U.Va’s Opera Viva troupe is out to prove that opera isn’t just for your grandparents. For its upcoming performance of Engelbert Humperdinck’s classic Hansel and Gretel, this talented and innovative group of students plans to hit the stage with a high level of intensity and accessibility, appealing to operatic aficianados and newcomers alike.
Athletic competition shows featuring “celebrities” (a sometimes debatable term for the participants) are nothing new: ABC’s wildly popular Dancing With the Stars is in its sixteenth season and FOX’s DWTS-inspired Skating with Celebrities premiered in 2006.
Around the country, thousands of high school students are receiving their college decisions, so it’s only fitting for a film to be released about the admission process.
As a songwriter, Kacey Musgraves made her stamp on the country music scene early. Before releasing her first record this March, Musgraves co-wrote Miranda Lambert’s single “Mama’s Broken Heart” and a also co-wrote the song “Undermine,” written for the popular ABC drama series Nashville. Same Trailer Different Park voices various anxieties of small town life, but not always the pleasant ones.“Merry Go Round,” released as a single earlier this year, begins with a pleasant high-pitched banjo roll but soon devolves into this cynical reflection on the dreariest aspects of small town life.
Multiple clips from number-one-Neilson-rated TV show The Big Bang Theory recently went viral on YouTube and Tumblr – but not due to their scintillating humor.
While most bands tend to produce music that declines in quality after the second or third album, last week’s release of OneRepublic’s new album, Native, proves that the band is still as strong and creative as ever.
On March 22, eighties synthwave band Depeche Mode released their thirteenth album, Delta Machine. From the title alone, it is immediately apparent what the threepiece is going for: electro-blues.
Some of the highest grossing movies of all time are animated features. Movies like Finding Nemo and The Lion King, and The Toy Story and Shrek franchises all struck gold upon release, and other top grossers like Avatar, The Lord of The Rings series, and Alice in Wonderland (2010) rely on their fair share on animated elements.
Over the course of the past decade, LGBT groups have made massive strides with regard to the portrayal of so-called “queer” characters on television.
Ever wonder how that goon of a man became the Great and Powerful “Wizard” of Oz behind the green curtain all the way back in the original 1939 hit musical? Yeah, don’t think you were the only one who didn’t care.
Reality television fans, take note: the network that brought you such gems as Dance Moms and Army Wives is offering up yet another reality show.
In horror flicks, we’ve all seen the classic 911 call. What we never see is the other end of the line. The Call takes us into one of the largest 911 call centers in Los Angeles and shows the fear that can come from those who are answering these calls.
It’s apparent forty-five seconds into lead-off track “Sail to the Sun” that Afraid of Heights, the latest record from surf-rockers Wavves, is sunkissed and spontaneous. After the album presses start on a strange chime section, it barrels into a late-90s punk jam. I don’t know if Nathan Williams (vocals/guitar) has a prized copy of Green Day’s Dookie jammed in his stereo, but I wouldn’t put it past him.
While Justin Timberlake was busy pursuing a career in acting, I was busy wondering whether he’d ever come out with a new album. After a long, seven-year hiatus, he finally released The 20/20 Experience and I’m not disappointed.
Phosphorescent’s Muchacho settles into a groove, but unfortunately it’s one that feels all too comfortable by the end. Houck’s latest does little to offend but, by the same token, little to distinguish itself.
When The Strokes released their first album, everyone said that this was it, that these guys were the saviors of Rock and Roll music. With the album’s melodic take on 70‘s garage rock, 2001’s Is This It generated the template for 21st century guitar music and engendered a surge of interest in “indie” rock as a sound, rather than a designation of contra-mainstream status. Because of this hype, the general populace has held its tongue about the steadily decreasing quality of The Strokes’ records in the hopes that the next record will herald a return to their classic form. Sadly, now with their most recent Comeback Machine, it seems clear that all hope for a comeback is lost.
Scrolling through my iTunes library, cluttered with only the hottest, most mainstream artists of the day, such as everyone’s favorite extreme gothic metal band, Graveworm, I fail to come across many groups that I have ignored as thoroughly as the Swedish sextet of Soilwork (accidental alliteration accomplished). Having previously purchased only two songs from Stabbing the Drama (2005), I had almost no incentive to sit down and listen to the 84 minute, 38 second monstrosity that is The Living Infinite…until I happened across the pre-release singles on YouTube.
The arts scene at the University is gearing up for its biggest event of the year: Arts Madness. Orchestrated by the Student Arts Committee, Arts Madness is a week featuring an array of lectures, workshops, shows and films, all celebrating the thriving talent of the student body.
__When it comes to childhood television shows, there were few as dear to me as Full House. Starting in the late eighties and running eight seasons, the show was massively successful, however, in my youth I was only able to experience it in the form of reruns.
There aren’t enough fingers on my hands to count all the high school drama shows that have made their way onto TV, but among them Freaks and Geeks holds a special place in my heart.
