City Magazine

01/15/2026

With so much great music made from across the geographic and musical spectrum, it’s a fool’s errand to declare supremacy. Instead, CITY has compiled the Rochester/Finger Lakes music from 2025 that we loved, in addition to what moved us, what mattered and what remains, even into the new year.

Read the full piece on stands and online now, link in comments. 🔗

01/15/2026

“Monty Python’s Spamalot” galloped into the West Herr Auditorium Theatre this week on invisible horses, leaving behind a trail of flatulence, flesh wounds, flying cows and a lot of laughter, proving that this 20-year-old madcap musical of the highest disorder is “not dead yet.”

If those references were lost on you, not to worry, not to worry. “Spamalot” doesn’t want you to think a lot — and that’s the point of it. It just wants you to have as much fun as its cast (which is a lot), for as long as it’s farting around town, which is through Sunday, January 18 as part of Rochester Broadway Theatre League’s 2025-26 season.

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Read David Andreatta’s full review online, link in comments. 🔗

01/12/2026

Just announced 📣

Rochester native and School of the Arts graduate Taye Diggs, along with local band The Skycoasters, will be inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame this April.

Read Patrick Hosken’s full piece online, link in comments. 🔗

01/09/2026

Philanthropist and community champion Midge Thomas, who was one of CITY’s Rochester Ten last year, died Thursday at age 99.

She signed this Polaroid during a CITY photo shoot while sitting at her beloved kitchen table in her first-floor apartment on Liberty Pole Way.

“God has already ordained who you are,” Thomas said in her August 2025 interview. “He has already got a plan that you’re going to do: one, two, three, four, five, whatever it is. And you are obligated to follow what He has planned for you.”

Read the full piece by Justin Murphy, with photos by Roberto Felipe Lagares, online — link in comments. 🔗

01/08/2026

Scenes from our first-ever Best of Rochester Big Ol’ Party & Awards Show last Saturday … AKA one big game of “Where’s Boxy?”

📸:

01/06/2026

Here’s to all 136 winners this year! ✨

ICYMI, the full list of all winners and finalists is online now: https://www.roccitymag.com/special-sections/best-of-rochester/the-results-are-in-here-are-your-2025-best-of-rochester-winners/

Won but didn’t grab your certificate yet? Stop by the front desk at WXXI anytime between 9a-4p Monday through Friday to pick it up 🛻

Order a keepsake plaque to commemorate your win 🏆: https://newskeepsake.com/pages/city-magazine-best-of-rochester

01/04/2026

More soon… 📸🫶

Starting the year off with for the 3rd year in a row at a fabulous Best Of Awards Party!!

https://www.thehypebooth.com/2026/City-Magazine-Best-Of-Awards-Party

01/04/2026

OK, yep, that was fun. 😌

Your Best of Rochester 2025 winners are now live online. 🏆

12/30/2025

“When I am tempted to count down the moments until a workday or a workout or an obligation is done so I can move to the next thing, I try to take a breath and remind myself, ‘Time is all we have. Be here. You want to remember this.’”

In the final editor’s letter of 2025, Leah Stacy writes about staying present, the use(fullness) of social media, the power of words — and the future of local media.

Read it in our winter guide, on stands and online now, link in comments. 🔗