Huddle up. Listen. You want to see some great work, by artists at the top of their form in their various disciplines? Well, look no further: Right here, in your hot hands, are some of the best see-and-dos for the coming months. Rip these pages out, tack them to your fridge, enter the info in your smartphone’s calendar, whatever you do to keep reminders for stuff you don’t want to miss — you don’t need Culture FOMO — and check off this list as you go.
Urban Bush Women (Photo by Hayim Heron)
THEATER & DANCE
Urban Bush Women, “Hair and Other Stories”
Sept. 27, Alice Jepson Theatre, Modlin Center for the Arts, University of Richmond
Of their production “Hair and Other Stories,” the Urban Bush Women proclaim, “Don’t come here for no show: We’re goin’ on a Journey!” The two-and-a-half-hour program, blending dance, theater and conversations, is derived from stories pulled from African-American communities and social media including YouTube. The show confronts how our perceptions of physical beauty are tangled up in identity and race. As the Urban Bush Women themselves explain, the show lays out “what constitutes the freedom to rise to our Extra-ordinary Selves in extraordinary times … [and] challenge existing American values and celebrates our choices around ‘who we be’ and ‘how we do!’ ” $40; 804-287-6632 or modlin.richmond.edu
Abi Goldstein and Mate Szentes in “Figure in the Distance” by Tom Mattingly (Photo by Sarah Ferguson)
Richmond Ballet 35th Anniversary Celebration
With the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Sept. 28-29, Dominion Energy Center for the Performing Arts
Appropriate for the commemoration of such a big milestone, the Richmond Ballet takes a tour of the past and looks to the future. The evening opens with Jerome Robbins’ “Circus Polka,” featuring the music of Stravinsky, 48 students and a “dapper ringmaster.” The middle portion will feature a “greatest hits” retrospective, with dancers bringing the ballet from its inception to the present. The production concludes with Balanchine’s valentine to New York City, “Who Cares?,” a delightful series of scenes and incidents backed by George Gershwin’s “ ’S Wonderful,” “Embraceable You” and “I Got Rhythm.” $25 to $125; 804-344-0906 or richmondballet.com
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”
Sept. 21-Oct. 14, Virginia Repertory Theatre
When a neighbor’s dog is killed with a garden tool, the death is investigated by Christopher (Michael Manocchio), a brilliant but confused 15-year-old. With precision, Christopher, who lives with an unspecified autism-like disorder, notes everyone he speaks to and the trouble that occurs along the way, encountering greater personal mysteries he’d not bargained for. This adaptation of the 2003 novel by Mark Haddon earned the 2015 Tony for Best Play. Here, it is directed by Virginia Repertory Artistic Director Nathaniel Shaw. $30 to $52; 804-282-2620 or va-rep.org
Photo by Matthew Murphy
“Les Misérables”
Oct. 23-28, Broadway in Richmond, Altria Theater
Social upheaval, resistance and rebellion, love, obsession, idealism, and the machinery of the state clash in spectacular fashion as “Les Miz” roars into the Altria with all its passion and pathos intact. It’s got a fresh look, thanks to projections of artwork by Victor Hugo, the author of the novel where all this came from. Hugo created more than 4,000 pen-and-ink drawings, most of them unknown outside of family and close friends. The new-ish theatrical set also disposes with the production’s iconic revolving stage (that was retired for the 25th anniversary in 2014). $43.50 and up; 804-646-4213 or altriatheater.com
Photo courtesy Henrico Theatre Co.
