Colossal turns odd comedic plot into dramatic gold
Everything about Colossal is a pleasant surprise. From its cute premise carrying actual dramatic weight, to every moment it made the choice to be better instead of safer, to the […]
ARTS Pick: Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase
Each spring in central Virginia a unique handoff takes place at the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase. After nine months of learning from the best in their respective fields, students graduate […]
ARTS Pick: Sean Rowe
Singer-songwriter Sean Rowe is growing his career with a grassroots approach. In addition to offering wilderness and foraging classes on his website, he splits his time between the road and […]
ARTS Pick: Fences
Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, August Wilson’s award-winning Fences offers an inside look at an African-American community in mid-20th century America. The play follows 53-year-old Troy—a former baseball star and thief—who […]
ARTS Pick: Mary Poppins
Take some kite flying, throw in a little bird feeding, add an uber-nanny, a chimney sweep and two precocious kids, and you’ve got the makings for a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious evening when […]
ARTS Pick: Eugene Chadbourne
Unconventional is a word often found in descriptions of Eugene Chadbourne’s work, but it doesn’t begin to capture the far-out 63-year-old musician’s career. Wikipedia notes that his mastery of guitar, […]
Ships in the Night sets course for dawn on new album
When Alethea Leventhal was a child, she’d sit for hours at the piano in her mother’s Charlottesville home, singing, playing chords and experimenting with sounds. She remembers obsessively listening to […]
Movie Review: Free Fire can’t get out of its own way
Ben Wheatley’s obvious joy of filmmaking is contagious. It’s clear from everything he’s ever made that movement, color (or lack of it, as in A Field in England) and the […]
A record label at AHS puts passion into learning
In 2013, Chance Dickerson was working as a teaching assistant in the ESOL (English as a Second Language) department at Albemarle High School and he wanted to share his love […]
Theater Review: The Realistic Joneses at Live Arts
There’s something a bit off about The Realistic Joneses. “Maybe it’s me,” you think at first. You’re sitting so close to the middle-aged couple you’re practically on top of them. […]