Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
March 5, 2026
March 5, 2026 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

arts



SYDNOR DUFFY / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR
Check out Doja Cat’s new album Vie, out Friday, Sept. 26! 

To watch and watch for: Week of Sept. 21

Welcome back to another week’s To Watch and Watch For. Now, in the midst of exams, here's to hoping that you can weather the storm and squeeze in a free hour here and there to check out the wide array of media releasing in the upcoming days. 



COURTESY OF MITRO HOOD
Virginia Anderson, museum curator at the Baltimore Museum of Art, describes her educational experiences and life path in an interview with The News-Letter.

Virginia Anderson: on museums and academia

Virginia Anderson is an adjunct professor in the Program of Museums and Society at Hopkins and the Baltimore Museum of Art’s (BMA) Curator of American Art and Department Head of American Painting & Sculpture and Decorative Arts. In an interview with The News-Letter, Anderson discussed her academic journey and her current experiences at the BMA. 



SYDNOR DUFFY / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR
Check out Young Thug’s new album “UY Scuti,” out Friday, Sept. 19!

To watch and watch for: Week of Sept. 14

This week’s installment of To Watch and Watch For comes conveniently before the inevitable onslaught of midterm season. One way to soften the unstoppable march of time is to slow down, immerse yourself in the arts and appreciate what the world has to offer at the moment. 




COURTESY OF STEVEN SIMPSON
Margaret (McKenzie Christiansen; left) is about to learn some troubling news from Gregory (Benjamin Roberts; right).

The Witness Theater 2025 Spring Showcase does more than persevere

On April 26 and 27, the Arellano Theater came alive with more than the wafting smells of vegan sesame chicken and taco meat from the neighboring Levering Kitchen. It was the site for the Witness Theater’s 2025 Spring Showcase: a performance of student-written, student-run plays rejuvenating a campus of otherwise finals-weary Blue Jays.





COLIN PATTERSON / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Arts & Entertainment editor Strait understands Adichie’s latest novel Dream Count as a valuable lesson for everyone on how to support victims.

Dream Count is an exercise in how to return dignity

On March 4, more than a decade after her previous novel Americanah, Hopkins alum Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave the people what they wanted: Dream Count. This recent addition to her body of works is a nebulous story following the lives of four African women navigating the U.S., pinned together in the middle with a disconcertingly familiar case of sexual assault perpetrated against one of the women. 


MACCOSTA / CC BY-SA 2.0
Something about the Coachella vibe is more than what meets the eye.

Coachella 2025: A fever dream in the desert

There’s this thing that happens every April. The desert shifts. Time becomes a suggestion. Sequins become currency. And the world turns its eyes toward a stretch of sun-bleached land in Indio, Calif., where suddenly nothing else matters. Yes, I’m talking about the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.


JIYUN GUO / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR
Check out the Classics Department production of Medea on Trial this Thursday! Admission is free. 

To watch and watch for: Week of April 21

It’s unfortunate that the most beautiful period of spring coincides with the most demanding stretch of the academic year. If you're looking for a reminder of what makes life worth the grind, this week’s “To watch and watch for” will have you covered.



W!ZARD RADIO MEDIA / CC BY 3.0
Despite Staff Writer Alicia’s Guevara’s longtime love for actress Sofia Carson, not even her presence could redeem Netflix’s new movie The Life List.

The Life List is a Hallmark dupe not even Sofia Carson could save

On March 28, Netflix’s latest rom-com endeavor was released: The Life List. I’ll admit, I had low expectations. The alliterated title did not inspire high hopes. I love Sofia Carson — the lead actress — but mostly because I watched and loved the Descendants movies as a kid. I was not actually aware that she continued to act after those films. But mainly, my reservations stemmed from how much the plot sounded like it could belong to a made-for-TV Hallmark movie.


STEVEN SIMPSON / PHOTO EDITOR
The Heathers (from left to right: Tessa Barcelo, Amelia Blackman and Lindsay Nelson) finally accept Veronica Sawyer (center: Liesel Arauz Vallecillo) into their clique. 

A cult classic comes to life: the Barnstormers perform Heathers

For their spring 2025 musical, the Barnstormers are putting on a production of Heathers: the cult classic musical based on the 1989 film with the same name. I attended the Saturday night performance, and the theater was packed to the brim with excited audience members, although I was able to claim a coveted front row seat. 


STEVEN SIMPSON / PHOTO EDITOR
Nick (Audrey Douglas; left), a young biology professor, sucks up to Martha (Katherine Budinger; right), the daughter of the college president.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? I am

This past weekend, the Hopkins Theatre Company performed Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, a three-act whirlwind of a play about two academic couples from opposing generations, each catching and delivering snide, passive aggressive comments across a countless number of liquor-filled glasses. 


COURTESY OF HOPKINS AT HOME
A faculty panel on April 4 discussed the role of the arts at Hopkins and the current opportunities available for students to get involved. 

Is Hopkins committed to the arts? Panel reflects on arts and the student experience

On Friday, April 4, a faculty panel titled “Arts and the Hopkins Student Experience” discussed what the arts mean at Hopkins. As audiences both in-person and online began to settle in, they prepared to hear about vital questions such as: What makes the arts valuable? Why should we pursue them, and how? Is Hopkins committed to the arts? 


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