Pick: Violet

An inspirational testament to the human spirit with toe-tapping music, Live Arts’ Violet follows a young woman’s journey in search of healing and transformation. In 1964, Violet embarks on a 900-mile Greyhound bus trip from North Carolina to Tulsa, where she hopes a televangelist preacher can pray away a grisly scar she received in a […]

Pick: Wild & Scenic Film Festival

Celebrate the beauty and wonder of the natural world at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival. With Representation Matters as a theme, this year’s lineup features films that spotlight underrepresented voices in the environmental and wilderness communities. Learn about the importance of the ancestral lands surrounding the general Nch’i-Wàna area from the short film Land […]

Pick: The Art in Life: Fashion Makeup

Wing your liner, set your powder, blot your lipstick, and explore the alluring artistry of makeup at The Art in Life: Fashion Makeup. Expert makeup artists share their industry insights, including D’angelo Thompson, who won an Emmy for his work on “The Wendy Williams Show,” Kaydee Kyle-Taylor, a Melbourne-based pro working with BIPOC models, and […]

Living under a Rock

Jordan Rock’s big brother has been a household name for the comedian’s entire life. That’s certainly had a significant effect on his still-burgeoning career as an actor and stand-up artist—but the Rock clan’s youngest member tries hard not to let Chris’ outsized influence define him.  “It’s definitely a balance. I’m still trying to figure it […]

Pick: Two Trains Running

The Charlottesville Players Guild continues its journey through August Wilson’s American Century Cycle with Two Trains Running. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play, set in 1960s Pittsburgh, follows restaurant owner Memphis Lee and his patrons and employees as they search for justice and love amidst a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. Leslie M. Scott-Jones directs a cast that includes […]

Pick: Randy Rainbow

Comedian, singer, and satirist Randy Rainbow hits the road for The Pink Glasses Tour, an evening filled with opulent costumes, stellar choreography, musical parody, and plenty of political spoofs. Rainbow’s memoir, Playing with Myself, landed him on The New York Times bestseller list, and his debut studio album, Hey Gurl, It’s Christmas!, debuted at number […]

Pick: American Authors

Chances are you’ve heard American Authors’ anthemic hit single, “Best Day of My Life.” The 2013 release went triple-platinum, and has been featured in over 600 movie trailers, TV shows, and commercials. In 2020, the New York-based rock band released Counting Down, a condensed album that continues the group’s evolution to a sound that’s recognizable […]

One music

The concert begins with a thunderous gong and booming timpani. As the intro song progresses, a guttural drone pulses, seemingly from beneath the audience’s feet, while the breathy undulation of a distant horn floats over the rumble. Audiences new to Bill Cole’s Untempered Ensemble may not immediately recognize what they’re hearing. That’s because they’re listening […]

Identity and magic

It feels like Carnival time at Second Street Gallery. Megan Marlatt’s vibrant paintings and eye-popping big head sculptures are on view and the space sings with boisterous energy. Festival themes loom large in her show entitled “Mummers,” and though Carnival doesn’t officially begin for a couple of months, its fall equivalent is happening right now. […]

Pill perspective

With a prime-time Virginia film fest screening at the Paramount Theater, the movie Stay Awake has made longtime Charlottesville resident Jamie Sisley an indie-festival darling again. Sisley first produced Stay Awake, which chronicles a family’s struggles with a mother’s addiction, in 2015 as an award-winning short. After securing Best Narrative Short honors at the Slamdance […]