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...
Elizabeth River Project begins expansion on North Colley
(A rendering of its Knitting Mill Creek boardwalk.) By Jim Roberts The Elizabeth River Project has spent 30 years transforming its namesake waterway. Now it’s preparing to transform Norfolk’s North Colley business corridor and adjacent Knitting Mill Creek. The...
Why We Started WINDSdays
(THE ANSWER IS BLOWING IN THE WIND: A group of environmental activists share a fun moment with their hand-fans promoting wind energy.) By Joel Rubin When you are a public relations professional, you yearn for clients as large and established as Dominion Energy. You...
Mermaid Winery On The Move
By Jeff Maisey Early next year, Mermaid Winery, which opened in 2012 as Virginia’s first designated Urban Winery, will move its original Ghent location to bustling downtown in the former Norfolk Taproom location at the corner of Main and Granby Street. For...
101 Things to Do This Summer in Coastal Virginia
(Symphony By The Sea will feature Virginia Symphony Orchestra on July 28 at 31st Street park at the Oceanfront. Free admission. Presented by Neptune Festival)) By Staff Three and six years ago we published lists of 101 Things to Do in Hampton Roads Before You Die. The...
A Symphony Concert of Profound and Positive Hope
(Thomas Wilkins, conductor) By Montague Gammon III Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s Brahms and Dvořák with Thomas Wilkins November concert features “music that is going to make you feel better about yourself at the end of the evening,” says the VSO’s Principal Guest...
All Things Equal is Unequalled Theatre
(Michelle Azar stars as Ruth Bader Ginsburg Photo courtesy of Bay Street Theater.) By Montague Gammon III The most important play that anyone in Hampton Roads will see this year, and probably for many years to come, crops up for just one single early November night...
Beloved Aladdin Brings Joy to Chrysler Hall
(Adi Royas as Aladdin. Photo by Deenvan Meer/Disney.) By Jerome Langston “To me, it kind of feels like destiny. It’s like a full circle moment for me,” says actor Adi Roy, who plays the title role of Aladdin, in the Broadway touring production of Disney’s “Aladdin,”...
Virginia Opera’s Edge of the Seat Comedy
Mezzo soprano Hilary Ginther By Montague Gammon III One of the most popular and well known of all operas, Gioachino Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” comes to the Harrison Opera House the first weekend of November in a brand new Virginia Opera production that...
ART: Climate and Culture Dominate Enos Exhibition
By Betsy DiJulio A quick look at the paintings and drawings of Solomon Enos would leave one with the impression that his work gives form to a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future. But that’s why a quick look at art is rarely adequate. While the work leans heavily into...
Violent Femmes Happy to Return to Norfolk
By Jeff Maisey This year marks the 40th anniversary of American folk/punk band Violent Femmes. The Milwaukee-based group made an impressive debut in 1983 with the self-titled album which spawned the longtime classic singles “Blister in the Sun” and “Gone Daddy...
The Gift of the Fiddler
By Jerome Langston “In all honesty, it’s kind of the gift that keeps on giving. If you have to be associated with one show repeatedly in your career, I couldn’t think of a better one to be associated with,” says Gary John La Rosa, the famed director/choreographer,...
Rocking Rachmaninoff
By Jeff Maisey Earlier this year, the Virginia Arts Festival celebrated in grand style the 150th birthday of Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff with a series of chamber music concerts featuring the internationally acclaimed Dali Quartet and violinist Tianwa Yang as...
Still Ga Ga Over the Goo Goos
By Jim Morrison For a decade after they formed in Buffalo and before they became radio stars, The Goo Goo Dolls toured in a van, a trio sometimes headlining and sometimes opening for bands like The Gun Club or Motorhead. Their first album, recorded on a $750 budget...
Symbolism Abounds in Chrysler Exhibition
Matt Eich (American, b. 1986), Fire hose baptism, Newport News, Virginia (from the series “The Invisible Yoke, Volume III: The Seven Cities”), 2013 Archival pigment print, The Do Good Fund, Inc., 2020–5 © Matt Eich By Jerome Langston “I like curating photography...
Bold Mariner to Focus on OV, Close Lambert’s Point Location
Norfolk-based Bold Mariner Brewing Company is excited to announce the completion of a deal that now allows the former Bank of The Common- wealth building at 1901 E. Ocean View Ave. to be transformed into the new Bold Mariner Brewing Company. In addition, Bold Mariner...
Restaurant REVIEW: Cowboy Neil’s Tex-Mex Cantina
By Betsy DiJulio “It needed some love,” said “Cowboy” Neil Waranch of the former home of Stoley’s on Great Neck Road in Virginia Beach. For six weeks, he loved up the grungy space, maintaining the long bar and overall footprint, but giving it an appealing update...
Getting In The Spirits
(Kara King gazes out to a bright future for craft spirits in Virginia.) Photo courtesy of Ironclad Distillery Co. By Jim Roberts By all measures, the spirits industry in Virginia is booming. While the number of distilleries grew 19 percent from 2016 to 2017, sales...
Benchtop Wins VEER’s 2018 Golden Tap Award
By Staff Benchtop Brewing Company won the overall Golden Tap when Veer Magazine presented its annual Local Beer Awards at O’Connor Brewing Company in Norfolk. Gold, silver and bronze medals were given out in 50 categories ranging from various beers styles to...
Samichlaus Tapping at the Bier Garden
Words by Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones Photos by Chris Jones So, St. Nicholas’ Day is coming up on Thursday, December 6. How are you going to ring in that holiday? Traditionalists will have the kinder place their shoes or a special boot by the fireplace, to...
A Trailblazing 10 Years for Devils Backbone
By Jeff Maisey It’s been 10 years since Devils Backbone Brewing Company opened its well-known brewpub in rural Nelson County, and today the brewery is remembered as a trailblazer that helped raise the bar for all craft breweries in Virginia. "Looking back on my 25...
The Bunker Saves Young Veterans’ Dream Brewery
By Jeff Maisey The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger famously sings, “You can't always get what you want/But if you try sometimes you might find/You get what you need.” And, sometimes, you get even more. Such is the case for the Virginia Beach craft brewers at Young...
Back Bay’s Farmhouse Brewing Company
By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones If you’ve lived in the Tidewater area for many years you’ve seen a lot of changes in the landscape. In days of yore most of Virginia Beach, where Chris spent his formative years, was farmland instead of suburban sprawl. Now...
Waging the 2018 757 Battle of the Beers
By Jeff Maisey What better location to wage battle than at a military reservation. That’s where this year’s 757 Battle of the Beers will be held — Camp Pendleton in Virginia Beach. Camp Pendleton was constructed in 1912 and served primarily as a riffle range for the...
Behind The Scenes At Blanca Food + Wine
By Marisa Marsey Dining is theater; everyone plays a role. There are settings, choreography, presentations. Open kitchens bring backstage to center. But most folks rarely see preproduction; the late-night set-building and rehearsals leading to the invitational dress...
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