ARTS Pick: The Hello Strangers

Tales of men gone wrong and long-forgotten fables litter the songs of sisters Brechyn Chace and Larissa Chace Smith, who perform as The Hello Strangers. From Austin, Texas, where the two wrote their first song, to their current home in the mountains of Pennsylvania, the pair remain true to their roots with a style they […]

ARTS Pick: The First Harmonics

It’s common knowledge on UVA Grounds that a cappella groups are selective. Whether you’re the Hullabahoos or The Virginia No Tones, each group is looking for something specific. The First Harmonics require a solid voice, stage presence and the exclusive “science and engineering grad school student” title. These self-proclaimed nerds perform a mix of old […]

ARTS Pick: The Temptations

Motown R&B sensation The Temptations topped the music charts of the 1960s with their unmistakable sound of soul. More than 40 years later, with many changes in lineup since the first “classic five,” Otis Williams still takes the stage as the last surviving original member of the group that launched its career with the Smokey […]

ARTS Pick: Anthony D’Amato

The latest from Americana singer-songwriter Anthony D’Amato, Cold Snap is a far cry from his first release, the album he recorded in his Princeton University dorm room. Cold Snap is a beautiful collection of sophisticated sounds and decisive melodies that channels Simon & Garfunkel and Bruce Springsteen at the same time. He crafts lyrics of […]

Film review: The Conjuring 2 relies too often on gimmicks

As a technically gifted and revolutionary presence in a once-stale genre that inspired both the best and the worst trends of the subsequent decade, it may be fair to say that James Wan is the Rage Against the Machine of modern horror films. As the creator of the Saw franchise (the first of which is […]

Offstage Theatre recasts The Maids as teenagers

Though Jean Genet’s 1947 play The Maids (Les Bonnes) is known as a sadomasochistic, cruel and absurd work, director Stephen Simalchik says he would describe his Offstage Theatre production as playful before he would call it dark. “Something that is only cruel or shocking I wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time on,” he […]

Post Sixty Five rides an undercurrent of emotional energy

Before a recent Post Sixty Five band practice, frontman Hicham Benhallam sat on a patch of grass outside the rehearsal space and stared into the trees nearby. The muggy June air blurred his vision, so he took off his dark-framed glasses and blinked a few times before acknowledging that there was no relief from the […]

Live Arts executive director, artistic director resign

Live Arts community theater will be going through a couple of changes in the next few months. The Live Arts Board of Directors announced this afternoon the resignations of Executive Director Matt Joslyn, who has been with the organization for six and a half years, and Artistic Director Julie Hamberg, who has been there for five. Joslyn will stay on […]