Cover Story
Character in the 21st century
Rising local playwright Kate Royal captures the voice of the millennial generation
Dems closer to county exec pick
The field of possible Democratic candidates for Monroe County executive is narrowing. Former Brighton Supervisor Sandra Frankel is the only announced Democrat in the race, and state Assembly member Harry Bronson has been weighing a run — though unconfirmed reports say that he has dropped out. (Bronson did not return calls Monday or Tuesday.) Carrie…
Film Review: “True Story”
Seeing James Franco and Jonah Hill’s names attached to a film typically means you’re sitting down for a viewing of the latest stoner bromance from the Apatow troupe of comedy, so it’s probably a bit surprising that their latest, “True Story,” is actually an earnest drama exploring the murky, elastic nature of journalistic truthiness. Knowing…
WEEK AHEAD: Events for the week of April 13, 2015
Monroe County Young Democrats will hold a panel on police-community relations from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight (Monday, April 13) at Downtown United Presbyterian Church, 121 N. Fitzhugh Street. The goal, according to a press release, is to develop and improve strategies to build ties between the police and the community. Panels include Wayne…
Your weekend in art: April 10-12
Work some culture into your weekend with a jaunt to a gallery or three. Since it’s graduation season, thesis shows have been popping in and out of university galleries and alt spaces. Here’s a spotlight on RIT’s crop of graduating artists, as well as a maker fair. For more art events, visit our calendar! An…
GOP responds to Styk switch
The Monroe County Republican Party says that Legislator Dorothy Styk defected to the Democrats because she lost support in her local committee, and she faced a challenge from another candidate. “In just over a year, Dorothy’s weak performance as county legislator caused the Perinton Republican Committee to lack confidence in her ability to support lower…
Film Review: “Woman In Gold”
You may not know her name, but anyone with even a passing interest in art has seen her face. Viennese socialite Adele Bloch-Bauer was a friend of painter Gustav Klimt, and in 1907 he introduced oil and gold to canvas in “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer,” an image that would go on to grace coffee cups…
Opera Review: Eastman Opera Theatre presents “Our Town”
Grover’s Corners, according to author Thornton Wilder, represents everyone’s “home town.” In Thursday night’s performance of “Our Town'” by the Eastman School of Music Opera Theatre, the lighting took on a special significance for scene placement as images from Rochester’s past were projected on the back wall of the bleak staging of chairs and ladders.…
Styk defects, joins Legislature Dems
County Legislature Democrats have poached a member of the Republican caucus. This morning, Democrats announced that Republican Legislator Dorothy Styk will switch her party enrollment and will caucus will their side. That means that Democrats will control 11 of the Legislature’s 29 seats. Styk, whose district covers parts of Perinton and East Rochester, was appointed…
I Scene It: Hot Rod Betties fundraiser at The Firehouse Saloon
The bitchin’ babe in the two-tone beaucoup bouffant needed some green to bring her shop back in the black — in other words, Hot Rod Betty’s threw a fundraising wing-ding with the Sirens & Stilettos Cabaret, Buffalo’s Blue Ribbon Bastards, and Dark Nemesis joining forces at The Firehouse Saloon last Friday. The promise of boobs,…
Frankel, Bronson, and Andrews emerge as possible county exec candidates
A handful of Democrats have been mentioned in party circles as potential county executive candidates. And three have openly acknowledged their interest: former Brighton Supervisor Sandra Frankel, County Legislature Democratic leader Carrie Andrews, and state Assembly member Harry Bronson. Frankel, so far, is the only Democrat to definitively say that she’s running. Andrews is weighing…
New performing arts venue announced
The First Church of Christ, Scientist building at 440 East Avenue is set to become the Lyric Theatre, a new major performing arts venue.
