Issuu

2 CITY

OCTOBER 2026

SEPTEMBER 2026 | Vol. 55 No. 2

Inside 4 10

Q&A

THE FUTURE OF FILM. BY LEAH STACY

NEWS

GEORGE EASTMAN MUSEUM STAFFERS MOVE TO UNIONIZE. BY GINO FANELLI

FAITH STREET FILMS SHOT THE FIRST SEASON OF A TV SHOW IN RECOGNIZABLE LOCAL HAUNTS. BY JINELLE VAIANA

ANALOG

A VHS RESURGENCE THAT’S PART NOSTALGIA TRIP, PART ANTI-DIGITAL CONSUMERIST REVOLUTION. BY KELLEN BECK

YOUTUBE

A LOCAL FILMMAKER HAS A HALF MILLION VIEWS ON HIS POWER RANGERS FAN FLICK.

ARTS. MUSIC. CULTURE. 280 State Street Rochester, New York 14614 feedback@rochester-citynews.com phone (585) 244-3329 roccitymag.com PUBLISHER Rochester Area Media Partners LLC, Chris Hastings, chairman FOUNDERS Bill and Mary Anna Towler EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Ryan Williamson EDITORIAL Editor-in-chief: Leah Stacy Arts reporter: Patrick Hosken Multimedia reporter: Roberto F. Lagares Contributors: Kellen Beck, Sydney Burrows, Vanessa Cheeks, Brendan Dabkowski, Gino Fanelli, Robin Flanigan, Daniel J. Kushner, Megan Mack, June "CM" McCambridge, Henry O'Brien, Saby Reyes-Kulkarni, Mona Seghatoleslami, Jinelle Vaiana, Wren Werner CREATIVE Art director: Jacob Walsh ADVERTISING David White ads@roccitymag.com 585-730-2666 CITY is available free of charge. Additional copies of the current issue may be purchased by calling 585-784-3503. CITY may be distributed only by authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of CITY, take more than one copy of each monthly issue. CITY (ISSN 1551-3262) is published monthly 12 times per year by Rochester Area Media Partners, a subsidiary of WXXI Public Broadcasting. Periodical postage paid at Rochester, NY (USPS 022-138). Address changes: CITY, 280 State Street, Rochester, NY 14614. Member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and the New York Press Association. Copyright by Rochester Area Media Partners LLC, 2026 - all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system without permission of the copyright owner.

BY PATRICK HOSKEN

ON THE COVER: Photograph by Roberto F. Lagares

BEYOND 585

MEET FOUR ROCHESTER NATIVES WHO DANCE ONSTAGE AND ONSCREEN. BY SYDNEY BURROWS

@ROCCITYMAG WXXI Members may inquire about free home delivery of CITY including monthly TV listings by calling 585-258-0200.

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Martini shot and has yet to happen that one issue wasn’t nearly enough to tell all the stories. Every time I talked to someone about this theme, there was another lead to follow. A documentary series that’s been presenting films from around the globe since 2012? One Take, founded by RIT lecturer and doc filmmaker Linda Moroney. Oldest continuously running short film festival? Rochester International Film Festival, started by Kodak staff in 1959. Two of New York State’s remaining drive-in theaters within an hour distance? Avon’s Vintage Drive-In and Perry’s Silver Lake Twin Drive-In. A 97-year-old independent film theater that’s still thriving downtown? The Little Theatre, founded in 1929 and now owned by WXXI. A state-of-the-art space for commercial and creative filmmakers? FLX Studios, which just opened a few miles from the Rochester Institute of Technology. These are just a few of the stories that didn’t make it into these pages in depth, but will remain on our radar and be told in other ways. ‘Production’ has a different meaning for the CITY crew than it does for the filmmakers we interviewed throughout this issue. For us, it means the week we go to print each month. And every Friday of production, my editor’s letter is the last thing I finish up for the issue. It’s not the last thing we tweak, by any means, but now I’m officially calling it my ‘martini shot.’ And while I’m always ready for a cocktail after print Friday, it’s not what you might be thinking. In film terminology, a ‘martini shot’ is the final camera setup of the day on set. When that shot is called, crews know it’s time to start organizing and packing their gear — and almost time for happy hour. Might I suggest popcorn dinner, as a pairing?

EDITOR'S LETTER

BY LEAH STACY LEAH@ROCCITYMAG.COM

here’s perhaps no better feeling on a cold Rochester night than finding a seat in a dark theater, ripping open a bag of peanut M&Ms and pouring it into a bag of movie theater popcorn (preferably the kind with real butter from The Little Theatre). I call it popcorn dinner, because to me it’s a balanced meal. As the trailers begin to roll on the film, I settle deeper into my oversized sweater and reach for my mint tea. This is a happy place. This exact scene played out when I saw a sold-out screening of “The End of the Line: Rochester's Subway” at The Little last February. The original documentary was produced by Animatus Studio in 1994, and they added footage in the last few years to bring the runtime to 90 minutes. It’s a charming snapshot of what our city once had, and a conversation starter about how transportation could (and should) change in the future. A few months later, in June, the City of Rochester released “City Mark: A Rochester Icon” about the 50-year history of our eponymous flower logo. (Katie Epner, who works here at WXXI, was part of the crew.) The doc is still screening around Rochester this month; it will play at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16 in the MAGIC Spell Studio Wegmans Theater as part of RIT's Brick City Weekend. It’s no secret that Rochester has a filmmaking scene, especially when it comes to documentaries. When the team was brainstorming themes for the 2025-26, Ryan suggested ‘film’ or ‘film festival,’ and it gave us all a brief pause. Rochester has no shortage of festivals, as we know, but an entire issue about film felt ambitious. Is there enough happening here, or are we living in the shadow of what was? Several months later, I can confidently report there is so much that has happened, is happening

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See you at the movies, L

PHOTO BY LEAH STACY

P.S. ROC Cinema on South Clinton Avenue — a longtime gem in our local film community — is back on the market. I’m begging someone to buy it and create another film lovers’ destination.

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The future of film in the 585 Q&A

BY LEAH STACY LEAH@ROCCITYMAG.COM

e asked a handful of Rochesterians active in the film community here and beyond to tell us why the Image City is the place they’ve chosen to create work — and how Rochester’s role in filmmaking can continue to grow.

MARILYN ROSCHE PRESIDENT OF ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Rochester has the potential to become an increasingly important media production and filmmaking community. With talented people coming through programs at Rochester Institute of Technology and other local institutions, an important part of our future is to proactively find ways to keep that talent here and give them opportunities to build careers in our community by also attracting and supporting film production from outside the region. The Rochester International Film Festival plays an important role in that effort by supporting filmmakers, providing a place to showcase their work and connecting creators with audiences and one another. One of the longest running short film festivals in the world, each spring RIFF hosts over two dozen filmmakers from around the world for our three-day festival. While in Rochester they tour Kodak, visit the George Eastman Museum, learn about what our area has to offer in terms of 6 CITY

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PHOTO PROVIDED

film-related infrastructure and network with each other and local creators. They consistently comment that our enthusiastic audience members and volunteers are warm, appreciative and deeply rooted in cinema. At the same time, Rochester is developing new infrastructure to support local talent and bring more film production to our area. Not far from the impressive MAGIC Spell Studios at RIT, FLX Studios is a new facility that provides professional studio space, production services, equipment and resources for filmmakers, photographers, agencies, and content creators. These pieces work together. We need to develop the talent, support the filmmakers and provide the facilities and resources that allow people to actually create here. Rochester already has a strong creative and technical foundation. The opportunity now is to build on it, to proactively develop and promote a community that attracts artists from out of the area who will appreciate the unique advantages Rochester offers — a community where people who are trained here can stay here, create here and build sustainable careers in film and television. RIFF is one of the longest continuously running short film fests. It was started in 1959 by a group of Kodak engineers who were working with film for home movie cameras. The next festival is April 29-May 1, 2027.

DEVON HIGBY AND AMANDA KEARNEY

PRODUCTION ALLIANCE OF GREATER ROCHESTER

When people think about Rochester and filmmaking, they often start with our history, and for good reason. This is the home of Eastman Kodak, the birthplace of motion picture film and a city that earned the nickname “Image City” through its impact on photography and visual storytelling. What’s exciting is that Rochester’s future in filmmaking is every bit as compelling as its past. The truth is, we’re already doing

the work. Across Rochester and the Finger Lakes, talented filmmakers, producers, crews, editors, animators, photographers and creative agencies are creating award-winning content every day. We have the talent, locations, educational institutions and production infrastructure to support projects at every scale. Our greatest opportunity now is visibility. That’s why the Production Alliance of Greater Rochester (PAGR) was formed: to champion our industry and position Rochester as a worldclass production destination. With Monroe County, the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce and regional partners, we’re advancing advocacy, marketing and financial incentives to draw even more work to our region. Rochester’s role is not simply to celebrate its legacy, but to help define what’s next: a competitive, innovative, and collaborative production market. The talent is here. The infrastructure is here. The community is engaged. And we’re just getting started. —DH

engineers to develop new technical trends driving the industry. Our mission as the Production Alliance of Greater Rochester is to continue this forward momentum of growing infrastructure in the region so we can retain this incredible talent here in Rochester. However, the beauty of training the filmmakers of the future is that Rochester’s roots are already all over Hollywood and NYC. Rochester is a renowned hub for media and content education. We truly are the past, present and future of film production. —AK The Production Alliance of Greater Rochester (PAGR) is a regional resource network for video, film and media production professionals. PAGR is focused on practical ways Rochester can grow its production ecosystem through grants, marketing, film office coordination and business collaborations.

ilm is part of the DNA of our city and continues to be celebrated within our creative communities and production talent. Amazing work is being created everyday within Rochester and the Finger Lakes, and we take pride in making that great work happen here. But Rochester is more than the birthplace of film — we are also shaping the future of cinema because we are actively training the next generation of filmmakers and motion picture engineers. RIT’s top ranked film program and facilities rival anything you may find on the west coast. Facilities such as RIT MAGIC Spell Studios, FLX Studios, and our equipment rental houses are providing infrastructure to attract large scale productions to the region, which opens doors for students to get real world work on professional sets. These students are tomorrow’s workforce. They’re the brilliant minds whose names you will see in the credits, from production assistants to directors and editors. They are the ones learning from former Kodak

LINDA MORONE

MULTI-EMMY AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER, PROGRAMMER AND LECTURER IN ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY’S SCHOOL OF FILM AND ANIMATION.

This is a place that is really exciting right now — a place where you can live affordably and still be creative. And there's all the stuff bubbling up between Magic Spell Studios and FLX Studios. Then you have Powerhouse 27. You can zip down to New York. You can zip to other places. We have urban, we have rural, we have we have seasons. Think about it — for a city of this size, we have 70mm. I got CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

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to see “The Odyssey” this summer on 70mm and that was awesome. I definitely saw lots of things at The Little this summer. Went to the Dryden — they do amazing introductions and set the stage for what you're about to see. And there is a strong educated film audience in this town that is demanding, which they should be, which is wonderful, and so (we) want to live up to that. Speaking as a programmer, I'm thinking about things I've booked for October, and I'm looking at films for November at this point, and I think about what is going to speak to the community here that might be of interest. It's a great movie-going town. What's really great (about Rochester) is you can have this amazing quality of life and still make art and create and constantly dive into the stories that are here — which are phenomenal, right? I'm definitely a case in point (for) diving into history and how to make sense of it, or having a conversation (around) where we are in the world today. Yeah, that's kind of exciting to me. Since 2012, Moroney has presented the monthly One Take Documentary Series, which screens doc shorts from

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around the world at The Little Theatre. She also founded the Rochester Documentary Filmmakers Group, co-founded the Rochester Teen Film Festival, and established the Election Day Grant for Rochester-based filmmakers. She produced and directed “WOMEN AND THE VOTE,” shot on Election Day 2020 across New York State, which has been broadcast on 96% of all public media stations and is currently available on PBS Passport.

