CULTURE Arts

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the latest gem in a long line of family-pleasing productions from the Black Box Players and its founder/director MaryAnne Thornton.

Such concerts are infrequent in Charlottesville, but are known to draw a small crowd of impassioned devotees, and are often among the best cultural events of the year, for those willing to step off the beaten path and bring a set of earplugs.

In short, covering the Grateful Dead’s music is not to be taken lightly. For many, these tunes are a religion. And the concert hall is the church. Although they may each tell it a bit differently, real devotees will all attest: there is a tangible magic that occurs at such gatherings.

The Twisted Branch team features a special booking of Mark Fosson, Daniel Bachman, and Nathan Bowles at Christ Episcopal’s Meade Hall.

No holiday season is complete without traditions, and the Paramount has formed a triple-bill to launch it big on “black Friday.”

It’s that time of year again when transparent Oscar fodder makes its way to the local theater. Generally speaking, that means the ratio of able-bodied actors playing physically disabled real-life figures increases, and we get movies such as The Sessions.

Brent Birnbaum’s “ …And Justice for Mall Of America” at Second Street Gallery suggests we leave our crack tennies and other cultural misnomers at the door. Bombarding the viewer with hundreds of potent cultural images, his searing and clever installation of contemporary Americana announces the territory of the deal.

The life of a musician might be interesting, exciting, and occasionally even glamorous, but it’s not the sort of career path that comes with health insurance or a dental plan. When working musicians have an illness or an injury, there isn’t always a way to pay for it.

The party pours in to the Jefferson on Thanksgiving Eve when Love Canon gets cookin.’ The band is celebrating the new release of Greatest Hits Vol. 2 Mixtape, and revelers can burn the dinner rolls early with hot harmonizin’, mandolin shreddin’, banjo rollin’, speed pickin’ interpretations of ZZ Top, Loverboy and other early ’80s MTV staples.

Ashley Florence’s show almost acts a patchwork quilt: the separate photographs stand as works in their own right, but lend to each other when viewed in succession. They form a sort of portrait of the artist as seen through her own lens, in addition to actual self-portraits that are part of the show.