When New York-based comedian and actress Ashley Gavin met Jerry Seinfeld, she asked him when he last bombed a show. Seinfeld’s answer? “At a party last New Year’s Eve.” “I bombed a show last week. Everybody bombs,” Gavin says. “People think it stops happening.” She feels less likely to fall flat when performing stand-up comedy […]
On Sometimes Just the Sky, Mary Chapin Carpenter takes measure of her 30-year career through fresh renditions of songs from her original studio albums. Carpenter curated gems from her catalog that reflect her soul and trace the evolution of her songwriting, from award-winning country music to the intelligent folk-pop and orchestral collaborations that currently define […]
What’s so unusual about an American hip-hop duo that has shared stages with Kanye West, Aerosmith, and Tom Petty, and collaborated with Wu-Tang Clan, Wyclef Jean, and Alicia Keys? It’s that Kev Marcus plays the violin and Wil B. plays the viola. Performing as Black Violin, the pair defines the genre they call classical boom […]
“Half of the people are stoned / and the other half are waiting for the next election. / Half the people are drowned / and the other half are swimming in the wrong direction.” This quatrain may bring a contemporary alternative-rock song or spoken-word critique on the political climate to mind, [...]
Through his unique gift of gab, Eddie Izzard can deliver off-color punchlines and move on to European politics without skipping a beat. In celebration of his 2017 memoir, Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens, Izzard takes the stage to reflect on childhood, alternative [...]
Over the course of the past year, Light House Studio has engaged more than 1,700 students to produce 400 films ranging from animation and visual effects to documentary, narrative storytelling, and music video. The 17th Annual Youth Film Festival gives viewers a peek at the latest productions [...]
Hardcore indie rock’s Muse is iconic to the point that fans are filling theaters to watch the rockers fill stadiums via the Drones World Tour broadcast in HD. It’s not quite a live show, but the 360-degree recording, which showcases the best of the band’s 2015-2016 concerts on the big screen, [...]
While strolling the Downtown Mall this summer, you may encounter an enormous bass drum with “FREE CONCERT TONIGHT” emblazoned across the head. This refers to the Charlottesville Municipal Band, a group whose performances are as impressive and larger-than-life as its advertisement. Now in its [...]
Boasting three Grammys, a 2006 performance at the White House and, maybe most impressively, an animated appearance on “The Simpsons,” Brian Setzer has enjoyed enormous success. He’s been making music since the early ’80s, around which time he combined rockabilly and swing into something bold, [...]
Dramatic mountainous backdrops compete with daring cinematography during the Banff Mountain Film Festival, where the audience has a bird’s-eye view of outdoor sports pros at their most extreme. The festival offers more than 30 short films that connect with personal stories like that of American [...]
In The Parking Lot Movie, the role of attendant goes beyond transactional and becomes a rite of passage. From their seat in the payment booth at The Corner Parking Lot on UVA Grounds, grads and undergrads spend their shifts intellectualizing and lamenting societal ills, from capitalism, anger [...]
Before playing in C’ville, American rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, slam poet, writer and actor Saul Williams has appearances in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium and Austria on his calendar. The global schedule speaks to the broad messages of the art activist, who emphasizes them with [...]
Choreographer Christal Brown’s multimedia creation, The Opulence of Integrity, follows the life of Muhammad Ali and his journey, not only as a boxer, but also as a social activist and public figure. Brown creates a vivid representation of the fight for worth and identity experienced by men of [...]
When legendary soprano Leontyne Price appeared at the reopening of the Metropolitan Opera in 1966, she could only be upstaged by the stage itself. It was the beginning of a new era in a new location for the Met, and The Opera House documents the cultural impact of the venue’s last 50 years with [...]
Showgirls and show makers gather to pay tribute to their theatrical past in Follies, a Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman musical that magnifies its characters’ dreams and illusions through emotional reminiscences. The play had a contemporary setting when it opened on Broadway in 1971, went on [...]
The well-known Brothers Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel becomes an absurd opera in the hands of producer Richard Jones. In a special English-language Met Live In HD presentation, the doomed siblings wander from their home into the dark forest and end up at the Witch’s gingerbread house. With [...]
On their first tour together, Phil Vassar and Kellie Pickler are showcasing their holiday collaboration “The Naughty List,” a single that pairs infectious melodies and soulful lyrics in a swinging new favorite. Each of the country stars has become known for covers of Christmas favorites, and by [...]
Director Michael Slon conducts the 90-member strong Oratorio Society of Virginia for Christmas at The Paramount. Composed of some the area’s finest vocalists, the chorus performs English carols and traditional Spanish holiday compositions, as well as J.A.C. Redford’s Welcome All Wonders: A [...]
Writer and performer Ann Randolph has lived an amazing life. In college, rather than paying to live in a dorm, she lived in the schizophrenic unit of a state mental hospital in exchange for writing plays with patients. She worked the graveyard shift at a homeless shelter for minimum wage for 10 [...]
Returning for the sixth installment of his annual Christmas tour, Robert Earl Keen has always had a special place for the holidays in his Americana-infused heart. Since 1984, Keen has crafted 19 albums, among them his holiday fan-favorite, Merry Christmas from the Family. He pours his energy, [...]
Combining puppetry and dance with dazzling visual effects, Lightwire Theater’s A Very Electric Christmas takes the audience through a neon tale of family, friendship and hope. The production’s creative team designed sculptures and costumes using electroluminescent wire arrangements to tell the [...]
Artists, educators and innovators take the stage on Friday at the Paramount’s TEDxCharlottesville event. Among them are blues musician Daryl Davis whose friendship with members of the Ku Klux Klan has caused many of them to question their membership, National Geographic photographer Ami Vitale, [...]
Blues legend Buddy Guy released his debut album, I Left My Blues in San Francisco, in 1967. Seven Grammys, 23 blues music awards and a National Medal of the Arts later, the 81-year-old icon is as electric as ever, with his wild, fearless guitar licks and a fall tour spanning the U.S. Wednesday, [...]