Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike was one of the most pleasant surprises of 2012, with a muscle-centric marketing campaign that no doubt sold tickets but failed to notify audiences that this film was actually the work of a master director at the top of his game. Stylistically impressive, tonally sophisticated beyond its straightforward narrative with a […]
Ever notice how many artists call attention to negative space? The white of the canvas unobscured by paint. The breath on all sides of a published poem, each word a drop in the frame of the page. What goes unsaid. What goes unseen. The elevation of objects flying under the radar to the forefront of […]
Trent Wagler is a storyteller. The Steel Wheels front man tells stories when he’s writing songs. He tells stories when he’s on stage. And he tells a ripping story about the genesis of the Red Wing Roots Festival. Wagler says he and his three bandmates, standup bass player Brian Dickel, fiddler Eric Brubaker and mandolin […]
Camelot may be a silly place, but the trademark tongue-in-cheek humor of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gillam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin has kept audiences coming back for over 40 years. Lovingly ripped off from the cult classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python’s Spamalot puts the British troupe’s iconic […]
Friday, July 3 Keith Morris and the Crooked Numbers An original singer-songwriter with deep roots in the South. He plays on the lively feelings of rock ‘n’ roll and the desire to road trip in an old convertible through dusty and sprawling roads. Free, 5:30pm. nTelos Wireless Pavilion, 700 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. The […]
Jason Isbell Something More than Free/Thirty Tigers “Are you living the life you chose? / Or are you living the life that chose you?” These two lines aptly sum up the tone of Jason Isbell’s latest release. This electrifying collection of 11 songs is loaded with palpable tension between being held captive by something (or […]
Every summer, Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall floods with a subtle siege: opera singers, orchestra members and technical crew members from all over the country. Unlike participants in traveling productions, they arrive to co-create a few gem-like original performances, shows that debut at The Paramount Theater under the direction (and extended logistical planning) of Ash Lawn Opera. […]
If Ted 2 proves anything, it’s that Seth MacFarlane cannot be trusted with his own success. MacFarlane—a demonstrably talented, funny and often thoughtful individual—has a nasty habit of doing something fun and original that connects with critics and audiences, only to capitalize on his success with vanity projects that rely more on smugness and self-satisfaction […]
Local poet Judy Longley often feels like she’s drowning in words. After years of letting her poetry consume her, she’s learning how to revel in silence with a new skill set and a new name. Working as Juliet Da Luiso, Longley unleashes her joy and curiosity in highly abstract oil paintings rather than verses or stanzas. […]
Best known for the love story of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare did not stop there. Antony and Cleopatra, one of his last romantic plays, is an epic unravelling of life and death, passion and hatred, filtered through peace and war in a narrative that circles the lives of two prominent figures during the dictatorship of Octavius […]