ARTS Pick: The Pirates of Penzance

Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance brings the high seas into the theater as young Frederic battles a group of pirates that has been holding him in servitude. “You can’t really go wrong with pirates, and these happen to be particularly entertaining ones,” says director Colleen Kelly. The accompanying music is artfully arranged and […]

Offstage Theatre recasts The Maids as teenagers

Though Jean Genet’s 1947 play The Maids (Les Bonnes) is known as a sadomasochistic, cruel and absurd work, director Stephen Simalchik says he would describe his Offstage Theatre production as playful before he would call it dark. “Something that is only cruel or shocking I wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time on,” he […]

ARTS Pick: The Maids

Domestic roles and social identity form the nexus of Jean Genet’s The Maids, in which sisters in service mock, provoke and plot to murder their mistress. Offstage Theatre presents the spare, fast-paced drama starring Emma Strock (far left), Arrietta van der Voort (left) and Megan Hillary in a site–specific staging at a historic local home. […]

ARTS Pick: The Charlottesville Women’s Choir

Thirty-two years after an informal beginning, The Charlottesville Women’s Choir continues to perform in honor of its commitment to peace and justice. With minimal percussion, the a cappella group, comprised of 40 voices, soars to inspirational heights on songs such as “One” and “Born This Way,” and the tribute “Ruth Bader Ginsberg.” This year’s spring […]

Kyle Dunnigan brings cast of characters to the Southern

Craig Pullin, Deputy Trudy Wiegel’s bespectacled, slack-jawed boyfriend in the cult comedy “Reno 911!,” isn’t who fans thought he was. Pullin, played by comedian Kyle Dunnigan, is a serial-killing mastermind hiding behind a clueless veneer in both the Comedy Central half-hour sitcom and the feature film Reno 911!: Miami. But Dunnigan, who’ll perform at The […]

ARTS Pick: Pops at The Paramount

Experience the splendor of well-loved hits from film, theater and television with Pops at The Paramount, performed by the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia. The program, directed by Kate Tamarkin, includes John Lunn’s “Suite for Downton Abbey,” selections from John Williams’ score for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Arnold Schoenberg’s “I Dreamed […]

Fire in the Belly masters the art of dance

Belly dancer Joy Rayman loves to improvise during a performance. During a recent gig at McGuffey Art Center, she was completely absorbed in the music, snaking her arms and undulating her hips, when she felt her coin belt loosen. Not wanting to pause and interrupt the flow of the dance, she kept moving. The belt […]

Live Arts closes its anniversary season with Dreamgirls

Right now, there’s a debate raging about the American dream. What does it look like? Who is it for? And what will we sacrifice in order to achieve it? The debate itself isn’t new. Art has always asked these questions. And Live Arts offers a poignant example with Dreamgirls, which caps off the theater’s 25th […]

La Traviata pairs opera, chorus and emotional drama

Originally adapted by Giuseppe Verdi in 1853 from a play, La Dame aux Camélias, which itself had been adapted from Alexandre Dumas’ novel of the same name, La Traviata is beyond canonical. In fact, it is one of the most beloved and frequently performed operas of all time. Familiar as the material may be, Michelle […]