Rochester news

• Growing together

  30-04-2025 11:00 via roccitymag.com
  Taproot teaches leadership skills to youth through community gardening.
  
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• How a local suffragist led the mother of all movements

  13-03-2026 06:53 via roccitymag.com
  Elizabeth Cady Stanton was 26 years old when her first child, a son, was born. “I was entirely afloat, launched on the seas of doubt without chart or compass,” she wrote in her autobiography, “Eighty Years and More: Reminiscences, 1815–1897.” Stanton was one of 11 children, five of whom died as infants and small children. As she watched her mother grieve the cycle of childbirth and loss, Stanton was determined t
  
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• For the Cavatassi family — and ‘Uncle Chris’ — St. Paul Street is worth the investment

  12-03-2026 17:40 via roccitymag.com
  At 12:45 p.m. on a snowy Thursday in February, every seat in the Sagra Italia dining room is full. Formerly home to Fifth Frame Brewing, 155 St. Paul St. is nearly unrecognizable, transformed into an airy, chic space somehow reminiscent of both Brooklyn and Rome. There’s a cozy sitting area off to one side and mossy green accent walls with galleries of curated art. A glass case near the checkout counter displays pillowy focaccia with an array of toppings. The concept might be fast-casual
  
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• The Oscars love disability stories, but it’s complicated

  11-03-2026 06:32 via roccitymag.com
  The trailer for “Song Sung Blue,” director Craig Brewer’s Oscar-nominated biographical drama about a Neil Diamond tribute act, sets up a familiar arc. While looking for glory, musicians Mike and Claire — played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson — find each other. And when the glory arrives, so do the struggles: alcoholism, addiction and, notably, living with a disability.Midway through the story, Claire loses a leg after being hit by a car. She spends the rest of the
  
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• Rohrbach Brewing Company changes hands after 35 years

  07-03-2026 16:34 via wxxinews.org
  The post Rohrbach Brewing Company changes hands after 35 years appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture..
  
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• 2026 Oscar predictions: CITY critics weigh in

  06-03-2026 20:13 via roccitymag.com
  The 98th annual Academy Awards take place on Sunday, March 15 — locally, you can play film trivia and watch it on the big screen at The Little Theatre — and our film critics have a few thoughts on this year’s nominees ahead of Hollywood’s glittering night.
  The Olympics are my Super Bowl, the Oscars are my Olympics and, no, I will not be explaining any further. (Most) awards are (mostly) silly, but as someone who has tuned in to the Academy Awards every year since about t
  
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• REVIEW | ‘Barefoot in the Park’ at Geva Theatre

  05-03-2026 19:24 via roccitymag.com
  Nostalgia has a strong pull in times of uncertainty. Perhaps that’s why Neil Simon has been especially popular this theatrical season. His comedies seem familiar and fun, especially for theatergoers who witnessed his prolific stage and screenwriting, which started in the 1960s. A longtime favorite of regional theater, Simon’s works have also recently been staged by Blackfriars and Rochester Community Players. Now, Geva Theatre gives one of his most well-known plays “Barefoot i
  
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• Mega Man, Angry Birds and more considered for The Strong’s video game hall of fame

  05-03-2026 12:28 via wxxinews.org
  The post Mega Man, Angry Birds and more considered for The Strong’s video game hall of fame appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture..
  
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• REVIEW | ‘Hands Up’ by Eli Flynn ft. Felix Free

  04-03-2026 15:35 via roccitymag.com
  Rochester musician Eli Flynn established himself in the local music scene as a member of Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad and through his own collaborative, Eli Flynn and the Everymen. His talents extend beyond the stage and into the classroom, where he works as a music therapist at The Hochstein School.Inspired by stories of resilience and music as therapy, Flynn released the single “Hands Up,” featuring rapper Felix Free on January 30. Flynn says to accompany the release, “It&
  
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• In memory of Bill Towler

  04-03-2026 09:30 via roccitymag.com
  Retired City Newspaper publisher Bill Towler died February 27 at age 87 after a long, courageous battle with the neurological disease Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. He was a loving, intensely engaged husband, father, and grandfather and is survived by his wife Mary Anna; daughters Elizabeth Towler-Menon and Cheryl Towler Weese; son Will; son-in-law Dan Towler Weese; daughter-in-law Dawn Brandenburg; grandchildren Micah, Cole, and Carter Weese; sisters Lena Scott and Martha Jones; brother Bob;
  