AARON GORDON

FOUNDER OF OPTIC SKY PRODUCTIONS

I've been lucky enough to get involved at the federal level recently with the Coalition for American Production — CAP for short — an opportunity that came through a group of folks at Production Initiatives Association (PIA), essentially, it’s the organization that (lobbies) New York at the state level for film incentives. What’s really cool is there's another group that just formed in Rochester called PAGR, and they basically started doing these roundtables asking, ‘how can we make people want to become masters of the craft again? What are the tangible things local government can help with — whether that's logistical grant marketing, collaborating with the film office or collaborating with local businesses? They're bringing to light something filmmakers keep forgetting: that Rochester, being outside of New York City, has state and federal perks. You actually get more money by not being in New York City. Maybe I'm too involved in thinking about economic impact recently, but I think Georgia is the perfect example. What built Atlanta up was one studio taking a risk on moving out of Los Angeles. Marvel signed a contract with them.

DC Comics followed suit later on. There's no reason Rochester is not even more perfectly positioned to be that exact same role. We're even more perfectly positioned now, because of all that movement. Georgia got more expensive, so Atlanta got more expensive. And Rochester, being the bubble that it is, tends not to shoot up, but it doesn't shoot down, and so we're still one of the most affordable housing markets in the country. You have a lot of film crews trying to get back into it, but they want a quality of life that they can't have in the big cities because it's not sustainable. The number one problem here is infrastructure, and the only way to build infrastructure is to have enough slates to support staff being there, and not have enough slates that are paying for the need for facilities, rental gear, all that stuff. And so it's kind of like a chicken and the egg situation. What's crazy is that we sit between Syracuse and Buffalo, two cities that have built up pretty incredible (filmmaking) infrastructure for how small they are. Rochester has stayed very stagnant, and so PAGR came in, and they are focused on Rochester becoming the hub that it should be. By building people infrastructure, we will build real infrastructure — and what typically happens after that, once people see the dollars being spent by major studios and awesome TV shows and commercials, is someone smart says, “Let me just develop all this land into some new thing.” And then it either becomes an Amazon warehouse later, or it stays a studio lot. But people will use it. And we've sat on that for 10 years and done nothing. That's what changes the game. Gordon graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in film and animation in 2013 and founded Optic Sky Productions, a Rochester-based advertising and digital production company. He is also COO and co-founder of Synapse Virtual Production, which builds endto-end VP services for creatives, and co-founder of Workshop, a software company for scriptwriting and creative development.

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Widening the aperture NEWS

BY GINO FANELLI GFANELLI@WXXI.ORG

taffers at the George Eastman Museum are seeking to unionize under Workers United. Once home to the Eastman Kodak Co. founder, the local institution is the latest in a string of museums nationally to see an organizing push. They point to unclear job roles, high turnover rates, poor wages, and a lack of transparency in decision-making by museum leadership as major factors. The George Eastman Museum employs about 80 non-management employees, according to the organizing workers. The museum opened in 1949 and today is the oldest museum in the world dedicated to photography, housing a film archive of about 28,000 reels. Since 2012, the museum has been led by director Bruce Barnes. “We had seen a lot of people come in with the light in their eyes, this becoming their dream job that they’ve been looking forward to their whole life, and then something might have happened for them, and they did everything they could to change that or improve the situation, CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

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PHOTO BY OLLIE BUTLER

George Eastman Museum staffers move to unionize.

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only to find that they couldn’t,” said Damien Spader, a technology collection manager who’s worked at the museum for about five years. The museum’s management has declined to voluntarily recognize the union, so staffers will vote on the matter on October 2. Earlier this month, workers said, they were called into a meeting held by Government Resources Consultants of America. That firm, according to filings to the U.S. Department of Labor, are generally hired to collect information on labor organizing activities, or to persuade staff against organizing. Labor organizations, like the Economic Policy Institute, refer to Government Resources Consultants of America, and organizations like it, as union-busters. The firm’s largest client is Amazon, which has paid the firm $12.4 million since 2020, according to Department of Labor records. “It was an informational meeting to talk about what the process of unionizing is,” Spader said. “Though many of the talking points were divisive and certainly not appropriate in what we do at the museum.” Barnes declined an interview with WXXI News. He provided a written statement in response to questions surrounding the union drive. He said the consulting firm was hired to ensure workers had access to "accurate information on which to base their votes." He also stated that upon receiving notice of the intent to unionize in late August, about 20 employees intending to unionize were in supervisory roles that preclude them from unionizing. Private museum unions have become increasingly popular in recent years. For example, a report from Museums Moving Forward found that 65% of unionized workers at private, non-profit arts museums had organized after 2019. Surveys from the organization found that unionized workers generally saw the union as a positive benefit for their job, and made about 20% more than non-unionized workers in comparable positions. In 2025, workers at the Strong National Museum of Play had pushed to unionize under CSEA, but that vote ultimately failed. While no single event precipitated the George Eastman Museum workers unionizing, 12 CITY OCTOBER 2026

From left, Katy Matthews, Elizabeth Carr, Vivian Rivers, and Damien Spader say their jobs at the George Eastman Museum have been hurt by poor communication and unclear roles. PHOTOS BY GINO FANELLI

unionizing workers say the lack of transparency was evident in a sudden shift earlier this year to a paid photo policy on the museum’s grounds. The grounds had been free and open to the public, making it a popular prom photoshoot spot. But a new museum policy announced in June created a $400 reservation fee for photo sessions. The unionizing workers said they were given no information about the policy change before it was implemented.

“It feels like if management is going to make decisions that affect the 100 people that work there, the 100 people that work there should at least know what the decisions are before they’re made,” said Vivian Rivers, the museum’s community and volunteer liaison. “And if anything, should have a voice in what those decisions are.” In the statement, Barnes said parts of the "property were overwhelmed and being damaged by the several hundred people who

were there in connection with prom photos." He said while the policy is still being discussed, the union would have no role in determining external policy matters in the future. Will Westlake is a union organizer working with the museum workers. He’s best known for leading the Buffalo Starbucks union drive in the early 2020s. “The George Eastman Museum is blessed to have one of the most talented groups of workers of any in the state,” Westlake said. “The workers at the museum are passionate about what they do, believe in the community of Rochester, and ultimately want to make the museum the best place it can be, both to work and to visit.” Gino Fanelli is an investigative reporter who also covers City Hall. He joined the staff in 2019 by way of the Rochester Business Journal, and formerly served as a watchdog reporter for Gannett in Maryland and a stringer for the Associated Press.

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Spotlight on Western New York

"Abilene" star Rose Reid. PHOTO BY ABILENE PRODUCTION GROUP

BY JINELLE VAIANA

wenty years ago, Nick DiBella walked into Schutt’s Apple Mill in Webster and immediately had an epiphany. He compared the feeling to being struck by lightning. “Suddenly, I could see a television show in that place,” said DiBella, local filmmaker and co-founder of Faith Street Films. “I could see young people working on the farm, in the store and in the press room. I could see relationships and conflicts and generations of a family whose lives were all connected to this one place. I saw it before I had any idea what the story was.” The idea sat with him for years, reawakening whenever he’d visit the cider mill. He didn’t explore it further until a few years ago. DiBella graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School in Greece and later went to work at Kodak as an optical technician. He began borrowing cameras from the camera club at Kodak and making short films, recruiting family as actors and coworkers as crew. One of those short films ended up on Showtime as a filler between movies, which gave him the confidence to continue. After taking a buyout from Kodak, DiBella was free to CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

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Faith Street Films shot the first season of a TV show in recognizable local haunts.

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Andrew Ferguson, Nick DiBella, Rose Reid standing at the Silver Lake Drive In in Perry, NY. PHOTO BY ABILENE PRODUCTION GROUP

pursue his passion for writing and making movies. In the following years, he sold and optioned several screenplays to studios, including Warner Bros. Eventually, though, the business of selling and optioning scripts began to disillusion the local filmmaker. Studios only end up making a fraction of the projects they have in development, and once a writer sells a script, they lose control of it. “At some point, I realized that instead of always trying to write the movie that I hoped somebody else would make, maybe I should ... figure out how to make (them),” he said. “That was really the genesis of Faith Street Films. I simply wanted to take more responsibility for the destiny of the stories I was writing.” DiBella started Faith Street Films in 2010 with his producing partner, Jim Pavone. The company produces inspirational, family friendly content, often about characters who have been knocked down and 16 CITY OCTOBER 2026

are trying to get back on their feet. To date, they have released three films and recently wrapped up postproduction on a TV series. After 20 years of sitting with the idea for a series set in a cider mill, DiBella finally wrote the script, cast the actors, and shot the first season of “Abilene.” The story follows a musician named Abilene, known as Abby, who finds herself stranded in the fictional small town of Fair Haven, Ohio. She accepts work at a family owned cider mill while trying to put her troubled past behind her. The series was shot entirely in the Rochester area, which DiBella still calls home. His first stop when scouting locations was, of course, a familiar cider mill in Webster. Evan Schutt, fourth-generation owner/operator of Schutt’s Apple Mill, welcomed Faith Street Films onto the farm and into the store to shoot. The crew shot at a variety of other local destinations as well: Iron Smoke Distillery in Fairport, Stokoe Farms in Scottsville and the

Michael Pavone, Emma Jessop (both from Rochester), Andrew Ferguson and Brooke Maroon. PHOTO BY BROOKE MAROON

Charcoal Corral and Silver Lake Twin Drive-In in Perry, to name a few. While putting the cast together for “Abilene,” the hardest role to fill was that of lead character Abby. She’s a complicated woman — someone with a past she’s running from and someone who finds herself in a new town, surrounded by strangers. She’s also a singer and a musician. Rose Reid was originally slated to play another role in the series. She’d already insisted she was not a singer and not interested in the role of Abby. But after production had such a hard time filling the role, DiBella came back to her, asking if she’d reconsider. He said he learned long ago that if you can find a truly great actor like Reid, you can usually figure out the rest. She accepted. “The music aspect was terrifying,” Reid said. “Singing, in particular, was a new challenge and ... (it) made me feel a little queasy some days. But that’s also part of what made me want to launch into it. (Abby) was going to be such a challenge.” The series also stars seasoned actors like Elizabeth Mitchell of ABC’s “Lost”; Eric Close of TV’s “Nashville” and “Without a Trace,” Johnathon Schaech of “That Thing You Do!,” and more. A handful of local and homegrown actors appear, too, including Michael Pavone, Emma Jessop and Nicolette Hart. “Abilene” will premiere in early 2027 on Great American Pure Flix, Great American Family, and GFam+. Bill Abbott, president and CEO of Great American Media,

said DiBella and Faith Street Films bring “an extraordinary combination of creative vision, talent and work ethic” to the partnership. “There is real depth to the storytelling (in “Abilene”), and the characters have relationships and challenges that feel authentic,” he added. “From the beginning, it felt like a world our audience would want to return to week after week.” And that world that was all shot locally — which was an incredibly important decision for DiBella. “I grew up here. I started making little movies here,” he said. “So there’s something pretty remarkable about, all these years later, being able to bring a production of this size home and ... there’s a certain pride that comes with that.” Shooting in Rochester lent some authenticity to the project, which was set in a small town. And instead of having to manufacture the world of Abilene — the lake, cider mill, old homes, country roads — so much of it was sitting right here in Western New York. “We hired people here, we spent money here, we built our fictional town out of real communities throughout this region,” said DiBella. “And for several months, there was a six-episode television series being made in my hometown. That’s pretty cool.” faithstreetfilms.com Jinelle Vaiana is a freelance writer and proofreader and a self-proclaimed “word nerd.” When she’s not obsessing over commas, she enjoys live music, gardening and perfecting her popcorn game. roccitymag.com CITY 17

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A VHS resurgence that’s part nostalgia trip, part anti-digital consumerist revolution.

