Author: Matthew Cawthon

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ARTS Pick: The Embers

Beach music veterans, The Embers keep the endless summer alive when they kick up the sand at the Surf on the Turf bash. Publicity Photo.

Still glowing

With global warming now confirmed, the weather is sure to go straight to hot, with scorching beach-worthy weather breaking out any day now. Getting ahead of that first sunburn, The Embers are headlining Surf on the Turf, an inland beach bash complete with dancing, dinner, and drinks. The quintessential band of the sand has held a special place in the hearts and feet of sun worshippers coast to coast since 1958. They play bonafide beach boogie music and they dare you to try and stand still during the Shag dance lessons.

Saturday 4/13 $125, 6:30pm. Foxfield Race Track, 2215 Foxfield Track. 888 987-8727.

 

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ARTS Pick: Or,

Jenn Downey, Chris Patrick, and Claire Chandler star in a farce-fueled spin on 1660s counter-culture in Liz Duffy Adams’ comedy of manners, Or,. Photo courtesy Live Arts.

Loosen the corset

The 17th-century never looked as wildly seductive as it does within the world of Aphra Behn. There’s a war in the background of Liz Duffy Adams’ Or, but more importantly, Behn—a spy, poet, and key feminist writer—moves in a social circle marked by cross-dressing and free love. As for Adams, the playwright toys with historical facts to highlight changing sensibilities, reconstructing the Restoration to include her own imaginative notions. But it’s this irreverence that brings attention to Aphra Behn’s crucial role, and that of the Restoration itself, in paving the way for open-mindedness.

Friday 4/12 $25, 8pm. Live Arts, 123 E. Water St. 977-4177.

 

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ARTS Pick: The Memorandum

If you think that bureaucracy and red tape are absurd, Czech playwright Václav Havel couldn’t agree more.

What goes around

If you think that bureaucracy and red tape are absurd, Czech playwright Václav Havel couldn’t agree more. And in his Soviet-era satire The Memorandum, everything from language to human sociality becomes ridiculous. When office worker Josef Gross finds a memo written in the supposedly efficient Ptydepe language that’s impossible to discern, he and his mates find themselves up against the forces of conformity as they attempt to translate its message. A struggle for authenticity in an increasingly dehumanizing world, Havel’s play is a product of its time, and remains relevant today.

Wednesday 4/10 $10, 7:30pm (2:30pm matinee on Sunday). Piedmont Virginia Community College, 501 College Dr. 961-5376.

 

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ARTS Pick: Immortal Technique

The geopolitical rapper Immortal Technique brings his one-man revolution to the Jefferson. Publicity Photo.

Playing it forward

A year behind bars during the early years was not entirely lost time for Felipe Coronel. It gave him the focus to hone his talents, and the motivation to take a few political science classes, both of which transformed him into a deeply political, determined, and charitable artist. Finding new ways to play out confrontation, Coronel works under the moniker Immortal Technique and carries the label of “battle rapper.” Social commentary and fierce independence meet in his music, and he refuses to back down from either while continuing to perfect impeccable (and perhaps immortal) techniques.

Thursday 4/11 $16-18, 9pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4980.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2r8kBnGtAU (Explicit)

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ARTS Pick: Females and the Frame

The Bantam Theater all-female short film program will feature Niebieski (The Blue One), a film by Maria Apoleika Turek.

Chick flicks

Critics talk a lot about the male cinematic gaze and the masculine domination of film throughout the medium’s history. So where do women fit in the modern progressive landscape? The Bantam Theater, in collaboration with Richmond’s Studio Two Three, presents Females and the Frame, a 70-minute program of regionally and internationally-produced short films featuring only female directors. Diverse and powerful, these directors and their films make the case to invert Hollywood’s gender standards.

Saturday 4/6 $8.50, 7:30pm. The Bantam Theater, 609 E. Market St. 566-2987.

 

 

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ARTS Pick: Jessye Norman

A national treasure in the arts, vocalist Jessye Norman brings her tremendous talent to the Paramount stage.

