also produced a wildly […]
Choreographer Christal Brown’s multimedia creation, The Opulence of Integrity, follows the life of Muhammad Ali and his journey, not only as a boxer, but also as a social activist and public figure. Brown creates a vivid representation of the fight for worth and identity experienced by men of color in America’s history, and makes the […]
On November 11 of last year, equipped with a small clipboard, some index cards and a handful of pens, Destinee Wright waited outside the Paramount Theater after a discussion with Spike Lee about race and racial injustice in America, followed by a screening of two Lee documentary films, I Can’t Breathe and 4 Little Girls. […]
Alfred Hitchcock once noted that Steven Spielberg “is the first one of us who doesn’t see the proscenium arch,” referring to his ability to expand the visual and metaphorical limits of what could be displayed on a screen. The late-career political films of Spielberg would already be remarkable on their own terms, even if they […]
Girlpool Powerplant (Anti-) Philadelphia-by-way-of-California duo Girlpool released Powerplant in May, and it was probably a great summer heartbreak album, all intertwining guitars and fragile voices. Opener “123” comes in like a lamb and revs up to lion level at the chorus—but it’s a sweet, sad lion. The soft/loud ratio remains pretty constant throughout Powerplant, and […]
When legendary soprano Leontyne Price appeared at the reopening of the Metropolitan Opera in 1966, she could only be upstaged by the stage itself. It was the beginning of a new era in a new location for the Met, and The Opera House documents the cultural impact of the venue’s last 50 years with behind-the-scenes […]
Have you ever imagined watching a movie or stage play about your own life? Drama, humor and self-reflection are sure to combine when Playback Theater hosts a fundraiser for the Charlottesville Players Guild in which the actors connect with audience members, learn about their lives, then construct and perform improv scenes based on the details. […]
Most descriptions of The Honey Dewdrops point to an honesty in the duo’s music—a sound they refer to as rock and reel. Conduits of the Americana tradition, Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish (former C’ville locals) have been touring for almost 10 years, perfecting tunes that enlighten the soul with songs such as “Guitars,” a tribute […]