Ani DiFranco “Educated Guess” Righteous Babe For those who have yet to be won over by Ani DiFranco’s unapologetic lyrics and stabbingly melodic voice, here’s your 21st chance to realize the woman has too much creativity to ever even want to sound like anybody else. Read more...

With its masterful combination of melodic hooks, guitar crunch and popish keyboards, the rock band The Pale is finally achieving well-deserved success and popularity. And refreshingly, the band is not jaded. Read more...

Among the inventors of the tribute album, UCLA artist-in-residence Hal Willner knew what to expect from a live equivalent. “Before any goddamn critic says it ““ yes, the best thing is the original, which was last night “¦ AND WE KNOW THAT! Read more...

“Summertime,” now playing at Macgowan Little Theatre through Feb. 7, is the quintessential Charles Mee concoction. One part piña colada and two parts bordering-psychotic fever dream, the maverick playwright’s kinky-sexy tribute to love and the power of passion is unapologetic and relentless in the way it peels away at each layer of the mystery of what it is to feel and live with an utmost fullness of being. Read more...

At first glance, the New Wight Gallery looks like it’s closed or awaiting a broom and a mop. But pedestrians have been poking their heads into the propped-open door to investigate the sounds and lights echoing from the dark room. Read more...

Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo & Juliet” brought Shakespeare to young people and convinced them it was cool. Now, Luhrmann attempts to turn them on to Italian opera. Read more...

When remembering the classic musical “West Side Story,” the image that pops into most people’s heads is probably the dance-fighting sequence between the Jets and the Sharks, who finger-snapped their way into theater lore. Read more...