‘Wonder Woman’ flips the script on the DC Universe slump

It was never fair that Wonder Woman would have to carry the burden of rescuing DC’s entire cinematic future from the obnoxious, overlong, joyless clunkers that came before it. Thankfully, it not only rises to the occasion of being the best movie of this series, but is an enjoyable and thoughtful film in its own […]

Haircut’s perspective strikes a hot chord

On a recent Friday night, a bunch of punk rockers in patch- and pin- covered jean jackets, cutoff shorts and moth-eaten band T-shirts packed into the front room at Magnolia House. Some donned well-worn baseball caps, two wore dreadlocks, one wore a dangly yin-yang earring. Charlottesville punk band Haircut had second billing on the hardcore […]

ARTS Pick: Mighty Joshua

African percussionist Mighty Joshua raises consciousness while glasses clink and the sun slips down behind pastoral, sloping vineyards at the Sunsets Become Eclectic music series. As a founding member of Richmond’s reggae scene, Joshua has performed with a number of bands, including Jah Revelations, Richmond Dub Collective and Antero. He steps forward with a new […]

ARTS Pick: National Theatre Live in HD Presents: Peter Pan

A classic story hits the stage as National Theatre Live in HD Presents: Peter Pan. See Neverland like you’ve never seen it before, with a recording that gives you front-row seats to London’s sold-out production. From the sparkling Tinker Bell to the villainous Captain Hook, characters come to life in a vibrant live-action tale that […]

ARTS Pick: James Vincent McMorrow

James Vincent McMorrow’s True Care could be named True Confessions, judging by a statement the Irishman posted on his website about crafting the new album. “Lot of one takes with no click tracks, in a room moving from sound to sound, idea to idea,” McMorrow writes. “I wasn’t doing any of that because I was […]

Fralin exhibition tells a story beyond the gallery walls

When Maximilian Schele De Vere arrived in Scott Nolley’s art conservation studio in Richmond, he was in rough shape. Covered in years’ worth of dust, tobacco residue and coal-fire furnace soot, Schele De Vere—or rather his portrait, rendered in oil paint on canvas by Louis Mathieu Didier Guillaume circa 1887—had fallen against a trash can […]

ARTS Picks: Pops at the Paramount

There’s a little something for everyone in Pops at the Paramount, where the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia will perform Summer Lovin.’ The program features tunes from a wide range of musicals, such as Hello Dolly!, Hamilton: An American Musical and Grease, and is led by guest conductor Erin Freeman and features vocalists […]

ARTS Picks: Wes Swing

The second album from chamber pop cellist Wes Swing traces its origin to California, Texas and Washington, D.C. While composing in San Francisco, Swing struggled to overcome a wrist injury, before reconnecting with producer Paul Curreri (living in Austin at the time) who was facing his own physical challenge. Once collaboration on the new pieces […]

ARTS Picks: Four Voices

Any one of the legends on the Four Voices tour would be reason enough to lay out your picnic blanket on the Pavilion lawn. But packaged together, Joan Baez, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray and Emily Saliers form a folk supergroup made to crush your feminist mother’s bucket list. Although it’s their […]

ARTS Picks: Krish Mohan

Indian stand-up comedian and writer Krish Mohan avoids the easy jokes, choosing instead to build funny stories by forcing the audience into his shoes. His 2016 album, How Not To Fit In, runs through a list of awkward topics such as a dolphin with six arms, the lack of originality in racism and interpreting American […]