Veer Magazine January 2022

VEER

JANUARY 15, 2022 | FREE

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Music Awards Preview Illustrated by Dwight Easter

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Every family has secrets.

What happens when they’re revealed?

Starring Tony Award Winner Karen Ziemba

January 28.29.30 4 january 2022

Harrison Opera House

For more information and to buy tickets visit vaopera.org or call 866.673.7282 www.VEERmag.com

VIRGINIA BEACH AR TS EVENT CALENDAR | www.VBArts.org

1-31 MADE IN VA, Exhibition

Virginia MOCA | virginiamoca.org

1-31 SHAPING MEMORIES: EXPRESSIONS IN CLAY, Exhibition Virginia MOCA | virginiamoca.org

1-31 AGNES GROCHULSKA: ARCHETYPES, Exhibition Virginia MOCA | virginiamoca.org

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IN A BLUE MOOD, Exhibition Virginia Beach Art Center | artcentervb.org

8 23RD ANNUAL LOLLIPOP CONCERT, Symphonicity

featuring Ballet Virginia Sandler Center for the Performing Arts | sandlercenter.org

9 THE MOZART EXPERIENCE (PBJ SERIES),

Virginia Symphony Orchestra Sandler Center for the Performing Arts | virginiasymphony.org

14-31 THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

Little Theatre of Virginia Beach | ltvb.com

1-6 THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

Little Theatre of Virginia Beach | ltvb.com

4-27 FABULOUS FORGERIES, Exhibition

Virginia Beach Art Center | artcentervb.org

1-28 MADE IN VA, Exhibition

17 MASTERWORKS III: “IN A DREAM”, Symphonicity

1-28 SHAPING MEMORIES: EXPRESSIONS IN CLAY, Exhibition

20 TCHAIKOVSKY SYMPHONY NO. 4, Virginia Symphony Orchestra

Virginia MOCA | virginiamoca.org Virginia MOCA | virginiamoca.org

1-28 AGNES GROCHULSKA: ARCHETYPES, Exhibition Virginia MOCA | virginiamoca.org

4-5 BEAUTY + TRUTH, Ballet Virginia

Zeiders American Dream Theater | balletvirginia.org

Sandler Center for the Performing Arts | symphonicity.org Sandler Center for the Performing Arts | virginiasymphony.org

25-27 OVER THE RAINBOW, Virginia Musical Theatre

Sandler Center for the Performing Arts | vmtheatre.org

26 ANANSI’S ICKY, STICKY WEB OF TRICKS, Atumpan Dance Theatre Zeiders American Dream Theater | thez.org

1-6 MADE IN VA, Exhibition

Virginia MOCA | virginiamoca.org

1-6 SHAPING MEMORIES: EXPRESSIONS IN CLAY, Exhibition Virginia MOCA | virginiamoca.org

1-6 AGNES GROCHULSKA: ARCHETYPES, Exhibition Virginia MOCA | virginiamoca.org

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4-27 ART OF POETRY, Exhibition

Virginia Beach Art Center | artcentervb.org

6 KIKI BASHI MEETS THE SYMPHONY, Virginia Symphony Orchestra Sandler Center for the Performing Arts | virginiasymphony.org

13 BLASTOFF: A SYMPHONY IN SPACE (PBJ SERIES),

Virginia Symphony Orchestra Sandler Center for the Performing Arts | virginiasymphony.org

january 2022

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tr’snotebook

My Life in Nine Songs

having seen Mary Poppins, and when she sang the title song, (“The hills are alive with the sound of music”) while whirling across

By Tom Robotham a mountaintop, it struck deep chords witMusic…is not simply a distraction or a pastime, but a core element of our identity. – hin me, evoking the freedom of a childhood spent outdoors, and the primal desire to Daniel Levitin, The World in Six Songs sing at the top of my lungs.

And yet, early on, I also developed a meThe other day, I pulled from one of my age of 5, my mother—a music teacher—sat bookshelves a volume that I’ve revisited of- me down and began walking me through lancholy streak, especially when I hit adolesten over the last few years: Daniel Levitin’s the “Green Book,” as the first volume in the cence and began to experience the ecstasy The World in Six Songs, a marvelous study John W. Schaum piano course was called. It is and agony of falling in love. Middle school of the ways in which early music shaped the simplest of melodies set to even simpler was an especially difficult time, as it is for human nature and facilitated the social lyrics, next to a picture of a puppy: “Bone many people, but it ended on a high note bonding that was necessary for the deve- Sweet Bone! (C-D-E) / “Bone Sweet Bone! (C- when, at the school graduation party, I slow lopment of civilization.

B-A) / “That’s my favorite song” (C-D-E-C-D).” danced with a girl I’d had a crush on all year.

The book is also a meditation on the The melody and lyrics are then repeated, en- The sound track of that magic moment was “Reflections of My Life,” by a now forgotenormously important role that music plays ding with, “Sing it Loud and Strong!” in our own lives—which got me thinking: A mere eight measures—and yet it awa- ten band called Marmalade. It had already What songs have both shaped and reflected kened in me the joy of playing melodies on the become one of my favorites—which is odd, my own personal development? piano, and singing along as I struck the notes. given the lyrics: “I’m changing, I’m changing I could fill an entire book with meditatiI’d been primed to fall in love with the everything / Ah, everything around me / The ons on pieces of music that have significant beauty of simple melodies. In addition to world is a bad place / A bad place, a terrible meaning for me. I’ve written many times, for teaching piano and voice, my mother sang place to live/ Oh, but I don’t wanna die.”)

And yet, maybe not so odd. Early adolesexample, about Glenn Gould’s second recor- constantly around the house while doing ding of The Goldberg Variations, which has chores and once told me that she used to cence, after all, is a time of wrenching chanbeen my single favorite album for the last 30 sing to me while I was still in the womb, ha- ge—at once terrifying and exhilarating—and years—my desert-island disc: the one record ving read that a fetus can hear music. (Sci- when the group sings the chorus in glorious I’d take with me if I were exiled and could ne- entific studies support this.) The tunes she harmonies that move me to this day—“All my ver hear any other record again. favored were standards from the American sorrow / Sad tomorrow / Take me back to my Were I to write that book, I would also Songbook—the great body of music that old home”—it feels both wistful and hopeful. include examinations of many other pieces emerged from Broadway and Hollywood I can safely say that no other song reminds from the classical canon, as well as jazz fa- musicals of the 1930s through the ‘50s— me more vividly of that period in my life.

During my high school years, my muvorites and music of other genres. and in time I would grow to love them every For now, though, I’m thinking only about bit as much as I loved the popular songs of sical imagination was captured mainly by songs in the specific sense of that word— my generation. When I was a child, though, the great progressive-rock groups of the era—especially Emerson, Lake and Palmer. short pieces of music with lyrics—and only they were just there in the background. about those songs that represent key moBy the time I was 10, I had about 20 45s I liked those groups, however, for their inments of my life. They are not necessarily in my collection, and many of them were strumental virtuosity more so than their my favorites, nor do I necessarily regard Beatles records. And yet, one stands out songs. The one song that stands out from them all as “great.” They are simply songs perhaps even more strongly than those of high school is “Fresh Air,” by Quicksilver that had an enormous impact on me when I the Fab Four: “Secret Agent Man,” by Joh- Messenger Service. They were the second first encountered them, and in some way or nny Rivers. (“There’s a man who lives a life band I ever saw live, which made the song another represent my desires and my per- of danger.”) The lyrics captured my imagi- all the more vivid for me, and as a budding ceptions of the world. nation because I was already a huge James (no pun intended) pot head, I got an endless Limiting these reflections to lyrical Bond fan, having seen Thunderball in my kick out of the notion that the lyric “have songs, of course, still presents an enor- local movie theater a year earlier. But what another hit of sweet air” was a reference to mous challenge. Levitin says it has been I loved even more than the lyrics was the smoking weed. Marijuana, in fact, had beestimated that more than 10 million songs electric-guitar intro, and when I got my come extremely important to me, bonding have been recorded since the invention of own guitar that Christmas, I played those me with a group of friends in a way that I recording technology. I have no idea how opening notes endlessly, while imagining hadn’t experienced in middle school. The song symbolized this for me—so much so many songs I’ve heard in my lifetime, but that I was a rock-and-roll star. it certainly has to be in the thousands. The Deep down, though, I don’t think I re- that when it came time to choose a quote to Beatles alone recorded more than 200, and ally wanted to be grown up and oh-so-cool. go under my yearbook picture, I chose that I love virtually every one of them.

I still longed for the nurturing comforts of lyric. It didn’t hurt that I also thought I was The first song that comes to mind, though, childhood, and I found them—around the pulling a fast one on school authorities by was never recorded by anyone and certainly same time I was discovering Johnny Rivers speaking in thinly veiled code.

In college, I grew even less song-oriented wouldn’t have become a hit if it had been. It and the Beatles—in The Sound of Music, sticks in my mind because it is the first song which my mom took me to see when it came (continued on page 8) I learned to play on the piano, when, at the out in 1965. I already adored Julie Andrews,

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

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(continued from page 6)

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and more interested in instrumental music—especially jazz, which I began to explore with fervor while working as a deejay at the college radio station. And yet, if I were to choose one song that represents my college years, it would have to be Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” which became the soundtrack for a road trip I took to Fort Lauderdale with three friends during spring break of junior year. Memories of listening to that album—and that song, in particular—as we drove along a dark North Carolina highway in the wee hours, remain as vivid as if the trip had happened yesterday. Thankfully, I’m still close with one of those friends. Alas, our friend Ed—whose car we took on the trip— died a few years after we graduated. Meanwhile, our friend John—who was my closest friend from the age of 13, my college roommate, the best man at my wedding, and my son’s godfather—simply vanished about 20 years ago. I’ve heard rumors that he lives in Vermont, and all of us who are still in touch from those years have tried to find him, but to no avail—a fact that makes the title of the song all the more poignant.

My musical tastes in the years after college were more and more dominated by jazz as well as the jazzy arrangements of the great American-Songbook interpreters: Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, and, especially, Frank Sinatra. I’ve always been an incurable romantic, and these singers spoke to that aspect of my personality. But the great thing about Sinatra is that he combined romance with swagger. And man, could he swing. As a result, it’s awfully hard to choose one song from this period. “Someone to Watch Over Me,” and “The Way You Look Tonight” are certainly contenders. But I’d have to go with “Fly Me to the Moon,” which I’ve sung during countless car rides, cocktail hours and karaoke nights. I even used to sing it a cappella to my kids at bedtime when they were very young. One of the categories of song that Levitin discusses in his book is songs of joy—and “Fly Me to the Moon” surely fits that description.

