Pick: A Christmas Carol

If you’re feeling a little Grinchy, the American Shakespeare Center’s production of A Christmas Carol is sure to turn that frown upside down. The immersive show follows miserly Ebenezer Scrooge as he gets a visit from the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Audience members should arrive early so they have time to take […]

Pick: 15th Annual Xmas Jam

Deck the halls, throw back some eggnog, and cut loose at the 15th Annual Xmas Jam. The evening features a lineup of local musicians performing old favorites, new surprises, and holiday hits, and the gig benefits The Front Porch. Hosts Tucker Rogers and BJ Pendleton keep the festivities rolling between sets by Andy Waldeck, Joe […]

Shared experience

Untrained and subject to the dual, almost insurmountable, constraints of economics and Jim Crow, the artists on display in “Of Another Canon: African American Outsider Art” at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center possessed a creative fire. Despite cruelly stacked odds, Mozell S. Benson, Rudolph Bostic, Bessie Harvey, Anderson Johnson, Mary Proctor, Bernice Sims, […]

Pick: Holiday Music Series

Seasonal classics are revitalized with dazzling virtuosity and merry fervor at the Quirk’s Holiday Music Series. In this weekly installment, violinists Minchae Kim and SoHyun Ko, violist Jerome McCoy, and cellist Dilshod Narzillaev of the Heifetz International Music Institute perform a seasonal program. Highlights include glittering solo pieces, Baroque gems, chamber masterworks, and some special […]

Pick: National Anthem

One-hit-wonder Clint has fallen on hard times in National Anthem, a new full-length experimental feature from local filmmaker Will Goss. Through a blend of animation and live action, the movie follows Clint as he receives an email from another planet, Rena Lara, that asks him to come visit and write its national anthem. Goss, who […]

Put a twinkle in your eye

It’s officially the most wonderful time of the year, and what better way to celebrate than with festive holiday lights. Let There Be Light  PVCC’s annual outdoor exhibition returns for one night only on December 9, with light-filled artworks, performances, hot chocolate, and warm apple cider. lettherebelightpvcc.com Veritas Illuminated  Make it sparkle at an immersive […]

Young Spielberg 

Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans is a re-creation of the director’s early life—partly embroidered—that focuses mainly on his fixation with filmmaking. Overall, it’s a well-told story and a reminder of his gifts for cinematic storytelling, yet it suffers from detrimental lapses into sappiness and unsubtlety. The film opens on young Spielberg surrogate Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel […]

Double take

The exhibition “Power Play: Reimagining Representation in Contemporary Photography” at UVA’s Fralin Museum of Art brings together the work of multiple female artists as they deconstruct and condemn classic presentations of feminine identities in popular culture.  From the first moment that museum-goers enter the exhibition curated by Hannah Cattarin, Adriana Greci Green, and Laura Minton, […]

Pick: Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night

The streets of Charlottesville are alive with the sound of music at Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night, an interactive soundscape designed specifically to be heard outside during December. Bring your walking shoes and a speaker (phone, bluetooth, boombox) for a luminous promenade through downtown Charlottesville. Each participant will play one of four tracks, creating a moving […]

Pick: Women in Film

The Indie Short Film Series returns with the Women in Film edition, bringing a new slate of stellar flicks to the big screen. This installment features up to seven domestic and international shorts, written or directed by women from a variety of genres. Stick around after the credits for a panel discussion with the filmmakers […]