Victory Hall Opera vocalizes the gay experience in Ghost House

At Juilliard, up-and-coming opera singers learn the art of method acting: channeling their personal experience into the emotions they express on stage. But for mezzo-soprano Brenda Patterson, the acting never stopped. “As a gay person, that’s sort of what you feel like you are doing a lot of the time in real life. You are […]

Arts Pick: Lúnasa

“St. Patrick’s Day is much bigger in America than it is in Ireland,” say the members of Lúnasa, an Irish supergroup who take the stage on Wednesday, for what guitarist Ed Boyd calls “a good night’s entertainment.” The group’s 20th anniversary tour is filled with stories and music, contemporary and traditional, in perfect preparation for the stateside honoring of […]

Musician Lauren Hoffman shares her eating disorder struggle

In 1997, local musician Lauren Hoffman almost had the world in her hands. A three-album deal with Virgin, rave reviews from music magazines, and a growing audience in Europe. Then something went wrong. And when she launched other albums, something went wrong again, despite packed shows on several continents. Now she’s ready to talk about […]

ARTS Pick: Wu Han

In a genre that carries itself with quiet dignity, stars of classical music don’t always cross over to become household names, making it less apparent when a legend is in our midst. In recognition of artistic excellence and achievement, pianist Wu Han and her recital partner, cellist David Finckel, were named Musical America’s 2012 Musicians […]

ARTS Pick: Shakespeare’s Sister

Judith Shakespeare wants to be a playwright. So when her debt-ridden father tries to marry her off, Shakespeare’s Sister flees to London with handsome actor Ned Alleyn, hoping to join her brother and realize her ambition. When she arrives in the city, she finds her brother gone, Ned engaged to another woman and her play declined. […]

#BlackOwnedCville and NEA Big Read connect the threads

Throughout this month, an exhibition titled #BlackOwnedCville by local photographer and filmmaker Lorenzo Dickerson is on display on the third floor of the Central Library. Dickerson says he was moved to pursue the project because, “I was curious myself about African-American businesses here locally. Growing up here I knew of some. Like Mel’s Café on […]

ARTS Pick: Neko Case

In the early days of her career, Neko Case sounded like a new voice in the vintage style of country music, with 1997’s The Virginian earning her comparisons to Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline. What came next was an album-by-album development of her unique vocals and compelling songwriting. Twenty years later, she’s released the box […]

ARTS Pick: Peter and the Starcatcher

The teenager-loaded cast and crew of Peter and the Starcatcher “keep the grown-ups on our toes and bring fantastic ideas” according Live Arts’ Bree Luck. The production wields credits for more than 45 community members and offers a special artistic collaboration between apprentice and mentor in bringing Peter Pan’s backstory to life. Through March 26. […]

Les Yeux du Monde show plays with whimsy and darkness

Overtaking the elegant confines of Les Yeux du Monde gallery, “Big Heads and Small Giants” unleashes a colorful cast of oversized works that dominate their surroundings. Artists Megan Marlatt and Margaret McCann play with color and scale, vividly and often comically depicting cerebral subjects in unnatural hues and improbable arrangements. Though a serious undercurrent concerned […]

The communal Table 19 offers a disservice

Table 19 tells the story of an unlikely group of wedding attendants stuck together at the worst table, who were invited either perfunctorily or spitefully. Unfortunately it’s an accurate metaphor for the movie itself, which crams an impossibly talented cast into the lamest film of the year that appears to exist for no other reason […]