Talent search: Get Hard shakes down a stand-up cast

Was prison rape even funny to begin with? The team behind Get Hard seems to think it’s the funniest thing in the world, maybe the only thing that’s ever been funny. A few jokes here and there are to be expected—though it’ll be nice, not to mention not gross, when we no longer delight at […]

ARTS Pick: The Murphy Beds

Traditional folk duo Eamon O’Leary and Jefferson Hamer (above) sing and play the guitar, bouzouki and mandolin as The Murphy Beds. They draw on experience from Irish and American traditions (O’Leary grew up in Dublin and Hamer has roots in the New York music scene) on numbers like “Rise Up, My Darling,” a folk song […]

April First Fridays Guide

Contemporary artist Susan Northington specializes in capturing her Central Virginia surroundings in exaltations of personal expression. Her abstract interpretations of the Blue Ridge Mountains and flat horizon lines aim to evoke the emotion of a place, rather than the physical reality of location. Northington’s works are currently included in the McGuffey Art Center’s collaborative exhibit […]

ARTS Pick: Danny Schmidt

Although acclaimed singer-songwriter Danny Schmidt is currently based out of Austin, Texas, his musical career began in Charlottesville. A contemporary of Devon Sproule and Paul Curreri, Schmidt got his start playing The Prism Coffeehouse and The Gravity Lounge, and was named oneof “the 50 most significant songwriters of folk in the last 50 years” by “The Midnight […]

ARTS Pick: Mother Bombie

Mother Bombie is an Elizabethan comedy that tells the timeless story of parents’ fruitless efforts in matchmaking. Plans go awry when two couples are caught in the middle of an arranged marriage scheme. The roller coaster plot features disguises, servant’s antics, awkward teen love and a shocking reveal. With snappy one-liners like, “You must, for […]

Little bit fixed: Lauren Hoffman shifts back into the local spotlight

Lauren Hoffman had never heard of Paste Magazine. But in 2006, soon after the release of her most acclaimed record Choreography, the LP’s lead single was included on one of the national magazine’s music samplers alongside the likes of The Hold Steady, Bright Eyes and The Shins. It wasn’t the only reach enjoyed by “Broken,” […]

ARTS Pick: ONWE

Derisive punk pranksters ONWE make their second local appearance this month at the end of a tour that has booked up and down the East Coast as well as four shows at Austin, Texas’ South by Southwest Festival. Since the 2014 release of the single “Unpaid Internship,” the trio has risen to the summit of […]

Album reviews: Emily Hearn, JD McPherson, Brandi Carlile

Emily Hearn Hourglass/Old Prince Records Be warned: Emily Hearn will be your new favorite singer-songwriter. On her sophomore effort Hearn grows artistically by leaps and bounds with a rich, understated vocal prowess, a sonic palette beyond the country and folk stylings of earlier albums, and lyrics that are simultaneously clever, profound and catchy. This relationship-focused […]

ARTS Pick: Behind the Beautiful Forevers

Pulitzer Prize winner Katherine Boo’s nonfiction masterpiece, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, hits the big screen in a live streamed National Theatre production directed by Rufus Norris. Peek behind the curtain of Mumbai’s luxury travel industry to discover the ambitions of a bevy of slum dwellers: From garbage-trading homemaker Zehrunisa to scholarly Manju to scheming thieves […]