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• In his second act, Mark Cuddy bets on Chekhov — and Rochester

  03-03-2026 21:07 via roccitymag.com
  Mark Cuddy was known as a hands-on artistic director during his nearly three decades at the helm of Geva Theatre. But he’s been giving new meaning to that reputation as the founder of his latest venture, The Classics Company, which arrived on the local theater scene with authority in January with a striking production of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull” at the Multi-use Community Cultural Center (MuCCC) on Atlantic Avenue.  When he wasn’t clearing snow
  
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• LGBTQ+ historic sites and more listed on Landmark Society’s 2026 Five to Revive

  02-03-2026 15:29 via wxxinews.org
  The post LGBTQ+ historic sites and more listed on Landmark Society’s 2026 Five to Revive appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture..
  
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• City to offer up $170,000 in grants for the arts

  26-02-2026 19:19 via wxxinews.org
  The post City to offer up $170,000 in grants for the arts appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture..
  
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• Why we fixate on — and fetishize — those behind the line

  26-02-2026 17:43 via roccitymag.com
  There’s a reason chefs don’t translate cleanly into daylight.They belong to the hours when the rest of the world is loosening its grip. When people are drinking, touching, confessing, unraveling. While everyone else is reaching for pleasure, chefs are manufacturing it. While the room fills, they disappear. That inversion matters.Tension lives there.Food is the first intimacy we ever experience. Before sex, before language, before memory — someone fed you. Warmth, salt, fat, sw
  
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• Why we fixate on — and fetishize — chefs behind the line

  26-02-2026 17:43 via roccitymag.com
  There’s a reason chefs don’t translate cleanly into daylight.They belong to the hours when the rest of the world is loosening its grip. When people are drinking, touching, confessing, unraveling. While everyone else is reaching for pleasure, chefs are manufacturing it. While the room fills, they disappear. That inversion matters.Tension lives there.Food is the first intimacy we ever experience. Before sex, before language, before memory — someone fed you. Warmth, salt, fat, sw
  
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• Antiques Roadshow to film at Genesee Country Village & Museum in Mumford

  25-02-2026 20:53 via roccitymag.com
  The post Antiques Roadshow to film at Genesee Country Village & Museum in Mumford appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture..
  
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• PUSH Physical Theatre’s Heather and Darren Stevenson have built a life — and a company — together, on stage and off 

  25-02-2026 20:29 via roccitymag.com
  When Heather and Darren Stevenson tell a love story on stage, it’s not an act. They have been married for 32 years and served as co-artistic directors of PUSH Physical Theatre for 25 years — by now, performing side-by-side is second nature. As part of the company’s 25th anniversary celebration, PUSH will host a homecoming of sorts at Geva Theatre March 13–21 with the premiere of “HOME[sic],” a new work featuring pieces from PUSH’s past with fresh explor
  
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• Gladys Knight and Mikaela Davis among summer festival performer announcements

  24-02-2026 20:38 via roccitymag.com
  Despite a fresh snowfall, festival season is just a few months away. This week, two of the city’s cornerstone summer celebrations have revealed some 2026 headliners.The Rochester Lilac Festival will fill Highland Park with homegrown and touring acts beginning May 8 and running through May 17. Each night has free live music, with local acts supporting the top names.
   
  One of them is regional favorite and Rochester native Mikaela Davis, who brings her harp back to the stage for an
  
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• REVIEW | ‘Tyzik Joyride’ by Eastman Wind Ensemble

  24-02-2026 04:18 via roccitymag.com
  Here’s an album to turn on when you’re looking for something bright and fun in the midst of winter — whether you’re embracing the season’s chilly energy or trying to combat its gloom. From the first note of Jeff Tyzik’s “Jazz Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Wind Ensemble,” there’s brightness, bounce, lift and energy. In other words, “Joyride” is an apt name for this track, and for the whole album. Throughout the diff
  
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• In love and marriage, people with disabilities pay the price 

  23-02-2026 18:46 via roccitymag.com
  Stephanie Woodward is a disability rights attorney, activist and mother. She is also disabled and used to strangers asking her inappropriate questions. “The amount of people who are shocked that I have children and ask me how it is done…” she said. “And I’m like, is health class illegal where you’re from?” For Woodward, those moments are not just awkward or offensive; they are revealing. They expose assumptions a
  
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• REVIEW | “WICKED”

