Cover Story
At home on the canal
It’s a safe assumption that few government leaders or canal-community residents could have foreseen the canal’s banks becoming a sought-after location for high-end housing.
Theater Review: “Naked in Encino” at JCC’s CenterStage
The title of Wendy Kout’s “Naked in Encino” conjures up images of performers stripped to their birthday suits, frolicking in the California sun, but in reality its indecent exposure is somewhat more metaphorical in nature. While the play (a world premiere being staged at the JCC CenterStage Theatre through December 21) promises its characters’ hearts…
Film Review: “Nightcrawler”
Now that we’ve just about reached the midpoint of December, we’re officially well into Oscar season. Around this time, studios occasionally decide to give their films another shot at box office success, expanding their most prestigious releases into more theaters so as to better capitalize on any potential Oscar buzz, or alternatively, to create some.…
Plan 2014 supporters speak out
A coalition of environmental groups is urging the federal government to approve a new plan for regulating Lake Ontario’s water levels. On Monday, the coalition, which includes the Nature Conservancy of Central and Western New York and Citizens Campaign for the Environment, held a press conference to show community support for Plan 2014. The plan would…
WEEK AHEAD: County budget vote; economic council awards; eviction blockade; update on UR-East partnership
The Monroe County Legislature will vote on County Executive Maggie Brooks’ 2015 budget proposal on Tuesday. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the County Office Building, 39 West Main Street. The $1.2 billion plan is certain to pass. If the proceedings are anything like past budget votes, Democrats will introduce a handful…
Film Review: “The Homesman”
The appearance of “The Homesman” suggests that despite its present state of debility, the Western, that grand American form, still lives and breathes. This particular film, in fact, demonstrates the versatility of the genre, its possibilities for change and variation. It employs many of the traditional elements of its past, but handles them in some…
Film Review: “The Homesman”
With its bleak, unsparing depiction of life on the frontier in the 1850’s, “The Homesman” stands in stark contrast to what we tend to think of as a traditional Western. Far from the romantic odes to the heroic figures of the Old West we’re used to seeing, the film instead delivers a mournful tale of…
LDC scandal may have a small silver lining
For the past six months, Monroe County has been handling some administrative work for two quasi-governmental local development corporations it created: Upstate Telecommunications Corporation and Monroe Safety and Security Systems. The county took over the duties from a subcontractor after four key players in the LDC’s were hit with criminal charges related to alleged bid-rigging. The…
Teachout takes on the Hedge Funders over education
Zephyr Teachout, the Fordham law professor and progressive Democrat who ran a primary election against Governor Andrew Cuomo earlier this year, made a favorable impression on many voters across the state. Her campaign revealed serious discontent with Cuomo and some of his policies. While Teachout didn’t topple Cuomo, she didn’t shrink quietly into the night,…
Dance Review: Garth Fagan’s home season opener
Garth Fagan Dance again had Rochester on its feet, applauding in unabashed awe and appreciation, during the opening night of the company’s home season at Nazareth College Performing Arts Center, Wednesday evening. Celebration seemed to be a strong tenet in several of the pieces performed — that Fagan-esque shout-out to the deep currents of physical,…
Charlotte’s closing may be a condemnation of school choice
Charlotte High School, which just underwent a multimillion-dollar makeover as part of the district’s massive modernization project, should be revered at least as much as Charlotte’s famous lighthouse. And it was a generation or two ago, but not anymore. Today, the school is arguably a better example of the death of neighborhood schools. That was…
Penfield board poised to approve fracking ban
By the end of the month, Penfield could be the fifth Monroe County community to ban fracking. And the second with an all-Republican town board to do so. The Town Board is holding a public hearing at 7:30 p.m. today on a law that would prohibit natural gas and petroleum extraction within Penfield. Barring any…
CHOW HOUND: Something sweet
While Yuting “Tina” Yuan was studying for a Master’s degree in Statistics at Rutgers University, she often found herself distracted when hitting the books. “When I was studying, I was always thinking about baking — it’s my true passion,” Yuan says. Enter Dragon Sweetie, the bakery Yuan opened in September at 389 Gregory Street in…
CLASSICAL | “Goldbergs”
In his “Goldberg Variations,” Johann Sebastian Bach took a rather nondescript dance tune and spun from it (or to be precise, its bass line) 30 variations “for the refreshment of music lovers.” The variations range across a world of moods and emotions, and there are few keyboard works more extensive or — when the original tune returns at the end — more…
Feedback 12/3
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. A world…
ROOTS ROCK | Bill Kirchen
The high point of a Bill Kirchen show is the tour of guitar-hero riffs the guitar hero takes the crowd on in the middle of “Hot Rod Lincoln,” a rock ‘n’ roll rave-up Kirchen recorded in 1972 as a member of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Riffs from The Beatles, The Ventures, Merle…
Destructive beetle in county parks
The emerald ash borer has been detected in Oatka Creek, Black Creek, and Genesee Valley parks. It’s a serious situation, officials say, because 20 percent of the trees in Monroe County’s parks are ash trees. The invasive beetle is deadly to New York’s native ashes. The county wants to get ahead of the bugs and…
FOLK | David Mallett
Acoustic troubadour David Mallett has extended an invitation for audience members to bring their ukuleles. Folks with ukuleles will have an opportunity to join Mallett onstage for a couple of numbers, including “Garden Song.” Mallett was working on his family’s farm in Maine when he wrote his signature tune that has been called an…
Right of refusal
Should renters be allowed to refuse entry to city inspectors?
