Heather Layton sat cross-legged in a big armchair off her living room. This is where she calls her friend, Baher. “We talk until our batteries run out on our phones,” she said, laughing. Sometimes the call goes unanswered, and Layton worries Baher and his family are dead. On this particular day, he answered. “I didn’t have wi-fi at my place,” he explained. It was […]
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Posted inCulture
6 ways to create found family within your community
Some time in my mid-20s, right after the pandemic, this crazy thing happened to me. Suddenly, I didn’t know how to make friends. There was no school, no clubs, no mini city-esque world of college. I got up, went to work and, most days, came straight home (to my parents’ house). Everyone I was close […]
Posted inArt
Peer Bode’s video art exhibition at VSW recalls the 1970s and ‘80s
Abstract shapes of shifting colors dance over an otherwise mundane video of a cup of coffee, recorded with a handheld Portapak analog camera and displayed on three projectors. Actually it’s two videos; a lagging copy hovers over itself like a ghost, a polychromatic distortion, following the actions of its original, trailing behind the pouring, the […]
Posted inMusic
RPO’s 2026-27 season includes Chuck Mangione tribute, Fringe collab, Piano Festival and more
Before they ever actually met, Chuck Mangione brought Jeff Tyzik to Rochester. All it took was hearing his music. “Somebody sent me a Chuck Mangione recording, and when I listened to that, I was inspired by his music enough to want to come to Rochester and study at the Eastman School [of Music] where he […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Children’s lit magazine ‘Magic Dragon’ looks to its future in an uncertain financial landscape
There’s a dragon in Joanne Andrews’ basement. He’s a few feet tall, brilliant green and clad in a wizard’s hat and a wand. He’s also made onto a foam board. Andrews created him as the mascot for Magic Dragon, the children’s literary magazine she assembles in her Pittsford home with editor Patricia Roesch. Andrews is […]
Posted inMovie Reviews
REVIEW | ‘Project Hail Mary’
Author Andy Weir’s “Project Hail Mary,” his latest book, follows “Cast Away” (but in space) to the big screen, bookending 2015’s “The Martian.” The previous Weir adaptation, which was directed by Ridley Scott, garnered seven Oscar nominations including Best Picture and starred Matt Damon as an astronaut presumed dead but trapped on Mars. Now it’s […]
Posted inCulture
How a local suffragist led the mother of all movements
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was 26 years old when her first child, a son, was born. “I was entirely afloat, launched on the seas of doubt without chart or compass,” she wrote in her autobiography, “Eighty Years and More: Reminiscences, 1815–1897.” Stanton was one of 11 children, five of whom died as infants and small children. As she watched her mother grieve the […]
Posted inRestaurant News
For the Cavatassi family — and ‘Uncle Chris’ — St. Paul Street is worth the investment
At 12:45 p.m. on a snowy Thursday in February, every seat in the Sagra Italia dining room is full. Formerly home to Fifth Frame Brewing, 155 St. Paul St. is nearly unrecognizable, transformed into an airy, chic space somehow reminiscent of both Brooklyn and Rome. There’s a cozy sitting area off to one side and […]
Posted inMovies
The Oscars love disability stories, but it’s complicated
The trailer for “Song Sung Blue,” director Craig Brewer’s Oscar-nominated biographical drama about a Neil Diamond tribute act, sets up a familiar arc. While looking for glory, musicians Mike and Claire — played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson — find each other. And when the glory arrives, so do the struggles: alcoholism, addiction and, […]
Posted inMusic
REVIEW | ‘Ugly II’ by Growing Stone
Skylar Sarkis of the Rochester alt-rock band Taking Meds has returned focus to his solo project Growing Stone. Released on January 30, the EP “Ugly II” is subtle yet disarming. The 20-plus minutes of music spread out over six tracks on “Ugly II” mirror the structure of its predecessor “Ugly,” released over seven years ago. […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
PUSH Physical Theatre’s Heather and Darren Stevenson have built a life — and a company — together, on stage and off
When Heather and Darren Stevenson tell a love story on stage, it’s not an act. They have been married for 32 years and served as co-artistic directors of PUSH Physical Theatre for 25 years — by now, performing side-by-side is second nature. As part of the company’s 25th anniversary celebration, PUSH will host a homecoming […]