Hitting rewind ANALOG

BY KELLEN BECK

onnie Del Plato has an entire wall of VHS tapes in her apartment, sorted and stacked from floor-to-ceiling in a kaleidoscope of cardboard sleeves. She’s lost count of exactly how many she’s amassed, but the number has crested 1,000, plus a few bulky CRT TVs. Del Plato’s collection started three years ago with two curios: “Jurassic Park” and “A Clockwork Orange.” When the illustrator moved to Rochester from New York City, she found herself with an empty spare room and thought it might be nice to fill the room with tapes. Fast-forward three years and Del Plato now describes her penchant for purchasing tapes as a “sickness.” Favorites include a For Your Consideration copy of “Mission: Impossible 3” and the bizarre cult-classic “Nowhere” from filmmaker Gregg Araki. “Mostly everything right now is still in that room,” Del Plato said, “but it’s spread to other areas of my apartment. It’s just growing. It’s like mold, spreading everywhere.” VHS tapes are popping up more and more at secondhand markets, sitting alongside racks of vintage tees and crates of well-loved vinyl records, which themselves have clawed out of their own mass media grave within the last 20 years. In 2024, the movie “Alien: Romulus” received a special edition release on VHS, and in the last year, film distributor Lionsgate FIlms re-released a handful of older movies on VHS, including “American Psycho,” “Kill Bill:

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Volume 1” and “Leprechaun.” On October 4, the Little Theatre is hosting a screening of “Troll 2” on VHS, plucked from Del Plato’s stash. This resurgence of outdated tech is part nostalgia trip, part anti-digital consumerist revolution. The ability to hold something, to collect it, display it and consume it whenever you want — that has intrinsic value. While the modern streaming-centric entertainment ecosystem has its conveniences, it’s simultaneously chipping away at the most basic concept of consumerism: ownership. Scott Pukos, director of communications at the Little Theatre, keeps a collection of physical movies in disc form. Some of his favorites include Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy (“Sunrise,” “Sunset” and “Midnight”), 2013’s “Coherence,” and an hour-long PBS special titled “Lords of the Gourd” about people who grow giant pumpkins. His dad is featured on the cover. “Any movie that is very near and dear to me, I want to own it, I want that in my collection,” Pukos said. “With streaming, a movie could be gone at any time. Even if you buy something, you don’t actually own it.” In the murky seas of digital distribution rights, the film and TV industry is batted about by the ever-changing currents of mergers, acquisitions and million-dollar deals between studios, streaming companies and media empires. Consumers are left to sift through the flotsam, never knowing when favorite films could be swept away, never knowing when or where or if it might wash up on our shores again. “People just want some autonomy back, right?” Del Plato said. “Because, sure, you throw 20 bucks to Bezos and he says, ‘You now own the movie.’ But you don’t. It can disappear at any time. I think people being able to hold a physical thing that they can put in a DVD player, Blu-ray, whatever, is meaningful, especially if they spend money on it. Because then they have something tangible.” As Del Plato’s collection swells, it’s evolving from its roots as an aesthetic display into something approaching the definition of a museum. These tapes, after all, are works of art — both the colorful covers and the actual movies and shows recorded on reels of tape within. Keeping a

PHOTOS BY ROBERTO F. LAGARES

collection is a means of keeping a cultural record. Del Plato herself doesn’t frequently pull from her VHS collection for viewing, and she doesn’t unwrap any of the tapes that are still sealed. But a few times a year she’ll host movie nights with friends. Whether they’re busting out some absolute classics or little-known absurdities, “we’ll go through like three tapes a night sometimes, which is really fun,” she said. An eclectic library of physical media lives at the Visual Studies Workshop in downtown Rochester, ranging from 35mm film reels of rare and classic movies to early VHS predecessors, some of which contain Rochester’s earliest public access TV shows and videos captured by citizen journalists in the ‘70s. Nilson Carroll, curator and preservation specialist at VSW, noted that the expected shelf life of most analog tapes is about 30 years, but their lifespans can stretch much longer, especially when treated properly. “There is something extremely reliable about these tapes,” Carroll said, standing amidst shelves and shelves of tapes and reels in a climatecontrolled room. “Even the oldest ones, the ones from the ‘70s, you can still play them and they’re perfect. It really speaks to the reliability of analog media.” VSW’s executive director Jessica

Johnston insists that physical media is more reliable for storage than solid, digital hard drives. After they digitize old tapes at VSW, the final step in the preservation process is to back them up on magnetic LTO tape. For home collectors, Carroll’s recommendation for safe storage is to avoid basements and attics. “What your tapes want is how your living room is,” he said. There’s something about the effort of physical media that makes it more valuable, too. When it requires a bit of physical labor beyond clicks or button presses, the art itself demands greater focus and attention. Mary Lewandowski, collections manager at VSW and film projectionist, relishes that extra bit of work. “I’m a pretty anti-convenience person in general, really pro-effort,” she said. “I think that’s becoming more popular. I think that’s the revolution. I don’t have to do it fast. I think a lot of people are realizing when you have such easy access to so many things that you can just click whatever, it devalues everything.” Kellen Beck is a Rochester-based writer who has covered science, tech and entertainment since joining Fairport High School’s newspaper “The Lampion” in 2010, among other publications. Email him at kellentbeck@gmail.com. roccitymag.com CITY 19

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The 34th annual ImageOut Film Festival reminds audiences they are not alone.

Shining a light FESTIVAL

BY JUNE “CM” MCCAMBRIDGE

or many, festivals are all about experiencing something new, foreign or unusual. For some, festivals are all about being entertained, letting the doldrums of reality fade away while they look for something beyond their everyday lives. But for the attendees of ImageOut, Rochester’s decades-old LGBTQ+ film festival, it’s all about seeing people like them reflected back on the silver screen. The 34th annual LGBTQ+ film festival runs October 8-18 and promises to showcase a collection of stories from a full spectrum of gender identity and sexual orientation. Since it was founded in 1993 — then called The Rochester Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival — ImageOut has been far from simply another film festival, but has grown over the decades into an organization that supports other queer groups and events throughout Rochester. At a time when there are continual attacks on the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans, ImageOut shows attendees they are not alone. “It’s been doubly important to be present and together. We’re building community and making our voices heard,” said ImageOut managing director Braden Reese. “Especially during the times we’re living through, it’s important to be visible and tell our stories.” ImageOut also publishes a literary journal, ImageOutWrite, which will return this year for the first time since 2020. The 10th

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edition provides a home for the works of LGBTQ+ writers and those based in LGBTQ+ culture. The festival lineup includes everything from a documentary on figure skater and nude model photographer Roy Blakey to a film about a first date gone horribly wrong — there’s no shortage of stories for and about the local queer community. For some directors, ImageOut is an opportunity to share pieces of LGBTQ+ history with a new generation. Such is the case for Jeffrey Schwarz, director of “Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders.” “I’m trying to engage people with our history, particularly young folks who may not be aware of the incredible stories from our past,” Schwarz said. “The world ‘Cruising’ depicts is a vanished world, that world from the '70s is gone for various reasons. Hopefully this is a springboard to see more documentaries about our history.” Peter Bisuito, a Rochester native and filmmaker now based in Fort Lauderdale who will screen his award-winning, 25-minute short film, “I Remember,” said while the films are often reflections of the people who made them, they are not solely designed for a queer audience — straight attendees will also relate to the films they see at the festival. “(My film) didn’t have to be about two gay men, it could have been about anybody,” Bisuito said. “The story is kind of universal, it could happen to anybody. Me being gay, I decided to have two gay characters.” Bisuito’s film became even more personally resonant after creation. The plot centers around a man experiencing memory loss due to a traumatic event, and “I Remember” was produced two years before Bisuito first was diagnosed with transient global amnesia after the death of his mother. “It kind of made me aware of how people grieve,” he said. “I’ve been told by so many people after watching the film that it resonated with them for weeks. I hope it makes an impact, I hope people remember it for years to come.”

Opening Night Salon - Fall 2025 - hosts Anna Parade and Rachel Wiley. PHOTO PROVIDED

PHOTO PROVIDED

ImageOut also supports the next generation of LGBTQ+ individuals. Through the festival’s Next Generation Series, select films of interest to younger people offer free admission for anyone up to 25 years old. The festival also hosts College Day, held October 17 this year, where college students can attend the first three films of the day at the Dryden Theatre for free. And with only one full-time staff member — the aforementioned managing director Reese — ImageOut is largely powered by the support of community members, especially those who volunteer to help with the festival.

“ImageOut is really special, both personally and professionally,” Reese said. “We’re very lucky to have a lot of people who cherish what we do and appreciate it … We really hope people will continue to show up to see and hear these stories and be with community right now, when the world is a difficult place to live in.” imageout.org June McCambridge is a freelancer for CITY. She can be found around Rochester’s DIY music scene and wherever something queer is happening around town.

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ARTS, MUSIC AND CULTURE EVENTS FOR THE SOCIALLY RESTLESS

DAILY Full calendar of events online at roccitymag.com MONDAY, OCTOBER 5 FILM

“A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night”

The Little Theatre, thelittle.org Director Ana Lily Amirpour’s 2014 feature debut was promoted as “the first Iranian vampire western,” and more than a decade later, that description still excites. It’s the perfect spooky-season entry when you’ve run through your classic slasher offerings and are looking for something explosive, smoldering and a bit romantic. 7 p.m. screening. Ticket info online. PATRICK HOSKEN TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6 THEATER

“BOOP! The Musical”

Auditorium Theatre, rbtl.org “Betty Boop is the moment” is something a cultural critic might’ve said in 1930 upon the character’s introduction (if that particular critic’s vernacular was ahead by a century). What other cartoon icon could support her own musical after 100 years in the public’s imagination? Find out in “BOOP!,” starring Aliya Grace, which runs at RBTL through October 10. 7:30 p.m. $48.30+. PH LITERATURE

“Writing the Words They Erased”

Irondequoit Public Library, irondequoitlibrary.org Wanna read between the lines this Banned Books Week? Irondequoit Public Library gives freedom of expression prime shelf space with “Writing the Words They Erased.” Writers & Books’ Tyler Barton leads a workshop on censorship and reclaiming language, tied to Omar 22 CITY OCTOBER 2026

todo

El Akkad’s tome “One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.” 6-8 p.m. Free. BRENDAN DABKOWSKI MUSIC

Benjamin Tod and Candi Jenkins

Anthology, anthologylive.com Maybe skip the girls trip to Nashville this year and get lost in rural Kentucky instead. Can’t swing it? Dust off the cowgirl boots and head to Anthology, where Benjamin Tod brings a grittier strain of country and Americana with a solidly punk backbone. Think Jason Isbell with more tattoos and a(n even) darker streak. Candi Jenkins opens. Doors at 8 p.m. Tickets: $40.26. BD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7 COMMUNITY

YWCA of Rochester & Monroe County’s Empowering Women Luncheon

Rochester Riverside Convention Center, ywcarochester.org/events She’s got it: twenty-three career Grand Slam titles, four Olympic gold medals, five Wimbledon wins and a name that begs silly journalists to make “goddess on a mountaintop” quips. Venus Williams is the featured guest at the YWCA of Rochester & Monroe County’s 20th Annual Empowering Women Luncheon, the theme of which is “Serving Strength. Building Futures.” The event raises funds for YWCA programs that support local women and families. Luncheon: noon-1:30 p.m. Tickets: $100; VIP, $200. BD

LITERATURE

“David F. Walker: A Conversation about Comics and History”