  20-02-2026 22:59 via roccitymag.com
  The last time I saw “WICKED,” the 2003 musical from Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, performed on stage, I (and probably most of the world) had yet to learn who Ariana Grande was. That’s mostly an indictment of how old I am, but it’s also a testament to how long the show has had a hold on the musical theater world. Audiences have been defying gravity and debating how well pink goes with green for over two decades, and for good reason. Rochester is a theater town
  
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• Vision of Sound returns for four days of eclectic local music and dance

  19-02-2026 19:35 via roccitymag.com
  The Rochester City Ballet, a krumping university professor and ensemble musicians will gather this weekend for a unique festival. Vision of Sound, which pairs local composers and choreographers to perform new work together, returns for four shows of eclectic music and dance February 19-22.The shows will be staged at four local schools, including SUNY Brockport, Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, Rochester Institute of Technology and Hobart and Willia
  
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• Rochester’s drag community is more than double entendres and dollar bills

  18-02-2026 18:59 via roccitymag.com
  The perception that drag equals sex sparked controversy this past summer when a Rochester drag bingo fundraiser planning to benefit the Child Advocacy Center was canceled due to widespread online backlash. Many commenters objected to a drag-themed fundraiser being tied to a child-welfare charity, arguing it made the event inappropriate or was misaligned with the organization’s mission. David Chappius, who is a co-owner of Rochester nightclub ROAR and also known as prominent local dra
  
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• How New York State’s top-free movement started with a picnic at Cobbs Hill

  17-02-2026 18:29 via roccitymag.com
  The month of February provides opportunities to celebrate St. Valentine, Body Awareness Month and, perhaps, new and exciting ways to make sure your needs are being met. You may find yourself in the company of someone who you wish to celebrate with, and part of that equation may include breasts. You may have them, have consensual access to them or have had experience with them. But is there any consensus as to what they are for?In the 1980s, a group of women from Rochester fought for — and
  
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• REVIEW | ‘Wuthering Heights’

  14-02-2026 20:24 via roccitymag.com
  For much of “Wuthering Heights,” a film adaptation of the revered 1847 novel of the same name by Emily Brontë, written and directed by Emerald Fennell (“Saltburn,” “Promising Young Woman”), doomed lovers Cathy and Heathcliff behave like the worst version of the most insufferable couple you knew in college.
  You know the one. Always the two hottest people in any room, and always on the verge of breaking up or declaring their undying love for one another, w
  
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• 6 local ways to love yourself

  13-02-2026 06:18 via roccitymag.com
  Self-love is a concept that is thrown around so casually and frequently these days it can sometimes feel meaningless. But I place firm stock in it, manifesting it through self-kindness, putting less pressure on yourself and not only accepting, but embracing your imperfections. Truly loving yourself means exploring who you are down to the core and giving yourself the grace to be a little (or maybe a lot more) vulnerable. Here are a few (local) ways to practice self-love — whether
  
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• Rom-com roll call for V-Day (or any day) viewing

  12-02-2026 20:36 via roccitymag.com
  I was 8 years old when I first saw Rob Reiner’s “The Princess Bride,” a romantic comedy wrapped in the trappings of a fantasy, to delight young girls and fool young boys for decades to come. It paved the way for a life where part of my brain is always thinking about Shopgirl and NY152 from “You’ve Got Mail,” or how Cher goes to the opera with Nicolas Cage in “Moonstruck,” or when Bill Pullman describes leaning to Sandra Bullock in “While You
  
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• Applications open February 17 for the 15th annual ESL Rochester Fringe Festival

  11-02-2026 20:09 via wxxinews.org
  The post Applications open February 17 for the 15th annual ESL Rochester Fringe Festival appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture..
  
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• REVIEW | ‘Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune’

  11-02-2026 06:41 via roccitymag.com
  Some plays focus on the larger-than-life: think Shakespeare’s kings, witches and battles. Other plays are mundane and true-to-life: think conversations about farts, radio requests and getting to know your coworkers. “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” is solidly in the second camp. Out of Pocket, Inc. lovingly stages this 1980s romantic comedy at the MuCCC through (appropriately) Feb. 14 under the direction of Trish Annese.Written by Terrence McNally, a prolific dramatis
  
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• Innovative Field to become ESL Ballpark this season

  10-02-2026 21:03 via wxxinews.org
  The post Innovative Field to become ESL Ballpark this season appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture..
  
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