You’ve likely seen the classic Disney cartoon—and maybe even the Magic Kingdom’s live action $270 million stinker from earlier this year. Now you can witness the beauty of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in ballet form when this family-friendly version arrives in town for a Sunday afternoon show.
Founded in 2017 in Los Angeles, Don’t Tell Comedy has since expanded to over 200 cities around the country. Recently, they found a new home in Charlottesville and have put on several events around Albemarle County. Local comedian Chris Alan brought this chapter to Charlottesville in 2024 after establishing a comedy open-mic presence in the City and performing at Don’t Tell shows in Northern Virginia, Richmond and Washington, D.C..
The new year may have just begun, but 2026 is already set to be a busy year in pop culture. From music to movies to books, UVA Today talked to University of Virginia experts in pop culture to see what upcoming releases they are looking forward to the most. Here’s the list.
In 1811, Thomas Egerton, who primarily printed military texts, published a novel about two sisters and their widowed mother, “Sense and Sensibility.” It was written anonymously, “by a lady.” More than 200 years later, readers know that lady as Jane Austen, one of the best-known writers in the English language. “Sense and Sensibility” alone has been adapted more than 10 times for stage, screen and radio, while dozens of movies, TV shows and web series are based on other Austen titles, like “Pride and Prejudice” and “Emma.”
This Wednesday, DRAM 3652 “Producing Theatre” put on their semester-long culminating performance of “Where Words Once Were.” Free to all, the play was performed in the Helms Theatre. With audience members seated on three sides of the stage — a configuration known as black box theatre — and a stripped down set, viewers were able to immerse themselves within the dystopian universe.
Thomas Jefferson wanted to bring the stars indoors. Jefferson, in designing the University of Virginia’s iconic Rotunda, planned to paint constellations on the ceiling of the Dome Room. He never completed this part of his vision, but in 2019, three graduate students set up projectors to display the constellations on the Dome Room’s ceiling.
With her newest cookbook, “Chesnok,” in hand, 2014 University of Virginia alumna Polina Chesnakova returned to Charlottesville, the place where her interest in writing about food began to simmer. What started as curiosity about food and identity led her from a pre-med track to a double major in Eastern European studies and religious studies, and eventually to experiment with food writing.
Millions of Spotify subscribers woke up Wednesday morning to a much-anticipated annual tradition: Spotify Wrapped. In 2016, the world’s largest music streaming platform began showing users their most listened-to artists and songs, assigning music fans different listening personalities based on their favorite genres. The compilation of individual user data comes in brightly colored, stylish infographics designed to share on your social media feed. With a name like “Wrapped,” arriving right on time for the holidays, it feels like a thoughtful gift from the streamer delivered directly to your phone.
Since the Violet Crown’s opening in 2015, the theater was shown to have a different mission than the other commercial theaters in Charlottesville. While the Violet Crown’s program included some of the requisite studio blockbusters shown at Alamo Drafthouse and Regal Stonefield, it also screened independent, arthouse and international films — films which are not often screened at larger cinemas.
As the semester draws to a close, the Drama Department prepares to present its annual Fall Dance Concert, running from Nov. 20-22 in the Culbreth Theatre. This semester’s production boasts the largest cast in the past decade, promising an eclectic performance shaped by the innovative artistic aims of each dancer and choreographer.
The doors of downtown’s McGuffey Art Center opened to a sea of color this November, with paper flag garlands strung from the ceiling, painted skeletal masks adorning the walls and marigolds galore decorating surfaces. Walking through the first floor halls, a web of displays interspersed with saved messages of memory from past years transformed the gallery with the festive spirit of the 13-day Día de los Muertos exhibition, carefully crafted in remembrance of loved ones now passed on.
For most University students, the end of the semester looks like a wind-down for Thanksgiving followed by an immediate gear-up for finals, perhaps intermingled with reminiscing on another semester gone by too fast. However, for some, the end of the semester signals something a little different — a cappella concert season.
