Margaret Cho is a dragonslayer of sorts. She’s had showdowns with drugs, alcoholism, weight, racism, and sexual discrimination which in turn resulted in activism, recovery, and a successful comedy career. Fearless and offensive behind the microphone, she crafts smart, shocking, sexually and politically charged humor that makes the audience squirm while they nod, cheer, guffaw, […]
Cardiff, Wales native Cate Le Bon burst onto the international scene as the opener for Gruff Rhys. She has since released a pair of critically acclaimed albums, become the darling of experimental folk-pop, and is currently on a 21-date, one-month tour of Europe and the U.S. With her soft accent and dark proclivities, she’s spooky, haunting, outright […]
Friday 10pm, TLC The televised dating show arguably peaked with “Joe Millionaire.” In case you forgot, that glorious 2003 Fox show featured an “everyday dude” (he was an aspiring model/actor) who acted as though he was wealthy in order to woo a bevy of would-be spouses. And at the end he told his chosen girl he […]
If you’ve been on the Mall much recently, you’ve likely come across The Madwoman Project. It’s hard to miss. Fifteen minutes or so before the show gets started, a pink-haired girl (Opal Lechmanski) can be found methodically sweeping the square created by the Third Street intersection. The subtlety of her peculiarity, her cobbled-together skirt, her Sisyphean […]
Here’s a neat idea: If your theater is running a modern classic and getting great turnout and lots of buzz, why not run the sequel? And heck, since the first cast was so good, just let them play the same roles in the sequel, and show them both in rep in case people didn’t see the […]
Full of sweet, lonely sentiment, made all the more accessible by his unique vocal delivery, David Gray is the perfect kind of pop singer, free of phony pretense and no pretender to the throne–as the arena-filling superstars begin to age themselves out of the vocation, he steps comfortably into the void. Sarah Jaffe opens. Thursday 9/20 $35-59, […]
The 3D re-release of Pixar’s 2003 undersea saga may or may not be a bid from director Andrew Stanton to make back some of the cash his John Carter lost at the box office. Or it may just be de rigueur for controlling partner and distributor Disney to slap a 3D stamp on its most […]
The college rock scene has no shortage of acoustic guitarists, so it is required of any polo-shirted crooner to bring something unique to the table—which is exactly why UVA alum Ben Arthur is getting some real buzz. His approach is two-fold: a mature process that has resulted in a poignant, experimental sound and a dogged […]
When The Whiskey Jar opened in February at the west end of the Downtown Mall, it came as something of a surprise. After all, Escafé had held down that spot for 17 years and several owners, before a recent relocation. Seven months later, The Whiskey Jar has become a reliable regular destination for many Mall-goers. […]
Gregg Gillis, a.k.a. Girl Talk, is unapologetic about his art. The former biomedical engineer spends hours, days, months listening, capturing, and cataloging the work of other musicians—storing up thousands of samples that he then repurposes into new genius like some mad scientist digital composer. As Girl Talk, he puts on aerobically charged, frenetic, live laptop […]