ESSAY:Tangled Up in Blue
NO EASY BEAT: Tom Robotham’s “backstage/all access pass” to the frontlines of NYC’s crime and fire scenes in the late 1970s. By Tom Robotham Recently on Facebook, I saw a meme asserting that there’s no such thing as a good cop: they’re either dirty, clean but...
NEWS: Hermitage Museum’s Rapid Capital Campaign
Staff Report The Hermitage Museum and Gardens has begun a rapid capital campaign with the goal of raising $3.5 million for needed renovations to its Visual Arts School, a Tudor England-styled building, and for enhancements to its grounds. “The preservation and...
ESSAY: Powerless
By Tom Robotham On the morning of September 30, when hurricane Ian started to make its presence felt in Norfolk, I was watching CNN’s coverage of the devastation in Florida. Since my oldest friend lives in Fort Myers—ground zero, as it turned out—I was worried...
NEWS: Lynne Seagle Has Been a Transformative Leader
(Lynne Seagle. Photo by Mark Edward Atkinson) By Jeff Maisey After more than 40 years, Hope House Foundation Executive Director Lynne Seagle will step aside on New Year’s Day upcoming. During the past four-plus decades, Seagle has been a transformative leader, a...
ART NEWS: Shooting Stars
By Jeff Maisey Award-winning international celebrity/fashion photographer and director Markus Klinko is best known for capturing some of the most iconic images of the stars. Klinko’s extensive portfolio includes captivating images Beyonce, Lady Gaga, David...
NEWS: Diana Blanchard Gross Lands in Hampton
(Diana L. Blanchard Gross preparing for the 2022 Virginia Artists Juried Exhibition.) By Betsy DiJulio Coming under the umbrella of Hampton Arts—aka the Hampton Arts Commission, which was created by Hampton City Council in 1987—together with The American Theatre and...
ESSAY: Young and Free
(My childhood home, shortly before my family moved in, in 1959.) By Tom Robotham During this summer’s heatwave, when I stayed home as much as possible, I spent a few afternoons binge-watching The Andy Griffith Show. I loved the program when it aired in primetime,...
BUSINESS: Matthew Stewart Rides into Retirement
(Matthew Stewart hits the retirement road) By Jeff Maisey After 43 years, Coastal Import Repair founding owner Matthew Stewart has decided to ride off into the sunset of retirement. To many in Hampton Roads, and especially in Norfolk, Coastal Import Repair has been a...
LECTURE: Rick Steves Returns Through the Back Door
(European travel guru Rick Steves kicks off Norfolk Forum’s 90th season. Photo by Zachary Scott) By Jeff Maisey When Rick Steves returns from his European vacation — he’ll be in Burgundy and the Swiss Alps in August — one of the first work-related duties he’ll be...
ESSAY: In My Travels
By Tom Robotham This summer, for the first time in a long while, I haven’t ventured outside of Hampton Roads. There are a number of reasons for that, a tight budget chief among them. If all goes well, I’ll wander farther afield in 2023. Meanwhile, I’m moved to reflect...
Top 5 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard albums of 2022
By Nate Sacks Australian Psych-rockers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard had yet another prolific year in terms of official album releases. The band previously released 5 albums in 2017, and now 5 years later they repeated the madness. There's plenty of smaller...
London Calling and Gourmandizing NEON
Artist Matthew McGuiness By Betsy DiJulio Look beneath the surface of most community murals and there you will find a rich backstory—a stew if you will—of historical context and contemporary perspective. The newest mural in Norfolk’s NEON district boasts that...
A Magical Paradox: When Students Become Teachers
By Kate Mattingly Learning a dance is a lot like playing a game of telephone: movement leaves one body and is passed to another, transformed by that person’s anatomy and style, and then transmitted and transformed again, and again. For Eli Motley, a...
Romantic Christmas with Dave Koz
By Jeff Maisey Smooth jazz saxophonist Dave Koz has made a successful seasonal career hitting the road for the past 25 years in the month leading up to Christmas Eve with his critically acclaimed Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour. When the Silver...
The Nigerian Connection
By Jerome Langston While a fellow at the Newark Museum of Art back in 2015, curator Kimberli Gant, PhD, discovered a significant connection between African-American painter Jacob Lawrence, regarded by some as the most celebrated black...
PREVIEW: Mummenschanz
(The avant-garde mime troupe has a distant connection to Norfolk) By Jim Roberts Mummenschanz, the avant-garde mime troupe celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has a distant but meaningful connection to Norfolk: Floriana Frassetto, one of the group’s founders,...
