High-seas calamities

Mistaken identities, stowaways, high society, and lovelorn bachelors abound in Anything Goes, the raucous musical that takes place on a luxury ocean liner. Among the cast of wacky characters is an evangelist-turned-nightclub singer, a gangster and his moll, and an upper-crust lord and his intended, who all make matches and enemies aboard the S.S. American. […]

Trapdoors, from both sides now

Something enchanting happens when we cross the threshold between illusion and what lies behind it. That’s a fancy way of saying that I’m a sucker for a behind-the-scenes experience. I’ve always been a huge theater fan, to the point of becoming the president of my high school’s International Thespian Society chapter. As you can imagine, […]

All is Apathetic in Love & War

A love triangle plays out in All is Apathetic in Love & War, an immersive opera from Mexican American composer Nathan Felix that utilizes space, movement, and acoustics in unconventional ways. Brothers Evander and Santiago (baritone Ryan Davis and tenor Vaughan Jones II) vie for the indifferent Ophelia’s heart (soprano Jenna Grissom) while navigating trauma […]

Symphonic Masquerade

Treat yourself to one last fright at the Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra’s Symphonic Masquerade: An Evening of Specters, Spirits, and Spies. The suspense-filled concert ranges from classic to Broadway, and film to television soundtracks. Enjoy hors d’oeuvres before settling in for hair-raising renditions of compositions from Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, Mussorgky’s Night on Bald Mountain, […]

August in October

When the final showing of King Hedley II wraps at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, the Charlottesville Players Guild will have strode through the entire 20th century on one stage. Dozens of actors will have stepped into the lives of characters generations apart, some even reprising their roles across multiple plays. And audiences […]

A New Wonder

The Early Access Music Project embodies the musicality and choreography of the 18th century in A New Wonder: The Leading Ladies of Baroque Dance and Music. Through her authentic dancing, Julia Bengtsson brings to life four notable women of the time: French ballerina Marie-Thérèse de Subligny, English dancer and actress Hester Santlow, French musician Élisabeth […]

Constellations

When you fall in love in the multiverse, the possibilities for heartbreak and happy endings are endless. Four County Players’ Constellations follows a beekeeper (Amy Dawn Hamburger) and a physicist (Reed Willard) as they meet at a party. Maybe they hit it off and grab a drink—or maybe they don’t, and they go their separate […]

A fine pairing

The theme of Anton Chekhov’s 1898 play Uncle Vanya is captured by two words in the title of Aaron Posner’s 2015 adaptation: life sucks. That message won’t have audiences leaving the theater downhearted, however, when Live Arts kicks off its 33rd season with a concurrent run of Uncle Vanya and Life Sucks. Even if the […]

Urinetown: The Musical

When you gotta go, you gotta go—unless a 20-year drought has led to a government ban on private toilets and a proliferation of paid public toilets owned and operated by a single megalomaniac company: the Urine Good Company. Such is life in Four County Players’ Urinetown: The Musical, a fast-paced comedic romp that follows a […]

Dear Jack, Dear Louise

Two strangers meet by letter and fall in love in award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack, Dear Louise. Set during World War II—and inspired by Ludwig’s parents’ real-life courtship—Army captain Jack Ludwig and aspiring showgirl Louise Rabiner prove that time, distance, and war are no match for determined hearts. Jeffrey Meanza directs, and Suzannah Herschkowitz, […]