A lack of new ideas and a surplus of sincerity are not typically good qualities in a comedy. Just think of how forced and unearned the last 20 minutes of any Happy Madison movie are: “I know I’m a slob who screwed everything up while being distractingly racist and homophobic along the way. But I […]
Dance the night away to acoustic blues that swing from Elizabeth Wise and the Shoo Flies. Richmond native Wise updates old classics with funky folk overtones and her smooth vocals run the gamut from soothing to tearing down the bar. This is heat that you can’t escape, so kick your boots up to rollicking original […]
“I don’t really like going on trips,” said Laura Snyder, standing among half-painted maps and other travel miscellany in her second-floor studio at The Haven. “When I go somewhere I like to be able to just stay. I’m a one-way ticket kind of girl.” A New City Arts’ artist-in-residence, Snyder was in the midst of […]
“That sounds great, Leah,” a passing stage hand calls. “Are they going to let you use that in the show?” “No, but I wish,” Leah Partridge shrugs, then laughs. The strangely ethereal combination of the banjo, Partridge’s sweet soprano voice, and her sandals tapping the floor as she moves through the empty school hallway embody […]
Accomplished local jazz musician John D’earth says people get too hung up on what is music and what isn’t music. Kids, for example, don’t need to play an instrument properly to be making music. They just need to be making noise. If you’re too square for that jive, Suzanne Thorpe and Bonnie Jones are ready […]
When she’s not talking about country music on her own local radio show, Ashley McMillen is whipping up tunes that get boots clickin’ and brass buckles swayin’. Born in the hills of West Virginia, the Southern songbird embraces classic country using traditional instruments and heartfelt lyrics to capture the essence of the genre. McMillen carved […]
Nothing defines America’s pop music culture quite like rock ‘n’ roll, and no local outfit rocks out quite like the Kings of Belmont. In the midst of a summer schedule that takes them up and down the east coast, KOB turns inland for a brief holiday homecoming to jam with friends and family in the […]
The winner of 2002’s Tony Award for best musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, kicks off the Heritage Theatre Festival in retro fashion. The show follows Millie, a wide-eyed Midwestern farm girl-turned-flapper, through a series of misadventures in New York City’s Jazz Age. Big city lights and Big Apple nights set the stage for this fish-out-of-water story […]
If you, like my quads, grimace at the thought of a fifty-minute cycle class, Megan Bent will blow your mind. The 32 year-old photographer recently completed an 8-day, 525 mile-long bike tour along the Pacific Coast Highway 1. She also has one of the nearly 100 forms of arthritis, an autoimmune disease that causes chronic […]
There are so many bad movies out there that it’s not reasonable to suggest Transformers: Age of Extinction is the worst movie ever made. It’s entirely reasonable, however, to suggest it’s the dumbest movie ever made. It’s also criminally dull, but designed to feel exciting. Here are five examples that make the latest Transformers flick […]