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Sensory friendly theater experiences grow in Rochester
Individual performances are tailored to be inclusive for children and adults who are on the autism spectrum, have ADHD, and have special needs.
Amazon fulfillment center coming to Henrietta
Well, Amazon’s going to build something in the Rochester area after all: a 70,000 square foot fulfillment center. It’ll be located in an existing building at 330 Clay Road in Henrietta and it’ll be the first facility of its kind in Upstate. Developer Frank Imburgia, whose company owns the building, said during a late afternoon…
Education chief discusses consultant’s role with Rochester school district
Ken Eastwood, the former superintendent of the Middletown School District, is not coming to Rochester to be acting superintendent of the city school district or to oversee the school board, State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said this afternoon. Elia made the comment during a press conference in Rochester. She and Board of Regents Chancellor Betty…
City threatens to take control of ignored apartment buildings
The City of Rochester has threatened to put several of an absentee landlord’s buildings into receivership if past-due violations aren’t fixed
Planning Commission approves revised plan for Cobbs Hill Village
The proposal for new apartment buildings on land within Cobbs Hill Park took a step forward Monday when the City Planning Commission approved Rochester Management’s revised plans for the project. The vote was 4-2. The project continues to face bitter opposition and it still needs approval by City Council and Mayor Lovely Warren. The non-profit…
I Scene It: NoBunny at Photo City
A live show can change your mind, I’m telling you. If you’re on the fence about a band and not really sure if they deserve your love, just give them the live test. I’m not saying the recordings fall short. I’m saying that with the perfect storm of audience participation, reciprocity, a good sound man,…
Intersectionality-focused series continues with Jahmal B. Golden
At the Crossroads: Activating the Intersection of Art and Justice continued on March 23, featuring artwork and a poetry reading by trans femme artist of color Jahmal B. Golden, screenings, and a Long Table Conversation.
McFadden joins Democrats seeking Slaughter’s seat
City Council Vice President Adam McFadden is joining the group of Democratic candidates campaigning for the late Louise Slaughter’s House seat. McFadden will announce his candidacy at 5:30 p.m. today at Brue Coffee, 960 Genesee Street. “I really think that the Democratic Party should have an open and honest debate and discussion about who should…
Rochester school district critics rally over special-education concerns
Continuing their protest over special-education problems in the Rochester school district, parents, students, and community activists held a rally outside the district’s administrative offices yesterday afternoon. Speakers called for more funding for special education services and for stronger accountability. The district has been cited by the state and by the Empire Justice Center for serious…
Whole Foods project gets pair of approvals from Brighton board
The Brighton Town Board gave two pivotal approvals to the Daniele Family Companies’ Whole Foods Plaza proposal last night. Now the controversial project faces a whole new set of reviews and approvals before the developer can build it. Board members approved an incentive zoning application from the developer as well as findings from the project’s…
City announces 2018 Party in the Park lineup
Mayor Lovely Warren along with Party in the Park Producer Jeff Springut today announced the lineup for the 2018 Party in the Park. For nine consecutive Thursdays, starting June 7, music will ring out of Martin Luther King Jr. Park. Acts range from the sublime (Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad and G Love and Special…
Protesters rally at Batavia detention center for immigrant women
Immigrant rights advocates gathered today outside of the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility at Batavia in support of undocumented women facing deportation. More than 50 people, including many from New York City — and one sporting an oversize Donald Trump head, orange skin and all, holding a “Deport Me” sign — stood close together to listen…
Wilt launches House bid, picks up progressive group’s endorsement
[UPDATED] Brighton Town Board member Robin Reynolds Wilt is entering the race for the late Louise Slaughter’s House seat, and she’s got the backing of ROCitizen, a local progressive group. Wilt released a YouTube video earlier today announcing her run, and during an interview she said that she filed her candidacy statement with the Federal…
Fresh Cut: ‘Hunters’ by Soviet Dolls
Soviet Dolls has created a synth-pop carousel that leaves the listener riding around its sound waves on repeat
