Yes mA’am: Tiger moms, dragon moms, best friend moms—no matter the style of parenting, when mama is happy, everyone is happy. Playwright/actress Courtney Jett Walker takes on a variety of approaches to motherhood in The Mom Journals, weaving together the monologues of five women in an original livestreamed play that reveals unity at the heart […]
Yes mA’am: Tiger moms, dragon moms, best friend moms—no matter the style of parenting, when mama is happy, everyone is happy. Playwright/actress Courtney Jett Walker takes on a variety of approaches to motherhood in The Mom Journals, weaving together the monologues of five women in an original livestreamed play that reveals unity at the heart […]
Ashon Crawley’s work as an artist begins with feeling. Growing up in a vibrant community of Blackpentecostalism, Crawley has a life perspective shaped by spirituality and rituals channeled through the body. He points to singing loudly, dancing, shouting, and speaking in tongues as influences in the way he expresses himself creatively, and these physical actions […]
By Deirdre Crimmins There is a nugget of wisdom within the silly 1996 Michael Keaton film Duplicity. When explaining why one Keaton clone is not as smart as the others, he quips, “You know how when you make a copy of a copy, it’s not as sharp as…well…the original.” Given that The Dig is an […]
Ridiculous history: Before there was Spamalot, there was Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The British comedy film crossed the pond in 1975 to become a box office hit in the U.S., while entering ridiculous quotes (“It’s just a flesh wound”) into the pop culture lexicon. The wacky retelling of King Arthur’s tale launched the […]
Cullen Wade considers himself a guest in the house of hip-hop. And he’s trying to make the most of his visit. Going by the name of Fellowman, the Charlottesville emcee recently dropped a new LP and performed it in its entirety during a late December Facebook livestream. The 12-track collection, Death of the Author, is […]
Solidarity in song: Raising voices and raising awareness since 1973, Sweet Honey in the Rock is an African American a cappella group with a broad range of performance credits, from “Sesame Street” to Carnegie Hall. With mesmerizing harmonies and gifted lyrical flow, the ensemble addresses civil rights, justice, equality, and freedom through gospel, blues, and […]
Hot licks: It would be a disservice to call Jorma Kaukonen anything other than rock royalty. The Washington, D.C., native is on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists list. He’s a founding member of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, has performed with Janis Joplin and Jerry Garcia, and still jams frequently with Phil Lesh. Kaukonen has […]
Whether they are willing to admit it or not, all documentaries make an argument. Michael Moore is never shy about voicing his opinions, while at the other end of the spectrum, Ken Burns frames his work as recording history. Some Kind of Heaven, the debut work from Lance Oppenheim, never shouts its thoughts from rooftops, […]
Two decades ago, Terésa Dowell-Vest embarked on a research project. After attending grad school in California, the actor and playwright set out to collect the oral histories of family and community members in her hometown of Charlottesville. The product of this research was 1999’s Vinegar Hill, a play named after the town’s once-thriving Black neighborhood. […]
Birthday Bowie: In the mid-’80s, a Jim Henson and George Lucas film collaboration was guaranteed to generate big buzz—tack on the casting of rock star/actor David Bowie, and the anticipation was palpable. The musical fantasy Labyrinth follows the journey of a teenage girl through a maze to rescue her baby brother. Other than Bowie and […]