Swapping stories
Writers & Books this week will present a series of events with debut novelist Boris Fishman, whose critically-acclaimed, witty and moving novel, “A Replacement Life” draws on his own life experiences as an immigrant from the former USSR, and a grandchild of a Holocaust survivor. The grandmother of Fishman’s young protagonist, Slava Gelman, has just…
UR students serve the uninsured
About two dozen men and women fought through an early March snowstorm to get something that many people take for granted: medical care. They filed downstairs to the basement of Asbury First United Methodist Church in southeast Rochester, where the University of Rochester and church officials have set up a small health clinic. The examination…
SPECIAL EVENT: City Newspaper’s 2015 Best Busker Contest
Congratulations to Jackson Cavalier for his first place win during last night’s Best Busker competition, and to Poncho for coming in second and Jug Band Dan for third. A massive thank you to all of the buskers, businesses, and of course, everyone who came out to make it one of City’s best Best Buskers yet!…
Urban Action: 4/8
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Series on conflict resolution The Gandhi Institute will present “What You Say Next Can Change Your World: a Series in Nonviolent Communication,” a six-week series of discussions, exercises, games, and roleplaying to develop…
Bike school
The University of Rochester has made serious efforts to encourage its staff, faculty, and students to bike. It offers access to bike cages and showers at the medical center, for example, and it’s improving its reservation system for its campus bike-sharing program. The school’s efforts earned it an honorable mention in the Bicycle Friendly University…
ROCK | Roc for Lyanna
They’re raising money for little Lyanna Flynn, who at the age of 2, has been diagnosed with leukemia. And proving the fact that Rochester rock ‘n’ rollers don’t necessarily have deep pockets but do have big hearts, artists like ska darlings, Mrs. Skannotto (pictured), the swingin’ hitters in Vinyl Orange Ottoman, and rockin’ songstress Teressa…
AMERICANA | Ballroom Thieves
It’s a trio, alright, though Ballroom Thieves may occupy the space a little outside the textbook Americana dirt road bailiwick. Hailing from Boston, this guitar, bass, and drums threesome seethes and rages like a preacher who has run out of things to say. The urgency and might is something this band achieves without the temptation…
FOLK | Tracy Grammer
Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Tracy Grammer rose to prominence as one-half of critically acclaimed folk duo, Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer. When Carter died in 2002, Grammer picked up the pieces and kept on the road. Grammer’s solo career has taken off as much as it can in folk circles. Grammer’s tunes are rooted in a…
JAZZ | Eastman Jazz Café with Joe Martin
Over the past two decades, bassist Joe Martin has earned a place among the top side-men in New York, enhancing performances and recordings by greats like Art Farmer, Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner, Maria Schneider, and many more. But Martin is also a formidable bandleader with several recordings under his belt showcasing his own challenging compositions.…
CLASSICAL | Holocaust Remembrance Concert
This concert features music by Gideon Klein and Wladyslaw Szpilman, composers who perished and survived (respectively) Holocaust camps. Performing will be Eastman School of Music faculty and students, organized by Associate Professor of Violin, Renee Jolles, whose father, Jerome, was a survivor of the camps in Romania, came to America, and established a musical career…
JAZZ | Grove Place Jazz Project
The Downstairs Cabaret Theatre teamed up with the Eastman School of Music to offer The Grove Place Jazz Project, a weekly night of swing, ballads, and blues every Tuesday. A different grouping of highly talented jazz musicians — primarily Eastman students — is featured each week. From composers to teachers to undergrads, they run the…
ROCK | WATERS
Van Pierszalowski, the creative force behind WATERS, sings in a style that’s both demanding and indifferent, while pumping guitars, backing vocals and crashing drums give a heavy, anthemic feel. Songs like “Mikey Mantle” show Van also has tamed, more intimate side. The 5-piece recently appeared on Conan. The day after they play in Rochester, WATERS…
ART | Hidden Passions: Inspiring Conversations
We can work and interact with someone for years before discovering a commonly-held interest or non-obvious quirk. This is especially the case when hobbies seem unrelated to careers, an instance at the focus of the Memorial Art Gallery’s series, “Hidden Passions: Inspiring Conversations about Hyphenated Lives.” The next iteration of the series is Thursday, April…
METAL | Massive Metal Day
This is going to be a sweaty, brutal (in the best way) night. The Montage Music Hall is packing them in for a Massive Metal Day that will feature eight of the region’s darkest and heaviest — really, six bands represent Upstate New York and two are from Boston. The bill starts with Auburn deathcore…
PHOTOGRAPHY | The Cocktailians