JAZZ | Phil Haynes & Free Country
In recent years, drummer Phil Haynes has enhanced the Rochester appearances of straight-ahead saxophonist Dave Liebman and avant-garde trumpeter Paul Smoker. Now for something completely different. When he brings his group, Free Country, to Lovin’ Cup, he’ll be exploring the tunes on his new album, “Something Beatles.” Haynes will be joined by cellist and vocalist…
Voting hurdles for transgenders
Laine DeLaney was nearly unable to vote in this year’s midterm elections because of a mix up with her identification. DeLaney, 36, who came out as a transwoman in 2013, went to the Department of Motor Vehicles earlier this year to change her name on her license. Updating official public records is one of the…
INDIE POP | Gillian
Gillian rolls into town from Brooklyn on a 3-show “Micro Tour,” as the band has dubbed it. Gillian is a 5-piece indie pop crew who, with barely 2 years together as a band, have started making some ripples into the pop scene. Energetic and head-pumping, the band’s sound is both catchy and accessible with some…
Urban Action 12/3
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Momentum building for single-payer health Metro Justice and several community partners are organizing local support for a single-payer health bill for New York. Assembly member Richard Gottfried, who is sponsoring the bill, will…
CLASSICAL | The Vienna Boys Choir
This renowned boys choir is one of the most long-standing youth choral traditions in the world. Sweeping angelic voices lift from this traveling troupe of pre-teen youth. Since the group’s inception in 1924 as church musical accompaniment, it has held true to mostly German classics while also adding more contemporary works to its repertoire. Fresh-faced and in…
Projection and perception
Visual Studies Workshop’s current show isn’t really representative of Tara Merenda Nelson’s film work, most of which is in Super 8 format and tends to follow a “film diary” tradition: “intimate portraits of friends and family, travel diaries, confessions, secrets, that type of thing,” she says. Just three strange, cinematic installations comprise the show, each…
ROCK | Benefit Concert for the Family of Officer Pierson
Supporting local music is a good cause, but when you make the show a tribute to a slain local police officer it becomes a great one. Five bands — four of which are based in Rochester or have Rochester roots — will come together to raise money for the family of Officer Daryl Pierson, who…
Racism, separateness, and the Ferguson decision
There is so much we don’t know about what happened in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9 – so much that we’ll never know. And even if Officer Darren Wilson had been indicted and tried for the killing of Michael Brown, we might not have learned much that we don’t know right now. But Darren Wilson…
ART | 24th Annual Member’s Exhibition
Each year, Rochester Contemporary Art Center (137 East Avenue) hosts an exhibition of artwork by members who help support the organization. Artists and community members alike are shown side-by-side, and much of the work is for sale. A reception for RoCo’s 24th annual Members’ Exhibition will be held at the art center on Thursday, December…
ART | EasySpeak
Featuring work from local food photographer Kurt Brownell, EasySpeak explores the important role that liquid producers play in facilitating connection and celebration in people’s daily lives. Located at Joe Bean (1344 University Avenue), EasySpeak is the next installment in Joe Bean’s Power of Public Spaces series, which seeks to examine how people connect and find…
COMEDY | Marlon Wayans
For anyone who stepped foot in a movie theater during the late 1990’s and most of the 2000’s, the Wayans Brothers should be immediately recognizable. Keenen, Damon, Shawn, and Marlon have had comedy careers that span decades, with each taking turns at almost every role in Hollywood, from acting to directing and screenwriting. Marlon, the…
LITERATURE | “Abandoned: The Untold Story of Orphan Asylums”
In the mid 1800’s, a million desperate Irish abandoned their famine-stricken homeland for the promise of a better life in America. By the middle of the next century, an estimated 30,000 orphaned children roamed New York City, surviving by joining violent gangs, resorting to petty crime, begging, or selling newspapers for a nickel a piece,…
THEATER | “Venus”
The question of the value of black lives and black bodies is more relevant than ever. This week, the University of Rochester International Theatre Program will present “Venus,” which specifically explores the perceived value of a black woman’s body in a white world. In this historical drama, penned by Suzan-Lori Parks, the “Hottentot Venus” (Saartjie…
Ocupanther
Ocupanther is bold; a brash and brilliant example of ethereal pursuit with organic tools. Emerging from the ashes of Pia Mater, Ocupanther is guitars in space, rock ‘n’ roll on the dance floor — a tug-o-war that hammers your head and hits your hips. The big, big sound out of this three-year-old Rochester quartet —…
THEATER | “The Drowning Girls”
In 1915 England, George Joseph Smith was convicted of the murders, by drowning, of his three wives. In 2008 Canada, the three wives told their stories in the premiere of the play “The Drowning Girls.” They tell of their wooing, their wedding, their insuring, and their drowning, all in the bathtub where they met their ends.…
ALBUM REVIEW: “Raindrop: Improvisations With Chopin”
Deanna Witkowski “Raindrop: Improvisations With Chopin” Tilapia Records deannajazz.com If ever there was an album that transcends genres, it’s Deanna Witkowski’s gorgeous new CD, “Raindrop: Improvisations With Chopin.” On her fifth album, the pianist, who grew up in Webster, combines three of her passions: Chopin, jazz, and the music of Brazil. She does it so…
CLASSICAL | “Nowell, Sing We Now”
If you’re already a bit tired of constant Christmas carols, well, I can’t blame you. But this weekend Madrigalia offers a charming alternative with “Nowell, Sing We Now,” a concert of holiday vocal chamber music. The program includes music by Stephen Paulus, John Rutter, and Madrigalia’s artistic director Cary Ratcliff, with the group’s elegant ensemble sound complemented by the…
Film Review: “Art and Craft”
Over the course of 30 years, Mark Landis earned a reputation as one of the most prolific and notorious art forgers around. He produced painstaking re-creations of the paintings and sketches of artists from Monet to Charles Schultz for art institutions across the country — more than 60 museums in 20 states. But despite this…
