ARTS Pick: The Taming of the Shrew

Verona gentleman Petruchio attempts to turn headstrong Katherina into an obedient bride in Shakespeare’s ultimate battle of the sexes, The Taming of the Shrew. The American Shakespeare Company goes beyond the main comedy with the Bard’s Induction, creating a play within a play as drunken tinker Christopher Sly is duped into believing himself a nobleman […]

Film review: Paul Thomas Anderson breaks down Inherent Vice

When a movie is as challenging and divisive as Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice, the two reviews to be wary of are the dismissal on grounds of incoherence, and overwhelming praise, full of heady analysis that is itself incoherent. Both approaches make use of the passive voice—“impossible to understand” instead of […]

ARTS Pick: Left & Right

The (now Philly-based) group Left & Right spent its formative years on the streets of Charlottesville, where all four members worked as city transit bus drivers and shared road stories after work. Those long days in the driver’s seat might explain the band’s affinity for the high energy, grunge addled tunes that it calls “working […]

Crystal baller: What can C’ville music fans expect to see in 2015?

When I sat down to think about the best concerts I saw in 2014, the only events that came to mind were disappointments. Don’t get me wrong. There were highlights. Joe Pug got intimate at the Southern. Shovels and Rope entranced the Jefferson. But by and large, the most highly anticipated events of the year […]

ARTS Pick: Miss Massive Snowflake

When the weather outside gets frightful, you might not be eager to curl up in front of a band called Miss Massive Snowflake, but Shane de Leon’s witty contemporary pop tunes of love, family and loss of trust make for some truly heartwarming, emotive storytelling. With quirky simplicity and moody, sometimes psychedelic lyrics, the Portland, […]

ARTS Pick: Bowie, Bolan and Blondie

Time warp your way back to the 1970s and the golden age of glam rock with Bowie, Bolan and Blondie, a triple tribute featuring all local bands. The multi-talented Thomas Dean (left) leads The Jean Jeanies through David Bowie’s expansive, psychedelic discography; Harrisonburg-formed septet P. Dactyl revives the classic hits of T. Rex; and Sunday […]

January First Fridays Guide

  First Fridays is a monthly art event featuring exhibit openings at many Downtown art galleries and additional exhibition venues. Several spaces offer receptions. Listings are compiled in collaboration with Piedmont Council for the Arts. To list an exhibit, please send information two weeks before opening to arts@c-ville.com. First Fridays: January 2, 2014. Batesville Market 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville. […]

ARTS Pick: The Black Candle

The award-winning Kwanzaa documentary, The Black Candle, will be screened as part of the annual heritage celebration. The film, narrated by poet Maya Angelou, tells the history of Kwanzaa and includes well-known sports, music and arts leaders who explore the African-American experience as it relates to seven founding principles (unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, […]