“In March winter is holding back and spring is pulling forward. Something holds and something pulls inside of us too.” ~ Jean Hersey
This week, RVA is filled with show openings as well as workshops to immerse yourself in creativity. Plus we have music, history and a fun evening of circus performers! In the push-me, pull-me moments this month brings, our local arts and culture community can provide respite and grounding as we slide into spring!
To list your events on Artsline, go to vpm.org/artsline.
1. JAZZ4JUSTICE
Music
Friday, March 17, 8 PM
Singleton Center for the Performing Arts, 922 Park Avenue, Richmond, 23220
$20 - $40
The Greater Richmond Bar Foundation’s (GRBF) 9th Annual Jazz4Justice™ Concert will highlight the connection between jazz and social justice, while showcasing great jazz music by VCUArts Music students. This year’s concert features the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra with Abigail Cordova, vocals, the VCU Jazz Orchestra with faculty guest soloist Rex Richardson, trumpet, five Jazz4Justice Scholarship Recipients, and Guest Conductor Tracy Sears, Anchor and Reporter for WTVR CBS 6. Purchase tickets online.
2. LA TRAVIATA
Opera
Friday, March 17, 8 PM
Sunday, March 19, 2:30 PM
Carpenter Theatre at Dominion Energy Center, 600 East Grace Street, Richmond, 23219
$25-$130
Prepare to be swept away by one of opera’s most tragic love stories. The tale of the stunning courtesan Violetta and the hopelessly romantic Alfredo is woven with some of the best-known music in the repertoire. Presented by Virginia Opera, La Traviata’s high points are matched with tears in the tragic end. Sung in Italian with English Surtitles. Purchase tickets online.
3. INSTANT SHAKESPEARE: KING LEAR
Theatre
Saturday, March 18, 1 PM
Agecroft Hall & Gardens, 4305 Sulgrave Road, Richmond, 23221
$5
Come to Agecroft Hall for a hands-on workshop! You will use edited King Lear scripts, put on a name tag sash and don Shakespeare-like costume pieces. The workshop will focus on the physical aspects of the play, and participants will learn a little bit about the language, and then, at 3:00 p.m., read the play out loud to each other (not to an audience) with plastic swords in hand! Register online.
4. RVA ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL: MY OCTOPUS TEACHER
Film
Friday, March 17, 5 PM
The Robins Nature Center at Maymont, 2201 Shields Lake Drive Richmond, 23220
What can humans learn from a cephalopod? Find out during the 13th Annual Richmond Environmental Film Festival whenMaymont hosts a free screening of My Octopus Teacher, the Academy Award-winning 2020 documentary that takes viewers into the fragile underwater world of one of the most intelligent creatures on the planet. The film tells the story of the year Craig Foster spent getting to know a wild octopus in the Great African Seaforest off the coast of South Africa. After the screening, stay for a panel discussion and Q&A. Register online for this free event.
5. THE MUSIC OF FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN
Music
Sunday, March 19, 4 PM
Grace Baptist Church, 4200 Dover Road, Richmond, 23221
$10-$15
The Richmond Choral Society, featuring the VCU Health Orchestra, presents the Mass No. 11 in D minor (Missa in angustiis); Te Deum. Haydn’s “Mass in time of need” also known as the “Nelson Mass,” was written during a time of turmoil and war on the European continent, making this a most fitting work for the Lenten season and for our times. Markus Compton and Will Pattie, conductors; Anne O’Byrne, soprano; Madison Finke, alto; Ken Wood, tenor; Gregory Parker, bass. Purchase tickets online.
6. PORTRAIT
Theatre
Friday & Saturday, March 17 & 18, 7:30 PM
Sunday, March 19, 2 PM
The Eagle Theatre at Central High Cultural and Educational Complex, 2748 Dogtown Road, Goochland, 23063
$10-$12
Goochland Community Theatre presents Portrait, a new play written and directed by Dakota Jones and Sydney Johnson. About the Show: Nicole is an artist in the big city, but she is struggling emotionally and with her place in the world. Our protagonist is coping her way through life, with a few supportive loved ones with their own quirks, when she is suddenly faced with a reality that upends her entire life. How does one go on with their life when it is completely different than it was the day before? (Trigger warnings: Adult language and mental health issues.) Purchase tickets online.
