Here’s this week’s Sour Grapes; enjoy!
Arts & Culture
A look at What’s Up in arts and culture in Newport, Rhode Island, and beyond.
Posted inArts & Culture
Rhode Island’s indie bookstore passport program returns, sending readers on a statewide literary road trip
Three Rhode Island independent bookstores are relaunching a statewide program that challenges readers to visit every indie bookshop in the state — and rewards those who pull it off. The Rhode Island Independent Bookstore Passport Adventure, first launched in 2019, returns April 18 and runs through April 26. Passports are free and will be distributed […]
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newportFILM to screen ‘Lowland Kids’ at Rogers High School’s new auditorium on April 16, with proceeds benefiting the scholarship fund
newportFILM will present a special screening of “Lowland Kids” on Thursday, April 16, at Rogers High School Auditorium, 15 Wickham Road — marking the organization’s first screening in the school’s newly built auditorium. Presented in partnership with the Rogers High School PTO and the Newport Public Education Foundation, the event will benefit the Rogers High […]
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Carol Montgomery built ‘Funny Women of a Certain Age’ to give older female comics a stage — and the laughs haven’t stopped since
Carol Montgomery was sitting in a podcast with three older female comics. “I honestly don’t remember” their names, she said recently. “I’m 68 years old. I can barely remember my own name.” She does remember it was very funny. “It was done in the basement of someone’s house. She had food. We were eating and […]
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‘Kimberly Akimbo’ star Ann Morrison on playing a teenager at 70: ‘I’m just an actor who’s having fun’
When I spoke with Ann Morrison, who’s starring in “Kimberly Akimbo” that’s coming to the Providence Performing Arts Center on May 5, she was celebrating her 70th birthday. “I feel like a 16-year-old,” she said, “but my 70-year-old body is lagging. I remember when my dad was 88, he sat down in his chair and […]
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Cynthia Nixon to discuss ‘The Gilded Age’ and her career at An Evening with Cynthia Nixon at The Breakers on April 26
Cynthia Nixon, the Emmy, Tony and Grammy award-winning actor known for her roles in HBO’s “The Gilded Age” and “Sex and the City,” will appear in conversation at The Breakers on Sunday, April 26, in an event hosted by the Preservation Society of Newport County. The evening will feature Nixon discussing her portrayal of Ada […]
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Salve Regina University dance program to present ‘Currents’ at the Casino Theatre April 16-18
The dance program at Salve Regina University will bring its spring concert, “Currents,” to the Casino Theatre, 9 Freebody St., for three performances April 16-18. The program is described as a journey through the forces and undercurrents that shape human experience, with faculty and student choreographers exploring themes of resistance, personal freedom and collective empowerment […]
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Newport Sings to present annual Song Fest on May 2 in Portsmouth
Newport Sings will present its annual Song Fest on Saturday, May 2, at 4 p.m. at Portsmouth Middle School, 125 Jepson Lane. The concert will feature four ensembles. The Newport County Youth Chorus, made up of students in grades one through six, will perform songs about nature from their session “Songs of the Earth.” The […]
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Rolling Stones tribute band Classic Stones Live coming to The JPT on June 26
Classic Stones Live, a Rolling Stones tribute act, will perform at The JPT Film & Event Center in Newport on Friday, June 26, at 7:30 p.m. The eight-piece band is led by Keith Call, who portrays Mick Jagger, alongside Bernie Bollendorf as Keith Richards. The show recreates the Rolling Stones’ catalog in original tunings, with attention […]
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Vague on specifics, NPAC executive confident of raising millions to reopen opulent former opera house
In multiple exchanges of emails, we posed several questions to Melissa Caldwell Quinn, managing director of the Newport Performing Arts Center. This is another in our ongoing series on the opera house restoration project that is now approaching 25 years. WUN: Is this still a viable project? If not, what happens now? If it is, […]
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The JPT brings cult classics, Paul Thomas Anderson films and a live rock night to Newport this April
The Jane Pickens Theater is bringing a lineup of cult classics and acclaimed films to its Washington Square screen this month, highlighted by a special one-night-only event pairing live rock music with one of cinema’s most beloved mockumentaries. On April 16, the JPT will screen “This Is Spinal Tap,” Rob Reiner’s classic satire of rock […]
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Judy Collins adds second Newport show to farewell tour, performing June 13 and 14 at the JPT
Judy Collins will perform two nights at the JPT Film & Event Center in Newport on June 13 and 14 as part of her “Sweet Judy Blue Eyes” Farewell Tour, with a second show added due to demand. Both performances begin at 7 p.m. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 10, at 10 a.m. at […]
