ARTS Picks: Playback Theater

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. […]

ARTS Pick: The Honey Dewdrops

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 […]

ARTS Picks: New Year, New Vibes Part 1

Local hip-hop artists gather to celebrate when SGtheDJ presents New Year, New Vibes Part 1, the first showcase of 2018 hosted by DenzyFromDaBlock and featuring Dino Jones, Gio Dolla (Str8CrudBoyz), P.G. (Cedric Jones), Murda Delinquent and Save Game (Savion Garcia) in a Trapseekers edition loaded with talent. Thursday, January 11. $10, 8pm. The Ante Room, […]

Murad Khan Mumtaz transcends divisions with Musavvari paintings

Growing up in a family of artists and architects in Lahore, Pakistan, Murad Khan Mumtaz, a visual artist who practices the tradition of so-called Indian miniature painting, says the act of creating things came naturally. “My father, who is a practicing architect, has more or less single-handedly tried to revive local indigenous practices, which were […]

Movie review: I, Tonya looks beyond mockery in the skating scandal

Forget everything you think you knew about Tonya Harding. While you’re at it, forget everything you’ve seen about I, Tonya, a deep dive into the infamous assault on Nancy Kerrigan leading up to the figure skating competition in the 1994 Olympics. The film is being sold partially as a tabloidy trash-watch, a Lifetime movie with […]

Matthew Burtner-Rita Dove collaboration takes flight

What was the last thing you made? Be honest with yourself. Perhaps you made dinner last night, but think hard about the last time you spent an afternoon knitting, strumming a guitar or doodling in a sketchbook. Maybe instead you’ve been reading, listening to albums, looking at paintings or watching “Stranger Things” on Netflix? Are […]

Chicho Lorenzo paints through barriers at local exit

When painter and muralist Chicho Lorenzo saw the 7′ tall retaining wall along Barracks Road near the 250 bypass, he knew exactly what he wanted to paint. “Maybe two years ago, I was commissioned to paint a mural for a military school,” Lorenzo says. “I had an idea for an image of two teachers standing […]

ARTS Pick: Rob Cheatham and Company

Taking a break from his frontman duties with The Nice Jenkins and Gunchux, Rob Cheatham caught some airwaves in 2016 with his country-Americana song, “Heaven Don’t Take No Losers,” from his solo album Colors. The C’ville-based musician currently gigs with a talented pool of locals under Rob Cheatham and Company while frequenting the stages of […]

ARTS Pick: Follies

Showgirls and show makers gather to pay tribute to their theatrical past in Follies, a Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman musical that magnifies its characters’ dreams and illusions through emotional reminiscences. The play had a contemporary setting when it opened on Broadway in 1971, went on to win seven Tony Awards, and ran for more […]