A lot of indie singer-songwriters stop in Charlottesville on their tours, and many of them are not to my taste. So when I discovered that Rory Scovel was coming to town, I was reasonably certain I was in for another acoustic guitar-picking, overly emotive turnip. To my delight, I was completely wrong. You may be […]
A lot of indie singer-songwriters stop in Charlottesville on their tours, and many of them are not to my taste. So when I discovered that Rory Scovel was coming to town, I was reasonably certain I was in for another acoustic guitar-picking, overly emotive turnip. To my delight, I was completely wrong. You may be […]
Artist Philip Geiger, who taught painting at the University of Virginia for more than 30 years, depicted how things appear to the eye as opposed to reproducing how they appear physically. His perceptual approach was augmented by a deep understanding of art history, imbuing his paintings with weight and power. Geiger spent his life perfecting […]
Joe Pug takes the craft of songwriting seriously. That’s heard in his catalog—now seven albums and two EPs deep—filled with thought-provoking lyrics but also gleaned throughout the 300-plus episodes of his podcast, “The Working Songwriter.” On the interview-based show, Pug largely avoids artistic pretense and romance—instead he dives deep into the labor of being an […]
Celebrating three decades of fusing Irish and global dance, Grammy-winning music, and stunning stage shows, Riverdance 30: The New Generation rejuvenates the original show with innovative choreography and costumes. Act 1, “A Primitive & Powerful World,” deals with ancestral peoples coming to terms with the world and with themselves through negotiations with elemental powers. In […]
A star-studded tribute, You Got Gold: A Celebration of John Prine marries behind-the-scenes stories and interviews with performances of classic songs to honor the late legendary singer-songwriter. Filmed in 2022 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, the concert event portion of the documentary features icons of the Americana scene paying their respects, including Brandi Carlile, Tyler Childers, […]
Shakespeare’s most tangled love triangle comes to the stage with Twelfth Night, or What You Will. In a narrative where nothing is quite as it seems, shipwrecked noblewoman Viola dons drag and finds herself at the center of amorous shenanigans. Mistaken identities, wild parties, forged love letters, and yellow stockings feature prominently in this performance, […]
Every time a period film comes on, I bemoan that community dances are no longer a thing. I love dancing and find there are not enough opportunities to dance in the company of others (especially now that I’ve entered my midlife renaissance). While clubs were fun back in the day, I recently sought a different […]
“You can’t say nothing bad about August Wilson,” says actor/playwright/director David Vaughn Straughn. Nor does he have any plans to. The director of Live Arts’ acclaimed 2022 production of Dominique Morisseau’s Pipeline is back at Live Arts for a one-night-only staging of Wilson’s one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned. Created late in Wilson’s […]
There’s a hot spot on the low down popping up with a real keen twist: top-notch picture-makers producing masterpieces at lightning speed on site, and selling ’em right then and there. A little birdy said they call it the Gallery Rally: Second Street Speakeasy! You wanna buy art from one of the best in town […]
The fourth annual Odds and Ends Film Festival celebrates the poetic, personal, and political perspectives addressed by emerging filmmakers and creators who work outside of commercial structures. Embracing the experimental and unexpected, the programming plays out over two days, and includes Q&A sessions with filmmakers, and installations of multimedia artworks. A live performance by James […]