Writers & Books, writersandbooks.org Graphic novelist David F. Walker’s work has ventured into the realm of the Black Panthers, expanded into a rewriting of “Huck Finn” centering Big Jim and gone full sci-fi for the series “Bitter Root.” He’ll speak about his work with RIT professor Daniel Worden. 6:30 p.m. with a Zoom option available. Free. PH THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8 FESTIVAL

RocHaHa Clown Festival

Multi-use Community Cultural Center (MuCCC), rochaha.com You people have held me back long enough! I’m going to the RocHaHa Clown Festival! This buffoonish nineday bonanza gets especially strange on October 8: Funmi Adejobi’s “FISH” follows a fish trying to become a person at 7 p.m., while at 8:30 p.m., Eric Davis unleashes “Red Bastard,” a very confrontational and prankish clown show. Tickets: $10–$30. BD FILM

“The Village”

Genesee Country Village & Museum, thelittle.org Depending on who you ask, M. Night Shyamalan’s best film is about 9/11 or the Iraq War — or it might have anticipated our tech anxieties by about a decade. (It certainly did #cottagecore long before Taylor Swift.) In any case, Joaquin Phoenix and Bryce Dallas Howard star in a slow-burning romantic drama that was mistakenly marketed as a horror film. The good news is that now, freed from its contextual baggage, it’s just a great watch, especially outdoors in the woods at the GCVM. 7 p.m. $20, or $17 for Little or museum members. PH

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9 HOLIDAY

The Haunted Hayrides of Greater Rochester

3329 Eddy Rd., Williamson, hauntedhayridesrochester.com Heading out to the woods and being spooked silly by costumed maniacs is not my idea of fun. But I am seemingly in the minority! Case in point: this chilling hayride that’s now in its 24th year, also featuring a scary haunted house, food trucks, a beer tent (to fortify your nerves) and more. The experience runs through October 30. Tickets begin at $39, with VIP and other options available. PH MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Mindful Magic Candlelit Consciousness Concert

Memorial Art Gallery, mag.rochester. edu Let there be light, sound… and art. More than 200 candles will transform MAG’s auditorium as Rochester sound artist Harold Taddy interweaves gongs and peaceful soundscapes with guided meditations from spoken-word artist Theo Trombulak. You may have immersed yourself in a sound bath before, but never one like this. 6:307:45 p.m. $25; $20 members. BD SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10 MUSIC

String Theory

Johnny’s Pub, johnnyslivemusic.com The band String Theory, known for its Bluegrass Tuesday residency, will play its final show at Johnny’s Pub. Hear those sweet fiddle sounds one final time at 8 p.m. PH CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

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FESTIVAL

Gateways Music Festival

Eastman School of Music, gatewaysmusicfestival.org Gateways Music Festival returns to Eastman for four days to celebrate Black classical musicians, composers and scholars. The festival opens October 9 with a prelude honoring longtime Eastman viola professor George Taylor, who has devoted 40 years to teaching, mentoring and performing with the Gateways Chamber Players. The concert also launches Gateways’ 2026-27 season. The festival continues through October 12 with jazz, chamber music, scholarship, family programming and performances by artists including Herb Smith, Kersten Stevens, Shana Tucker and Ric’key Pageot. Tickets are $35; find festival details and registration online. BD VISUAL ART

“Saints Preserve Us!”

The Yards Collective, theyardsrochester.com March in to an All Saints Day frame of mind a few weeks early with “Saints Preserve Us!,” an exhibition featuring ex-votos, altars, shrines and other devotional-inspired art at The Yards through October 24. Featuring 23 artists, the show interrogates what curator Rivkah Simcha calls “the sacred and ritualistic within the everyday and the universal.” Highlights include Erica Bryant’s “Night School,” featuring an old school desk chock-full of dream snippets and a dream-inspired collage, along with sculpture, ceramics, fiber art, photography and mixed media work. Saturday hours are 10 a.m.2 p.m.; other viewings available by appointment. BD SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11 MUSIC

Stéphane Wrembel

Lovin’ Cup, lovincup.com French gypsy jazz guitarist Stéphane Wrembel helps keep the musical spirit of Django Reinhardt alive, nearly 75 years after his death. His latest sojourn to Rochester includes four gigs at Lovin’ Cup from October 8-11. The final one is a “Django Brunch,” featuring musicians Josh Kaye, Ari Folman-Cohen and Nick Anderson, as well as local notables Bob Sneider and Bobby Henrie. Show’s at noon; 26 CITY OCTOBER 2026

tickets $30 in advance and $35 at the door. PH FESTIVAL

Hodinöšyö:nih Continuity Festival

Rochester Museum & Science Center, rmsc.org Maybe you know the word “Hodinöšyö:nih” — more commonly, Haudenosaunee in English — means “people of the longhouse.” RMSC’s two-day Hodinöšyö Continuity Festival moves from language into living culture, with demonstrations by Hodinöšyö artists and handson activities tied to the museum’s “Continuity | Innovation | Resilience” exhibition. Visitors can handle 3D-printed “Grandmother pots,” design pottery and add a beadwork pattern to a community beading project. The festival is 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and is included with museum entry. BD

RETAIL

The Lucky Flea

The Grove (266 E Broad St.), lucky-flea.com Before the leaves turn and we punctuate crisp nights with different degrees of pumpkin spice while wearing our autumn sweaters, let’s sift through the crates one more time during The Lucky Flea’s last run of the season with vintage sellers, new-school makers and old-timey collectors. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. BD MONDAY, OCTOBER 12 CULTURE

Indigenous People’s Day Celebration

Various locations, indigenouspeoplesdayrocny.org If visiting the RMSC wasn’t in your cards over the weekend, today’s your chance to honor those of Indigenous ancestry and their vital and foundational contributions to the area. The celebration begins with a 7 a.m. sunrise ceremony at Cobbs Hill Reservoir, then music, dance, craft demonstrations, vendors and displays from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. back at the RMSC campus. There’s also a parade at noon and a 6 p.m. sunset ceremony on RMSC’s old front steps on East Avenue. The day’s performers include the Seneca Allegany River

Dancers, Oneida Singers & Dancers and Cornbred Blues Band. All day. Free. BD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13

also airs live on WXXI Classical (91.5 FM) with an encore at 10 p.m. Hochstein and the RPO encourage school and community groups to attend. 12:10-12:50 p.m. Free; preregistration encouraged. BD

THEATER

The Vampire Circus

Kodak Center, thevampirecircus.com Rochester’s long had a taste for blood — er, spectacle — in unlikely places. A few Octobers back, one devil-locked ghoul with excellent taste staged a killer horrorpunk show in a vintage auto garage in the shadow of the Genesee Brewery. Now you’re unlikely to find any graverobbers from outer space inside the Kodak Center, but “The Vampire Circus” has its own horror-pulp logic: in 19th-century Bohemia, Count Dracula starts a traveling circus as a cover for turning humanity into an undead vampire army. Naturally, there’s also a “Mad Graveyard Clown,” contortionists and acrobats and full-on gothic mayhem that breaks the fourth wall. Think high culture for Juggalos; come and get down with the clown — if you dare. Tickets start at $41.50. 7:30 p.m. BD FILM

“The Birdcage”

Dryden Theatre, eastman.org/drydentheatre Yes, Robin Williams won his Oscar for “Good Will Hunting.” But he should’ve also won for “The Birdcage.” The 30-year-old comedy is a classic, alternately fabulous and farcical, with Nathan Lane also pulling off a careerbest performance (and that’s saying something). Screens at the Dryden as part of its “ImageOut of the Archive” series. 7:30 p.m. PH WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 MUSIC

Live from Hochstein: Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Hochstein Performance Hall, hochstein.org If music be the food of lunch, play on. The RPO opens the beloved series with assistant conductor Jake Taniguchi on the podium. Maybe a version of “Autumn Leaves” makes the set list? The free lunchtime concert

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15 FAMILY

Spooktacular, Seneca Park Zoo Society

Seneca Park Zoo, senecaparkzoo.org/ spooktacular-2026 Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, SPOOKY! While the zoo’s resident creatures won’t don human costumes for All Hallows, kids are encouraged to dress up as lions, tigers or bears — or what-have-you — for a night of trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, Halloween crafts and games. There will be creepy-crawly animal encounters and even a “graveyard” of animal bones to explore. The Spooktacular runs through Oct. 17, with Friday and Saturday featuring an “act like an animal” contest and story time with Kat the Mermaid. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.; last admission is 7 p.m. Tickets are $15, or $12 for zoo members; ages 3 and younger are free. BD

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16 VISUAL ART

Grand Opening Art Show

Kathy Clem Museo de Arte, kathyclemmuseodearte.com If you’re an artist, you have to have a style. But Kathy Clem never agreed with that. “I decided not to have a style,” the painter told CITY. “I wanted to learn a lot of different things, so the things that I was interested in became a letter of my alphabet.” Those alphabet letters hang on the walls of Clem’s new Museo de Arte, which is also the home of work from artists across the community. The opening of “C is for Community” runs 5-9 p.m. PH CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

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CULTURE

“An Evening with Giancarlo Esposito”

Nazareth University Arts Center, naz. edu/arts-center Turns out Gus Fring has business in Pittsford. Harsh. You might know Giancarlo Esposito from “The Mandalorian” or “The Boys,” or even Spike Lee’s 1989 landmark “Do The Right Thing.” But if you’re of a certain age — or simply drawn to remarkably composed menace in acting — you probably know him as the stone-faced drug kingpin fronting as a Los Pollos Hermanos restaurateur in “Breaking Bad” and its spinoff, “Better Call Saul.” As part of Nazareth University’s Weekend of the Arts, Esposito will discuss his career as a biracial artist working on Broadway and in TV and film. 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Tickets are $45–$80; $10 for students. BD THEATER

“A Good Farmer”

MuCCC, rochestercommunityplayers.org Inspired by a 2006 news story

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detailing immigration raids in Elba, New York, Sharyn Rothstein’s “A Good Farmer” has only gotten more timely in the 20 years since. Rochester Community Players stage the show, directed by Maria Scipione, through October 24, with its premiere at 7:30 p.m. PH SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17 MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Garth Fagan Dance at Fashion Week Rochester

Fedder Building, fashionweekrochester.org Garth Fagan Dance’s troupers take to the runway for a special Fashion Week Rochester performance in which they will perform original choreography by artistic director Norwood “PJ” Pennewell with costumes designed by renowned Rochester fashion designer Nate Johnson. Fashion Week Rochester, now in its 16th year, spotlights local creatives and dancers while raising funds for The Center for Youth and its important work

addressing unhoused youths. Even if fashion isn’t your thing, it’s hard to argue with models moving with poise for a great cause. 7:30 p.m.; tickets from $35. BD ARCHITECTURE

19th Ward Community Association House Tour

Genesee Baptist Church, 19wca.org/events The first 19th Ward Community Association House Tour took place on May 23, 1971, originating from Emmanuel Lutheran Church on Thurston Road. Today, 55 years and 39 tours later, the 40th annual tour will feature beautiful historic homes in the 19th Ward themed “The Lifecycle of a Home,” showcasing how homeowners modify, update and live in their homes — all while honoring what makes the home special. Tickets are $15.55 plus fees. LEAH STACY

COMEDY

UpDating: LIVE

Radio Social, radio-social.com Single and ready to mingle? Partnered up and ready to watch some reality TV IRL? Pull up a seat for “UpDating: LIVE,” a show that puts two real singles onstage for a blindfolded, blind date. Dubbed “the most raw dating show in existence,” this critically acclaimed, first-ofits-kind live dating and comedy show created, hosted and produced by comedians Brandon Berman and Harrison Forman is touring 100+ cities nationwide. Expect 90 minutes of hilarious mayhem, big reveals, unexpected twists, audience interaction, and an after-hours experience unlike anything else in entertainment. Tickets are $40; ages 21+ only. LS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18