SPORTS | Roc City Roller Derby Home Opener
Roc City Roller Derby’s badass women in black and green are marking 10 years this season, and will host its double header home opener on Saturday, back at The Dome Arena. The all-women, flat-track roller derby league started in 2008, and competes with two teams: The Roc Stars, its Women’s Flat Track Derby Association-sanctioned A…
Album review: ‘Triple Play’
Harold Danko “Triple Play” SteepleChase esm.rochester.edu/faculty/danko_harold The new album by pianist Harold Danko is best described as a musical adventure. The title, “Triple Play,” is especially appropriate because it’s a collective improvisation on the part of Danko and trio-mates Jay Anderson (bass) and Jeff Hirshfield (drums). As Danko explains in his liner notes, the three…
THEATER | ‘Closing Time’
In “Closing Time,” playwright Owen McCafferty mines the subtle drama of one long day in a grubby Belfast pub and hotel on the brink of shutting down. Run by Vera, who has grown bitter at her situation, and her constantly half-drunk husband, Robbie, the neighborhood establishment has never quite recovered from The Troubles, and the…
Album review: ‘Light Blue’
Martin Wind “Light Blue” Laika Records martinwind.com For the last three decades, Martin Wind has been among the most in-demand bassists in jazz, playing with a diverse array of artists ranging from Johnny Griffin to Sting. His latest album, “Light Blue,” leaves no doubt that he’s far more than a sideman. Wind wrote every tune…
THEATER | ‘Marjorie Prime’
Questions about artificial intelligence, memory, and growing older collide in Jordan Harrison’s Pulitzer-Prize finalist play “Marjorie Prime.” In the mid-21st century, 85-year-old Marjorie is trying to hold on to her memories as dementia begins to set in, and starts to confide in and relate her life stories to a “handsome new companion who’s programmed to…
CLASSICAL | George Walker’s 95th Birthday Recital
If you’re not yet familiar with the music of George Walker, now is the perfect time to get acquainted. The composer and Eastman School of Music alumnus is celebrating his 95th birthday this year, and his alma mater will host a retrospective recital of his complete piano sonatas. The virtuosic motifs, restless rhythms, and insatiably…
JAZZ | Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet
When the Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet played at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival last year, it was a rhythmic feast, provided by percussionist Freddy “Huevito” Lobatón on the cajón, Shirazette Tinnin on drums, John Benitez on bass, and Yuri Juárez guitar. Soaring above that core group were Alegria and Laura Andrea Leguia on soulful…
TRIBUTE | Brit Floyd
When Pink Floyd played its debut gig in 1966, nobody thought the group would evolve into one of the most important acts in history spawning, among other things, an industry of tribute bands. Pink Floyd’s state-of-the-art theatrics pushed rock out of its comfort zone in ways that were transformational, and its flawless tunes left audiences…
ROCK | Hayley Jane & The Primates
By their nature jam bands play for a long time. They jam, it’s what they do. And when going to see one of these extrapolative collectives, it’s often a safe bet to wear comfortable shoes and pack a lunch. But for something a little less trance-inducing, try some Hayley Jane & The Primates. Hayley Jane…
PUNK | NoBunny
Fortunately, NoBunny doesn’t sound as bad as he looks. In fact, he sounds pretty cool. He looks like he got in a scissor fight with Lux Interior … and won? Visuals aside, NoBunny (he’s the one in the bunny mask) and his band pump out a careening deluge of trashy rock ‘n’ roll. Hasil Adkins-type…
Douglass descendant wants to create 1 million abolitionists
Kenneth Morris Jr. will discuss the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives’ One Million Abolitionists project on Thursday, April 5, in the Hawkins-Carlson Room of Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester. The event begins at 5 p.m., and is free and open to the public. Information: 276-5744; sas.rochester.edu/aas. Kenneth Morris Jr. carries a powerful legacy. The great-great-great-grandson…
EXPERIMENTAL | Human Host
Human Host is a rotating ensemble of DIY multimedia artists from New York City and other parts of the Northeast. In fact, it has scored the soundtrack music for multiple independent films as well as releasing an entirely self-produced album, “On Haida Gwaii,” in 2017. The group, which started in 2002, utilizes a variety of…
HARDCORE | Knocked Loose
Each generation has their “gateway” hardcore bands — the bands they saw or heard in their formative years that instantly became the catalyst for a lifelong musical obsession. While just about every hardcore dude pushing 40 will point to bands like Snapcase, Hatebreed, and Earth Crisis as their musical patron saints, it’s a young beatdown…
