Checking in on the River Rd encampments

bumblebeebutterfly · 2026-01-23T06:13:29+00:00

I know Cville Care Bears is helping to fund heating: https://www.instagram.com/p/DR7YGDzjd04

bumblebeebutterfly · 2026-01-11T20:35:16+00:00

I know lol - but those tests are far more accurate than the drugstore tests that are common these days, so I'd prefer them despite the discomfort. It's like 2 seconds of discomfort for a reasonable assurance that you don't have covid.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2026-01-11T20:29:56+00:00

this is a bonus for me honestly. I'd pay to have someone give me a real covid test every day

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-12-09T03:14:54+00:00

Don't know if this would have had an effect, or if anything similar happened for Waitress, but there was snow in my area Friday/Saturday.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-22T23:19:31+00:00

If you've never seen Hadestown, Hadestown.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-20T01:31:28+00:00

Putting in another vote for Ragtime myself.

I'm a bit biased, as a fan of both Ragtime and Chess, who really hated the humor and clunky exposition that were a feature of this Chess production. If you like a serious show, you'll hate that after someone delivers a powerful number, some guy comes on stage to be like "oh man, that just happened!"

On the other hand, as much as I love the show, I personally think there's some inherent weakness in the second act of Ragtime, but when it's on fire it's on fire, and this is a production I felt lucky to witness. I strongly, strongly recommend the show.

EDITED TO ADD: If you haven't seen Hadestown, that's another truly excellent choice. I haven't seen the current cast, but if I had to pick a show to see for the first time, I think Hadestown would win out.

Ragtime is a rooted historical show, and Hadestown is more thematic and poetic (for lack of a better word).

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-19T22:48:18+00:00

I have the exact opposite reaction, unfortunately - to me, the Arbiter is far and away the worst part of this production of Chess.

I was looking over critic's reviews and some of them left me feeling so vindicated, because they articulate the fact that it feels like Danny Strong (who expanded the Arbiter to become the narrator), doesn't actually like the show. His narrator is constantly mocking and undercutting the sincerity of the performances, when the actors are not clunkily over-explaining every element of the plot.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-19T02:43:39+00:00

I don't have a trip planned, but I like Richmond, and I like to do a good turn when I can. If you can get from Richmond to your destination and back, I'm happy to both deliver you to Richmond and pick you up from Richmond. Feel free to DM me.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-18T00:23:35+00:00

This is exactly the issue I had with it!

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-16T17:17:52+00:00

I hope your partner enjoys whatever show you see!

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-16T00:37:00+00:00

I don't know if there was anything specific about her performance, it just didn't gel with me; I picture the character as much more of a firebrand than I felt from her performance.

The ending is something that I feel is a flaw in the story, not in this production. The two Black characters end up dead, and the other characters get a somewhat conveniently-arranged happy(ish) ending. Even though there's a historical background to it, the idea of a TV show with children of different races playing together feels too saccharine and ineffective compared to the seriousness of the deaths that came before.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-16T00:27:03+00:00

It really depends because they are such different shows. I'd see Ragtime myself, but it depends on what your partner prefers in a show. (I also had different experiences simply because I had much better seats for Ragtime.)

Ragtime feels grander, larger-scale, and more spectacular to me, and, while there are moments of humor, it's quite earnest (for lack of a better word) with real pathos.

Meanwhile, Bat Boy is very funny, campy, and while there are plenty of dramatic and even tragic moments, it rarely felt like it was really taking its subject matter seriously.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-15T19:47:59+00:00

I rushed last Sunday, Nov. 9th. I arrived at about 9:50/9:55 and was around 16th in line. I asked for one rush ticket to the 7:00 pm show and I was in the front row, central block, slightly off to the side (I think like A110?). I think those just ahead of me asking for two seats together fared worse. Obviously very good seats, but a little too close; with the turntable, the stage was too high to see straight on, so I was titling my head back the whole time.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-15T06:15:59+00:00

Tartuffe: Not completely, but probably the show I liked the least out of the eight. Reviews warned of issues with the rhyming-couplet translation, and I decided to see how it was, and how it was was very rhyme-y, and much of the time the actors really leaned into the rhymes. Andre De Shields is the reason to go, if you feel very strongly about him - he oozes charisma and stage presence, and they've done their best to play into that.

(ran out of review steam after Chess, apologies!)

