Every August, tens of thousands performers from all over the world flock to Edinburgh, Scotland, and transform the 102-square-mile medieval city into the world’s largest stage: the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Just about every space imaginable becomes a venue for more than 3,000 unique shows, says Charlottesville actor, director and producer Ray Nedzel, who has been […]
Every August, tens of thousands performers from all over the world flock to Edinburgh, Scotland, and transform the 102-square-mile medieval city into the world’s largest stage: the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Just about every space imaginable becomes a venue for more than 3,000 unique shows, says Charlottesville actor, director and producer Ray Nedzel, who has been […]
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 […]
McGuffey South Let’s consider for a moment John Rubino as the example of what an artist operating in the IX Art Park might look like. The fact that he is operating in the IX Art Park right now makes that a whole lot easier to do. Rubino designs and constructs large- and small-scale metal sculpture […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]