U2, with Muse; Scott Stadium; Thursday, October 1

“My body’s now a begging bowl,” Bono sang at the end of U2’s two-and-a-half hour show, “that’s begging to get back, begging to get back to my heart, to the rhythm of my soul.” It’s the classic U2 lyric, merging social issues (poverty) and world culture (Third World) with intimacy and personal yearning. And in […]

Play time with Clinton Johnston

The cast of Othello is working at the 12th Street Taphouse. Desdemona watches her tables, brings burgers and pints of beer to customers. Roderigo, the man secretly in love with Desdemona, glances her way every so often as he manages the bar. More than once, Montano—the former governor of Cyprus, before Othello took charge—storms into […]

Twenty years of local news and arts in the spotlight

“If music be the food of love, play on,” says Orsino in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a local production of which we praised in 2007 for its direction, musical numbers and actors—one of whom happens to be the subject of this week’s cover story. Local thespian Clinton Johnston is directing the Four County Players in Othello […]

Celebration; Madonna; Warner Bros.

“Who’s That Girl?” Seriously? Thirty-six songs on the two-disc version of Madonna’s otherwise groovy, career-spanning greatest hits compilation, Celebration, and she includes “Who’s That Girl?” If you’re going to bother with that largely forgettable movie soundtrack, why not include the vaguely danceable “Commotion,” instead? Upon further consideration, maybe it’s a wise number to include—if not […]

Deborah Eisenberg nabs MacArthur grant

When Ben Marcus reviewed UVA professor Deborah Eisenberg’s most recent collection of short fiction, 2006’s Twilight of the Superheroes, he characterized the 63-year-old Eisenberg as a sort of archaeologist of American domestic secrets. “Eisenberg has given us these remarkable stories,” wrote Marcus, “machines of perfect revelation deftly constructed by a contemporary master.” UVA professor Deborah […]

Shooting Ace

The world is getting to be a pretty scary place, Ace. I don’t know how I’m supposed to protect myself, for example, from the type of person who would carry an assault rifle to a presidential speech. Or in the event of the zombie apocalypse, which is also starting to look pretty likely. Where can […]