In my 50s, I became more interested in contemporary singer-songwriters, Dar Williams in particular. The opening lines of her song “Mercy of the Fallen,” seemed to sum up my circumstances: “Oh my fair North Star / I have held to you dearly / I had asked you to steer me, / Till one cloud-scattered night, / I got lost in my travels…” The friend who turned me on to Williams’ music also got me interested in Dante, and there seemed to be a parallel to the opening lines of The Inferno: “Midway on our life’s journey, I found myself in dark woods, the right road lost.”

Newly divorced, I felt that I’d lost my way.

Everything I’d built my life around seemed to be crumbling—all the more so when my 10year stint as the editor of Port Folio Weekly came to an abrupt end a year after the dissolution of my marriage. As I stared at the fragments of my life, I realized I had to find new meaning in them—and to embrace ambiguity. To this day, many of the lyrics in Williams’ song remain a mystery to me. And yet, I think that is precisely why the song was so resonant at the time: “There’s the wind and the rain/ And the mercy of the fallen, / Who say they have no claim to know what’s right. / There’s the weak and the strong and the beds that have no answer, / And that’s where I may rest my head tonight.”

Which brings me to the last song on my list: “My Back Pages,” by Bob Dylan. The song came out in 1964 when I was way to young to appreciate it. It only began to speak to me about 10 years ago—especially the paradoxical line, “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.” Dylan is said to have written it after growing disenchanted with the moral arrogance and intellectual naivety that, in his mind, had defined his earlier songs. He could easily have written the line in reverse, equating youth with naivety and age with wisdom.

One of the things that makes Dylan great, however, is his knack for unusual turns of phrase, and this one makes sense to me.

The simplistic ideas we tend to embrace in our teens and 20s often make us rigid.

We’re certain that we’re right, and we see the world, as Dylan puts it, “in black and white.” With each passing year, I think, I’ve become younger in the sense that I’ve become more flexible, more open to gray areas and nuance, and more willing to question my own assumptions—more open, in short, to what Zen masters call “beginners mind.”

And so it is with my love of music, which has come full circle, encompassing 65 years of memories associated with song, along with a deepening appreciation of the new possibilities that music can bring. When I listen to any of these songs, which I’ve heard a thousand times, the memories come flooding back, and suddenly I am 6 again, or 12 or 22.

At the same time, I hear them in new ways, filtered through a lifetime of experience and reflection. I am old and young simultaneously. Even playing those three ascending notes that open “Bone Sweet Bone” takes on a magical quality, in some ways similar to the way it did when I was 5, but in many ways embellished and deepened by six decades of gratitude for the soundtrack of my life. I look forward to hearing about yours.

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art preview

Muhammad Ansi, Untitled (Hands Holding Flowers through Bars), 2016, acrylic on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches

Art from Guantanamo Bay

By Betsy DiJulio

Six artists. Over 100 artworks. Fifteen years, give or take. The artists in this rare exhibition include both current detainees at Guantánamo Bay (Moath Al Alwi and Ahmed Rabbani) and former (Muhammad Ansi, Abdualmalik Alrahabi Abud, Sabri Al Qurashi, Mansoor Adayfi), none of whom were or have been charged with a crime. In the following Q & A, Cullen Strawn, ODU’s Executive Director for the Arts, looks beyond the numbers to share why, in terms of both context and content, this collection of work from a distant island is richly relevant to citizens of Hampton Roads and beyond.

Betsy DiJulio: Why was this exhibition the right exhibition at the right time? That is, how does it dovetail with your Gallery’s mission and why was this the right moment in which to share this work vs. any other work?

january 2022

Cullen Strawn: I have worked toward the exhibition for five years and consider it an appropriate choice for an educational gallery.

Within the University we collectively study most facets of human life such as sociology and criminal justice, and expressive culture through arts and humanities relates to all of it. Part of what the Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries regularly present is self-taught or folk and traditional art.Our Art from Guantánamo Bay exhibition will open days after the 20th anniversary of Guantánamo opening, a time when the detention camp and its detainees likely will be discussed in the news and other forums with increased frequency.

BD: Let’s take a look at the artistic dimensions of this exhibition including media,

(continued on page 14)

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(continued from page 12) process, style, and training, e.g. To what ma- members as empty glasses, vacant seats, or terials do these artists have access? When, uneaten fruit. There are visions of mosques where, and how do they work? How would and desert landscapes, as well as cities the you characterize the range of styles? And artists wish to visit, depicted as inaccessible. what, if any, levels of formal training do There are dreams of starting a dairy or bufthey have? fet restaurant, owning a car, and visiting the CS: Detainees made art since arriving at Guan- sea, which surrounds them but also remains tánamo with methods such as using their fin- inaccessible. gernails to draw on foam cups in which tea Abdualmalik (Alrahabi) Abud was detained was served, and as far as we know, all “unof- for almost 15 years, and when he thought of his ficial” art was discarded. In early 2009 after wife and daughter he would draw the complex President Obama took office, the Joint Task architecture of Sana’a, Yemen in order to forget Force Guantánamo announced a new art pro- that he was imprisoned. Sabri Al Qurashi spent gram to provide intellectual stimulation for 14 years at Guantánamo and created peacedetainees and to allow them to express cre- ful landscapes and depictions of detainee life, ativity. At first they could make art only dur- along with political allusions like the Statue of ing the program and eventually were allowed Liberty wearing detainee constraints. Ahmed to do so in their cells. There have always been Rabbani has been detained for over 17 years, strict rules regarding art supplies—detainees and his paintings of empty glasses and tables are given only a few types of soft, nonset for tea but with empty chairs and toxic materials like charcoal, plates can be read as memories acrylics, watercolors, and oil of his absent family and as pastels, which could not be references to his hunger Art from Guantanamo Bay used to harm themselves strikes, undertaken to January 21 through May 7 or others. Restrictions protest detainee conGordon Galleries at ODU on content have been ditions. Overall the less defined, and flucworks are less about odu.edu/gordongalleries, (757) 683-6271 tuating over time. One artistic movements or former detainee reinfluential artists and Opening Reception: ported that he was not January 20, 2022, 6-8 p.m. more about their expeallowed to draw or paint riences, memories, and (free and open to the public) pieces with a political or hopes. ideological message, or that referenced camp security.

BD: What role do you feel the The range of work spans act of art-making plays in the two- and three-dimensional pieces, with lives of these detainees? Is it a result of drawings, paintings, and sculpture. Some of it the human need to express or is there also is very detail oriented while other pieces are present a layer of political activism? more abstract. Detainees have received some CS: Collectively the art reflects the needs to instruction through the art program, and remember, forget, love, express emotion, over time some such as Moath Al-Alwi who dream, hope, and seek justice. has been detained for over 19 years have continued practicing and making works such as BD: What else should visitors to the exhibiship models with increasing complexity from tion know about these men, their art, and available materials including cardboard, t- their lives? shirts, prayer caps and beads, mops, and the CS: People can learn more by reading Manplastic housing of shaving razors. soor Adayfi’s new memoir Don’t Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantánamo along BD: In terms of content, will you share with us with Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s Guantánamo your insights into the range of subject matter Diary, and view the film The Mauritanian represented in the show? I am curious about about Slahi. Our innovative “MagicBox” is an what common threads are woven through the interactive display case with a touchscreen work, if any, and whether the themes tend allowing guests to explore multimedia conto be universal, personal, socio-political, or tent, and we use the device to show handwritsome of all? Additionally, are influences of ten documents by Yemeni detainees in Arabic other artists or artistic movements evident and English. Additionally people anywhere in the work? in the world can visit the exhibition to learn CS: Drawing exercises have included color about the artists and their art via our telepstudies, still lives of fruit, and shading stud- resence robot, nicknamed “Gordon,” which ies of vessels. The artists’ limited access to can navigate the gallery, change height, and subject matter and dependence on their own zoom in on art. Self-guided visits can be rememories and imaginations are reflected served weekly through ODUArtsTix.com. We in the interior of a cell, an artist’s own foot, will also announce public programming feaand an Arabic coffeepot brought in by an in- turing former detainees on Facebook, Twitstructor. Memories and visions of home ap- ter, and Instagram, and we encourage followpear in symbolic portraits of missing family ing @oduarts to receive updates.

january 2022

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15

stage comedy

Director Jessica Holt

Thanksgiving without any true indigenous input. It’s a fun, one-act rollercoaster of biting comedy that garnered acclaim from respected publications like The New York Times.

“I’m always really drawn to these plays that sort of uncover process,” Jessica later says. She has directed several other plays whose plots revolve around the characters creating a work for the stage. “This is a play that is incredibly theatrical.”

“I’m super interested in us exploring the satirical representation of these characters that are lensed from an indigenous perspective,” adds the director. “Larissa FastHorse is an indigenous playwright who is writing white characters and that perspective that she brings to their representation in their failed attempts at trying to do the right ethical thing by telling a socially responsible Thanksgiving play, is deeply funny and quite recognizable.”

The four actors who embody these characters for VSC’s production of this comedy of ‘woke” errors, all met Jessica’s distinguishable requirements for her casts. “I’m always looking for actors that are super game to experiment, to innovate, and to play,” she says. Lauren Blumenfeld, a VSC newbie, plays the important role of Logan, the school play’s director who is deeply earnest about theater. And in a bit of Lauren Blumenfeld is new to Virginia Stage Company serendipity, Lauren was a middle school student of VSC’s producing Artistic Director, Tom Quaintance, who was a first-year drama teacher at the time. Of that time, which she remembers fondly, she says “he just really embraced my enthusiasm, and I felt so seen.” He cast her in a small role of their school production of The Comedy of Errors.

Regarding Logan, Lauren says, “I think that Logan has the absolute best of intentions. There is something kind of its initially planned run into December. “I was floored by delightful about her absolute commitment to theater and the show, the message, by seeing a play that was reflecting the performance process, and rehearsals...at the same back to its audiences...and specifically, to white audiences time ‘it’s like wake up!’”. The actress is also just very excitand white theater artists, a kind of reflection back that reed to be collaborating with other theater artists again, folally causes them to think about their actions and behavior lowing months off due to the pandemic. “It’s so incredin the world, and what those actions and behavior is ibly exciting to be a part of this company right actually doing,” Jessica adds. now.”

Besides Lauren, the cast also features Native American playwright Larissa FastRyan Clemens, Jenny Hickman and Julian Horse wrote The Thanksgiving Play back in The Thanksgiving Play Stetkevych.