“Ring of Fire”
Feb. 22-March 3, 2019, Henrico Theatre Co., Cultural Arts Center of Glen Allen
Inspired by the persona and music of Johnny Cash, this musical is presented by the Henrico Theatre Co. in conjunction with its 40th anniversary. Director Amy Perdue explains that the show is a bonus in addition to the theater company’s four-show regular season, “Everything Old Is New Again,” a reprise of past productions to celebrate the group’s four decades. This is your chance to see the cast of eight interpret the Cash oeuvre through 38 songs, including some penned by Cash and others by fellow songwriters that Cash made famous. $15; 804-261-2787 or artsglenallen.com
Works like InKyoung Chun’s metal and neon piece “Two Circles” will appear at the 2018 InLight. (Photo courtesy the artist)
ART
1708 Gallery 40th Anniversary
Sept. 27, 1708 Gallery
11th Annual InLight
Nov. 16-17, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The 1708 Gallery came from the will of artists to bring new work to the public that otherwise would not have received a showing here. The nonprofit marks a monumental four decades with a fete at the downtown space on Sept. 27. Among the gallery’s influential public events is the venue-hopping annual InLight, which this year returns to the campus of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The invitational and curated exhibition features work from across the country rendered in light-giving materials and often combined with sound and other media. InLight runs from dusk until midnight. Free; 804-643-1708 or 1708gallery.org
Photo courtesy Visual Arts Center of Richmond
Visual Arts Center of Richmond 54th Annual Craft + Design Show
Nov. 16-18, Main Street Station Train Shed Event Space
This is a big show in a magnificent space, and it comes at the beginning of the holiday season, so if you’re looking for something for a someone — or just yourself — there’s no better place to search than among almost 150 national and regional exhibitors. There are two Local Makers Booths, curated by Shockoe Atelier and Good Neighbors. Craft + Design 2018 also includes a Penland School of Crafts partnership booth, organized by Richmonder Leigh Suggs, to highlight a number of current and past Penland artists-in-residence. There’s also food, wine and beer. General admission is $10, while an $80 weekend pass gets you valet parking, unlimited entries, and also the Patrons’ Preview ($55 with general admission) and the Rise + Shine breakfast ($30 with general admission); 804-353-0094 or visarts.org
Photo by Nasrallah Photography
Dominion Energy GardenFest of Lights
Nov. 23-Jan. 7 (closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
When you install more than half a million lights and form them to re-create “Great Works of Art” in a garden setting, you get the Dominion GardenFest of Lights, which also comprises model trains, holiday dinners and family fun. Visitors wander through an illuminated realm featuring re-creations of sculpture, dance and music drawn from the natural world. $13, $8 ages 3-12; 804-262-9887 or lewisginter.org
A screening at last year's Afrikana Film Festival (Photo by Jana Burtner)
FILM
Third Annual Afrikana Film Festival
Sept. 13-16, various venues
This multiday event dedicated to showcasing films by people of color — particularly those representing the African diaspora — is launching its four days at The Valentine. Past festivals have provided a showcase of more than 40 films, including full-length features and shorts, narrative and documentary, at venues including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, the Hippodrome, and the Hofheimer Building. Directors and actors from the films will speak and participate in Q&A sessions. The 2018 screenings include the immigrant story “Farewell Meu Amor” by Ekwa Msangi and the dramatic thriller “Interference” by Robin Rose Singer. $75 weekend pass; tickets for individual screenings start at $7, depending on the venue and film. 804-349-2798 or afrikanafilmfestival.org
A taiko drummer at the 2017 Richmond Folk Festival (Photo by Dave Parrish)
MUSIC
The Richmond Folk Festival
Oct. 12-14, Brown’s Island
The region’s premier music and cultural event is free and set amid stunning views of the James River and the historic Tredegar Ironworks. Under the auspices of Venture Richmond, musicians from around the world will converge on this site, including Mavis Staples, bluegrass artist Claire Lynch, gypsy jazz musician Lulo Reinhardt (great-nephew of the great Django Reinhardt), and Orquesta el Macabeo, delivering salsa music from Puerto Rico. Free; 804-788-6466 or richmondfolkfestival.org
Photo courtesy UB40
UB40
Oct. 25, The National
The socially conscious British reggae band originated in working-class Birmingham and took its name from the government Unemployment Benefit, Form 40. No longer requiring the hand up, but nonetheless understanding the need, the band is celebrating its 40th anniversary by going on a globe-girdling tour and releasing “For the Many,” their first studio album in five years. UB40’s five founding members, Robin Campbell, Brian Travers, Jimmy Brown, Earl Falconer and Norman Hassan, and longtime members Duncan Campbell, Martin Meredith, Lawrence Parry and Tony Mullings should make this concert in the splendid downtown venue one to remember. $27.50 in advance or $30.50 at the door; 804-612-1900 or thenationalva.com
Photo courtesy Beacon Theatre
Dweezil Zappa
Nov. 1, The Beacon Theatre, Hopewell
He took time out from his current tour to co-star in a video with Spinal Tap bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) — “MRI” from the album “Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing)” — but now Dweezil Zappa’s back at it. His “Choice Cuts” tour rolls into Hopewell’s Beacon Theatre with “a collection of the meatiest tracks” from the song catalog of his father, Frank Zappa, and the Mothers of Invention. $35 to $105; 804-446-3457 or thebeacontheatreva.com
EXHIBITION
“Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion”
Feb. 14-Dec. 1, 2019, The Valentine
The ongoing agonizing about something needing to be done with Richmond’s prominent secessionist tribute statuary gets a particular twist at The Valentine, thanks to this exhibition, the thematic companion to “Monumental: Richmond’s Monuments (1607-2018),” which closes on Jan. 20, 2019. “Monument Avenue” comes from a national design competition directed in collaboration with the Storefront for Community Design and Virginia Commonwealth University’s mOb studio. Expect some wild and crazy concepts for a “re-imagining” of our city’s best known boulevard and its history. Besides the juried national competition, area students are also presenting ideas to the curating panel for “the next monument.” The project is supported in part by a $30,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Watch for related additional programs. $10 museum admission, $8 seniors and students; 804-649-0711 or thevalentine.org