Four years ago, former White House chief photographer Pete Souza wouldn’t have imagined he’d be the subject of a documentary and an Instagram superstar. “We hadn’t elected Donald Trump four years ago,” reminds Souza in a phone interview. Three years and 10 months ago, that had changed. Souza began posting photos of former President Barack […]
For the win: Playwright Shelby Edwards explores the conflicting emotions attached to her native Charlottesville in Lost Home, Win Home. Through the intricate thinking of a chess master, Edwards reconstructs the trauma of the Unite the Right/Neo-Nazi rally that took place here on August 12, 2017. Her expertly delivered solo performance strikes at the heart […]
Action shots: Photographer Lola Flash’s art and activism are inextricably connected. For decades her work in genderqueer visual politics has challenged stereotypes and preconceptions about gender, sex, and race. Her exhibition “salt” is part of the Seeing Black: Disrupting the Visual Narrative Speaker Series, and captures women who are over 70 and still thriving in their […]
Biting humor: If you’ve been binge-watching TV over the last eight months (and really, who hasn’t?), you probably have a “Fleabag” story. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s clever, outrageous, sex comedy-drama had everyone talking about their own relatable experiences when it jumped from an award-winning one-woman play in London to an Emmy-sweeping Amazon Prime series in 2019. See the […]
Butcher Brown #KingButch (Concord Jazz) Butcher Brown has a lot to celebrate. The Richmond quintet was recently tapped by ESPN to record an updated version of Little Richard’s “Rip It Up” as the new theme song for “Monday Night Football.” On the heels of that opportunity, the group made its major label debut on Concord […]
In a year defined by wild new perspectives—on health, on risk, on human separation and connectedness—images have played a central role. Photos of people in crowds or isolation are newly fraught, and as we gather virtually, the visual appearance of other humans on-screen has become a startling, imperfect social lifeline. Sanjay Suchak’s photography show at […]
Due to our need for social distancing, the 33rd annual Virginia Film Festival looks a little different this year, but organizers say that shouldn’t deter anyone from exploring the 50-plus offerings of virtual screenings, conversations, and drive-in movies. UVA Vice Provost for the Arts and Director of the Virginia Film Festival, Jody Kielbasa says his […]
Fresh air perspectives: As cooler temps make our time outside more tolerable, the Outdoor Film Series will enrich our minds with shorts, films, and documentaries by filmmakers of color in collaboration with Light House Studio, Vinegar Hill Theatre, and McGuffey Art Center. The theme of the second installment is Waiting for Answers: Meditations on Existence, […]
Writer’s treat: Have some hot licks that need lyrics? Feeling all the feels but can’t articulate them in a song? With hundreds of credits on dozens of albums, folk singer-songwriter Dar Williams knows a thing or two about penning a tune. In the virtual workshop Writing a Song that Matters, Williams offers insights from the […]
Ray Pile sings “The Good Old Song” as he drives. He gives you a verbal tour of his college glory days as you cruise past the Corner. He lectures you on Cavaliers’ basketball history while you’re stuck at a stoplight. He sounds like your everyday UVA-obsessed Charlottesville Uber driver. But in this case, he’s actress […]
Like the movement it depicts, The Glorias cares so deeply for its subject that it persists through all obstacles and missteps, because where it’s going is worth the struggle. It’s overlong but it’s passionate. It’s uneven but it’s determined. It ultimately ties itself too neatly to a specific moment in recent history, but it’s a […]
The fest of us: The Festy made its name by pairing killer music with killer views, and this time around the organizers have reinvented it in a beautiful setting where strict COVID safety measures can be taken. The musical experience is spread out through socially distanced small-group seating and a series of show dates, with […]
Plays together: The Front Porch continues its Save the Music series with an all-in-the-family edition featuring John and Chris Kelly. The father-son team appeared together on John’s recent release In Between, a collection of rock and folk songs that reflect on social justice issues as well as the importance of family bonds. Chris’ six-member, alt-rock […]
Some study history through hieroglyphics or bone fragments. Nancy Siegel looks at what we ate, and the political statements food made about the fledgling American nation during the 18th and 19th centuries. Every school child learns about the Boston Tea Party and the dumping of highly taxed tea into Boston Harbor. Not so well known […]
Rewarding harvest: A salad of autumn lettuces and herbs, Asian pear, toasted pecans, and Surryano ham crisp with nectarine vinaigrette. Empanadas made from Caromont chevre, butternut squash, and heirloom apples. It’s harvest time in the Blue Ridge, and the menu for Food From Our Farms: 2020 Edition features the bounty of the season while honoring […]
A Renaissance man as well as a Renaissance scholar, David Summers uses his vast knowledge to explore light physically and from a philosophical standpoint. “David Summers: Nothing but Light” at Les Yeux du Monde examines the artist’s continued preoccupation with the visual topic that has been at the center of his artistic output for decades. […]
The difference between a nice story and a beautiful one is in the way it’s told. When a retired opera director starts losing his memory, and his son creates a play about a child who invents a time machine so his father can relive great moments from his past, that’s a nice story. When the […]
Writer’s digest: Notable biographer Carl Rollyson has covered a range of remarkable lives in his work, from Marilyn Monroe, Lillian Hellman, and Norman Mailer to Susan Sontag, Sylvia Plath, and Walter Brennan. He completes a two-part bio with The Life of William Faulkner Volume 2: This Alarming Paradox, 1935-1962, and celebrates Faulkner’s birthday with a […]
Who is the city of Leesburg, Virginia, named after? If you answered Robert E. Lee, you may need to study up. If, however, you said the city is named for Thomas Lee, an ancestor of the well-known Confederate general, you’d be a good candidate to play Triviappolis Treasures, a travel-based trivia app created by University […]
Nearly a decade ago, a traveling troupe of musicians was midway through its set at the now-demolished Random Row Books in Charlottesville when the power went out. While darkness settled over the crowd, the band continued its performance undeterred, with no noticeable change in sound. That’s because the group’s set-up was running on a bike-powered […]
Seeing purple: As the Cold War and McCarthyism were dominating headlines in the mid-20th century, another cultural persecution was taking place covertly in tandem with the Red Scare. Jefferson-Madison Regional Library and the University of Virginia’s LGBT Committee present a screening of The Lavender Scare, a documentary narrated by Glenn Close that tells the story […]
Moving through it: Edwin Roa of Zabor Dance is not letting the coronavirus get in the way of getting together. The dance instructor is, from a distance, teaching couples who are distanced from other pairs at Zoiree. Partners can move to salsa, bachata, cha-cha and tango in a safety-minded outdoor setting with limited numbers. $40 […]
Ida Mitchell Puffenbarger wasn’t an artist. If she had any inclination, she likely didn’t have the time. With the bulk of her days spent cleaning, cooking, caring for her family, and attending church, she also didn’t mix with people outside her religious community of Old German Baptist Brethren. She dressed plainly and, like the other […]