Edward Morris is designing 2015. A member of the Sicangu Lakota January 19 through the set, and An-lin Dauber is the producNation, her work is often celebrated for February 6 tion’s costume designer. providing a much-needed artistic voice Virginia Stage Company Jessica explains to me, towards the for Indigenous people here in America, Wells Theatre end of our chat, that there are two “repand for creating theatrical work that www.vastage.org resentational universes” that are being expresses their underrepresented views, visually explored in this production. One and lens through which they view Ameriof those universes is what she calls “the can history. A MacArthur fellow, she is the world of the pageants.”

There are four of them co-founder of Indigenous Direction, and enjoys being presented—each one represents a different the rare distinction, as a Native American playwright, of moment in a secondary educational curriculum.

“There’s a having her work widely produced. lot of different styles and genres that we’re playing with...

The satire centers on four white presenting characters, all while very pointedly challenging embedded, ingrained who are tasked with creating a school pageant that responsibly celebrates Native American Heritage Month and biases and assumptions,” she says. Regarding the show as our Thanksgiving holiday. The play roasts the often-sloppy a whole, Jessica assures that it is “a comedy through and efforts of white liberals to appear “woke,” as well as the ri- through. It’s a cringey comedy, and sometimes it’s a ‘deep diculousness of staging a school production about the first belly laugh’ comedy.”

Satirical Thanksgiving Play is Spot-On

By Jerome Langston

“It’s been an incredibly challenging 20 months to be a theater artist,” says Jessica Holt, early on in our conversation about her latest directorial work for Virginia Stage Company, The Thanksgiving Play. A bit earlier in VSC’s current 43rd season, the virulence of Covid-19 and the pandemic that it has led to, seemed to be waning enough where one could imagine a fuller “return to normal,” but these damn variants aren’t cooperating. “Now with Omicron, there’s a much greater attention and awareness that all of us who are vaccinated, inside of our rehearsal room, could potentially get a breakthrough infection,” adds Jessica. In order to address that, cast and creative team wear KN95 masks in the room, and are tested several times a week, along with following other Covid related protocols.

The Thanksgiving Play is Jessica’s fourth production to helm as director, following successful VSC productions of Venus in Fur, Sense and Sensibility, and the musical Fun Home. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, the director is widely known in theater circles for her unique theatrical vision and creative choices. She seems a perfect fit for The Thanksgiving Play, a satirical comedy that places “performative wokeness” under its comedic microscope.

“I had seen this show in New York,” she says, referring to its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons back in the fall of 2018. That production, which was directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, was well received critically and extended

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Upcoming shows!

stage drama

Cast members rehearse an Oscar Wilde classic. Image by J. Stubbs Photography

February 11th-13th The Hugh R. Copeland Center

March 26th

Suffolk Center for the Cultural Arts

April 1st & 2nd

Sandler Center for the Performing Arts

Tickets on sale at hurrahplayers.com january 2022

The Importance of Being Earnest is True to Original

By Jim Roberts

Thomas Hall and Jason Kypros are playing Jack and Algernon in the Little Theatre of Virginia Beach’s production of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest.” To hear them talk, though, they sound better-suited for the lead roles in another timeless comedy: “The Odd Couple.”

Hall confessed that he had never even heard of Wilde when he decided to try out.

“Everyone at the auditions was talking about Oscar Wilde and all of his shows,” he said.

“I was like, ‘I have no idea what’s going on. Who’s this guy?’”

Kypros, on the other hand, had played Algernon before—in 2011 at the Little Theatre of Norfolk. He said the new production has helped him develop a deeper appreciation for Wilde.

“This particular play … it’s very witty,” he said, “but it also has so many callbacks and payoffs through the whole thing. I’m going through the play, and I’m going, ‘Did I realize that last time I did it? Did I recognize that last time I did it, or was I just doing the lines, you know?’ I really feel like this time I’m seeing so many other things in it.”

James Bryan, the director, also has experience with the show, having played one of the butler roles in the 2011 production in Norfolk. (He also spent the last year studying the script, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the show.)

Despite their different approaches to their roles, Bryan said Hall and Kypros have developed a “really great brotherly chemistry.”

“The two of them together really play nicely off of each other,” he said. “I think that’s definitely going to be a highlight within the show—just watching the two of them banter and bicker and create this mess that they put themselves into.”

Bryan’s production is true to the original— set in England in the late 1800s—but there is one twist: He cast Clifford Hoffman, a male, as Lady Bracknell.

“Bracknell is essentially a symbol of Victorian earnestness,” Bryan explained. “It’s not a drag performance or anything like that. The idea is to create almost a sexless version of a character who has these really funny quips and zingers and attitude. It’s representative of a certain social class.”

The cast also includes Leigh Strenger as Gwendolyn, Taylor Durham as Cecily, Kay Lynn Perry as Miss Prism, Brian Cebrian as Reverend Chasuble, and John Robert Moss and Celestino Damiano as the butlers, Lane and Merriman.

“It’s gonna be a hell of a final product,” Bryan said. “Even the two butlers who have the smallest roles don’t take it lightly. They really go into it, and they want to make sure there’s no weak link in the show. Each one of them is taking whatever size the role they have and really making sure it speaks volumes.”

To wit: Hall has risen to the challenge of mastering Wilde’s dialogue and has developed his own earnest take on the show.

“It just speaks to the double nature that everybody probably has,” he said. “Everybody code-switches, whether you’re with your friends, family, your significant other. … I suppose Oscar Wilde is saying: If you really want to achieve the things that you want to achieve or have what you desire, you have to let go of that double nature life and just focus on what you are.”

More importantly, he added: “I think people are gonna laugh.”

The Little Theatre of Virginia Beach will present “The Importance of Being Earnest” from Jan. 14 through Feb. 6. Showtimes are 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $18 for adults and $7 for children under 12. Discounts are available for seniors, active duty military, full-time students and groups of 20 or more. For tickets or more information, visit ltvb.org.

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january 2022

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stage musicaltheater

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Golden Age of Broadway

Featuring: Ali Ewoldt, Teri Hansen, & Nathaniel Stampley

Classic Broadway shines with hit after hit from the Golden Age of the 1940s and 1950s. Composers featured include Bernstein, Berlin, Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein and Lerner & Loewe. Favorites from Kiss Me Kate, Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music, West Side Story, My Fair Lady and more!

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The Music of the Bee Gees Featuring: Adam Turner, conductor

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Among the best-selling musical artists of all time, the Bee Gees’ distinctive sound is stayin’ alive with the Virginia Symphony! From the Gibb brothers’ early days which featured Robin’s clear vibrato lead vocals, to the Saturday 1LJKW )HYHU VRXQGWUDFN ZKLFK ZRQ ÀYH *UDPP\ $ZDUGV including Album of the Year, the band will live forever in the hearts of fans around the world.

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4

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Featuring: Thomas Wilkins, conductor Alexi Kenney, violin

Join us to welcome new VSO Principal Guest Conductor and Norfolk native Thomas Wilkins leading the VSO in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, featuring the brilliance of violinist, Alexi Kenney and some of the most explosive brass and wind moments you’ll ever hear.

Visit virginiasymphony.org or call 757.892.6366.

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$

Karen Ziemba stars in Three Decembers

Three Decembers, Three Characters, One Compelling Opera

By Montague Gammon III

It’s all in the family i​​n Three Decembers, the three character, one act opera that opens the New Year for Virginia Opera with a three part, two decade spanning story, January 28-30.

Over the Christmas holidays of 1986, 1996 and 2006 a famous actress and her two adult children interact by letter and phone.

Starring Broadway Tony Award winner

Karen Ziemba as fictional Broadway diva Madeline Mitchell, it’s a drama that VO Artistic Director Adam Turner and stage director Larry Edelson both tout as ideal fare for opera newcomers and dyed-in-the-wool traditionalists. It’s sung in English, with supertitles as well.

Ziemba got her Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her 2000 per-

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formance in the dance fueled show Contact, a performance that also garnered her Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards as well. That was nine years after her Drama Desk Award for the Off-Broadway musical revue And The World Goes ‘Round, as Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.

She’s picked up three Tony nominations in all, starred in New York productions such as Chorus Line, 42nd Street and Chicago, toured the country, done regional theater from Tarrytown, NY to Raleigh, NC, and been featured in films such as the 2005 version of The Producers and TV shows like Law and Order. Her professional career began when she joined The Ohio Ballet during her sophomore year at the University of Akron, where she got her BA in Dance.

She has operatic credentials too, singing with the New York City Opera in the early 1990’s, following in the footsteps of her maternal grandmother, mezzo-soprano Winifred Heidt, one of the company’s mid-20th Century stars. (Like her granddaughter, Heidt—whose signature role was Carmen—had a long career in multiple performing art forms.)

Turner saw Ziemba play Mrs. Lovett in a production of Sweeney Todd and was “totally blown away,” he said in a phone chat.

Soprano Cecilia Violetta López, who wowed local audiences as Violetta in Virginia Opera’s 2015 Traviata and as romantic leading lady Adina in The Elixir of Love three years back, plays adult daughter Beatrice Mitchell.

The role of Madeline’s adult son Charlie Mitchell goes to Efraín Solís, who sang the role for Opera San Jose and for Florida Grand Opera in their 2020-21 seasons. Virginia Opera audiences remember him as manic, doomed Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, 2016, and as Italian small town politician Di Cosimo in Il Postino, 2019.

Three Decembers started as a non-musical and still unpublished script called “Some Christmas Letters (And a couple of phone calls),” which quintuple Tony winning playwright Terrence McNally wrote for a 1999 Carnegie Hall reading in an AIDS fundraiser.

Composer Jake Heggie, who also wrote the music for McNally’s Dead Man Walking opera, and librettist Gene Scheer (Cold Mountain and a host of other works) turned McNally’s 14 page original script into this 90 minute chamber opera on a commission from the Houston Grand Opera for the great mezzo Frederica von Stade.

Turner has conducted Three Decembers twice before, for San Diego Opera and Hawaii Opera Theatre, both with van Stade

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reprising her role as Madeline. He said she had been semi-retired then, and that this was the last role she played. The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper reviewer said that Turner “Flawlessly guided” the small orchestra and that “Heggie’s score has the grand but hummable melodies of musical theater.”

“Jake’s writing is very friendly to the voice. It allows them to provide dramatic variations and emotional variations. I find it complements the voice,” Turner said.

Edelson’s first comment on Three Decembers, in our separate phone chat, was ”A very compelling story and really great music that makes it very audience friendly.”

He added to Turner’s comments, “The music is gorgeous! For those who love real arias, real melodic songs, there’s a lot of that.”

The story is often publicized as being about family dysfunction, deception and secrets, but Edelson makes the important point that “The themes are forgiveness and acceptance, things that everyone can deal with.”

“For those who are new to opera it’s really an ideal piece, a very fast paced story with relatable characters, about sibling and parental relationships and how things change over time. [The opera] handles these things very beautifully and powerfully.