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Newport Restoration Foundation’s new executive director to headline final Arts Around the Fire event of the season
The Arts & Cultural Alliance of Newport County will wrap up its Arts Around the Fire series for the season on Wednesday, April 15, with a conversation featuring Hilary Fagan, the new executive director of the Newport Restoration Foundation. The free event runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at Sardella’s Restaurant, 30 Memorial Blvd. West, […]
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Arts & Cultural Alliance of Newport County accepting applications for $2,000 Tinney Family Arts Scholarship
The Arts & Cultural Alliance of Newport County is accepting applications for the Tinney Family Arts Scholarship Award, a $2,000 scholarship given each May to a Newport County high school senior who has demonstrated artistic talent and plans to continue studying the arts. The scholarship is open to seniors attending any high school in Newport […]
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‘The Outsiders’ national tour brings Broadway to Providence with a 20-year-old newcomer in the lead
Nolan White is on the road in the national tour of “The Outsiders,” in the lead role of Ponyboy Curtis. “I’m 20 in real life,” he said in our recent phone call, “playing a 14-year-old. I guess I look pretty young.” For those who never read the novel or saw the 1983 movie, “The Outsiders” […]
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Inside ‘The Gilded Age’ tours return to Newport Mansions this spring
Fans of HBO’s “The Gilded Age” will have a chance this summer to step inside the Newport Mansions that serve as backdrops for the Emmy-winning period drama. The Preservation Society of Newport County is offering its Inside “The Gilded Age” Tour on Tuesdays and Fridays only, from May 12 through Aug. 28. The guide-led experience […]
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PPAC reveals its 2026/2027 season — and all six Broadway shows are new
On Tuesday morning, the management team at the Providence Performing Arts Center unveiled its 2026/2027 season in the theater’s grand lobby. Alan Chille, PPAC’s new president and CEO, first announced the Broadway season, sponsored by The Taco and The White Family Foundation. Chille was excited that all six of these shows are new: Operation Mincemeat […]
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The High Kings bring Rocky Road Tour to The JPT in July
Ireland’s leading folk group, The High Kings, are coming to Newport this summer as part of their Rocky Road Tour 2026. Spectacle Live will present the concert at The JPT Film & Event Center on Thursday, July 16, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 3, at 10 a.m. and are available at […]
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Michele Gallagher: A spotlight on modern-day women who are unearthing Revolutionary history
“Behind the Lines: Unsung Women of the American Revolution” was a full-weekend lecture series held in mid-March in Portsmouth, hosted by the Brigade of the American Revolution and sponsored by the Debra Najecki Endowment at Portsmouth Friends Church. The conference brought together dozens of authors and historians to highlight the crucial, often overlooked roles women […]
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The JPT launches ‘Films of Future Past’ sci-fi series this spring
The Jane Pickens Theater is stepping into the future by looking back at it. The historic Newport cinema will launch Films of Future Past, a curated science fiction series spotlighting prescient cult classics that once depicted speculative worlds but now feel unsettlingly familiar. The seven-film series kicks off Thursday, April 2, with a 4K restoration […]
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Jane Pickens Theater to screen silent film classics with live musical accompaniment this spring
Two landmark films of the silent era will return to the big screen this spring at the Jane Pickens Theater, accompanied by live musical performances from noted silent-film musician and historian Jeff Rapsis. The special screenings — part of a series designed to recreate the early moviegoing experience — will take place April 1 and […]
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Charter Books to host Columbia Journalism School professor Nicholas Lemann for book talk in Newport
Charter Books and the Loeb Visitors Center will host an evening with author and Columbia Journalism School professor Nicholas Lemann on Tuesday, April 14, from 6 to 7 p.m. at 50 Spring St. in Newport. Lemann will discuss his latest book, “Returning: A Search for Home across Three Centuries,” which was published March 24. The […]
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Providence Culinary Collective returns March 26-29 with expanded lineup
The Providence Culinary Collective will return for its second year March 26-29, featuring an expanded lineup of chefs, wine experiences and culinary events at locations throughout the city. Building on last year’s inaugural festival, which featured more than a dozen sold-out events, the 2026 edition adds new programming including an elevated wine tasting experience, award-winning […]