THE FAIR

Reptile World

Oh, you said herpetology? Whew. See, touch and learn about captive raised turtles, frogs, lizards, snakes and insects from around the world this weekend at The Spring Fair in Puyallup. The main attraction at Brad’s Reptile World Show is the giant boa constrictors. After all, who doesn’t love a good cuddle at night?

The four-day Spring Fair will include carnival rides, music, food, animal shows, fashion show, Fiesta Mexicana, Dora the Explorer, Christian Talent Competition and much more. — Suzy Stump

[Puyallup Fairgrounds, April 19 3-10 p.m., April 20-21 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., April 22 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., $5.50-$8, Ninth and meridian, 253.841.5045, www.thefair. com]

THE GALLERIES

Doors open

A door is a weighty thing in literature. It represents both a divider and a portal, a way to keep people out or a means of allowing people in. The metaphorical possibilities are endless. And, practically speaking, it’s not a bad idea, either, just to keep intruders out and such.

Two new art gallerie opens their doors allowing in South Sounders.

Crowe Art Studio & Gallery, located at the final stop of the Tacoma Link at 744 Commerce St., opens its doors Thursday, April 19, which happens to be Third Thursday Art Walk.  Owner Cheryl Williams Dolan chose the bottom floor of Sanford & Son for this venture, which she calls “cozy.”  Expect peaceful scenery paintings as well as a few abstracts.  For more details, call 206.355.3934.

Gallery 96 opens its doors inside the Freighthouse Square Saturday, April 28.  Mark Hoppmann, Penni Russell, Linda Jacobus, Janyce Sukow, Patrice Bruzas, Mary Gibbs and Dan Suckow join forces in the name of oils, acrylics, watercolors, fused glass, sumi-e and mixed media.  Gallery 96 is at 2501 East D St.  For more information, call 253.495.1830. — Michael Swan

THE STAGE

"Boston Marriage"

Theater Artists Olympia is staging David Mamet’s “Boston Marriage” at the Kenneth J. Minneart Center for the Arts at South Puget Sound Community College through the end of the month. It is a show that couldn’t come at a better time in Washington’s history since the Legislature is in the process of creating civil union laws for homosexuals.

Such relationships were commonplace more than a century ago and were known as “Boston Marriages.” The play by the same name follows the story of Anna and Claire, who are “women of fashion” who live on the fringes of upper-class society.

Set in the early 1900s, this wicked and sexy comedy of errors is a delightful and clever study of the issues of power and class, love and obsession. The play combines the drawing room comedy style of Oscar Wilde with the contemporary staccato and highly stylized rhythm that made Mamet famous.

What makes this play stand out from other “homosexual plays” available is that its main characters aren’t particularly victims of society because they are largely accepted in their circles. And they aren’t particularly likeable.

This is a play that explores a relationship that just happens to involve a lesbian couple. Their homosexual nature is simply a side note to the play. — Steve Dunkelberger

[Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts, through April 29, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $12 at www.buyolympia.com/events, Black Box Theater, South Puget Sound Community College, 2011 Mottman Road S.W., Olympia, 360.357.3471, www.olytheater.com]

THE PARADE

Atten-SHUN!

The transformation takes place in an instant. A timid 14-year-old drops her smile, tilts her hat forward, lifts a whistle to her lips, and voila: drill sergeant.

With two sharp shrills, she takes command of her dance squad, a gaggle of 40 kids who snap into six neat columns, chins up, eyes forward.

“Drill team, atten-shun!  Atten-SHUN!  I want everyone to bounce. I want you to jump!  Why aren’t you in parade rest? Don’t be scratchin’ your nose. I said parade rest!”

Dad Scorseses huff down the street filming the budding starlets.

Saturday, April 21 the 74th Daffodil Festival Grand Floral Street Parade will pass through the downtowns of Tacoma, Puyallup, Sumner and Orting.  It’s your typical town parade with marching bands, high school floats, little kids dressed as the young Elvis, big flatbed trucks with a bunch of people sitting on bales of hay. And what would a Daffodil parade be without the fun-loving Realtors dressed as houses? — Suzy Stump

[Various locations, April 21 10:30 a.m., Pacific Avenue between 11th and 19th in downtown Tacoma; 12:45 p.m., Fifth and Seventh Avenue Southwest, downtown Puyallup; 2:30 p.m., Kincaid Avenue and Main Street, downtown Sumner; 5 p.m., Bridge Street and Washington, downtown Orting; 253.627.6176]

THE MUSICAL

Pirates!

As a public service, The Weekly Volcano presents the basic plotline of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance,” so you, our loyal readers, may properly enjoy Sunday’s show at the Pantages Theater. A young man, indentured to pirates by a hard-of-hearing nurse, comes of age and decides to go out on his own into the world. As he does, he spies a group of young sisters, one of whom he falls in love with. But her father, the very model of a modern major general (eh? eh? we know our 19th-century operettas, oh yeah) stands in the way and, of course, all sorts of madcap antics ensue. — Suzy Stump

[Pantages Theater, Sunday, April 22, 3 p.m., $30-$45, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5894]