MONDAY, OCTOBER 19

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21

FAMILY

FITNESS

MUSIC

New York Museum of Transportation, nymtmuseum.org It’s a beautiful day in the pumpkin patch. Channel your inner Mister Rogers and ride the trolley to the pumpkin patch at the New York Museum of Transportation. Once there, you can decorate a baby pumpkin to take home. Back at the museum, trick-or-treaters can visit Halloween-themed trolley cars. Online reservations are closed, but call the museum at 585-533-1113 for more information and to request tickets. MEGAN MACK

Three Heads Brewing, linktr.ee/wnybrc The Western New York Bike Racing Club organizes this cycling jaunt every Monday at Three Heads on Atlantic Avenue, 6-8 p.m. Get out there before the weather turns. PH

Kodak Center, kodakcenter.com As pianist Scott Bradlee’s troupe of reinterpreters gained millions of views on YouTube for swingin’ covers of ABBA, Kings of Leon and Christina Aguilera, the group rightfully upped its production value. Today, the videos are as elaborately decorated as a “Mad Men” episode — and the live show is still just as mesmerizing. The crew rolls into town for a 7:30 p.m. show. Tickets $50+. PH

Halloween Trolley Express

Monday Night Beer Ride

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 THEATER

“Topdog/Underdog” Geva Theatre, gevatheatre.org “A man named Booth; a man named Lincoln. You might walk in thinking you know how it ends,” CITY’s Katherine Varga wrote in the September issue, “and yet this play grips and surprises like a three-card monte street con.” Suzan Lori-Parks’ Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece runs at Geva through November 20, under the direction of Jeffrey L. Page. PH

Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox

Paul Rodriguez, the once-inescapable bad boy of late ’80s stand-up has also enjoyed an unlikely but well-deserved second act as a character actor, including a genuinely terrific turn as Lady Gaga’s working-class dad with big dreams in the 2018 adaptation of “A Star Is Born.” Expect swagger, smoke and enough old-school Dice to make the venue feel like 1989. Here’s hoping the material is a little less blue these days — and that the older DIce is willing to turn some of that trademark machismo back on himself. 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $156. BD FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23 MUSIC

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22 COMEDY

Andrew Dice Clay

Auditorium Theatre, rbtl.org Dig out your “Dice Rules” leather jacket and brush up on your pottymouthed nursery rhymes: the Diceman cometh back, baby! Along with comedians like Denis Leary and

Jeff Tweedy

RIT Performing Arts Center, rittickets.com Has any artist ever gotten bigger after releasing a triple album? Jeff Tweedy has. In an age of content bloat, the Wilco frontman has bet on himself and his uniquely personal relationship with fans. It helps that 2025’s “Twilight Override” is great, too. He comes to town with opener Case Oats, which also features his son Spencer CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

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on drums. It’s a family affair, which makes the warm and fuzzies even warm and fuzzier. 7:30 p.m. $58+. PH SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24 MUSIC

Neko Case + Destroyer

Water Street Music Hall, waterstreetmusichall.live Neko Case has long been one of indie rock’s great wanderers, and her poetic, poignant memoir, “The Harder I Fight the More I Love You,” proves she can literary-vagabond with the best of them. Here, though, she’s back to music, touring behind 2025’s “Neon Gray Midnight Green.” Her return to the road also conjures some familiar cartography. The connective tissue between the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, Ontario and Rochester runs through her collaborators: The Sadies (R.I.P. Dallas) — who played in Case’s band on and off for years — return to Skylark on October 3 for a final Canadian goodbye, while this show’s opener, Destroyer, reunites her with fellow New Pornographer Dan Bejar. His ever-mutating and oldening Vancouver indie project makes this pairing feel familiar. Nonetheless, with all the history in the room, some of us of a certain age will still be holding out for that teenage feeling. Tickets start at $56. BD THEATER

“Hocus Pocus TasteA-Long Experience”

Kodak Center, kodakcenter.com The Sanderson Sisters are back — this time, on the big screen. Join a screening of the Halloween classic “Hocus Pocus” and “taste along” as the story unfolds. You and your fellow witches and warlocks will enjoy tasty treats from an advent-style candy box that correspond to key moments in the film. Wear a costume, bring your sweet tooth and watch the witches run (in the words of Sarah Sanderson) “amok, amok, amok, amok, amok!” 7 p.m. $50.75. MM

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25 THEATER

“Come From Away”

JCC Hart Theater, jccrochester.org/artsculture/centerstage This Tony Award-winning musical is based on the true story of airline passengers stranded on the island of Newfoundland, following 9/11 attacks. Almost 40 planes were diverted to the small town of Gander’s airport, and the town became an Olympic Village of sorts, filled with global travelers. Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s acclaimed musical is a funny, moving production about thousands of strangers converging, and the townspeople’s generosity and connection. This show opens CenterStage’s 50th season. Tickets: $45; $40 JCC members. BD THEATER

“Men on Boats”

Blackfriars Theatre, blackfriars.org In 1869, 10 explorers set out to chart the course of the Colorado River. In playwright Jaclyn Backhaus’ hands, though, their story becomes a zany satire of the masculine urge to plant flags in things everywhere. Directed by Rachel Solomon, the show is at Blackfriars through November 1. Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. with a salon after the performance. PH MONDAY, OCTOBER 26 COMMUNITY

“Canstuction – Oh the Places You’ll Go!”

The Strong National Museum of Play, museumofplay.org Get thee to a cannery: architects, engineers and students take over the Adams Atrium at the Strong in a competition to design and build giant artistic structures made entirely from full aluminum cans of food. Last year, Canstruction Rochester collected and donated 35,792 cans to local food banks; they hope to break that record this year. After the winners are declared, the concentric creations will be on display for two weeks. All food will be donated to Foodlink at the end of the competition. All day; free with admission. BD

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27 FILM

“Town Crier”

The Little Theatre, thelittle.org In this 19-minute film, director Grace Lee follows Philadelphiabased painter, artist and professor Mark Thomas Gibson. Drawing from the visual language of comic books, Renaissance painting and political cartoons, Gibson digests and documents the daily onslaught of news in his “Town Crier” series, sounding the alarm on the fraying democracy and possibilities for citizen action in the U.S. The film screening will be held in Little 1 and followed by a CITY-moderated talkback featuring crew members from the film and the Rochester artist community. LS

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28

mortality is not to be missed! 6-7 p.m. $25; $20 for members. BD FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30 MUSIC

Grateful Shred

Water Street Music Hall, waterstreetmusichall.live Though its name evokes jam-band odysseys, Grateful Shred has a rootsier, looser and more Americana feel, capturing the colors of “Workingman’s Dead” even as it stretches out into, yes, jammier territory. In short, it’s a trip. Featuring hometown hero Mikaela Davis on vocals. From 8 p.m. ‘til midnight. Tickets from $34.65. PH HOLIDAY

Spirits of the Past: A Walk in the Dark

Image City Photography Gallery, imagecityphotographygallery.com Camera work from Reggie Greene and Gerry Iuppa is the focus of this new exhibition which invites viewers to slow down and take notice. Iuppa’s “Moments of Wonder” centers “being fully present in a remarkable place,” per the gallery’s description, while Greene’s “Night Visions” points the lens toward landscapes after dark. On view through November 1. See it from 12-6 p.m. PH

Genesee Country Village, gcv.org/spirits Tour the historic Genesee Country Village by candlelight over two full weekends in October (16-18; 2325), or the single final installment on Oct. 30. Part history lesson, part spooky, this year’s tour will explore the macabre tales of Edgar Allan Poe — miss this last “Super Spooky” date, and you can see it “nevermore,” quoth the raven. Tours last approximately 75 minutes between 5-9 p.m.; tickets are $31 for members, $35 for general admission. Sunday, Oct. 18 is an ASL and sensory-friendly tour; Friday, Oct. 30 is a “super spooky” tour not recommended for children. LS

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31

ART

MUSIC

PHOTOGRAPHY

“Visions of Wonder”

“Art, Death, and Fashion” DeTOUR

Memorial Art Gallery, mag.rochester.edu Did you know that in Greece, widows traditionally wear dark, black clothing for months — and sometimes up to a full year — to mark the deaths of a husband? Macabre, sure. But macabre’s what we all seem to seek this month. Art helps us make sense of the inexplicable and endings. Enter fashion historian Brandon W. Brooks, who explores the rituals, aesthetics and anxieties surrounding mortality, from mourning dress and memory to the ways that art and fashion help us face what all of our lives are leading up to: death. This singular, spooky-season collision of fashion history, grief and

Lil Baby Upstate Fest Blue Cross Arena, bluecrossarena.com There was a beautiful moment at the beginning of the 2020s when every rapper was a baby. DaBaby, Bhad Bhabie, Yung Baby Tate — the list goes on. And it would be incomplete without Lil Baby, who outlasted them all with four No. 1 albums and scores of club-bumping singles. He comes to town with a mini festival, featuring Fetty Wap, Key Glock, Boosie and KenTheMan. 8 p.m. show, $68+. Happy Babyween. PH

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MUSIC REVIEWS

‘VISIONS OF EXILE’ BY GREAT KLONS In the dream, you’ve crash-landed some kind of flying object into a billowy bed of lilacs somehow blooming out of season in October and, stranger still, unconnected to any trees. It’s dusk. Who knows where you’ve landed. Point is, you’re safe; you’ve survived. You emerge from the nonwreckage and decide to do a little gardening in this beautiful and unfamiliar place and time of life. Does gardening help you reassume control? As you sink your hands into the soil, Jeff Tweedy seems to be singing a song called “Twilight Gardener” in your earbuds. Except it’s not Wilco’s affable frontman and the band behind him has wandered somewhere more surreal; it’s psychedelic, lo-fi, lilting and untethered to the earth. The Tweedyesque voice belongs to Scott H., who records under the moniker Scott Klon and fronts the project Great Klons. Joining him on the newest Great Klons EP, “Visions of Exile,” is a familiar Rochester indie cast that includes Katie Morey (vocals) and Ben Morey (keyboards, organ, synths), Billy Martin (drums), Vivian Rolker (violin) and Courtney Hastings (violin). They make laidback music. “Twilight Gardener” features the line Kids are halfway grown, twilight gardener, which might resonate with any parent or caregiver who’s internalized that old cliche about the days being long but the years flying by. It hit me hard. Seasons pass so quickly. “Recurring Common Dream,” meanwhile, is punctuated by gorgeously disorienting delays and bloops and blips reminiscent of Radiohead’s “OK Computer” — or, heck, even Hüsker Du’s “Dreams Reoccuring” — not because Great Klons sounds like either band, but because all three of them seem to find slivers of beauty in places of alienation. That’s where “Visions of Exile” leaves you: somewhere surreal but unthreatening, hands in the dirt, dusk coming on, trying to tend to whatever’s managed to grow here. — BRENDAN DABKOWSKI

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“GARAGE COUNTRY” BY UNCLE BEN’S REMEDY Western New York-based Americana roots-rock act Uncle Ben’s Remedy writes that its seventh album, “Garage Country,” contains “songs about the people we grew up with, grew together with and grew apart from.” The album taps deep into the current cultural zeitgeist with an authentic honesty through its working-class storytelling. A live Uncle Ben’s Remedy show is a visceral experience akin to a tent revival, sans any religious overtones. Led by indomitable front man Ben Westlund, the group doesn’t rest until it has converted everyone in the vicinity into true believers. “Garage Country” seems to capture that exact energy and spirit. The songs are absolutely undeniable. “Gravestone” has one of my favorite lyrics of all time: There’s never been a gravestone ever been carved that says ‘I wish I would’ve worked a little more.’ The song ends with a tempo shift into a deeply cabaret-style groove which feels like an embellishment designed for playing live to an adoring crowd. “The Going” continues with describing unforeseen life-changing moments throughout the verses, only for the chorus to remind you: Everything can change in a moment / Gotta see what you got is enough / You’ve got to be thankful for the going / Even when the going gets rough. The album narrative delivers incredibly relatable stories while being funny, honest, self-deprecating, sincere and sophisticated — balancing difficult issues like addiction and death with humor and grace. The production and musical performances are superb featuring gorgeous backing vocals and fiddle from newest band member Kate Clark. The overarching theme of the record feels like a plea to bring everyone together to sing one last song as a remedy to all that would keep us divided. You can get your medicine on all streaming platforms October 16, no prescription required. —WREN WERNER