“There’s a lot to love in this piece.

“I’d be hard pressed to think of any opera that is more ‘relatable’.”

Three Decembers

Music by Jake Heggie, Libretto by Gene Scheer Based on an original play

by Terrence McNally Virginia Opera Adam Turner, Artistic Director Harrison Opera House 8:00 p.m., Fri., Jan. 28 7:30 p.m., Sat., Jan. 29 2:30 p.m., Sun., Jan. 30 160 W Virginia Beach Blvd.

Norfolk, Virginia 23510

Escher Quartet January 31, 2022 @7:30pm

Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk feldmanchambermusic.org

Masks and vaccination required of all in attendance. Attendance is limited. Tickets via advance purchase only. See Feldman website for tickets and COVID-19 precautions.

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21

musicNews classical

Maestro Wilkins Takes the Podium

By Montague Gammon III

Grand fanfares of orchestral brass herald the arrival of Maestro Thomas Wilkins as the first Principal Guest Conductor in the century long history of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, February 18-20.

It’s the second half of the concert program, Pyotr Illich Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony, that really breaks out the brass artillery of horns, trumpets, trombones and tuba, but the nine minute curtain raiser, contemporary composer James Beckel, Jr.’s Toccata for Orchestra, foreshadows the musical barrage to come.

In between the Beckel and the Tchaikovsky, the VSO will play Jean Sibelius’s Concerto in D minor for Violin & Orchestra, a stunning half hour of instrumental virtuosity and emotional depth that is acknowledged as one of the greatest works for that orchestral rank and file instrument standing forth as heroic soloist.

Wilkins’ professional and personal history deserves fanfares of the highest order.

It is arguably one of the great success stories in recent classical music history and beyond, and he’s local.

Born in the heart of Jim Crow days to an impoverished single Black mother in our old Southern port city of Norfolk, the former home of the Commonwealth’s “Massive Resistance” to integrated schools, growing up in a housing project, Wilkins became an internationally recognized orchestral conductor.

Principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Artistic Advisor, Education and Community Engagement; for 16 years Music Director of the Omaha Symphony; former member of the music faculties of Chicago’s North Park University, University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, and VCU, currently the Henry A. Upper chair of orchestral conducting and professor of music, orchestral conducting at the pre-eminent Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University, he’s also been the guest conductor of a quadruple handful of American symphony orchestras, including all of the “Big 5:” the NY Phil, the Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Boston orchestras.

His civic and charitable board memberships are almost as numerous as his musical venues.

Wilkins has guest conducted the VSO many times since the 1990’s, but now he has

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Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 Virginia Symphony Orchestra Thomas Wilkins, Conductor Alexi Kenney, Violin Beckel, Toccata for Orchestra Sibelius, Concerto in D minor for Violin & Orchestra, op.47 Tchaikovsky, Symphony No.4 in F minor, op.36 Fri., Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m., Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News Sat., Feb. 19, 7:30 p.m., Chrysler Hall, Norfolk Sun., Feb. 20, 2:30 p.m., Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach 757-892-6366 https://virginiasymphony.org/tickets/box-office/ come home to a resident position at the very place, Chrysler Hall, where at 8 years old he fell in love with orchestral music and first dreamed of being a conductor.

The February concerts’ opening piece, Toccata for Orchestra by James Beckel, Jr., is a sprightly, brass forward but deliberately musically egalitarian piece that the composer’s web site describes as “meant to be a miniature concerto for orchestra. From the string quartet to the lyrical flute and clarinet solos in the middle of the work, to the fugue section, every instrument in the orchestra [including piano] has a solo moment somewhere in this piece.”

There’s a propulsive, very 20th Century feel to it, akin perhaps to some Bernstein.

Beckel’s work was commissioned in 2007 by a consortium of orchestra: the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (where Beckel has been principal trombone since he won the position as a 20 year old undergrad at Jacobs), the Evansville Philharmonic, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta and the Omaha Symphony under…Thomas Wilkins, Music Director.

Sibelius’ 1905 richly textured, demanding, cathartic and literally awesome violin Con-

certo will feature Alexi Kenney as the soloist in his Virginia debut. When the NY Times says, reviewing a February, 2020 concert of Baroque and later works, that a 26 year old musician “made it seem that…this is the only possible way to play this music,” this is an artist to anticipate eagerly, to watch and to remember. ​​ The VSO website says that the program’s post-intermission 1877-78 Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4, “features some of the most explosive brass and wind moments you’ll ever hear.”

The AllMusic website calls it “extroverted and wild,” and “the prince” of his symphonies, and quotes the composer as writing in an 1878 letter to fellow composer and countryman Sergei Tanayev, “Should a symphony not express those things for which there are not words but which need to be expressed?”

He started working on it during a time of terrible torment. Given to self-doubt—he once wrote that he saw himself as “merely a talented person, but no extraordinary

phenomenon”—this was at the same time that his doomed and almost inexplicable marriage to a literally hopelessly adoring female student—he was gay and at least one of his letters hints a submissive as well—had collapsed and he felt that Fate—the European nickname for this Symphony—was against him.

Financial and intellectual support from his enigmatic Platonic patron, the wealthy widow Madame Nadezhda von Meck, apparently revived him monetarily and emotionally, so that he could finish the composition and end it with what AllMusic describes as “a dervish of joy and celebration.” He referred to the 4th Symphony in one of their thousand plus letters as “our symphony,” dedicated it to her, and wrote on it “To my best friend.”

For grand content gloriously and grippingly and, finally, ecstatically expressed and resolved, Tchaikovsky’s three-quarter hour long 4th Symphony probably stands with a very few musical works near some sort of figurative Everest summit.

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january 2022

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aroundtown highlight

Festival Schedule Sunday, Jan. 23 7 to 9 PM • “Minari,” directed by Lee Isaac Chung, released in 2021 • “Si,” directed by Thomas Percy Kim, released 2019 Location: Batten Arts & Letters Building, Room 1012

Asian American Film Festival January 23-25 Old Dominion University www.odu.edu Old Dominion University’s Department of Communication and Theatre Arts will present an Asian American Film Festival from Jan. 23-25 featuring films that explore creative and critical stories of the Asian American experience. The festival, organized by professors Priya Vashist and Avi Santo, is a response to the increased visibility of anti-Asian sentiment in the U.S. and an attempt to offer creative and critical perspectives on the Asian American experience.

The festival is free to attend and open to the public. Registration is not required.

The festival will include seven screening sessions showcasing both feature-length and short films from Chinese-American, Filipino-American, Indian-American, Korean-American and Taiwanese-American filmmakers. Each session will include a Q&A. David Oh, associate professor of communication arts at Ramapo College in New Jersey, will deliver a keynote presentation at 6 p.m. Jan. 25. He’ll talk about his new book, “White Washing the Movies: Asian Erasure and White Subjectivity in U.S. Film Culture.”

Monday, Jan. 24 1 to 3 PM • “The Namesake,” directed

by Mira Nair, released in 2006 • “The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night,” directed

by Fawzia Mirza, released in 2021 4 to 6 PM • “Yellow Rose,” directed by Diana Paragas, released in 2020 • “A Work of Love: Preserving Fil-Am History,” directed by Ramon Domper, released in 2019 7 to 9 PM • “Margarita with a Straw,” directed by Shonali Bose, released in 2014 • “Yet So Far,” directed by Priya Vashist, released in 2022 Location: University Theatre Tuesday, Jan. 25 1 to 3 PM • “Tigertail,” directed by Alan Yang, released in 2019 • “A Cure for All Things,” directed by Katherine Chou, released in 2020 4 to 6 PM • “Spa Night,” directed by Andrew Ahn, released in 2016 • “Lonely Blue Night,” directed by Johnson Cheng, released in 2020

6 to 7 PM • Keynote talk by David Oh, professor of communication arts at Ramapo College, on his recently published book, “Whitewashing the Movies: Asian Erasure and White Subjectivity in U.S. Film Culture” (Rutgers University Press, 2021).

7 to 9 PM • “The Farewell,” directed

by Lulu Wang, released in 2019 • “Dol,” directed by Andrew Ahn, released in 2011 Location: University Theatre Concert Spotlight The Church Street Jazz Series at the historic Attucks Theatre continues when smooth jazz vocalist Lindsey Webster performs February 12.

EVENTS Downtown Norfolk Restaurant Week January 16-23 Participating restaurants www.downtownnorfolk.org Virginia Beach Restaurant Week January 17-23 Participating restaurants www.dineinvb.com Girl Scouts’ Annual Cookie Classic Run January 22 Dismal Swamp Park www.gsccc.org Veer Music Awards February 8, 7 PM The Vanguard Brewpub www.veermag.com Dark Knight of Winter Beer Festival March 12, Noon-5 PM St. George Brewing Company

PERFORMING ARTS Attucks Theatre Lindsey Webster, February 12 sevenvenues.com Chrysler Hall Adm James Stavridis Lecteur, January 25 “Jersey Boys, January 28-30 Ronald Dahl’s Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, February 11-13 www.sevenvenues.com Ferguson Center “Rent,” February 1 Pat Metheny Side-Eye, February 4 The Prince Project, February 12 www.fergusoncenter.org Harrison Opera House Rodney Carrington, February 11 www.sevenvenues.com Hurrah Players “Black Girl Magic, February 11-13 Hugh R. Copeland Center hurrahplayers.com Little Theatre of Virginia Beach “The Importance of Being Earnest, January 14 through February 6 www.ltvb.com Sandler Center Travis Tritt, January 23 The Beach Boys, February 2 sandlercenter.org Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts Masters of Soul, February 5 suffolkcenter.org Symphonicity “Masterworks III: In a Dream,” February 10 Sandler Center sandlercenter.org

Virginia Opera “Three Decembers,” January 28-30 www.vaopera.org Virginia Stage Company “The Thanksgiving Play,” January 19 – February 6 vastage.org Virginia Symphony Orchestra Spirituals & Operatic Showstoppers, Jan. 14, Ferguson Center Spirituals & Operatic Showstoppers, Jan. 15, Chrysler Hall Golden Age of Broadway, January 21, Ferguson Center Golden Age of Broadway, January 22, Chrysler Hall Music of the Bee Gees, February 3, Ferguson Center Music of the Bee Gees, February 4, Chrysler Hall www.virginiasymphony.org Williamsburg Players “Mayhem on the Air,” January 27 – February 12 www.williamsburgplayers. org Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra Cabaret & Cocktails w/ Byron Stripling, January 23, Williamsburg Lodge Ballroom www.williamsbugsymphony. org Zeiders American Dream Theater “The Jackson C. Frank Listening Party,” January 20-30 Plan B Comedy Show, January 22 Ballet Virginia, “Beauty & Truth,” February 4-5 Plan B Comedy Show, February 10 Cirque Zuma Zuma, February 12 www.thez.org

aroundtown 24

january 2022

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)*4503: "%7&/563& Experience the 400 Years Forward tour, highlighting Hampton's rich Black heritage and the perseverance of the human spirit. Visit Fort Monroe, which was the site of the first Africans landing in 1619 and a sanctuary for enslaved people who escaped during the Civil War. Visit the nation’s first African American museum, the Hampton University Museum, and discover more than 400 years of Hampton’s story at the Hampton History Museum. While you’re here, see the spectacular sights of the world’s greatest harbor and gaze at the stars at the Virginia Air & Space Science Center.

