ARTS Pick: Nick Vatterott

The L.Y.A.O Comedy Showcase has made Charlottesville a more frequent option for smaller tours featuring up-and-coming comics. Nick Vatterott is one of them, and though you may not recognize him by name, chances are, you will soon. Vatterott’s comedy is quick and sharp, and he utilizes his improv experience on stage, acting out stories and […]

ARTS Pick: Our Town

Four County Players, in collaboration with the Hamner Theater, rekindles the neighborly drama and simple charm of last-century Americana in its production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Our Town. Thornton Wilder’s play within a play showcases the appeal of everyday lives made extraordinary through observation, and remains exceedingly popular as it approaches its 80th anniversary. Through […]

ARTS Pick: Lewis Black

Known for animated, angry facial expressions and loud, rambling rants, Lewis Black has emerged at the forefront of satirical, political comedy. Black’s been a regular on “The Daily Show” as well as starring in a number of his own comedy specials including “Black on Broadway” and “The Root of All Evil,” the latter in which […]

ARTS Pick: Fight Night

Exercise your freedom of speech and love for the arts in a unique dramatic performance when Live Arts’ Fight Night places control in the audience’s hands—literally. Viewers determine the outcome of the play by voting with a handheld transmitter as five actor/contestants duke it out onstage in an innovative production that challenges beliefs and stimulates […]

ARTS Pick: The Mountaintop

Accomplished playwright Katori Hall left her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee to earn degrees from Columbia, Harvard and The Juilliard School, and then returned artistically in the 2009 London-based production of The Mountaintop to ponder the final hours of the life of Martin Luther King Jr. When the maid arrives with coffee in the Reverend’s dingy, diminutive motel […]

ARTS Pick: The Addams Family

Sure, they’re altogether ooky, but can Gomez and Morticia carry a tune? Find out this weekend when the Albemarle High School Players bring The Addams Family musical to the stage. Based on Charles Addams’ gleefully macabre New Yorker cartoons, which also inspired a TV series and two movies, the show will have you snapping along […]

Dream life: Fielding Pierce Biggs’ glamorous runway celebration

Fielding Pierce Biggs was 12 years old when he got his first dress form mannequin. He picked it out while on a family trip to St. Louis and began draping fabric over it while still in the store. “I remember draping the fabric and having my mind blown. I felt like I could do anything,” […]

ARTS Pick: The Firebird

Immerse yourself in the classic dance spectacle story of The Firebird in a special adapted production by Charlottesville Ballet featuring 20 professional local dancers and over 50 area students. Originally choreographed and set to music by Igor Stravinsky more than a century ago, this ballet follows the romance of Prince Ivan and Princess Katerina, brought together […]

ARTS Pick: Mother Bombie

Mother Bombie is an Elizabethan comedy that tells the timeless story of parents’ fruitless efforts in matchmaking. Plans go awry when two couples are caught in the middle of an arranged marriage scheme. The roller coaster plot features disguises, servant’s antics, awkward teen love and a shocking reveal. With snappy one-liners like, “You must, for […]

ARTS Pick: Behind the Beautiful Forevers

Pulitzer Prize winner Katherine Boo’s nonfiction masterpiece, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, hits the big screen in a live streamed National Theatre production directed by Rufus Norris. Peek behind the curtain of Mumbai’s luxury travel industry to discover the ambitions of a bevy of slum dwellers: From garbage-trading homemaker Zehrunisa to scholarly Manju to scheming thieves […]