Cover Story
DA’s race draws on big issues
Justice is a malleable term, but fundamentally and conceptually it is about fairness, both for people accused of crimes and people who are victims of them. The Monroe County district attorney’s race illustrates just how subjective justice is, as a concept and as a practice. The two candidates converge on some issues and diverge on…
State official wants investigation of the RCSD
New York’s state budget director today called for an investigation of the Rochester City School District related to its financial problems. Budget Director Robert Mujica sent a strongly worded letter to Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren and interim state Education Commission Elizabeth Berlin in which he said that the education department, the mayor, and City Council…
Legislator’s proposal calls for county climate action plan
Democratic County Legislator Justin Wilcox has introduced a proposal that would start the Legislature on the path to developing a county climate action plan. Wilcox submitted the legislation yesterday and said he expects to know by tonight’s Legislature meeting whether it’ll receive consideration or whether Legislature President Joe Carbone will reject it. Most members of…
State health care costs rise amid report of pay-to-play allegations
New York’s Medicaid budget is growing at a faster rate than the state can currently afford. That comes as a published report alleges a potential pay-to-play arrangement between a large hospital association and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2018 re-election campaign. The report in the New York Times said Cuomo’s campaign asked the Greater New York Hospital…
THEATER | Festival of New Theatre
For the past nine years, Geva Theatre’s commitment to developing new works by up-and-coming playwrights and performers has resulted in 61 plays and 75 productions across the nation, and 15 world premieres in Rochester alone. This year, the Festival of New Theatre (FONT) will showcase three staged readings, a young writer’s night featuring five locals…
COMEDY | Ken Jeong
Stand-up comic and actor Ken Jeong’s unconventional trajectory in the world of entertainment is common knowledge by now. A licensed physician specializing in internal medicine, Jeong began to gain national recognition with his minor role as a doctor in Judd Apatow’s movie “Knocked Up,” before achieving breakout fame as Mr. Chow in “The Hangover” comedy…
Justice punted on Police Accountability Board
The ruling has thrust the Elections Board into a holding pattern and sown confusion among the electorate.
Bat McGrath, an iconic part of the Rochester music scene, has died
Bat McGrath died Tuesday night, in much the same way as he wrote and sang. With no drama, no fuss, quietly, at his mountainside home in Tennessee with his wife Tricia Cast, all on his terms. A member of the Rochester Music Hall of Fame, the 73-year-old McGrath was diagnosed with cancer on Dec. 12.…
THEATER | Beckett Trilogy
New performance group The Horseradish Factory, which has an interest in post-1945 experimental theater and early Off-Off Broadway, will present a weekend of three lesser-known Samuel Beckett works. “Ohio Impromptu” and “Rockaby” highlight the intense, concentrated style of Beckett’s later years within 12 minutes, and “Krapp’s Last Tape” follows the struggle of a 69-year-old failed…
SPECIAL EVENT | Rochester Game Festival
On Saturday, October 5, the Rochester Institute of Technology’s newest innovation hub, the MAGIC Center, will present the third annual Rochester Game Festival, featuring more than 50 exhibitors on hand, with live gaming and immersive opportunities from noon to 5 p.m. An 11 a.m. keynote address from indie developers Peter Lazarski (Imaginary Monsters) and Dan…
Our Marketing Portfolio
We’re proud to provide a targeted media audience for businesses and institutions looking to reach well-educated, active, community-oriented readers with disposable income – and a younger demographic than the daily. To learn more email ads@rochester-citynews.com or call 585-258-0282 IN PRINTTraditional display ads FOCUS SECTIONS: Winter Guide, Festival Preview, Summer Guide, Fall Guide, Holiday Guide, and…
THEATER | ‘Frankenstein — A Live Radio Play’
Rochester theater company Screen Plays continues its seventh season this week with “Frankenstein — A Live Radio Play” by Philip Grecian, held at The MuCCC and Record Archive. The performance hits just over 200 years since Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus” was published in 1818, and ties in themes of 1940s radio-style drama, with…
LITERATURE | Dine & Rhyme
BOA Editions will host its 22nd Dine & Rhyme literary dinner this week, featuring acclaimed poet Naomi Shihab Nye, who has written or edited more than 30 books, including five poetry collections published by BOA Editions. Her collection “19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East” was a finalist for the 2002 National Book…
ART EVENT | Haunted Hungerford
The Hungerford and FUNgerford’s annual Haunted Hungerford event is back this weekend, this year featuring 20 open studios for visitors to explore, a costume contest, prizes, and the chance to support a few good causes. Some participating studios include Black Cat Gallery, where attendees can find information on voter registration, and Cat Clay, which will…
JAZZ | Jon Batiste
Pianist, singer, and composer Jon Batiste was already bursting with talent when he emerged to lead Stay Human as the house band on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” On his latest studio album, “Hollywood Africans,” he brings his New Orleans roots to a variety of evocative compositions, whether originals or standards. The title of…