“RIP OUT THE WIRES” BY EVERGOLD Guitarist Shawn Brogan knows his way around catchy guitar riffs, evidenced in music he’s played with the bands Animal Sounds, The Sideways and Brogan’s own solo project Beigee. The Rochester musician’s newest venture is the quartet Evergold, a twist on the male-dominated emo of 25 years ago. The band’s introductory EP “Rip Out the Wires,” released on September 4, is both nostalgic and fresh. Evergold is led by Laura Wolanin, whose tuneful vocals are a stabilizing presence, soaring at times over the frenetic rock music playing underneath — welcome characteristics for fans of her former band Mostly Ghosts. Brogan’s rhythmically dizzying hook that opens “Seasonal Depression” ushers in Wolanin’s self-assured voice as she sings about the pall another person can cast on one’s life. It would be easy to simply label Evergold’s sound as emo, but that would be reductive and misleading. Stylistic nuances include the ecstatic, ‘90s-style guitar solo in the aforementioned song, the post-hardcore sludge of “Metabolize” and the unrelenting forward motion in the full-blown metal of “Holy Ghost.” The title track, which closes the EP, is a different thing entirely. What starts out as a banjo-inflected folk ballad morphs into guitar-crunching pop and back again. If there is a recurring lyrical theme in this foursong set, it’s the cathartic restart to be found in a cleansing fire. Much like the music itself, Wolanin’s words contain a volatility that can erupt at any moment. As an initial offering, it would have been enough if “Rip Out the Wires” merely contained a few inspired moments hinting at the cohesion to come. But the EP reveals a band that’s already polished its sound and found its identity — one that feels easy to pin down at first, but is more mercurial than first meets the ear. —DANIEL J. KUSHNER

“A LONG FORGOTTEN PAST” BY ALEX NAZARETSKI As I listened my way through composer/ guitarist/pianist Alex Nazaretski’s debut album, I was reminded of the old “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. There are several musical paths, and each can lead you in a very different direction. The nice part with this album: there’s really no wrong way to go. At the start, we enter a grove of bright chamber music for strings, piano and percussion in the opening track, “Azure.” Linger here. It’s luminous and refreshing. Follow one path to skittering, hypnotic jazz trios, in the mode of The Bad Plus, in “The Haze” (I & II). Nazaretski plays piano here on his jazz tunes, locking into intriguing grooves with bassist Danica Rebudiao and drummer Jack Kelly. A second path shares some rhythmic elements with those trios, while you also find soaring electric guitar in prog-rock instrumentals of the title track “A Long Forgotten Past” and “Lattice.” Here Nazaretski plays piano and guitar, with Kelly continuing on drums. And yet another path, the third and least assuming, teases us — a series of three dreamy classical guitar solos called “Incantations.” Nazaretski’s distinctive and assured playing highlights each musical line. And if you were to follow the album in the order he created (instead of my idiosyncratic paths), these pieces provide a satisfying set of guideposts as part of the overall musical journey.

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I’m struck by the ways that this music is restlessly seeking, pulling in shared traces from classical music, jazz and even a touch of heavy metal. All of these elements are part of Nazaretski’s musical roots and his eclectic studies at the Eastman School of Music, from where he graduated in 2024. As he continues his studies (at the Yale University School of Music), I’m intrigued to hear which musical paths he continues to show us. — MONA SEGHATOLESLAMI

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A local filmmaker racked up a half million views on his Power Rangers fan flick.

Morphin’ time YOUTUBE

BY PATRICK HOSKEN PATRICK@ROCCITYMAG.COM

ven the cab driver snapped a photo. When Jesse Ferrara and his wife were on a babymoon in Japan, Ferrara, a lifelong fan of Power Rangers — yes, the Mighty Morphin’ kind — saw it as a great opportunity. On a break from exploring the local culture, the couple ventured to a remote quarry. But not just any quarry. This very craggy spot was where scenes from many Japanese action series, including the original 1990s Power Rangers show, had been filmed. They arrived in Tochigi after a two-hour taxi ride, and Ferrara quickly changed clothes. Boom! Tourist-friendly pyrotechnics went off behind him, centering Ferrara as an action star in full Green Ranger regalia. How could the driver not capture that moment? The explosion became the opening shot of “Power Rangers Uprising,” a fan film Ferrara wrote, directed, produced, edited and starred in. His production company, Monkey Train Entertainment, released it on YouTube in July. The hourlong movie was filmed in and around Rochester — apart from the quarry explosion — with a local cast and crew. “That experience in and of itself was cool,” Ferrara said. “But then also, here’s a fan film that actually was shot on location

34 CITY OCTOBER 2026

Filmmaker Jesse Ferrara sourced highly accurate costumes and a local cast and crew for his Power Rangers fan film, which now has a half million views on YouTube. PHOTO PROVIDED

of the original [show]. All that makes it a little bit more special.” Indeed, “Power Rangers Uprising” is the rare fanmade project that looks like a blockbuster. And with a half million views as of this writing, the fan community is taking notice. The costumes ripple with detail. The fight sequences, like the camera work, really move. The opening explosion is real. It’s no small feat for a fan film, even one that raised $1,411 on Kickstarter (with more arriving via private donations). It’s also a testament to the work ethic of Ferrara, a coordinator for Enterprise vehicle fleets who lives in Greece with his family. Before that, though, he studied film. He’d made some movies when he was younger. In 2022, Ferrara noted the deaths of two beloved icons: Jason David Frank, an original Power Rangers actor, and Kevin Conroy, the voice of animated Batman projects for decades. “Whoa, two childhood heroes gone in a week,” Ferrara remembered thinking, “and just kind of that realization of, like, things happen. [Life is] short, right? So don’t wait.” The script, and many ideas, followed. Ferrara found support from folks he met at Power Morphicon, a fan convention, in 2024. The work on “Power Rangers Uprising” began later that year. It’s fortuitous timing, said Alex Sinicropi, who plays Billy in the film. “Right now, there’s no new Power Rangers [series] being produced,” he said. “This is what’s keeping the fandom alive. Here’s a way that we can tell stories about the things that we love and tell them in an interesting way that might not have been done by the people who actually own the intellectual property.” When he saw the casting call, Sinicropi knew he had to pursue the opportunity. After all, he’d studied screenwriting and had chosen his first tattoo to be the Power Rangers lighting bolt symbol. During production, Ferrara took Sinicropi’s suggestions for the character seriously and even incorporated them into the film. Sinicropi ended up with a cowriting credit.

“Billy uses a lot of science speak, and characters are always asking the other characters to translate for him,” Sinicropi said. “I did a little bit of work to make them sound a little bit more like the old Billy.” That attention to detail shines through brightest in the iconic costumes, which pop with color and texture in every frame. Spirit Halloween costumes they are decidedly not. Ferrara sourced them, along with several 3D-printed helmets, from noted international cosplay replicators. As such, costumes made up a large portion of the production budget. And speaking of money, how does Ferrara not get sued? American toy giant Hasbro currently owns the Power Rangers franchise, and Disney recently had plans for a reboot (it was ultimately shelved). Ferrara has a simple answer. “The big piece here is that there’s no monetization. All the funds go directly toward the movie,” he said. “It might be obvious that this is my passion, but it’s a passion of all the actors and of all the cast members who are doing it because they want to. We’re not getting paid to do this.” In its YouTube description, “Power Rangers Uprising” is labeled “a non-profit fan film made by fans for fans.” One of those fans is the film’s main star, Sam Evans, who plays Jason. He’s the Red Ranger, the former leader of the team, now conflicted about returning to fight years after a devastating loss. While not as big of a Power

Rangers authority as Ferrara or Sinicropi, Evans watched the series as a child in the ‘90s. During production, Evans — an athletic boxer with some stage acting experience — focused more on getting Jason’s inner turmoil just right. That included how he displayed it physically via the battle choreography. “Whenever I’d be in a fight scene, I’d go, ‘Listen, I’m a big guy, and I did cardio boxing and sparring. I promise you’re not gonna hurt me,’” he said. “‘Just try to make it look good, and if you accidentally hit me, just keep going.’” Naturally, he did take a stray punch. It’s hard to almost hit someone realistically while wearing a helmet that obstructs 80% of your view, he said. But the moment made for a great take. Evans also found a terrifying vocal register “that sounded like there was blood in my lungs” during a pivotal scene. He said he takes pride in that performance. He’s also looking forward to doing more. Work has already begun on the “Power Rangers Uprising” sequel, with a script ready and another Kickstarter launched. Evans is back at the gym. Ferrara said the plans include new characters — and thus, new costumes — and a more ambitious budget. He’ll continue to raise awareness of the film, including a screening and Q&A in February at the Phelps Arts Center and at fan conventions. Sinicropi, meanwhile, will do whatever it takes to keep going. “I’d make [the sequel] if the props were made out of cardboard and the helmets were made out of plastic,” he said. “I’m having a blast doing it.” youtube.com/@ MonkeyTrainEntertainment Patrick Hosken is CITY’s arts and culture reporter. He was formerly the music editor at MTV News and a producer at Buffalo Toronto Public Media.

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Meet four Rochester natives who dance onstage and onscreen.

Moving pictures BEYOND 585

BY SYDNEY BURROWS

asmine Harper has danced with the stars. From Jennifer Lopez and Ciara to Usher and Ne-Yo, Harper has shared the stage with prominent artists, but her “I made it” moment came when she was asked to tour with Beyoncé. “She’s amazing — the ultimate professional,” said Harper, a Henrietta native. “Seeing her give 125% every night drove us, not only when we were onstage, but in every other area of our lives.” Harper’s touring experience was complemented by music videos, including Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” and “Formation.” Years before dancing next to Beyoncé, Harper took classes at Little Red Dance Studio in Spencerport, often spending six hours a day there after school. That dedication led to her becoming a finalist on season 10 of “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2013, an experience she considers one of her favorites. “We were just dancers who loved to dance, and it was our first time imprinting what we do on the world,” she said. “I danced for audiences before, but cameras pick up every little thing.” Another “So You Think You Can Dance” alum, Webster’s Teddy Coffey, discovered a love for the camera while working in Los Angeles. With music video credits including Justin Timberlake and Meghan Trainor, Coffey knows how to establish a presence, even when filming on an empty set. Jasmine Harper picks Nicholas “Slick” Stewart’s hair in a still frame from the Carters’s music video for “Apeshit.” PHOTO PROVIDED CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

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In 2024, his phone blew up with messages after he was featured dancing alongside Ryan Gosling at the Oscars in the number “I’m Just Ken.” “I felt all the love from that performance,” he said. “That moment was really pivotal for me.” Another highlight for Coffey was the FIFA World Cup halftime show with BTS, but his first love remains live performance. He dances regularly with Christina Aguilera and has performed with Sabrina Carpenter, Coldplay and the Backstreet Boys. The energy of an audience makes each show on tour a different experience. Like Harper, Coffey grew up studying at a competition dance studio, taking classes with his aunt, Cindy Post. Though he trained in contemporary and jazz, his heart was in hip-hop and tap. “I was lucky to have her as my role model and reference,” he said. “I wasn’t the most flexible dancer, but I always had a grasp on musicality. Cindy loves a groove and a pocket, Webster native Teddy Coffey with Christina Aguilera. PHOTO BY ERIK KABIK

