Carlehr Swanson knew she was in for a treat when Grammy Award-winning musician Jon Batiste visited Carr’s Hill at the University of Virginia on Sunday. Swanson, a fan of Batiste’s genre-bending style who had put herself on the waitlist for Batiste’s “Arts on the Hill” event, just learned she had gotten a ticket and found a front-row seat to the action.
More than 1,000 people packed the seats at the Paramount Theater on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall Wednesday for the Virginia Film Festival’s opening night. Still more lingered outside the restored 1930s movie palace, hoping that additional tickets might be released for that evening’s sold-out showing of “Maestro,” written and directed by – and starring – Bradley Cooper.
Tim Longo, whose official title is associate vice president for safety and security and chief of police, is substantially older than 10. But on Monday, he took an audience gathered in the Rotunda Dome Room back several decades, spinning a yarn about the time he ran for the office of “assembly coordinator,” or the “guy that gets to call the shots for the assemblies.”
The Virginia Film Festival kicks off its five-day run on Wednesday with a showing of “Maestro,” a new film written and directed by, and starring Bradley Cooper about the composer Leonard Bernstein’s life and romance with actress Felicia Montealegre, played by Carey Mulligan.
There is always a waitlist for Stanley Stepanic’s course, “Dracula.” The University of Virginia assistant professor has been teaching it since 2007, and the number of students has grown every year. There are about 200 students enrolled this semester.
Cooler weather and colorful foliage in Charlottesville can mean only one thing: fall is in full swing at the University of Virginia, where the school and students have created a raft of spooky offerings between now and Oct. 31, Halloween night.
MISS BENNET: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY continues Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice two years after the novel ends, now with bookish, middle-sister Mary as our heroine. As the Bennet sisters Mary, Jane, and Lydia gather at Lizzy’s estate for Christmas, an unexpected gentleman arrives. Has Mary met her intellectual match, and perhaps found true love? MISS BENNET is a romantic holiday comedy sure to delight Janeites and newcomers alike!
'Everybody' offers a darkly comedic twist on a tale about the meaning of life, death, and all that lies between. In the play, Death summons a character called “Everybody,” telling them it is their time to meet their inevitable fate and give an account of their life. Everybody asks a crowd of metaphorical friends, including emblematic figures of Friendship, Kinship, and Stuff, to join them on their journey. While it is a trip we all have to make, 'Everybody' learns that volunteers are few and far between.
In a clever, blink-and-you-miss-it performing style, Amuse Bouche brings a unique craft to the University’s artistic community — long form improv. After a recent performance, members sat down to discuss improv, friendship and comedy.
One of the most significant touring exhibitions of Aboriginal Australian art ever staged returns to the city where it was first envisioned. The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia presents “Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala” from Feb. 3-July 14, 2024. The exhibition features more than 50 masterpieces of ochre painting on eucalyptus bark, many of which have never been on view outside of Australia.
The Virginia Film Festival announces its lineup for its upcoming 36th year, set for October 25-29. The Festival’s Opening Night Film is Maestro. Written, produced, and directed by Bradley Cooper, the film focuses on the relationship between Leonard Bernstein (Cooper) and his wife Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan). The VAFF will welcome makeup effects artist Kazu Hiro (Academy Award winner for Bombshell and The Darkest Hour) to receive the VAFF Craft Award alongside the screening.
In this workshop three artists and two curators and scholars will discuss their practice of working between and across the media of photography and textile, opening avenues to understand each in new ways, which are haptic, gendered, material and decolonial.
![The “Somebodies” [from left: Mary Hall, Darnell Glover, Katia Ramirez, Sean Miller, Lilla Woodard] Photo Credit: Michael Bailey](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_350w/public/2023-10/MBailey-231005-010%20crop.jpeg?itok=IO95Vxzq)