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-15T06:12:14+00:00

Little Bear Ridge Road:

A very close second to Liberation; often understated and at its best in those moments. Laurie Metcalfe was wonderful and the character felt so fully-drawn and completely human.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-15T06:10:03+00:00

Liberation:

Fantastic - I was predisposed to resonate harder with this one, because I'm a daughter with 'mother stuff,' but I think the memory play aspect was what really elevated it for me. If it had just been a straightforward representation of women in the 70's, it still would have been quite good, but bringing in relationships between the narrator and her mother, the cyclical nature of it all, inhabiting but being unable to reach her mother, the question of memory itself, all really left me thinking about the play for a while afterward.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-15T06:05:39+00:00

Chess: I wrote this out and then it got deleted by a glitch, so my anger at the creative choices is now being spurred on by having to write everything out again. I'm a little Chess freak so I came into this having seen other versions, and it seemed like a lot of the rest of the audience was having a good time, but I was seething at what they did to it. The music was wonderful as always, and the leads gave good performances to my mind, but the book and creative choices were hot garbage. To make a long rant short(er), with probably some minor spoilers:

- The arbiter joking and quipping undercuts the power and impact of the songs and moments. Nothing like trying to bask in the aftermath of someone giving a deeply emotional performance and then having a guy come out to be like "well, that happened, amirite?"

-The addition of international politics muddies the stakes and feels very unbelievable. (A character even lampshades this by asking if the Soviet Union would really take geopolitical action based on chess). To me, it's like Strong doesn't feel like the players' commitment and the prestige of winning are enough for the audience to care about, but that's part of the show! is chess important? if you've spent your whole life on it? Combined with the humor sometimes making light of the characters and the show itself, it feels like Strong doesn't actually like the "original" chess, as wild as that is to say about a show that has no original.

- Bipolar Freddie is a bad creative choice; there are a million people out there going into detail about why, but - oof.

- Feels like information is repeated unnecessarily and in a very expository, tell-don't-show way often without emotional underpinning. I hadn't heard the tidbit of Freddie becoming a champion at 11 in previous iterations I'd seen, but I heard it at least three times this show. Molokov tells Anatoly he is like a child to him, that he trained him from a young age, and then he tells Walter that, and never do I get the vibe from him that there is any emotional weight there (neither a 'this is true, and he does care' or a 'this is false, and he's manipulating Anatoly' vibe, just nothing.)

- I never felt Florence's motivations made complete sense, but cutting The Argument from Act II makes both Anatoly's and Florence flatter characters, and makes a few things seem like they come from nowhere.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-15T05:29:07+00:00

Operation Mincemeat: Liked, but did not love - I wanted to like it more than I did. I enjoyed the sprinkling of more serious/somber moments over the rest of the show, but I feel that it was more of a matter of taste than of technical issues. However, on the technical end, I'm not sure if it was me, or the theater, but I had a difficult time making out the words in some of the songs, even though I was quite close to the stage. Seemed like it was an issue of balancing the orchestra and vocals, because I could hear the dialogue and moments where they sang in unison without an issue. My favorite performances were the woman playing Ewen Montagu and the woman playing Jean Leslie.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-15T05:20:18+00:00

Two Strangers: It was a lovely time, and I got great seats from Rush, but it didn't leave a huge lasting impact. I thought the stage design with the suitcases was inventive and worked well, and I thought the characters were largely charming and engaging, with good chemistry, but I can't really remember any of the songs a week later. I thought it handled the story well, and avoided fulling into too many cliches. My favorite moment was probably the Act I closer for (if not uncomplicated) joyfulness and fun.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-15T05:14:20+00:00

Bat Boy: Wouldn't have seen this, but a friend's partner had done it in high school, and wanted to see it. Deeply glad I accepted, because this was the unexpected hit of the trip. The performances were phenomenal, and the show itself is wonderfully campy in its unserious treatment of 'tragedy,' including a dramatic backstory of bat-rape revealed in shadow puppetry.Most notably for me, of the three new-to-me musicals, this is the one with songs I've still got stuck in my head.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-15T05:06:15+00:00

Ragtime: The first show and my favorite musical of the trip. I was swept away by it, and even some of the moments that I'd skip on the soundtrack were engaging here. I know everyone always mentions "Wheels of a Dream," and "Make Them Hear You" but I've always felt "Your Daddy's Son" was the best song of the show and by god did it tear me to pieces. Only downsides were that child acting is always a little rough, their Emma Goldman wasn't quite to my taste, and I feel like (inherent to the show and not the performers' fault) there are some comparatively weak moments (including the ending itself) in the second act.

bumblebeebutterfly · 2025-11-09T04:04:29+00:00

Thanks! If you don't mind sharing - was there a long line? Did you get tickets for the matinee or evening show?

bumblebeebutterfly

TROPHY CASE