East Avenue’s Orange Glory Café and Catering is currently hosting The Cocktailians, an exhibition of photographs of local bartenders and their associates. The Cocktailians is the work of Rochester photographer Gerry Szymanski, who might be best known for his specialty with portraits of local cultural figures, and has worked extensively in both commercial and fine…
Cooking what you love
Ashley Swan-Abramson, chef at Roux (688 Park Avenue), loves the versatility of French cooking. “French food is influenced by so many different regions and you can do so much with it,” she says. “I love doing new twists on classic interpretations.” Swan-Abramson’s mother, Robin Banister, owns Roux, and her sister, Paulina Swan, is the bar…
FILM | RCTV’s Output Film and Media Festival
On Monday, April 13, and Tuesday, April 14, the Cinema Theater (957 South Clinton Avenue) will once again host the annual Output Film and Media Festival. With a lineup curated by the board of directors at RCTV (Rochester’s public access television station), the festival provides two solid evenings worth of entertaining and informative films that…
Guided by Veluxe
If Rochester can be viewed as a microcosm of music happening on a grander scale, then you can easily define its own Veluxe. The band emerged in the early aughts as an answer to the previous decade’s slick, big rock bloat. It would be purely by definition that this is a pop band of the…
ART | “Pretty Pain: New Works by Lea”
Way back in 2008, 1975 Gallery’s first show featured three talented emerging artists: Sarah C. Rutherford, Adam Francey, and Lea Rizzo. All three have since been featured as WALL\THERAPY muralists, two have a successful practice as tattoo artists (Francey and Rizzo), two are members of the Sweet Meat Co. artist collective (Rutherford and Rizzo), and…
Feedback 4/8
We welcome your comments. Send them to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. Comments of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in print. We don’t publish comments sent to other media. Single-payer saves…
SPECIAL EVENT | Wine and Culture
Rochester Deaf Rotary Club is holding a fundraising event that involves speaking in sign language and drinking in wine-language. Wine and beer tastings, hors d’oeuvres, desserts, raffles, and a silent auction will provide the backdrop for socializing at this gathering at Holiday Inn. Any who are interested in improving their signing fluency can attend a…
ALBUM REVIEW: “Wounds & Whispers”
Wales Road “Wounds & Whispers” Spun Records walesroad.com The hurt is palpable on this new CD from Wales Road. But the way Tommy Wales deals with it in myriad manifestations of anger, rage, and sadness, offers a way out for the listener and himself. Wales is a holy rock ‘n’ roller who leans heavily on…
FESTIVAL | Rochester Erotic Arts Festival
Whatever your kink, the Rochester Erotic Arts Festival is all about taking some time to slow down and letting the art of sexuality sink in. This year’s two-day festival will feature the White Elephant Burlesque Society — known for its body positivity and social commentary, while being steam-hot — the REAF debut of the Rochester…
The prison-to-pension pipeline
The correlation between low student achievement, failing schools, and youth incarceration is clear, especially for black and Latino males in urban public schools. “The school-to-prison pipeline is not some abstraction,” says education activist Howard Eagle. “It’s not something people are making up. The link is direct.” Eagle, a retired teacher for the Rochester City School…
Theater Review: “The Mountaintop” at Geva
“I’m just a man, just a man,” says a trembling Martin Luther King Jr. in Katori Hall’s award-winning play, “The Mountaintop.” It’s a powerful piece of historical fiction, playing through April 26 at Geva Theatre’s Wilson Mainstage. Martin Luther King Jr. (Royce Johnson) returns to room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis after reciting…
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 7, Episode 6: Ru Hollywood Stories
And then there were nine. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” started last night after Mrs. Kasha Davis’s departure. Kandy Ho made a comment about the judges putting her in the bottom two so she can take out the older queens. Kandy? Let’s have some real talk: The reason you’ve been in the bottom two twice now is…
Film Review: “While We’re Young”
It’s always been the prerogative of older generations to look upon the younger with a mix of disdain, apprehension, and occasional horror. As impossible as it is to pinpoint the exact moment when one transitions into the other, the growing sense of a younger generation nipping at your heels is an inevitable part of getting…
New York’s new budget: is ‘sin’ too strong a word?
This particular budget says so much about where the state is right now. And where this country is.
Film Review: “Furious 7”
How’s tricks, Vin Diesel? I hope you’re not tired of my letters. I manage to confine them to one every two years, because all I want to talk about with you (or with anyone, really) are the “Fast and Furious” movies. You’ll remember that we originally had plans for July 2014, until your co-star Paul…
