Lightening up

Of all the changes COVID has brought to the arts world, one of the most significant has been to big-screen entertainment. Charlottesville theaters and moviemakers have done their best to adapt, whether it’s drive-in film festivals or rent-a-theater evenings, but the pandemic has undeniably sped up the trend of people consuming entertainment alone and on […]

The American dream-pop

Stray Fossa’s “Commotion” is a warm, upbeat indie jaunt—a glassy melody pings away over an active drum track while far-off vocals give the whole thing a touch of the surreal. The tune clocks in at under three minutes, but that was enough to catch the attention of NYC-based talent scout Matt Salavitch in mid-2018. Salavitch […]

PICK: The Wandering

Break out: Part visual album, part queer drama, and part live experience, The Wandering is a new way of experiencing theatrical art. Created by Charlottesville native and Albemarle High School alum Jeremy Weiss, the production is inspired by the music of Franz Schubert, and uses a queer lens to examine the love and pain that […]

PICK: Like Water For Chocolate

Hot chocolate: Food nourishes the magical realism in the 1992 international sensation Like Water For Chocolate. When Tita is forbidden from marrying her true love Pedro due to her place in the family lineage, he marries her older sister. Tita becomes a cook, and channels her undying passion for her brother-in-law into meals with special […]

PICK: Mother’s Day Market

Mom genes: Did Mother’s Day sneak up on you like a helicopter parent? Instead of searching for a last-minute gift, take mom to Craft Cville’s third annual outdoor Mother’s Day Market, where she can choose from an array of goods from local artisans and vintage curators. Savor a piece of cake from Sliced while perusing […]

Baby bonding

The world is always changing, and the stories we tell need to change with it. While the circumstances in Together Together might feel like a modern phenomenon, the emotions and connections within it are timeless. The film begins with Anna (Patti Harrison) meeting Matt (Ed Helms) for the first time. This is not your typical […]

Slinging mud

Visitors to the new Mudhouse Coffee Roasters shop on 10th Street may find themselves unsure they’re in a Mudhouse location at all. The striking, sleek space is a departure from the more rustic approach proprietors John and Lynelle Lawrence have taken alongside their design team at Formwork Architecture for their previous cafés. According to John […]

Home stage

By Haines Eason Working from home. Telehealth. Online shopping. Which pandemic trends will remain, and which will fade? Charlottesville native Kate Lambert, a comedian whose resume includes The Second City and Chicago Improv act The Katydids (which sold the hit “Teachers” to TV Land), is part of something that producer Jill Paiz-Bourque of the livestream […]

PICK: And the VIII Journeyed

Journey by foot: Keith Lee now calls central Virginia home, but his teaching and choreography work began at New York’s storied High School of Performing Arts, and was followed by decades of dance artistry everywhere from the American Ballet Theatre to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. As artist laureate, resident choreographer, and director of diversity […]

PICK: New Works Festival

Take a listen: With a pivot to podcasts, UVA Drama’s New Works Festival is all ears this year. The fifth annual student-run fest offers five short audio pieces (including one musical), which will be streamed on WTJU. Faculty mentors Dave Dalton and Doug Grissom realized audio dramas were a creative solution to replace the currently […]