There’s a bit of “calm before the storm” happening in Richmond theater right now. Only two shows opened last week but this coming weekend FIVE productions will debut and, over the next several weeks, the curtain will rise on at least NINE shows. Even with our production of TO DAMASCUS closing yesterday (hope you got to see it!), that means there’s a crazy amount of theater to take in over the next month. And that’s just talking about the locally-produced shows that are openin

A big kerfuffle erupted 10 days ago because a profane word was used to classify certain places in the world. The story has been covered to death so I won’t rehash it much here. What I haven’t read or heard talked about much is whether the person making the statement had ever actually been to the places he was categorizing. Given that it doesn’t seem like he has, the statements he made suggest he is making huge assumptions about these places and the people who live there, whic

The Acts of Faith festival holds its preview event tonight and then this weekend the curtain rises on the first official mainstage show in the festival, Arthur Miller’s ALL MY SONS at Swift Creek Mill. There are people -- and by people, I mean me -- who have grumbled that the “faith” aspect of the festival can be a little dodgy. I’ve had conversations wherein I’ve tried to pinpoint the show that has the most tenuous connection to the theme in a particular year. That’s just th

One of Richmond’s most inspiring and heartwarming success stories in recent years has been the national recognition of musician Lucy Dacus. Five years ago she was a student at Maggie Walker Governor’s School and singing in the ensemble for shows like Virginia Rep’s SPRING AWAKENING. Since her national exposure, she’s played big gigs like South by Southwest, headlined tours both in the US and internationally, and has music mavens eagerly awaiting her new album, due out in Marc