Adding Machine: A Musical; Through May 12; Live Arts

Mr. Zero (played by Jon Cobb, right) counts on redemption in the afterlife in Live Arts’ production of Adding Machine, directed by Bree Luck. (Publicity photo) Recognizing that the gift of history clouds the past, I’ve often wondered why Elmer Rice’s allegorical play, The Adding Machine, is considered such a classic of modern theater. I […]

The Kid with a Bike; Not rated, 87 minutes; Vinegar Hill Theatre

Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s The Kid With A Bike stars Thomas Doret and Cécile De France in search of a heartful home. (Sundance Selects) Sibling Belgian filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne bring their customary immediacy and unsentimental compassion to this naturalistic fable of an innocently furious at-risk kid (Thomas Doret) who finds himself […]

“7 Days of Sex,” “2012 TV Land Awards,” “The Pitch”

  “7 Days of Sex” Thursday 10pm, Lifetime Think of this new documentary series as sexual intervention. Each episode features two married couples that have hit a sexual rough patch in their respective marriages. The show tasks them with having sex every day for a week, in the hopes that a healthy sexual relationship will […]

Arts Preview: Tedeschi and Trucks bring big band to the Pavilion

“It’s something my whole family will always remember.” Blues songstress Susan Tedeschi is talking about her late February performance at the White House, where she played for President Barrack Obama during a tribute to her genre alongside Mick Jagger, BB King, Buddy Guy and her husband, slide guitar wiz Derek Trucks.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi; PG, 81 minutes; Vinegar Hill Theatre

Lauded as the best sushi chef on the planet, Jiro Ono (left) defines the secrets of success in David Gelb’s documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. (Magnolia Pictures) One reason it’s so hard to get a table at Sukiyabashi Jiro, the unprepossessing sushi restaurant wedged beneath an office building just next to a Tokyo subway station, […]

“Jennie Garth: A Little Bit Country,” “Fox 25th Anniversary Special,” “Veep”

 “Jennie Garth: A Little Bit Country” Friday 9pm, CMT Jennie Garth—Kelly Taylor on “Beverly Hills, 90210”—has probably had the most consistent success of all her teen-soap castmates. After that show’s 10-season run she scored another regular gig on the sitcom “What I Like About You,” appeared on “Dancing with the Stars,” and then came back to […]

UVA ER nurse draws on performance experience to broaden minds

When Tim Cunningham went to UVA’s Rural Area Medical Clinic in Wise, Virginia, he was reminded of visits he had made to medical clinics as a member of Clowns Without Borders. “It blew my mind how this clinic in the richest country in the world was run like clinics in rural Africa and Asia,” he […]

Who/What/Wear: Charlottesville Street Style

I stopped BREE outside her workplace, Low Vintage, because her ’70s-inflected ensemble seemed too groovy to be true. Every piece, from head to boot, is Low Vintage. Bree looks to her older sister and nature for inspiration when getting dressed and finds that working with flowers at her second job (at Hedge Fine Blooms) helps […]

American Reunion; R, 113 minutes; Carmike Cinema 6

It’s a little unnerving how the American Pie movies are starting to add up to some kind of national sociology. With the latest, American Reunion, exuding a relaxed sense of duty, the whole franchise seems like the adolescent sex-farce equivalent of Michael Apted’s Up series 

“Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt 23,” “Girls,” “Eden’s World”

 “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt 23” Wednesday 9:30pm, ABC ABC continues its trend of ordering shows with controversial titles (see “Good Christian Bitches”) and then castrating them into near meaninglessness (which became “GCB”). The titular “B” of this new sitcom is played by Krysten Ritter, who you may remember as the lovely, doomed Jane […]