38 CITY OCTOBER 2026

and so do I.” Former Draper Center for Dance Education students Sarah Lane and Aesha Ash also have deep roots in Rochester. Though they have worked in film — Lane was Natalie Portman’s dance double in “Black Swan,” while Ash danced as Zoe Saldaña’s double in “Center Stage” — both prefer live performance. “It’s a gift that can’t be copied and pasted and stamped,” said Lane. “There are emotional and spiritual components to live dance that can’t be caught on camera.” Lane spent 18 years with American Ballet Theatre, the last three as a principal dancer. She credits the late Tim Draper and current artistic director Jamey Leverett with giving her the foundational training necessary for a career in ballet. “We moved from Memphis when I was 12, and I couldn’t believe there was a school like that in Rochester,” she said. “Tim and Jamey were so regimented about technique, and

enforced an overarching idea of artistry being more important than anything.” Lane continues connecting dance with her community through Dance for Paws, a nonprofit that uses dance to raise funds for local animal organizations. For Ash, Draper was her introduction to the ballet world — a world that seemed determined to keep her out. Though she was warned that, as a woman of color, her journey as a professional ballet dancer would be challenging, Ash took the challenge head-on. She danced with New York City Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet and Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company before becoming the School of American Ballet’s first full-time female Black faculty member in 2020. From a young age, Ash felt a desire to inspire others who might face hurdles on their path to following their passion. “I was part of the Urban-Suburban program in Rochester, and I saw this duality between suburban and city life,”

she said. “I wanted to change the way people from the inner city were viewed.” That desire manifested in Ash’s work as an educator and in the Swan Dream Project, which uses imagery and ballet to encourage women of color to pursue their dreams. She hopes to one day expand the project to include something permanent in Rochester, such as a studio or an afterschool program. “I’m using ballet as a vehicle to show the world that individuals from communities like mine are more than just the stereotype we’re portrayed as,” Ash said. “I want to inspire young people. To show that if someone from their community can have a professional ballet career, what else can happen?” Sydney Burrows is a Rochester-based dancer and writer focused on amplifying the stories of talented artists across the region.

Aesha Ash. PHOTO BY PAUL TORREANO

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Meet Case Oats, the band that opens for Jeff Tweedy of Wilco at RIT this month.

Next exit: adulthood MUSIC

BY SABY REYES-KULKARNI

s the saying goes, you can’t go home again. Even if your childhood home is still physically intact, there comes a time when the place you once knew becomes irretrievable. For writer-turned-singer-songwriter Casey Gomez Walker, home is actually a place she returns to often in her prose and her music. The St. Louis exurb of Gomez Walker’s youth casts quite the shadow over “Last Missouri Exit,” her 2025 debut album as the focal point of the band Case Oats. A modernist country-folk outfit she assembled around her songs with her creative and life partner Spencer Tweedy, Case Oats will open for Tweedy’s dad, Wilco bandleader Jeff Tweedy, when he headlines a solo performance at the Rochester Institute of Technology on Friday, Oct. 23. “I see my parents all the time, but I don’t go back to where I grew up,” Gomez Walker said. “I think some places exist for us as just a (moment). It exists there, and you can’t go back. But it exists in my memory.” In the near-decade since Gomez Walker moved to Chicago at age 18 to pursue a writing degree at Columbia College, she’s made the drive many times from Chicago to St. Louis, where her 40 CITY OCTOBER 2026

Casey Gomez Walker. PHOTOS BY BRAEDEN LONG

parents now reside. On each drive back from visiting with them, she passes a sign on Interstate 64 that reads “Last Missouri Exit” — a phrase that, for her, eventually came to symbolize the inexorable passage into adulthood. Fittingly, Gomez Walker’s recollections pervade the songs. Still, several characters from Gomez Walker’s short stories managed to follow her from the page into the music as well. Often, it’s hard to tell who’s who. On album opener “Buick Door,” Case Oats fiddle player Scott Daniel sets a mournful tone as the band drags the cadence so it falls somewhere between a waltz and a dirge. Gomez Walker sings to an unnamed former companion: Your brother was the golden boy and you were your mother’s pup / The safety of her guarding arms kept you from fucking up. In remarkably spare language, Gomez Walker conveys regret, pity, understanding and something approaching but not quite as pointed as resentment. We never learn the name of the character she’s addressing, nor do we learn what became of him. “So much of what’s in the songs is character-based, but it’s also based on things that happened to me,” she said. “I never think of it as this fictional world that I’m stepping into. It feels pretty real.” It may be “real,” to her, but in Gomez-Walker’s hands, time bends and warps, creating a dreamlike sensation as the familiar narrative arc of life folds in on itself. In her recent Substack piece Summer Timeline, for example. Gomez Walker writes: “I watch

my mom and her sisters turn into teenagers … They are 16 again, taking too long in the bathroom, scowling at each other across the room while we play board games … I’ve always operated on yearning and nostalgia.” At times, Gomez Walker and the band evoke a powerful, almost painful sense of yearning for the past. Other times, they opt for a more playful approach. “Bitter Root Lake,” for example, revisits the true story of a plane crash that took place in 1982, claiming the life of Dianne Babcock, who had eloped with her boyfriend Jerry Ambrozuk. The band establishes a jaunty singalong mood early on. It takes half the song before the listener realizes one of the characters has been killed, yet Gomez Walker’s delivery might have one laughing out loud,

even as the music echoes the familiar tropes of a murder ballad. Throughout, deceptively barebones arrangements sometimes support, but often contrast against the words. Tweedy, who arranged the songs and produced the album, sheds light. “Casey and I share the idea that you’re not asking yourself the question, ‘How is this supposed to be?’” he said. “It’s actually kind of dangerous (to approach the process that way), because that sounds like a recipe for making something that already exists.” Gomez Walker, who barely considers herself a musician in the first place, stresses that the album’s tangle of juxtapositions arose intuitively, rather than from any kind of premeditation.

“I think life ought to be more silly and have a tone of like, ‘It’s OK, you can laugh,’” she said. “You can always find something that’s a little bit funny with whatever’s happening around you.” Case Oats performs as Jeff Tweedy’s opening act at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23 at RIT Performing Arts Center. rit.edu/events Saby Reyes-Kulkarni has called Rochester home since 1990 and has been involved in local music for almost three decades. His writing has also appeared in “The Democrat & Chronicle,” “Billboard,” “Paste,” “SPIN,” “Pitchfork” and “Smithsonian Magazine.”

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Lee Chang-dong’s latest film examines labor rights, capitalism — and hope. FILM REVIEW

Possible Love BY HENRY O'BRIEN

“P

ossible Love,” the newest film from South Korean master Lee Chang-dong, is just waiting to detonate. Instead, the plot simmers as a documentary project brings two families on different ends of a violent workers’ strike suppression together. Director Lee’s films always have a slow burn (his most recent feature from 2018 was named “Burning,” after all), building up to a moment of devastation or actualization for his protagonists. With his newest cinematic work, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and played at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, the devastation all comes from the past as the characters struggle to reckon with it in the present and strain to find a bright future. Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong) is a first-time documentarian seeking to document the decline of labor in South Korea, pitching her project to a grant board. But aside from government funding, Ye-ji receives support from her wealthy husband, Sang-woo (Zo In-sung), who spends most of the film’s runtime on his phone, buying and flipping companies for millions of dollars. The novice filmmaker finds Hoseok (Sul Kyung-gu), a former SP Heavy Industries worker, and his wife, Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon). Ye-ji has noble intentions but increasingly starts to view this family as fascinating documentary subjects and nothing more. There’s a shot in “Possible Love” where Mi-ok and Ho-seok’s 10-yearold son Cheol (Jung Seol) sits in a coat closet out of shyness, and the audience is treated to his POV, where the cameraman and camera look like Freddy Krueger haunting this child. 42 CITY OCTOBER 2026

PHOTO PROVIDED BY NETFLIX

But the reason Ye-ji remains insistent is that Mi-ok and Ho-seok have a genuinely harrowing tale, which plays to Lee’s larger interests in how one lives in a capitalist society that views the very idea of labor rights as something that needs to be destroyed. Whereas Mi-ok immediately seems happy to talk to Ye-ji and become friends with her to learn about her wealthy lifestyle, Ho-seok remains shut off and refuses to talk for most of the film. The few flashback sequences all come from Mi-ok’s perspective, except for the last one where Ho-seok is a victim of labor suppression. Both Sul Kyung-gu and Jeon Do-yeon are returning actors for Lee, as the two were the respective stars of 1999’s “Peppermint Candy” and 2007’s “Secret Sunshine.” Jeon’s performance as Mi-ok blends earnest class solidarity and a perverse desire to understand the lives of the rich and powerful. Meanwhile, Sul plays

Ho-seok as a hollowed-out shell. The character internalizes his painful past and has very little trust in anybody following a traumatic experience. The duo’s performances reveal how solidarity and hope can become disconnected in a world that dispels notions of workers’ rights. “Possible Love” now joins an esteemed collection of films that not only was South Korea’s pick for Best International Feature at the Academy Awards, but also specifically focuses on the country’s income inequality. What separates “Possible Love” from Bong Joon-ho’s 2019 Best Picture winner “Parasite” and Park Chan-wook’s 2025 thriller “No Other Choice” is Lee’s writer background. He penned multiple novels a decade before he made his first film, “Green Fish” in 1997. Lee, as a director who is also a writer, always layers his characters with conflicts inside of them that are never easy to parse out.

Whereas “Parasite” and “No Other Choice” feature protagonists that are one-note so their respective directors can use their filmmaking to display larger points, “Possible Love” lets the audience sit with webs of contradictions and feelings, giving the actors an entire canvas to create these characters in whatever way they choose. While much of the film remains dour about long-term labor rights in the country, the moon is a recurring topic, which, to the characters, represents hope. Mi-ok says at one point, “If we try our best, better days will come.” And although Lee never gives an actual reason for hope, “Possible Love” very pointedly considers the possibility. Henry O’Brien is a writer and critic based out of New York City. You can find his work here and in “Film Obssesive.”