',1.'0#"

Visit our website for more information on our Black History Month Tours.

Plan your trip today at VisitHampton.com

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january 2022

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musicawards results

2022 Veer Music Awards

By Staff

Ongoing pandemic aside, last year saw music venues finally come back to life and local musicians once again played stages big and small throughout the 757 region.

Below are this year’s nominees for the 2022 Veer Music Awards. We considered the following when selecting the potential nominees: (1) Did the band/musician release an album, EP, single or music video in 2021? (2) Did the band/musician open for a national act or something else of note in 2021?

We expanded the list of nominees in the cover band category and added categories for solo/duo cover acts and theme-based cover bands. In our region, cover bands and solo acts seem to outnumber original music groups, and they dominate the live music offerings week after week.

As for original music, once again local musicians impressed with songs that received radio airplay and garnered rave reviews in Veer Magazine. The music videos listed below can all be viewed by searching each on Youtube. Songs, albums, and EPs were released by local bands on a range of platforms including Bandcamp (our favor-

Album of the Year

• Demons, “Privation” • Jae Sinnett Trio, “Altered Egos” • Sunny Moonshine, “Listen to Me, Lightning” • Wilke$, “12:34” • Every King & Commoner, “Pioneers! Oh, Pioneers!”

• Court Street Company, “Crooked Dreams”

ite), Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora.

Voting is now live through January 24 at www.veermag.com. Each category below includes a blank space for write-in votes as it is inevitable a band or two may have been overlooked or simply didn’t send us info on new release music.

In addition to voting categories, Veer Magazine will present special recognitions.

Lifetime Achievement Awards will go to blues singer Jackie Scott and punk rock band The Candy Snatchers. Industry Awards are given to non-musicians who have contributed to the music culture in Hampton Roads.

This year’s recipients are Hunter Hughes (released a double-CD of songs recorded for his radio show during the pandemic), Jay Lang (for his continuing promotion of live jazz through his Church Street Jazz Series), and Josh Coplon (for packaging and promoting indie-pop shows at local breweries).

The Music Awards will be presented Tuesday, February 8 at The Vanguard Distillery & Brewpub in Hampton. Showtime is 7 PM sharp.

And the nominees are…

• The Lifehacks, “Oh No!” • Mark Rogers, “Rhythm of the Roads” • Runnin’ Shine, “Nowhere to Go” • Red Weather, “Wish You Well” • Faithful Kate, “Classic” • Jim Bulleit, “Catastrophe & Hope” • Various Artists, “Sunrise Sessions Vol. Two: The Pandemic Recordings” • Adam Scott Clifford, “Homage to Liszt” • hERETICS iN tHE lAB, “A Dead Horse” (remixes)

EP of the Year

Akeylah Simone

january 2022

• Mr. Fang & The Dark Tones, “Rock-nRoll Monsters” • Berries, “Outgrowth” • Shaolin, “Blackstone” • J Fax & The Heart Attacks, “Quadruple Bypass” • Roberta Lea, “Just a Taste” • The New Mutiny, “The New Mutiny” • Rachel & The JellyCats, “Rachel & The Jellycats” • The Dual Gravitons, “It’s a Riddle”

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Demons

• TA Gatling, “Respect The Shadows” • Longsleeves, “Joy Ride”

Song of the Year

• The Lifehacks, “Freaks” • Roberta Lea, “Sweet Baby Ray” • Mark Rogers, “Every Once in a While” • Court Street Company, “Modern Age” • Anthony Rosano & The Conqueroos, “The Chain” • J. Flax & the Heart Attacks, “Letter By Wire” • Dion Langley (feat. Roberta Lea), “Beat It Like a Drum” • Big Al Staggs, “Welcome to Island Time” • Akeyla Simone, “Black is Beautiful” • Rachel & the Jellycats, “Friday Night” • Wilke$, “Should I” • The Righteous Few, “Hellfire” • Every King & Commoner, “Money” • 710 Oil, “Hard Hurt” • Michael Goldberg, “Navy Blue” • Jonah’s Run, “He Loves Us” • Bill Gaunce, “Tripwire” • Jackie Merritt, “Crack Cocaine is My Life” • Sunny Moonshine, “Annalise” • Finney Finn, “New Normal” • Magg Dylan, “Pawns” • Jim Bulleit, “Flash of Lightning” • Red Weather, “Nothing At All” • Berries, “Word on the Street” • Annie Johnson, “Like Alice”

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Music Video of the Year

• Shaolin, “Heavy Heart” • Dead Friends, “Ultrabysmal” • Terell Online, “You and Me” • Roberta Lea feat. Octavia The Great, “Moonlight” • Kristi K, “Separate Ways” • Magg Dylan, “Pawns” • Jonah’s Run, “He Loves Us” • The Dual Graitons, “It’s a Riddle” • Bill Gaunce, “Tripwire” • Hindu Pez, “Wild Turkey, Sweat and Madness” • Foreign Colour, “Adorn” • Rob Oliver, “On the Same Page” • Annie Johnson, “Like Alice” • Michael Goldberg, “A Little Love Will Always Fix a Broken Heart” • Big Al Staggs, “Welcome to Island Time” • The Cazz, “Drive!”

• Exploding Sun, “Better Day” • Tina Micula, “Wishing You Here This Christmas”

Best Holiday Themed

• Kristi K. - Released a single and video of Dolly Parton’s “Hard Candy Christmas” • Roy Ira Moats - Released the holiday tune “I’m a Kid” • The Muddy Gems - Released a video of

Bobby Black Hat Walters

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” • Berries - Released a cover version of Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” • Celeste Kellogg - Performed her new original “Save a Dance for Me This Christmas” on WAVY10 • Msesippi’s Tornado Bait “Hampton for the Holidays” - Performed a virtual Christmas video show • Annie Johnson - Released an instrumental video of “Christmastime Is Here” • Tina Micula - Released an all-star cast holiday video and song “Wishing You Here This Christmas”

Best Jazz

• Jae Sinnett Trio — Played the VA Arts Fest and released the national radio charting album “Altered Egos” • Duane Squire Smith Quartet — Brothers Norfolk jazz club’s house band backing national acts • Quicksilver Night fea. Jason Cale Released “Mr.Wizard” as a jazz fusion EP • John Toomey Trio - Virginia Arts Festival’s band backing nationally touring featured jazz greats

Best R&B/Soul

• Wilke$ - Released album “12:34” • Akeylah Walters - Released several singles including “Black is Beautiful” • The Fuzz Band - Worked with Carl Thomas, Raheem Devine Bigg, Danny Kane and Vivian Green • Myra Smith - Opened for Glenn Jones at Noir

Best Hip Hop

• Darius Ford - Released the single “Nothin’ Like Sunday Morning” • Terell Online - Release multiple singles and videos including “Simple” and “You and Me” (continued on page 28)

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(continued from page 27) • Lex Lucent - Released the EPs “In Case You Forgot” and “Casual Flex” • Childz - Released the album “Just Visiting 3” • Ghetto Chris - Released the album “8 Track”

Best Gospel/Spiritual

• Voices of Fire — Performed on BET Gospel Explosion and nominated for NAACP Image Award • Chang3 — Released “God Over All Things” album • Jonah’s Run - Released the video “He Loves Us” • Brothers of Unity of VA - Released the single “Changed” • Dion Langley - Released the single “Beat It Like A Drum” featuring Roberta Lea

Best World Music • Mosquito Cabaret - Released a video for “River King” • Jon Quan - Released several reggae singles including “I Am Trying” featuring Kelly Di Filippo • Rhythm Project Steel Drums - Featured during Junetenth in the Park

Best IndiePop • The Lifehacks - Released the album “Oh, No!” • Berries - Released the EP “Outgrowth” • Ladada - Released “re” album • Foreign Colour - Released the album “Weight of a Rose” • Longsleeves - Released the EP “Joyrider” • Red Weather - Released the album “Wishing You Well” • Bad Naps - Released the album “Pandemic” • ghostStar - Released the EP “Five Year Plan” • You’re Jovian - Re-issued a vinyl version of their 2012 debut “Stereochronic” • Sicman of Virginia - Release several singles including “Blow Your Nose” and “Yogurt”

Best Pop • Sunny Moonshine - Released the album “Listen to Me, Lightning” • Roberta Lea - Released the single and video for “Moonlight” featuring Octavia The Great • Every King & Commoner - Released

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january 2022

the eclectic pop album “Pioneers! Oh, Pioneers!”

• Shaolin - Released the EP “Blackstone” and a video for “Heavy Heart” • Kristi K - Release the music video “Separate Ways”

Best Metal • The New Mutiny - Released a self-titled EP • 710 Oil - Released the single “Hard Hurt” • Dead Friends - Released “Taos Hum” video and single • Magg Dylan - Toured with Hed pe and released a music video for “Pawns”

Best Rock • The Righteous Few - Released the single “Hellfire” • Dave Johnson & The Truth - Released the EP “A Big Snow” • Faithful Kate - Released the album “Classic” • Mark Rogers - Released the album “Rhythm of the Roads” • Big Al Staggs - Released the single and video for “Welcome to Island Time” • Anthony Rosano & The Conqueroos Released the single “The Chain” and opened for Styx in concert • Finney Finn - Released the album

“Several Years in the Making” • Exploding Sun - Released the video “Better Day” • Shane Graham - Released the album “Soul for Rent” • TA Gatling - Released the EP “Respect The Shadows” • Bennett Wales & The Relief - Opened for Blackberry Smoke at the Portsmouth amphitheater

Best Retro • Mr. Fang & The Dark Tones - Release the EP “Rock-n-Roll Monsters” (continued on page 30)

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proud sponsor of the

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january 2022

29

(continued from page 28) • Rachel & the Jellycats - Released their debut self-titled EP • Lucky 757 - Released the singles “Common Ground” and “Dirty Rotten Shame”

Best Garage/Punk • Demons - Released the album “Privation” • J. Flax & The Heart Attacks - Released the EP “Quadruple Bypass” • Self-Inflict - Released a 4-song demo • Crime Line - Released two EPs: “Locked & Loaded” and “Violent Urges” • The Dual Gravitons - Released an EP and music video • The Cazz - Released the music video “Drive!”