INDIE ROCK | Bugg
It’s hard to be a disaffected slacker-rock band in 2018. With just about all of modern society’s longest-standing institutions crumbling around us in an endless spectacle of self-immolation, who has the time to mope around town and bum cigarettes? Thankfully, when Bloomington, Indiana, upstarts Bugg sing impossibly catchy, fuzz-soaked anthems for directionless burnouts, the songs…
The Hi-Risers make their own kind of fun
Rochester’s rock ‘n’ roll roustabouts The Hi-Risers’ new album kicks off with that snap, crackle, and pop the band has become known for. Album number nine, “My Kind of Fun,” is pure Hi-Risers, full of clever licks and hooks. You can dance to it, too. The tenacious trio has become its own thing over the…
ART | ‘The Vision in Me’
The Photography & Digital Arts program at Flower City Arts Center this month celebrates 20 years of its Studio 678 youth photography program with an exhibition at City Hall. Open to Wilson Foundation Academy middle school students, the 24-session after-school photography program is free to the kids and receives no funding from the Rochester City…
Feedback 3/28
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. For our print edition, we select comments from all three sources; those of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in…
ART | ‘Portraits of a Planet: Photographer in Space’
NASA astronaut Donald Pettit is a veteran of three space flights, and has spent a combined 370 days in space, orbited the Earth more than 3,000 times, traveled 82 million miles, and logged 13 hours in space walks. During those travels he took nearly a half million photos, some of which he’s premiering at RIT’s…
Urban Action 3/28
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Focusing on urban policing The Moving Beyond Racism Book Group will discuss “On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City” by Allice Goffman on Monday, April 2. Goffman spent six years living…
FILM | ‘Living Thinkers’
Though more than a century has passed since higher education was opened for black women, they represent an alarmingly low percentage of faculty members in US colleges and universities. Baobab Cultural Center this week will host a screening of Roxana Walker-Canton’s 2013 film “Living Thinkers: An Autobiography of Black Women in the Ivory Tower.” Through…
Downtown residents form a new urban coalition
The number of people moving into downtown Rochester during the last decade has steadily increased, and proposals for more housing and other development haven’t slowed down. While downtown’s buildings were once largely devoted to retail and commercial uses, the focus has changed. Now the area is evolving into a patchwork of small neighborhoods, and some…
Louise Slaughter’s legacy and example
She used her power, said The Nation magazine, “to advance some of the most significant legislation of the 20th and 21st centuries.”
Interview: Jason Isaacs on subversive comedy ‘The Death of Stalin’
The caustic political satire observes with deadpan wit the bloody power struggle that erupts in the aftermath of the Soviet dictator’s sudden death. Jason Isaacs discusses laughing in the face of evil.
Film preview: ‘Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts’
The final film in the Little Theatre’s annual Women’s History Month Film Series, “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts” is the Indonesian feminist outlaw western you never knew you needed in your life. The film opens as a gang of bandits arrive on the doorstep of the recently widowed Marlina (the excellent Marsha Timothy), announcing…
Film review: ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’
The appeal of the “Pacific Rim” films is right there in their gloriously dopey premise: giant robots fighting giant monsters. If reading that sentence doesn’t immediately fill you with a sense of, “Yes, that sounds like a splendid way to spend two hours in a dark movie theater,” you’re probably wise not to waste your…
The Tavern at Gibbs offers laidback fare and downtown proximity
Owner Ken Ellingham jumped at the opportunity to take the space at University and Gibbs, and plans to be an active part of the downtown revitalization. Bonus: Where to go for Easter Brunch.
Blackfriars’ ‘When We Were Young and Unafraid’ takes on domestic violence
It’s interesting to view the issues presented here not through lens of the #MeToo movement or #LeanIn, but during a time when Americans had less access to information and therefore, movements were even more action-oriented.
Pittsford’s Westport review budges a bit
Westport Crossing has been an exercise in conflict. Mark IV’s proposed Erie Canal-side apartment complex in the Village of Pittsford has drawn criticism from some village residents and elected officials because they believe the proposed buildings would be too big and wouldn’t match Pittsford’s character. And after receiving approvals from the village Board of Trustees…