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The Dish

FOOD AND BEV NEWS, GOSSIP AND GATHERINGS CURATED BY LEAH STACY

AN ADVICE COLUMN FROM CITY MAGAZINE

Dear Maggie,

y wife and I keep arguing about getting another dog. We have three dogs already, and a cat. On top of that, we have two kids. It isn’t a serious argument — mostly. She jokes, or maybe hints, that she’s just going to bring one home, and I end up getting frustrated. I don’t want another dog for many reasons, including the cost of care and the losing battle that is keeping the house clean. We’re maxed out. But what bothers me the most is that she knows it gets under my skin and yet, still brings it up. Now the kids have started doing it. I feel outnumbered and on edge. Doesn’t my “no” count for anything? Sincerely, In the dog house

Dear dog house tenant, At face value, you’re looking for advice on how to convince your wife to drop the dog thing. But your real issue isn’t the looming possibility of another mouth to feed; it’s the fact that your partner isn’t on the same page about your family’s needs versus wants. And yes, that can be frustrating. The best way to approach a tense topic is to do it on neutral ground. You know the dog issue bothers you, so don’t wait until she brings it up to talk about it, especially if you think she’s using the opportunity to get you a little riled up. Wait until you’re both out to dinner or the kids are in bed to broach the subject. I had an ex who would use misogynistic jokes as a way to get under my skin, and I would rise to the occasion. After one too many digs about me being seen and not heard, I had enough. I said nothing in the moment but brought it up the next day, focusing on the facts — what he said, how it made me feel and what I wanted going forward. I also pointed out the impact on his son, who would often be present: “How would he know you’re joking if that’s how you

talk to me all the time in front of him?” He pulled back on the jokes after that. (We still broke up, but that’s a story for another day.) Your wife might think it’s just a fun inside joke and may not understand the serious impact on you and your relationship with the kids. By creating space between the incident(s) and the conversation, the feelings won’t be at the surface, and you both can be better prepared to listen to each other’s point of view. I would also consider couples therapy. A monthly advice columnist is not the person you want to play referee between you and your better half. You might need the Rochester version of Dr. Orna Guralnik to dig a little deeper here. Many couples see therapy simply as an admission things are broken, but it can also be a great maintenance tool to keep lines of communication open and equip you both to handle changes as they come. And the longer you’re married, the more things will change. xoxo, Maggie

SEND YOUR BURNING QUESTIONS TO MAGGIE@ROCCITYMAG.COM. 44 CITY OCTOBER 2026

WHET YOUR PALATE

Gio’s Prime 26, the steakhouse inside the Inn on Broadway, has completed a dining room decor overall, with velvet booths, moody lighting and a dramatic mural; a new menu will follow. Urban Fresh Café has opened at 39 State St., featuring a breakfast, lunch, pastry and coffee menu. Lot54 Casual Kitchen, a new concept from Chef Brandon Wiggins (founder and former owner of Amazing Grains Bakery) and David Watkins (who formerly managed Hicks and McCarthy) is now open at 1325 Elmwood Ave. The name is a nod to one of the original land parcels established following the Buffalo Creek Treaty of 1788 — for more than two centuries, the name has appeared on maps marking that corner of Brighton. Dice Versa, the gaming-forward hangout in the Neighborhood of Play, has announced it will cease operations at the end of November; get your (board) game on while you can. Mac’s Philly Steaks on North Main St. in Fairport has closed after 17 years; the other local Mac’s locations will remain open. The now-shuttered Fifth Frame space, 5370 St Paul Blvd., will reopen October 14 again as Summerville Grill, a local staple that closed in 2022. Cure in the Public Market is under (partial) new ownership — Chef Dan Martello has stepped away, and Will Cornfield has stepped in, making both Cure and Martine in the South Wedge dual projects of Cornfield and Chuck Cerankosky.

FOR THE LOCAVORES

It’s still peak apple picking (and eating) season, and Wayne County’s 29th annual Apple Tasting Tour takes place throughout the entire month, with a Signature Tasting Weekend October 9-12. From apple tastings and fresh cider to favorite treats like cider donuts and pies, each stop on the tour will provide apple-themed tastings during the weekend. Families welcome, more info at appletastingtour.com. FOOD FÊTES

An authentic 19-century meal awaits on All Hallows’ Eve (otherwise known as Halloween) at Genesee Country Village and Museum in Mumford. The seven-course Hosmer’s Inn Historic Dinner begins with period entertainment and includes pounded cheese, barley soup, beef stewed with carrots, pickled green beans, marble cake with whipped cream and more. Guests can bring a bottle of wine to add to the bill of fare. gcv.org Max Bar & Bistro at Eastman Place will host another Rochester Public Tasting Group on Tuesday, Oct. 20. The event aims to create an opportunity to taste some exclusive wines in a relaxed social space and each ticket includes a curated selection of wine and small bite pairings as well as guided tastings led by local sommeliers. Discounts available for industry members. maxrochesterny.com

Emily Bulmahn

Benton Sillick

A new series about searching for connection by way of chance. by Robin L. Flanigan with photos by Michael DeMaria

love random acts, and I love making connections, so I thought: what would happen if I combine the two? To find out, I craft a plan. In a public place, a stranger chooses a cardinal direction, rolls a dice three times (each roll is a distance in miles) and draws two slips of paper — marked “left,” “right,” or “straight” — from a baggie. I map out a route with the results and chat with someone on the other end about life. Oh, and each person offers a message to the other to bring the venture full circle. For my inaugural excursion, I start my search at Park Avenue’s Cafe Sasso. The first woman I approach quickly agrees to play along. She’s Emily Bulmahn, a 24-year-old pharmacy technician who lives in the neighborhood and comes here often. Five minutes later, I have my directions: Go east six miles, turn right. Drive two miles, then turn right again. Drive another five miles and look to your left. That’s where to find the person to interview. Before leaving, I ask Bulmahn for a message to deliver. “I hope you’re having a good time with someone you’re close with,” she said. In the car, I feel a surge of excitement that the person at the other end of this doesn’t know I’m on my way.

The ride ends at Chase Bank on Monroe Avenue in Brighton. A woman walking to her car is game to talk until she realizes a deep dive isn’t for her and politely declines to continue. The only customer inside said, “I don’t want anyone knowin’ my business.” With the manager on the phone and the teller helping someone in the drive-thru, it’s obvious the destination is a dud. Reason to panic? Not yet. I prepared for this. Before leaving Cafe Sasso, I asked Bulmahn for a number between one and five, in case I ran into an issue and needed to find an alternative spot. She chose the number three. I count three buildings over and enter a nail salon. None of the women working or getting pampered were interested, so I turned to the last bit of information I requested from Bulmahn in case of an emergency — a color. She chose purple, so I continue driving in the same direction until I see the sign — outlined in purple — for Lucky Folk Tattoo. Inside, Benton Sillick, 39, is giving a woman a right-thigh tattoo of a frog eating olives inside a martini glass. Sillick is eager to participate and, with English rock group Little Barrie playing in the background, takes me back to when he was in grad school studying to be a music teacher. He’d played the trumpet since fifth grade and knew the

career would come with job security and set him up for a decent retirement. “It felt like a safe and conventional life,” he said. “And on paper it seemed a noble thing to do, to be a teacher, but it wasn’t in my heart.” So Sillick dropped out, though the decision felt like a mistake at the time and wasn’t without consequences. “It was confusing and scary,” he said, not to mention others had expectations he wouldn’t be fulfilling. “But after it all shook out, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me.” Sillick turned from one art to another — music gave way to food, and he landed a cooking job at a farmto-table restaurant in New York City. He appreciated working with a seasonal menu, with every ingredient sourced from within 300 miles. And he found out he was skilled in the kitchen as well. “There was an element of creativity to it that was exciting, and a little more expressive,” he said. So when Sillick moved back to Rochester, where he’d grown up, he found another job as a cook. Then the pandemic hit, and restaurants shut down. It was time to reconsider things yet again. For inspiration, he thought about how he handled the months after leaving grad school, when he began feeling open to possibility and fairly fearless.

“I realized that no matter what I did, as long as I kept going, I’d be all right,” he said. In the meantime, Sillick, who had dozens of tattoos, kept adding more. (He now has nearly 100.) “Quietly, in the back of my head, I was thinking, ‘This is something I’m really falling in love with.’” He has worked at Lucky Folk for two years, and finally feels he has found his calling. “We only have one life,” he said. “We’ve got to try to make the most of it.” Sillick’s tip for others? “Everyone and everything is connected, so stop thinking about yourself so much.” And his message back to Bulmahn: “You have your whole life ahead of you at 24. It sounds corny, but figure out what you really love and go for it.” Robin L. Flanigan is a national award-winning freelance journalist and author of five books, most recently “Secret Rochester: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure.” She embraces her weirdness, tries her best to be wonderful and works hard to avoid obscurity.

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Answers to this puzzle can be found on page 33

Ghost writing PUZZLE

ACROSS

1. Amo, amas, ___ 5. Strike ___ deal

19. Lens solution brand 20. “Should we?,” informally

22. See eye to eye

23. ★ Tony-winning musical by Parker, Stone and Lopez

28. Peter of 1934’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much” 29. “Family Guy” baby 30. 1945 conference site 31. 1986 rock autobiography

39. “My country, ‘tis of ___ ...”

43. Go by

38. “Crime and Punishment” heroine

33. Physiologist whose namesake exercise is an Army fitness staple 36. One who can’t learn new tricks, they say

26. Jogs 27. Belfry locale

21. Top-of-the-line

10. Bok ___ 14. Thanksgiving Day Parade sponsor

BY S.J. AUSTIN & J. REYNOLDS

46. ★ 1976 KC and the Sunshine Band #1 hit 50. 2003 outbreak

69. ★ Prohibition-era smuggler

92. Boxing champ Max

118. Triad, e.g.

51. “A ___ of Dollars” (1964 Eastwood Western)

71. ★ Postwar generation member

93. ★ Amused a baby, in a way

119. ★ Lincoln’s assassin

75. Under ___ (brand of athletic wear)

97. “The Gift of the Magi” writer

122. Appliance brand owned by Whirlpool

76. Architect Frank ___ Wright

99. Literary Jane

123. Longtime Yankee nickname

77. Neglect

100. Wait

78. “Sure thing!”

101. Spain and Portugal

124. Startle, ghost-style, or a two-word hint to what’s hidden in each starred answer

81. “Au revoir!”

103. Kebab stick

83. Smart-device tech, in brief

105. Accepted body of works

85. Inc., abroad

107. Half a wine-making family

86. Suffix with oct-

111. At least equal

87. French possessive

114. Arctic creatures with flippers

89. Prepared to land a plane

116. Least attentive

53. Modern, in Munich 54. Sault ___ Marie, Mich. 55. Explosive stuff 56. ___ Enterprises (bygone TV production company) 57. Plot of land 60. Adult 62. Give ___ of reality 64. Made a contented sound 67. Garden work 46 CITY OCTOBER 2026

125. Stir up 126. “The Chosen” author Chaim 127. Dampens 128. Bug expert, for short 129. Layer

DOWN

66. What’s rounded up in a roundup

1. Bohemian

68. Singer Gorme

2. Conductor Zubin

70. Like a splinter you can’t reach

3. Slippery as ___

71. Book teaser

4. Stretchy garments

72. Title Disney character of 1998

5. Nowhere to be found

73. Fragrant compound

6. Bouncer’s confiscation

74. Put back in the kiln

7. “Feliz ___ Novo!”

76. “Star Wars” princess

8. Airborne

78. Scruff of the neck

9. Martin Sheen’s real first name

79. Sole

10. Comedian Jimmy

80. Orchard selection

11. Hood moniker

82. Gross, as slime

12. Musical Yoko

84. What a crypt might emit

13. Desire

88. Gush

14. Nonreflective, in a way

90. It welcomes change

15. Sign off on

91. Southwestern wolf

16. Poe’s ominous bird cousin

92. ___ Sea, north of Alaska

17. Abominable snowman

94. Binary question

18. Zaire’s Mobutu ___ Seko

95. It follows ka in the Spanish alphabet

24. Iridescent gems

96. Eavesdropping range

25. Pop singer Rita

98. Muslim head scarf

29. Part of a rack

102. Charm

32. Fling

104. Camera company known for its “moments”

34. Card game whose name is shouted 35. Miler turned congressman 37. Nimble 38. “House” actress Ward 40. Multitude 41. Suffix with kitchen 42. Checked out 43. Sign abbr. meaning “founded in” 44. ___ Calrissian, “Star Wars” role 45. “Star Wars” droid, informally 47. Following 48. Many a northern Iraqi 49. Exhaustion from work 52. Adult insect stage 56. Hollywood district

105. Cornfield cry 106. Cover story, in court 108. Sainted pope of A.D. 683 109. Agave fiber 110. Catchall survey option 111. Put ___ on (limit) 112. Ordinary guy: Var. 113. Simone Biles or Tom Brady, acronymically 115. Goals 117. This, in Spanish 119. Skeleton’s chattering part 120. Vein contents 121. Keystone ___ (character in slapstick comedy)

58. Former transportation secretary Elaine 59. Country singer Keith 61. Ancient Greek contest 63. A-lister 65. Cantina freebie

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48 CITY OCTOBER 2026