Michael McDonald is probably best known for his 10-year stint on “MADtv” performing gut-busting sketch comedy. For years, McDonald was the go-to guy for impersonations on the show, parroting a host of characters and celebrities from Dr. Phil and Chris Martin to Saddam Hussein. MADtv-watchers will remember Sean Gidcomb, Bible Dude, and the Depressed Persian […]
JONATHAN MEAD
SPECIAL EVENT | “Listen to your Mother”
“Listen to Your Mother” is a nationally-organized series of live readings from local authors and performers on the subject of motherhood. Planned for the Friday before Mother’s Day at the Memorial Art Gallery, the readings are an eclectic selection of Rochesterian perspectives on parenting that are as beautiful and varied as their authors. Whether the […]
SPECIAL EVENT | Rochester Bike Week
Rochester cyclists can celebrate the beautiful spring weather with Rochester Bike Week, Rochester’s spin on National Bike Month, bike to work week, and bike to school week. The week is packed with community rides, bike-related film screenings, and clinics throughout the city. The official week is Sunday, May 10, through Monday, May 18, but bike […]
SPECIAL EVENT | Cinco de Mayo 1K Fun Run
Cinco de Mayo may be officially over, but some people don’t want to stop celebrating. So, in honor of Siete de Mayo, Black Button Distilling is hosting a 1K fun run on Thursday. Runners will begin in four waves at the top of Railroad and East Main, have a brief “water stop” (which might consist […]
THEATER | “The Yeomen of the Guard”
The Off-Monroe Players — Rochester’s Gilbert and Sullivan company — will present “The Yeomen of the Guard” as its spring production. In this tale of the Tower of London and its famed Yeomen guards, the stage is set with the wrongful accusation and imprisonment of one Colonel Fairfax. Various efforts by his friend, Sergeant Meryll, […]
Festival frenzy
After one of the coldest winters on record, Rochesterians are finally beginning to stop shivering and rediscover the world that exists outside of heated buildings and cars. While the summer months are endlessly beautiful, fall always seems to arrive too soon — right as soon as we get used to sunshine and shorts weather. But […]
DANCE | Rockin’ the Tango — Rockabilly Style
If your dance moves are old-school, the 1950’s want you back for a night. Tango Cafe Dance Studio is hosting a “full-throttle rockabilly night” with Rockhouse Riot playing live music. The dance studio recently relocated to the Jonathan Child House, a Greek mansion built in 1837 for the first mayor of Rochester. Tango has updated […]
THEATER | “Hairspray”
“Hairspray,” the acclaimed Broadway musical, will be presented in all its teenage-glitz glory in four performances by the National Technical Institute for the Deaf Performing Arts program at Rochester Institute of Technology. In this well-loved, coif-heavy production, Tracy Turnblad peruses her dream of performing on the Corny Collins Show, while trying to win the affection […]
KIDS | “Story Quest”
The brainchild of students in SUNY Brockport’s Arts For Children program, “Story Quest” is an “interactive fairy-tale” for kids featuring original songs by Tom Lake and Chelsea Bentley, performed by Phil Herford, Brian Jackson, and Jeff Brice of Silverfish. “Story Quest” is heavy on audience participation, with lots of opportunities for kids to engage with […]
THEATER | “The Road to Where”
It is a truism that life often makes more sense in the rearview mirror; what feels like aimless wandering in the moment often seems like a clearly marked road in retrospect. In “The Road to Where,” coming Friday to Geva’s Fielding Nextstage, writer and actress Cass Morgan takes a look at her own circuitous history. Telling […]
SPECIAL EVENT | Mansions in our Neighborhood
The Park Avenue and Meigs Street neighborhood has been home to quite a few swanky cribs in its day. Learn more about these plus-sized, elegant abodes at Mansions in our Neighborhoods, a presentation at the Century Club hosted by the Park-Meigs Neighborhood Association. Presenting at this special historical inquiry is Don Hall, former director of […]
ART | “Musicians: Photographs by Bob Cato”
RIT’s University Gallery will throw an opening reception for “Musicians: Photographs by Bob Cato” on Thursday, April 16. The exhibit features contemporary large format prints, some never before published, from Cato’s archive of photos, negatives, and slides. Over the course of 50 years in graphic arts and design, Cato worked for magazines like “Glamour” and […]