Bruce Hornsby Preview: My Fecund Years
(Bruce Hornsby Photo by Sarah Walor) By Jim Roberts Bruce Hornsby, the Grammy Award-winning musician from Williamsburg, is in the midst of the most prolific phase of his career, releasing three solo albums over the last four years. While he still tours with his band,...
Local Music Reviews
Jae Sinnett’s Zero to 60 Quartet With Symphonicity “Live at the Sandler Center (Self-Release) Back in April, Jae Sinnett’s Zero to 60 Quartet performed live at Sandler Center with the backing of Symphonicity, Virginia’s official orchestra conducted by Daniel Boothe....
CLASSICAL: Timely and Timeless Music of Passion and Contrasts
By Montague Gammon III Do not expect soprano Katherine Jolly to stand still when she joins the Virginia Symphony Orchestra to send the strains of the Toni Morrison—André Previn song cycle “Honey and Rue” soaring out to audiences in Newport News, Norfolk and...
STAGE: A Norfolk Hobbit
A group shot of the cast: From Left to Right (starting with the first row): Jeffrey A. Haddock, Kristina VanPeeren, Billy Bustamante, Jayden Adams-Ruiz, Anna Sosa, and Kennedy Savage. Second Row (starting with woman in the grey sweater); Emma Emde Savanna Stone, Zia...
These (Pink) Boots Are Made for Brewing (and more) – The Pink Boots Society
By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones Women have been involved with the craft beer movement from the beginning, although their contributions were frequently overlooked. In 1977 Suzy Stern co-founded and brewed at New Albion, America’s first craft brewery since...
757 Battle of the Beers Celebrates 10 Years in September
By Jeff Maisey Over the last decade, craft beer festivals have come and gone in the Hampton Roads. Today the 757 Battle of the Beers, celebrating its 10th anniversary on September 24, is the longest running beer event in the region. The 757 Battle concept was...
RESTAURANT REVIEW: Quemar’s Vegan Menu is on Fire
By Betsy DiJulio An open kitchen with a wood fired grill is not all that smolders at Quemar. The namesake smokiness is this restaurant’s signature, lending distinction and a nuanced layer of flavor to the cuisine while wrapping diners in a subtle...
RESTAURANT NEWS: A Gateway to India
By Marisa Marsey Paul Chhabra, the civic-minded, seasoned restaurateur who’s been broadening Hampton Roadsters’ palates with biryanis, bharthas and basmati for over three decades, is pulsing with boyish energy early this morning as he pulls up in a U-Haul to a...
REVIEW: Stay for the Food at Civil Libation Bistro
Words & Photo by Betsy DiJulio With a persistent heat index in the triple digits and a cute hand-drawn cocktail menu, no one will judge if you go to Civil Libation Bistro for the hand-crafted cocktails, but be sure to stay for the food. While this southern...
Love Song Hits All the Right Plant-Based Notes
By Betsy DiJulio “I’m not gonna write you a love song ‘Cause you asked for it ‘Cause you need one…” Nope, like alternative pop artist, Sara Bareilles, lilts, “I’m not gonna write you a love song ‘cause its make or breaking this.” Why? Because Virginia...
Tea is Just One Jewel in Prince Tea House’s Crown
(Afternoon tea, anyone? Photo courtesy of Prince Tea House VB.) By Marisa Marsey When someone says tea house, what do you picture? A stiff upper-lipped British parlor, fine bone china, crustless watercress sandwiches and clotted cream? Perhaps your thoughts race to a...
BEER: Crossing the Thin Brew Line
(Beer-tender Cara and Thin Brew Line’s new brewer, Raf Corredor. Photo by Chris Jones.) By Diane Catanzaro & Chris Jones There you are in Virginia Beach, looking for a place to get a libation, a sip of suds, a beer. You’d like something fresh, delicious, and...
The Grey Goose Turns 40
(The Grey Goose now serves brunch six days a week. Photo by Grey Goose ) By Marisa Marsey “That was really tasty,” said Phillip Epstein as he and his wife Dana exited The Grey Goose Tea Room in Downtown Hampton. “But I don’t need to go back again.” The year was 2007....
Mexican-Inspired for Cinco de Mayo
By Jeff Maisey Mexican lagers have been a favorite amongst local beer lovers, especially on Hampton Roads’ notoriously humid, hot days of spring and summer. Beer brands from South of the Border like Modelo, Dos Equis, Tecate, Cerveza Pacifico Clara have...