THEATER | ‘Stupid F***ing Bird’
The College at Brockport’s Department of Theatre and Music Studies will kick off its 2019-2020 theatrical season with “Stupid F***ing Bird” by Aaron Posner, a 2013 play “sort of adapted” from “The Seagull” by Anton Chekhov. Posner, who often writes from his own experiences, creates a story of family, friends, love, life, and death in…
ALTERNATIVE ROCK | Big Wreck
Coming off like the gentler side of Soundgarden, Big Wreck punches out its unrelenting, big rock sound with an amazing sense of melody. It’s a multi-layered attack that grabs ahold of you and doesn’t let go until you get it. It’s as if two songs are going on at once. Based in Boston, Big Wreck…
HIP-HOP AND JAZZ | Shamarr Allen & The Underdawgs
Known for the viral dance hit, “Hit the Sean Payton,” songwriter-trumpeter Shamarr Allen is a musical prodigy with down-to-earth charisma and unabashed love for his hometown of New Orleans. Backed by his band, The Underdawgs, Allen stays true to his roots by blending Cajun rhythms with hip-hop beats and jazz-tinged trumpet flourishes. Featuring a catchy…
CLASSICAL | RPO plays ‘Dvorák 8’
After a galvanic opening concert devoted to contemporary American music, this week’s Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra program — with works by Haydn, Mozart, and Dvoák— may seem staid and conventional. But there’s some welcome novelty here: the orchestra will be performing Haydn’s beautiful Symphony No. 34 for the first time, and Dvoák’s very tuneful, very popular…
BLUES ROCK | The Dirty Pennies
The only thing that threatens to distract you from enjoying The Dirty Pennies’ musicianship is their extremely strong songwriting. The band started out in 2012 as a duo full of rough-and-ragged, next-generation blues. Despite its nascent qualities, The Dirty Pennies managed to dig deep into the big, bad blues and its low-down, traditional bloodletting. Far…
INSTRUMENTAL FOLK | William Tyler
William Tyler is known as a former member of Lambchop and Silver Jews, but he also performs solo instrumental music that evokes inward and outward reflection. Released in January, Tyler’s latest album “Goes West” demonstrates a cerebral shift in his playing, from electric to acoustic guitar — though electric instrumentation still enriches the music. Tyler…
Feedback 10/2
We welcome your comments. Send them to feedback@rochester-citynews.com with your name, your daytime telephone number for verification, and your city, town or village. Comments of fewer than 500 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. Speaking honestly…
Urban Action 10/2
This week’s call to action includes the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.) Albright talk part of UR series Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will be speaking at the University of Rochester on Thursday, October 24. As a diplomat, Albright has been a senior-level…
Interview: Lucian Ban & Alex Harding
Pianist Lucian Ban is from the Transylvania region of Romania; baritone saxophonist Alex Harding grew up in Detroit. Their diverse influences converge beautifully on their new album, “Dark Blue,” and they’ll be bringing some of that music and more to Bop Shop Records on October 8.
Album review: ‘One//Four’
Jackson Cavalier ‘One//Four’ Self-released jacksoncavalier.bandcamp.com It’s not that Jackson Cavalier has signed over to more countrified constraints. But I gotta say: Just dig the tonk and twang of Cavalier’s reedy voice as he puts it through the paces on his new, three-song EP “One//Four.” The first of an eventual quartet of EP’s, “One//Four” is a…
REDD makes a splash in the East End
Feverishly anticipated upscale restaurant REDD, led by acclaimed chef Richard Reddington, is the first restaurant in Rochester with a Michelin-star chef at the helm. Sashimi, duck confit, Mexican street corn, lobster risotto, onion rings, and wood-fired pizzas are all equally at home on its dinner menu.
‘Play/Ground’ transforms old Medina High
The weekend-long art pop-up was co-presented again this year with Rochester and Buffalo-based arts organizations, and the school was filled with installations and events presented by a set of returning and new artists.
Film preview: Rochester Labor Film Series
With ongoing issues of workers’ rights making frequent headlines, it’s no wonder that the Rochester Labor Film Series has found enduring success. Celebrating its 30th year, the series presents labor-themed stories that focus on working class issues and interests. And its screenings tend to be packed.
Album review: ‘The Cool Club and The Lipker Sisters’
The Cool Club & The Lipker Sisters ‘The Cool Club & The Lipker Sisters’ Self-released coolclubandlipkersisters.com Deep into the new, self-titled album by The Cool Club & The Lipker Sisters, listeners may feel like they’ve time-traveled to the 1940’s. While the three sisters, Marilla, Grace, and Elizabeth, are wailing away on “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”…
E-cigarette ban throws researchers into limbo
In a laboratory at the end of a long hallway on the third floor of the University of Rochester’s School of Medicine and Dentistry, a team of researchers dissects e-cigarettes. Their goal is to figure out exactly what chemicals make up the liquids that the devices turn into an inhalable vapor. The lab’s work has…
Dispatches from TIFF 2019, pt. 2
The 2019 edition Toronto International Film Festival has drawn to a close, so Adam back in ROC with a few more short reviews — plus his picks for the ten best films he saw at this year’s festival.