Uber achiever

The richly talented Jessye Norman is not a standard singer. To clarify, she does sing standards, as well as opera and Broadway ballads, but she refuses to align herself with any stereotype. Her set list consists of classics by Gershwin, Rodgers & Hammerstein, and Bernstein, but Norman innovates through the sheer power of her voice and eclectic collaborative partners from Toni Morrison to Bill T. Jones. She was the youngest recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor in 1997, holds mulitiple Grammys and has received innumerable accolades as an artist and mentor—not the least of which is a lifetime membership in the Girl Scouts.

Thursday 4/4 $44.50-64.50, 8pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 979-1333.

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ARTS Pick: Aziz Ansari

Aziz Ansari promises an evening of “bewilderment and disillusion” when he brings his stand-up comedy act to the Paramount. Image: Publicity photo

Victory laugh

In 2007, when MTV’s sketch comedy and surprise hit “Human Giant” was just underway, Aziz Ansari seemed the likely breakout star among the trio at the show’s helm. His trajectory in the following two years would prove this—paying comedic dues in the Judd Apatow flick Funny People, cropping up on fan favorite “Scrubs,” and starring alongside twitch-happy Jesse Eisenberg in 30 Minutes or Less. But it’s his role as the perpetually underachieving entrepreneur Tom Haverford in “Parks and Recreation” that shot Ansari to the level of recognition he brings with his Buried Alive touring routine to venues across the nation. Heck, he’s even driving sports cars in dangerous circles with the likes of Kanye West and Jay-Z.

Sunday 3/31 $39, 7pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 979-1333.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AzizAnsari

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ARTS Pick: DJ Shadow

Credited as a groundbreaker, DJ Shadow still gets top props as he tours on his first full-length in years, The Less You Know, The Better. Image: Publicity photo

Press play

Endtroducing… dropped all the way back in 1996, but DJ Shadow’s experiment in instrumental hip-hop brought the man unexpected acclaim, and a sound that is still influencing artists across genres. He’s retreated back to the underground in the years since his debut, but Shadow remains just as invested in perfecting and pushing the contemporary musical scope. 2011’s The Less You Know, The Better sees him dabbling in dubstep and trip-hopping through a cycle of instruments. Old dogs and new tricks are finally getting their due.

Thursday 3/28 $25, 9pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4980.

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ARTS Pick: The Two Noble Kinsmen

Ronald Peet (left)and Grant Davis spar for love in the Shakespeare/Fletcher collaboration, The Two Noble Kinsmen, at Blackfriars. Image: Lauren D. Rogers

Prison riot Even Shakespeare and John Fletcher knew that the rewrite of a Chaucer poem took some serious guts back in the early 17th century. Despite the potential for total demolishment of a poetic monument, the duo lets chaos run rampant in The Two Noble Kinsmen. What happens when two imprisoned cousins fall in love with the same beautiful woman only moments apart? Prison riots and a touch of madness, naturally. The knights toss their stoic fronts aside and duke it out across the stage in the unending quest for the holy grail of a fair maiden. Even centuries ago, love was a bit of a battlefield.

Through Saturday 4/6 $16-40, 7:30pm. The Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S. Market St., Staunton. (540) 851-1733.

 

 

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ARTS Pick: Michael Clem Trio

The multi-talented Michael Clem frequently breaks from his duties as an Eddie from Ohio member to play area gigs with his trio. Image: Daniel Glass Photography

Folk lure

According to the bio section on Michael Clem’s official website, he doesn’t take himself terribly seriously. The self-conducted interview posted there provides plenty of wit, and plays off of the overt self-promotion that permeates the business side of music. He hardly touches on his vast musical accomplishments—a long career with the popular folk-rock group Eddie from Ohio and his ongoing solo work. For the next gig on his calendar, Clem draws from musician friends to play “ornery Americana” in the Michael Clem Trio.

Saturday 3/23 Free, 6:30pm. Plank Road Exchange, 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville. 823-2001.