7. WORKSHOP: HOW TO MAKE A DOCUMENTARY FILM
Film
Saturdays: March 18, April 22, and May 20
Oakwood Arts, 3511 P Street, Richmond, VA 23223
$35 per workshop
Oakwood Arts presents “How to Make a Documentary Film,” a series of workshops in partnership with Belltower Pictures designed to teach you basic skills from pre-production to post-production and prepare you to enter the career of documentary filmmaking. With a goal of fostering support for marginalized voices to utilize the documentary format to tell their own stories, these workshops are led by seasoned professionals and double as an excellent networking opportunity. Speakers include Jesse Vaughan, Randall Taylor, Martin Montgomery, Andrew Uvarov, Samantha Willis, and Belltower's own David Powers and Craig Martin. Register online. Scholarship opportunities available. E-mail [email protected] for more information.
8. A "MARVELOUS" EVENING WITH CAROLINE AARON
Performing Arts, Culture
Thursday, March 16, 7:30 PM
Weinstein JCC, 5403 Monument Avenue, Richmond, 23226
$40 members | $50 nonmembers | $25-$35 online
Caroline Aaron (Abady), Richmond native and best known for her role as Shirley Maisel in Amazon’s 20-time Emmy Award-winning series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, will be the featured speaker at the Adolf-Adams Weinstein JCC Forum. Aaron has had a long-time acting career and has appeared in many popular shows including Modern Family, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Monk, and Grey’s Anatomy, just to name a few. Most recently, Aaron has joined the cast of the Israeli/American crossover comedy Chanshi starring Henry Winkler. Purchase tickets online
9. CROSS STITCH BANDITS
Theatre
Runs through March 19
Thursdays-Sundays, 7 PM
Saturday & Sunday matinees at 1 PM
Gottwald Playhouse at Dominion Energy Center, 600 East Grace Street, Richmond, 23219
$25-$43
Cadence Theatre Company presents Cross Stitch Bandits. Synopsis: For the past 27 years, David has dutifully climbed the ranks at the same engineering firm and placed his family on a trajectory for success. His wife is a well-respected vice principal, his daughter is weeks away from graduating from law school, and his son should be going back to school any day now. Today, his family has gathered to celebrate his retirement by permanently laying his career to rest. The kooky party soon divulges into David scrambling to get everyone's lives back on track. Purchase tickets online.
10. THE ACROBATS OF CIRQUE-TACULAR
Circus Arts, Music, Dance
Saturday, March 18, 7 PM
Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen, 2880 Mountain Road, Glen Allen, 23060
$40
Big Top circus fun is coming to The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen! The Acrobats of Cirque-tacular is a heart-stopping, mind-boggling display of artistry and athleticism! Experience the wow factor and star quality of the circus tent, concert hall, and Broadway stage in one fantastic evening! Be amazed as aerialists, acrobats, contortionists, fire artists, illusionists, singers and dancers perform indescribable feats to delight all ages! Mind-boggling aerial and ground acrobatic performances will ignite the imagination of the young and the young in spirit alike! The Acrobats of Cirque-tacular features one dazzling circus feat after another. Purchase tickets online.
11. MAKING TREASON ODIOUS AGAIN? PERSPECTIVES FROM THE CONGRESSIONAL NAMING COMMISSION AND THE ARMY'S WAR ON THE LOST CAUSE
History
Thursday, March 16, Noon
Virginia Museum of History & Culture, 428 North Arthur Ashe Boulevard, Richmond, 23220
$5-$10
Though the Civil War’s battles were settled on the fields of our nation more than a century and half ago, the fields of our collective memories continue to be rife with conflict. This has especially proved the case over the last few years, as some Civil War monuments come down and other interpretations go up, sparking important questions. What stories should be commemorated? What features should be highlighted? What role should the Confederacy play in the history of the United States? Should we memorialize Confederates, and if so, how? The Virginia Museum of History & Culture brings Connor Williams to discuss how our society arrived at these questions. Purchase tickets online.
If you are an arts or cultural organization with lectures, exhibitions, performances, or even book readings, submit your events to Artsline here.
If you are an artist or an arts or cultural organization in need of resources and tools, check out the list of local and national resources from Richmond CultureWorks.
The Maymont Foundation, VCUarts and Virginia Opera are sponsors of VPM.