• Glenrose - Released the EP “Reconnect”

Best Psychedelic • Bantustans - Released the live album “At Another Place” • Reptile Tile - Released the EP “Drop The Lead” • Freedom Hawk - Released the trippy single “Liftoff” • Bended Light - Opened for Kendall Street Company at Elevation 27

Best Electronic/Ambient • Hindu Pez - Released the EP “We Deserve Extinction” • Jon Shuemaker - Released the EPs “Omipotence” and “Sleep Terrors” • Crash Mosaic - Released single “That’s That” • Lyra Pollux - Released the EP “Yeah, Okay” • From Overseas - Released several international collaboration recordings including “Anon 2” with Benoit Pioulard

Best Americana/Bluegrass/ Old-Time • Ramblin’ Jake - Released the nationally charting “Old Prince” single • Saint Juliens Creek Revival - Opened for Thomas Gabriel at Elevation 27 • Brackish Water Jamboree - Headlined Smartmouth’s Norfolk Folk Festival

Best Country • Runnin’ Shine - Released the album “Nowhere to Go” • The Augustine Reunion - Released the album “All Wires West”

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january 2022

• Celeste Kellogg - Performed at on the main stage at Nash Fest in Town Point Park • Buckshot - Headlined at Elevation 27 • Chase Payne - Released the song “6 Rusty Strings”

Best Acoustic/Folk • Jim Newsom & The Cloudless Sky Released the album “Peace, Love, Happiness” • Cody Christian - Released a live recorded EP titled “Granby Theater Sessions” • Olivia Dyer - Released the piano ballad “It’s You I Like”

• Dan Pellegrino - Released the EP “Better Days” • Ben Phelps - Released the solo unplugged album “Songwriter V. 1” • Ann Gray - Released the EP “Foolish” • Big Forest Fire - Release the song and video “The Long Way Home” • Jim Bulleit - Released the album “Catastrophe and Hope” • Don Comer - Released the album “Offhand” • Holly Kirsten - Released the album “Love Letter”

Best Blues • The Oliver Gable Project - Released a self-titled EP

• Bobby Black Hat Walters - Released multiple singles including “Dog Whistle” • Jackie Merritt - Released the song “Crack Cocaine is My Life” • Hanks Martin - Released the album “Somewhere on a Beach”

Best Cover Band • JD Silvia Band • Nature’s Child • Free For All • Rocky 7 • Wonderland • Cultivated Mind

(continued on page 30)

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january 2022

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32

WEEKLY EVENTS & SPECIALS

(continued from page 30)

MONDAYFRIDAY

LUNCH 11AM-3PM

TUESDAY

KARAOKE 7PM AND $8 STEAK DINNER

THURSDAY

DRAG SHOW 10PM

FRIDAY

GOTH NIGHT 8PM

SATURDAY SUNDAY SATURDAY & SUNDAY

DJS OR LIVE ENTERTAINMENT 10PM

ROTATING EVENTS

KARAOKE 8PM DRAG BRUNCH 1PM RESERVATIONS REQUIRED

1083 W. 37TH STREET, NORFOLK 757-533-5151

january 2022

• Plastic Eddie • Snackbar Jones • Troy Breslow & The Company Band • The Detonators • Good Shot Judy • Rio • Krunch • Brasswind • Childz Play • SoPoz • Tailgate Down

Best Tribute/Theme Band • Deja • Grateful Jed • Woah!

• Last Fair Deal • The Deloreans • On Fire: Van Halen Tribute

Best Live Band • Anthony Rosano & The Conqueroos — Opened for Styx, Blue Oyster Cult and others • Demons — Opened for The Offspring at The NorVa

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• Magg Dylan — Toured with (HED) pe • Bennett Wales & The Relief — Opened Blackberry Smoke at Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion • Dead Friends - Opened for Every Time I Die at Elevation 27

Best Live Cover Solo/Duo • Derek Smith • Fixity • Dustin Furlow & Matt Thomas • Jason Cale Duo • Nate Sacks • BJ Griffin & Jason Brown • Bennett Walker Wales • Rob Oliver • Big Forest Fire • Red Stapler Duo • Johnny Smallwood • Paper Aliens Duo • Doyle & Dunn • Paul Urban & Bill Ellington

Best Open Mic • Open Jam at Stuft • Fuzzy Wednesdays @ Noir

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(continued on page 34)

january 2022

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Hey!

Lex Lucent

Congratulations to all of the Music Awards Nominees!

y! Hey! 34

(continued from page 33)

Kelly A. Johnson President | ViceVice Kelly A. Johnson President | Assistant Branch Manager Branch Manager 757.446.9481 4815 Colley Avenue, Norfolk january 2022

• Sunset Grill • Winston’s Cafe w/Joey Wood • 501 North • South Beach Grill w/Dahna Rowe • Capstan Bar Brewing w/Jack Burton Green • Stellar Wine Co w/Anthony Burgess • Froggie’s w/Fred Karam • Poppa’s Pub w/Triad Band

Best Live Music Venue (Club) • The Vanguard • Big Woody’s Great Bridge • Scandal’s Live • Brothers Norfolk • Froggie’s • Riffhouse Pub • Good Vibes • Taphouse Grill • Noir

Best Live Music Series • Thank Goodness We’re Open (Town Point Park) • Miller Jazz Series @ Sandler Center (continued on page 36)

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(continued from page 34) • TasteBreakers Concert Series at The Z • LAVA Summer of Fun • Sunsets on the River (Hermitage Museum) • Beach Event’s Summer Music Series • Summer Breeze Concert Series (Williamsburg) • Live at The Market on Monarch Way • TGIF @ Constant’s Wharf Park • Port Warwick Summer Concert Series • YNOT Wednesdays

Industry Award • Hunter Hughes • Jay Lang • Josh Coplon

Musican’s Musician Award • Karl Werne • Duane Smith

Lifetime Achievement Award • Jackie Scott • The Candy Snatchers

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january 2022

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Virginia Beach

Restaurant Week

Jan. 17-23

Join us as our amazing restaurants create spectacular menus to highlight their specialties!

$5, $10 Breakfast $10, $15 Lunch $25, $35, $40 Dinner

Visit dineinvb.com for more information and a complete list of participating restaurants

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january 2022

37

GIGGUIDE musichighlight

Froggies Tuesdays: Open Mic w/Fred Karam 1/15 - Plastic Eddie 1/16 - Along Those Lines 1/20 - Common Ground Trio 1/21 - Anthony Rosano & The Conqueroos 1/22 - Jarrod Stout Band 1/23 - Lassiter & The Weeds 1/27 - Intangible Cats 1/28 - Almost Famous Band 1/29 - Jason Cale Band 1/30 - The Blue Mile

Grace O’Malley’s Irish Pub

Dumpstaphunk plays Good Vibes on February 14 The NorVa 1/21 - So Fetch 1/27 - Ashley McBryde 2/09 - Dabin 2/11 - Zoso 2/12 - The Legwarmers

Chartway Arena 2/12 - Billy Strings

Attucks Theatre 2/12 - Lindsey Webster

Sandler Center 1/23 - Travis Tritt 2/02 - The Beach Boys

Ferguson Center 2/04 - Pat Metheny

Elevation 27 1/21 - Red Not Chili Peppers 1/22 - Firehouse 1/25 - Gilmour Project

1/28 - On The Border 1/29 - Almost Queen w/ Rachel & The Jelly Cats 2/05 - Throwing Back Sunday

Brothers Norfolk (Jazz Series) 1/14-16 - Julian Vaughn 1/20 - RaJazz Trio 2/03 - RaJazz Trio 2/04-06 - Rick Braun 2/10 - Jason Cale Band

The Vanguard Distillery & Brewpub 1/15 - Jacob Vanko 1/20 - Everafter/Rob Oliver/ Jacob Vanko 1/21 - Big Forest Fire

Out of the Box Series @ Sandler Center 1/20 - Kendall Street Company 1/27 - Lucky 757 2/03 - ETC3

2/17 - Oliver Gable Project

Good Vibes 1/21 - Grateful Jed 1/22 - The Deloreans 1/29 - Jae Sinnett (6 PM) 2/12 - Buckshot 2/14 - Dumpstaphunk

The Bunker 1/22 - The Candy Snatchers

Flatiron Crossroads (Gloucester) 2/ 4 - Cole & MaryAnn 2/12 - Big Mountain

1/18-22 - Pat Garvey 1/25-29 - Glasgow kiss 2/01-05 - Conor Malone 2/08-12 - JJ Smith

Hilton Tavern 1/14 -Thru w/ Therapy 1/01- Zack Salsberry 1/18-Rich Ridolfino 1/19-Johnny Walker with Family and Friends 1/20-Alex Woodland 1/21-Roy Ira Moats 1/22-Karl Werne 1/25-Rusty Ancel 1/26-Gary Barry 1/27-Rich Ridolfino 1/28-Jim Masters 1/29-Lana Puckett and Kim Person 2/01-Troy Breslow

The Candy Snatchers perform January 22 at Young Veterans Brew Co’s The Bunker

2/02-Audio Portrait 2/03-Rich Ridolfino 2/04-Rusty Ancel 2/05-Susan & Walt Stillman & Terry Doran 2/08-Rusty Ancel 2/09-Travis Morrison 2/10-Karl Werne 2/11-Rich Ridolfino 2/12- Jim Masters 2/15 -Roy Ira Moats

Maker’s Craft Brewery

1/21 - Chris Ride 1/22 - Cody Browning

Oozlefinch 2/12 - Red Stapler Duo

St George Brewing Co 1/28 - Felicia Hoyas

Tradition Brewing Co

1/30 - Red Stapler Duo 2/13 - Red Stapler Duo

MoMac Brewing 1/22 - Red Stapler Duo

Abbey Road Tuesdays - Open Mic 1/21-22 - Doyle & Dunn 1/28-29 - Willie Byrn

Big Ugly Brewing Company 1/28 - Red Stapler Duo 1/30 - Left to Rust

Nansemond Brewing Station

1/29 - Red Stapler Duo

Vibrant Shore Brewing Co 1/15 - Brett Williams Music 1/20 - Joe Heilman 1/27 - Cody Browning 2/01 - Open Mic Night (Music, Comedy, Poetry) 2/05 - Cody Browning 2/10 - Brett Williams Music

Wanna be listed?

