Taking the reins of an institution with deep community roots requires chutzpa, maybe even a little swagger, and in such situations, it is my understanding that the prevailing wisdom is to go big or go home. It does not appear that Live Arts’ new artistic director, Julie Hamberg, is headed home any time soon. Hamberg […]
Taking the reins of an institution with deep community roots requires chutzpa, maybe even a little swagger, and in such situations, it is my understanding that the prevailing wisdom is to go big or go home. It does not appear that Live Arts’ new artistic director, Julie Hamberg, is headed home any time soon. Hamberg […]
At 2am in Williamsburg, the motorcade is already warming up. It’s not an atypical start for His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. His schedule usually has him up at 3am for prayers and meditation. But today’s schedule is a bustling one, and His Holiness, his accompanying aides and representatives, and their police escort are racing down […]
Jason Pollock (former guitarist for grunge hitmakers Seven Mary Three) and his eponymous band of Albemarle-area musicians, carve out songs that sound like Tom Petty got his chocolate in The Smithereens’ peanut butter—resulting in familiar, flavorful tunes. The Pollocks roll out a new album, Life Of The Stars, and it crackles with the energy of […]
Raid your closet for those acid wash jeans and feather your hair back because the pop culture of the ’80s has come full circle. Naturally this requires a soundtrack, so Gordon Gartrell and Cru Jones, after hearing one too many bogus covers of their favorite decade, decided they weren’t gonna take it, gathered four similarly-minded […]
Barboursville’s eminent regional theater, Four County Players, is celebrating four solid decades of musicals, contemporaries, classics, 10-minute festivals, and all the various and delightful manifestations of staged drama with a one-weekend-only celebratory blowout, 40 and Fabulous. They’re bringing in some local heavy hitters to re-live the thrills in a musical revue: Jane Scatena, Joncey Boggs, […]
2011 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the 2012 recipient of the Best Play Tony Award, Bruce Norris’ dark comedy Clybourne Park centers on two families–one black and one white–buying the same house in 1959 and 2009, respectively. Crafted as a response to the 1959 Lorraine Hansberry play, A Raisin In The Sun, it […]
Tenzin Gyatso, better known as His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, will stop in Charlottesville on October 11 for a day of cultural events and a panel discussion that will culminate with a talk at the Pavilion supporting the thesis of his latest book, Beyond Religion: Ethics For a Whole World. A preview […]
The Festy Experience in Nelson County is a three-day musical gathering curated by The Infamous Stringdusters. Two members of the band live here in Charlottesville, guitarist Andy Falco and banjo player Chris Pandolfi, and I’m happy to call them friends. Before The Festy last week, I listened to Chris and Andy rehearse in the Pink Warehouse, Downtown, where […]
In Charlottesville, the arrival of fall means growing excitement for the Virginia Film Festival, one the finest annual events our city has to offer (Full disclosure: this writer was once an employee of the Virginia Film Festival.) This November marks the Festival’s 25th year, and as in past years, four of Charlottesville’s theaters, and many satellite locations, will dedicate four days to round-the-clock screenings and events.
Three of Jonathan Coleman’s four works of non-fiction are New York Times bestsellers, including the recent autobiography of basketball legend Jerry West, West By West: My Charmed, Tormented Life. Garnish his impressive career with an Edgar Allen Poe Award and you get the feeling of greatness in our midst. The prodigal UVA alum sits down […]