ARTS Pick: Spamalot

Camelot may be a silly place, but the trademark tongue-in-cheek humor of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gillam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin has kept audiences coming back for over 40 years. Lovingly ripped off from the cult classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python’s Spamalot puts the British troupe’s iconic […]

In the wings: Ash Lawn Opera’s Madama Butterfly alights the Paramount stage

Every summer, Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall floods with a subtle siege: opera singers, orchestra members and technical crew members from all over the country. Unlike participants in traveling productions, they arrive to co-create a few gem-like original performances, shows that debut at The Paramount Theater under the direction (and extended logistical planning) of Ash Lawn Opera. […]

Film review: MacFarlane drives Ted 2 off the laugh track

If Ted 2 proves anything, it’s that Seth MacFarlane cannot be trusted with his own success. MacFarlane—a demonstrably talented, funny and often thoughtful individual—has a nasty habit of doing something fun and original that connects with critics and audiences, only to capitalize on his success with vanity projects that rely more on smugness and self-satisfaction […]

July First Fridays Guide

Local poet Judy Longley often feels like she’s drowning in words. After years of letting her poetry consume her, she’s learning how to revel in silence with a new skill set and a new name. Working as Juliet Da Luiso, Longley unleashes her joy and curiosity in highly abstract oil paintings rather than verses or stanzas. […]

ARTS Pick: Antony and Cleopatra

Best known for the love story of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare did not stop there. Antony and Cleopatra, one of his last romantic plays, is an epic unravelling of life and death, passion and hatred, filtered through peace and war in a narrative that circles the lives of two prominent figures during the dictatorship of Octavius […]

ARTS Pick: Loop 2.4.3

Experimental percussive duo Loop 2.4.3 intertwines globally influenced drumbeats with electronic tones and creative vocals. From its current base in Brooklyn, prolific, award-winning composers Thomas Kozumplik and Lorne Watson merge tribal grooves with futuristic melodies and highly contemplative lyrics covering the nature of time, sound, emotion and everything in between. The minimalist ensemble conveys a […]