The legendary Beach Boys will bring their good vibrations to Sandler Center on February 2

Send band schedule to jeffmaisey@yahoo.com

GIGGUIDE 38

january 2022

www.VEERmag.com

www.VEERmag.com

january 2022

39

DRINK news

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Dark & Strong for Winter

By Jeremy Bender

Now that we are in the dead of winter when nights are the coldest of the year it’s time to adjust your beer selection to seasonal dark and strong beers.

Typically, stouts, porters, and malty brown ales provide satisfaction by the fireplace. So, too, do high alcohol “strong ales” that serve as a means to warm/numb yourself.

Two local breweries are keen to celebrate these beers of winter with festivities.

Over at Reaver Beach Brewing NFK, the Bleak & Brewtal Strong Ale Festival will happen on February 5. Reaver Beach has collaborated with New Realm Brewing Company for what is described as “a beast of a beer” to debut at the festival. Also being released on the 5th by Reaver Beach is its Oak Smoked Barleywine.

Additional invited participants in the fest include Adroit Theory, Big Ugly Brewing, Coastal Fermentory, Bold Mariner, The Garage Brewery, Brothers Craft Brewing, Benchtop, MoMac, and Rip Rap. On March 12, St. George Brewing Company, in Hampton, will present its annual Dark Knight of Winter Beer Festival. From noon to 5 PM, attendees will get unlimited sampling of dark, heavy beers from over 20 participating breweries including That Damn Mary, NOST Brewing Project, Gloucester Brewery, Big Ugly Brewing, Makers Craft Brewery, Garage Brewery, and more. Plus an official glass. Price is $35-40 for the multiple pour fest.

Where’s Andy?

Speaking of St. George, in an effort to fill the gap recently retired head brewer Andy Rathmann left behind, and to have a little fun, the Hampton brewery launched a #wheresAndySTG campaign for 2022. A giant Andy cardboard cutout will be making the rounds to festivals, events, and local attractions. Be on the lookout for him so you can snap a selfie with Andy and tag St. George Brewing Company (@stgbeer). Be

january 2022

sure to include #wheresAndySTG in your post as St George will post most on its website, and you will be entered to win prizes.

Techno Viking Fest Commonwealth Brewing will present a Techno Viking Fest on January 15 to celebrate its collaboration with Swedish brewery Brewski. The beer is called Techno Viking White IPA. The festivities include a Viking costume contest, ice luge, axe throwing, and Viking vessels.

May We Suggest?

Since this is winter, there are many dark and strong beers from regional breweries worthy of your attention. Here’s a suggested list to get your beer exploration appetite whetted.

• Big Ugly Brewing, Ape Hanger Stout (10.2% ABV) • Big Ugly Brewing, Morning Commute Stout (6% ABV) • Smartmouth Brewing Co., Cowcatcher Chocolate Cherry Milkshake Stout (5.5% ABV) • Smartmouth Brewing Co., Liquid Culture Barrel-Aged Imperial Chocolate Porter (7.5% ABV) • Caiseal Beer, Namur The Merrier BelgianStyle Quard, 11.1% ABV) • Benchtop Brewing Co., Old Wooden Ship Barleywine (12% ABV) • The Garage Brewery, Isosceles Belgian Dubbel (7% ABV) • Pleasure House Brewing, Covetous Old Sinner Strong Ale (8.9% ABV) • Young Veterans Brewing Co., Red Dead Rye (6.6% ABV) • New Realm Brewing Co., Hazy Like An Ox DIPA (9% ABV) • Alewerks Brewing Co., Bitter Valentine DIPA (8.3% ABV) • Bull Island Brewing Co., You Got Your Peanut Butter in My Chocolate Stout (7.4% ABV)

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St. George Brewing Company E T A

D E G N A H C

Slaying Ordinary Beer Since 1998

Dark night of Winter Beer Festival 3.12.22 TE A D GE N CHA

Dark beer lovers join us for the only beer festival dedicated to delicious dark styles! 20+ local breweries.

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2 0 4 C h a l l enger Way Hampton, VA 23666 757-865-7781 follow us @stgbeer www.stgbeer.com

january 2022

41

dining internationalcuisine

A delicious assortment of European-inspired baked items. Photo courtesy of Granier

European Taste Ingrained at Granier

By Marisa Marsey

Hampton Roads isn’t one of the first places that big-name chains typically link up with.

That’s OK. I wouldn’t forfeit our low-key coastal lifestyle just to be able to boast that we had the premier branch beyond NYC of a Shake Shack-like burger joint. Or trade what we think of as traffic woes with Northern Virginia’s to best Loudoun County in luring some next-gen Cheesecake Factory.

Still, our civic ego couldn’t help feel flattered when a Granier—the Barcelona-based bakery brand known for classic Old World pastries at 350 cafes throughout Europe and Latin America and cited as opening more stores than Starbucks in 2017—recently alit at Hilltop East in Virginia Beach.

It’s only the fourth in the U.S.; the other three are all in Miami.

“The people in charge of the franchise in this country came to see the location, also Granier’s architect came to see the potential of the area,” said Lorena Gonzalez, co-owner of this café with her husband Patrick Lipsky and their friend Gabriela who coincidentally has the same last name of Gonzalez. All greenlighted it, Lorena continued, given this region’s many “tourists and foreign people from everywhere because of the military, people who’ve already visited Europe and know the food of other countries.”

But even if you’ve never strolled Las Ramblas or beheld Gaudí’s Sagrada Família, you’ll

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january 2022

be transported by one bite of a butter-rich croissant or flaky palmier.

They’re neatly arrayed under glass along with other sweets and savories including glossy chocolate napolitanas (filled croissants), bretzels (powdered sugar-coated Austro-German hybrids shaped like pretzels but textured like Danish pastries) and apple tarts, ripples of lacquered fruit slices on rafts of puff pastry. Their buttery essence is so palpable, you can practically feel it melting on your tongue as you deliberate among your choices (spoiler alert: you can’t go wrong).

“That has nuts on it, is that OK?” asked a thoughtful staffer behind the case once I finally reached my verdict: a burnished, braided Danish. Its aroma so captivated me, I crunched into it even before reaching my car. Perhaps I should have stayed and eaten it there.

The bright café seats 54 (accommodating 20 more on the patio, heated and tented for winter) and forgoes bric-a-brac for the simplicity of some black and white photos of European locales and a few shelves of imported products (olives, preserves, crisp breads). White spindle chairs at wood tables evoke the feel of a sleek yet cozy kitchen, perhaps in an alpine village (granier, meaning grain merchant, is also the name of a mountain town in southeast France).

Settle in for a good, long gossip with a friend over a slice of cream cake.

And a coffee—espresso, macchiato, cappuccino and such. “People like the fact that we serve Italian coffee and they like the fact that we serve it in ceramic cups, too. It’s like a very European kind of style,” said Lorena. There are also Spanish wines and beers as well as rejuvenating, fresh-squeezed orange juice, befitting any Iberian café.

If you pick something from the menu, it will be brought to your table à la Panera. The options cover salads (Cobb, Niçoise, smoked salmon, roasted red peppers), toasts (avocado and turkey, strawberry with ricotta and honey) and sandwiches like a salmon bagel or a runny egg croissant (its dripping yolk corroborating the name) with bacon and mixed greens. Eggs Florentine with sautéed spinach and Hollandaise sauce and Eggs in Cocotte, baked eggs with mushroom duxelles, crispy bacon, Gruyère, chives and bread “soldiers” also hold sway. But one of the most popular items might be the Croque Madame comprising ham, Béchamel sauce, sunny side up egg and Dijon mustard.

“People love that sandwich,” shared Lorena, contemplating bestsellers. She was a surgeon in Venezuela who came to the U.S. to escape her home country’s unrest. She moved first to Raleigh, N.C., but then to Virginia Beach when she married. Because her medical license isn’t recognized stateside, she’s studying to become a nurse practitioner. But baking has always enthralled her and she’s taken recreational class-

es. When Gabriela, who knew Granier from her travels, suggested this entrepreneurial venture, Lorena and her husband bit.

Although they use frozen dough flown in from corporate kitchens in Spain, it’s proofed here and baked fresh, starting before dawn.

Eventually, the partners would like to open additional franchises though Lorena admits that they’re still ironing out kinks.

“We make every day all pastries but some days we are so busy and we don’t have time to bake again,” she shares. “So some days if you come early you will find everything but if you come later maybe we’ve run out of some things.”

They’re adjusting to demand and tinkering with baking schedules. “That first day it was really hard. We’re like, ‘We have to make again! We have to bake again!’ And now we are doing better.”

They already have a slew of regulars. “We receive people that come every single day to have their coffee and they say they have been to visit other locations in Europe or they are from Barcelona or they are from Madrid and they were missing having good coffee and good pastry so now they are so happy,” said Lorena.

“The people also feel very proud of having it in Virginia Beach.”

With a pandemic limiting, if not outright quashing, travel, it’s nice to have a taste of Europe in our own backyard. Heck, when the time comes to easily go abroad again, it still will be grand to have this souvenir here.

1544 Laskin Road, Hilltop East, Virginia Beach. 757-754-8446. Open Tues.-Sun. from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. (kitchen closes at 2 p.m.).

Expanded hours anticipated in spring.

Annual Girl Scouts Cookie Classic Run Coming January 22 Each year, the race has taken place at the Great Dismal Swamp Canal Trail in Chesapeake and attracts hundreds of runners of all ages.

This year, WAVY-10 Anchor Regina Mobley, also a Girl Scout alum, will help kick off the race and participate in the run. There are three race options - 1-mile Samoa Soiree Stroll (timed); 5K Trefoil Trek (timed); and a virtual run option, Do-Si-Don’t Show. The Cookie Classic Run is inclusive for runners of all abilities and offers a running and walking option.

The annual Cookie Classic Run is the only run in Hampton Roads where you get to enjoy Girl Scout Cookies—tasting stations along the run trail. Cookie sampling will include the ALL new Girl Scout Cookie, Adventurfuls, which are inspired by the adventures Girl Scouts go on in the program. Following the race, participants will be able to enjoy the Finisher Festival with music, activities and refreshments along with the presentation of awards.

For more information or to register, visit gsccc.org.

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THOUGHTFUL. DIFFERENT. FUN.

DINNER, TUES - SAT @ 4:30 INSIDE, OUTSIDE OR BAR DINING RESERVATIONS ENCOURAGED

5 1 0 3 C O L L E Y AV E . , N O R F O L K • C O L L E Y C O A C H H O U S E . C O M • 7 5 7 . 4 8 9 . 0 3 8 9

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dining news

Twin Restaurant Weeks

By Jeff Maisey

JANUARY 16-23

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For menus and more information visit

DowntownNorfolk.org

Sponsored by:

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Coordinated by:

Restaurant Weeks serve as a promotion for dining establishments during what would otherwise be a slow period and are also an ideal way for diners to experience and explore favorite restaurants or newcomers at an affordably fixed price for two and three-course meals.

