PICK: Macbeth

Back to the Bard: Shakespeare knew something about quarantines, having lived through several during the plagues of the early 1600s. The urge to break out is palpable as American Shakespeare Center launches its season with safely distanced, outside performances that encompass the Bard’s work in tragedy, history, and comedy, starting with Macbeth. Actor-manager Chris Johnston […]

PICK: Featured Farmers Friday

Dish the dirt: Your Friday wine downs just got better. On select dates throughout the spring and summer, local growers will be at Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards for Featured Farmers Friday, a pop-up mini farmer’s market paired with a farm-to-table dining option. It’s an opportunity to get some quality time with area farmers such […]

PICK: Zen at Swannanoa

Mountain pose: If you’ve been doing YouTube yoga while squeezed between your couch and TV, you might need a change of scenery. Zen at Swannanoa offers a wild alternative to your living room flow. The class is held at the Swannanoa mansion, built by millionaire Virginia lawyer James Dooley in 1912 and styled after Rome’s […]

PICK: Gallery Rally

Art bargain: One of the best bangs for your art world buck is the annual Gallery Rally, when more than 20 local artists create work on site to be purchased to support Second Street, one of the oldest nonprofit contemporary art spaces in central Virginia. Book an appointment and score an original piece from Michael […]

Whip it good

By Alana Bittner I’m cooking along with local chef Janey Gioiosa’s “A Kind (of) Cooking Show” on YouTube, and get halfway through the video before I realize I’ve overlooked something on the list of ingredients—yeast. This recipe is a brave choice for me. As far as I’m concerned, pretzels come from Auntie Anne’s at the […]

Quarantine creativity begins to show

David Wax Museum Euphoric Ouroboric, Mark of the Leopard As David Wax Museum, the husband/wife duo of David Wax and Suz Slezak have churned out studio albums brimming with their unique blend of Mexo-Americana whimsy for 14 years. In 2019, their debut label release, Line of Light, garnered the Charlottesville pair a performance on “CBS […]

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 […]