Last January, a recently opened Virginia Beach restaurant participated and then the pandemic shutdown occurred. Thanks to the citywide dining promotion customers kept coming back.

“Ryan Hines, co-owner & managing partner of The Rustic Spoon, opened the restaurant on February 12, 2020—days before the pandemic shutdown,” said Martha Davenport, executive director, Virginia Beach Restaurant Association.

“This was a brand new business, just opening, and now facing a pandemic five weeks later. Needless to say, the first year was very challenging. In 2021 the business joined the Virginia Beach Restaurant Association and participated in Restaurant Week. As a result, the restaurant gained exposure in the community, revenues increased, new faces came in the door, and the base of loyal customers grew. I would call this a success story.”

Indeed.

Both the Downtown Norfolk Council (DNC) and Virginia Beach Restaurant Association (VBRA) present simultaneous winter Restaurant Weeks—January 17-23. Downtown Norfolk’s begins January 16.

Downtown Norfolk’s Restaurant Week is exclusive to dining establishments operating within the heart of the city’s nightlife zone. The promotion is one of many keys to the branding of Downtown.

“We’ve been producing Restaurant Week since 2006 and it is an initiative that is a proven success that not only economically supports our Downtown restaurants but further establishes Downtown Norfolk as a culinary destination with an abundance of chef-owned and independent restaurants,” explained Jessica Kliner, marketing director, Downtown Norfolk Council. “While the Restaurant Week format is not something that works for every restaurant downtown, the ones that do participate rely on this promotion year after year to drive business to their establishment and also to introduce new customers to their restaurant that often become regulars.

Todd Jurich’s Bistro has been participating in Restaurant Week since 2006, which is quite a testament to the value of the event.”

Where Norfolk’s Downtown is a geographically small area to promote with a focused identity, the Virginia Beach Restaurant Association has a broader mission given the size of the city and its many pockets of vibrancy ranging from the Oceanfront, Town Center, and Hilltop to Shore Drive, Strawbridge and neighborhood-

Restaurant Week is a great way to explore creative culinary creations at Mermaid Winery on Shore Drive.

Photo courtesy of Mermaid Winery.

focused sections of Kempsville and Pungo.

“Virginia Beach is a large city, but that adds to its charm and character,” Davenport said.

“Our geography and demographics challenge and support our restaurants to take culinary risks which they would not considered if located in another city.

“Expanding on social opportunities, through Restaurant Week, we support the restaurant’s tie to the community,” Davenport continued.

“These businesses are the heartbeat of their neighborhoods. They provide shelter, a warm meal, the place “where everybody knows your name,”,jokes and laughter, a consoling shoulder, and a sense of belonging that is so missing since the pandemic.”

And speaking of pandemic, both Restaurant Weeks are certain to both challenge and reward participating businesses. The DNC and VBRA take this to heart.

“As we have had to do with everything during pandemic, changes were made to adapt, such as offering Restaurant Week menus to go and for delivery during the height of the pandemic,” said Kliner. “We also saw the community rally behind the Restaurants with their patronage during Restaurant Week and all year-round.”

“Today it is more important than ever to promote and support these traditional small businesses in your community,” shared Davenport. “For many restaurants, this week provides a revenue boost to help them survive the long winter months, a traditionally slow period for patrons. Although, they are still struggling with staffing, all they ask is a little patience, and for that you get a great meal.”

To make reservations for these two important Restaurant Week promotions visit www.dineinvb.com and www.downtownnorfolk.org.

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The perfect dining or drinking spot in the heart of Ghent!

Happy Hour Every Day Noon - 7pm Tuesdays - 50% Off Wine Bottles Wednesdays - All You Can Eat Mussels Saturdays & Sundays - Brunch - 10:30am - 3pm Make your reservations for Valentine’s Day now!

1603 Colley Avenue, Norfolk 757-963-1200 • www.greenonionghent.com

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1/10/22 12:51 PM

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dINING vegan Honest Pastures Deli Now Open in VA Beach: Plant-Based Bakun, Chickun, and Porq, Oh My!

By Betsy DiJulio

Imagine a place where all your deli dreams really do come true: a sun-drenched storefront where no animal is harmed in the creation of signature sandwiches like Reubens, Cubans, Dips, and Dogs. And that’s just for starters. Honest Pastures owner, Dacia Thorson--with deli partners Erick Pinzon, Chelsea Hedrick, and Susan Eaves—jokes that the deli is like a vegan version of Subway where she once worked.

Prior to opening the Deli, Thorson launched Honest Pastures in 2018. You can think of the company’s packaged products for home consumption as “fake meat.” But I prefer not to think of them as fake anything. Their Bakun, Beaf, Corned Beaf, Gyro Beaf Deli Slices, Jackfruit Beaf Ribz, Prime Roast Beaf Deli Slices, Chickun Deli Slices (also Mesquite and Rotisserie), Teriyaki Chickun, Porq Chop, Holiday Roasts, and Veggeroni are real and real delicious proteins in their own right. In research and development for upwards of two years, each product is a carefully crafted blend of ingredients that creates just the right taste, texture, and color, inside and out. And the website lists all the healthful ingredients of each product right down to the micronutrients and any allergens.

It is true that you can “Design-A-Wich” (or “Design-A-Small-Wich” for kids) from an array of breads and plant-based cheeses, a baker’s dozen of “meats”—plus Chickpea Tuna and tofu Egg Salad—and dozens of colorful and tasty topping, all tantalizing arrayed in front of you.

But this sweet spot is absent that feeling of corporate standardization and sameness in which franchises are often steeped. With a pedigree as professional as any of those establishments, the food at Honest Pastures has a hand-crafted, made-by-a-friend appeal.

When the Covid19 pandemic hit, Honest Pastures was, according to Thorson, one of the first companies to offer free shipping and free delivery of their frozen meat products, taking the hit rather than passing the increased costs on to the customer. As a result, the company continued making strides all through the pandemic and was able to open Thorson’s dreamed of deli in November of this year.

The deli delights are built on the products that made Honest Pastures a successful start-

january 2022

I enjoyed the Un-Gobbler near Thanksgiving, as described here, but enjoy a Design-A-Wich any time.

The one pictured features turkey, lettuce, tomato, pickled onions and horseradish aioli on rye.

up plus homemade salads, sauces, soups—oh, the soups!—sweets, specials, and new offerings on a regular basis. Though most everything is made in house, if it isn’t, it either represents products, like chips, not widely available locally, or others made my majority woman-owned businesses in the area.

I first visited the day after Thanksgiving and, with all the traditional favorites still on my mind, I ordered the Non-Gobbler, but I asked that it not be over-stuffed, lest I be.

Plus, I wanted a cup of the Chickun and Wild Rice Soup. Though made to order, my sandwich, with its crusty grilled bread, artfully scalloped “turkey” slices, homemade green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and gravy for dipping—was ready in a flash. And I devoured it just as quickly, slurping down the soup first. I hail from a “soup family” and we are picky about our broth-to-solids ratio. This one was exactly right with its slight peppery kick, greens, sliced carrots and mushrooms, tender chicken, flavorful rice, and more.

You can order your meal and other packaged products from the website via Uber Eats. But I recommend doing what, apparently, lots of other folks—vegans, vegetarians, and omnis—are doing: snagging both by stopping into this welcoming establishment where colorful appointments, books, painted animal portraits, and friendly staff create a vibrant and inviting warmth.

Honest Pastures, 1328 N. Great Neck Rd #104, Virginia Beach, 757.937.2585, www. honestpastures.com

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Thank you.

Thank you for helping families with sick and injured children feel at home, even when they couldn't be. We are so grateful for your gifts in celebration of our 40th Anniversary.

Because of you, we raised $102,988 for the 40 for 40 campaign!

Because of you, we'll be able to help more families in 2022.

Because of you, we'll be able to continue our mission of providing a "home-away-from-home" to families with children receiving care at nearby medical facilities.

Your gift keeps families together.

THANK YOU

to our donors, volunteers, and supporters!

Celebrating 40 Years of Helping Families

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arts@odu

ART FROM GUANTÁNAMO BAY — On view Jan. 21 - May 7, 2022.

Opening reception Jan. 20, 6 - 8 p.m.

Detainees at the United States military prison camp known as Guantánamo Bay have made art from the time they arrived. This exhibition features 101 of these evocative works, made by men held without trial, some for more than 15 years. The six artists include both current (Moath Al Alwi and Ahmed Rabbani) and former (Muhammad Ansi, Abdualmalik Alrahabi Abud, Sabri Al Qurashi, Mansoor Adayfi) detainees, none of whom have been charged with committing a crime.

ODU ART FACULTY EXHIBITION — On view Jan. 11 - Feb. 19.

Closing reception Feb. 17, 6 – 8 p.m.

GORDON THE ROBOT

Reserve your time with this telepresence robot to view exhibitions at ODUArtsTix.com!

VIRGINIA COMMUNITY YOGA IN THE GALLERIES —

Thursdays, 6 – 7:15 p.m. VCY is a local nonprofit teaching trauma informed yoga, mindful meditation, and nonviolent communication in local jails and underserved populations. A percentage of registration fees help VCY Bridge Projects. Open to all levels. Hear 300-year-old Himalayan singing bowls from the Galleries’ collection! Register at bit.ly/YogaGordonGalleries.

MUHAMMAD ANSI, UNTITLED (HANDS HOLDING FLOWERS THROUGH BARS), 2016, ACRYLIC ON PAPER, 11 X 8.5 INCHES

Taking Measure, inspired by Shakespeare’s “Measure for

Measure,” reimagined for the Me Too era. Written and directed

by Chris Hanna, produced by ODURep. Feb. 16 – 19 and 24 – 26, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 27, 2 p.m. Tickets: ODUArtsTix.com.

ANDREW WILLIS, Piano.

Free master class Feb. 5, 2 p.m. Concert Feb. 6, 3 p.m.

Free lecture Feb. 7, 2 p.m. Acclaimed pianist Andrew Willis performs selections by Beethoven and Mozart. Tickets: ODUArtsTix.com.

YOGA IN THE GORDON ART GALLERIES FEATURING VIRGINIA COMMUNITY YOGA

Old Dominion University, located in Norfolk, is Virginia’s forward-focused public doctoral research university with more than 23,000 students, rigorous academics, an energetic residential community and initiatives that contribute $2.6 billion annually to Virginia’s economy. On campus and online, ODU is Virginia’s most affordable public doctoral university.

january 2022

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