Stage
Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt is a monumentally ambitious play for a community theater to produce. The original was done completely in verse and was performed in five acts with more than 40 scenes in different locations and times, and it alternated between realism and fantasy. New Muses Theatre Company's version, adapted
Arts
"Joe Hedges: Empirical Evidence" is the latest exhibition in the gallery at South Puget Sound Community College. The exhibition blends traditional art with science, mechanics, science-fiction. The show includes still-life paintings in oil on canvas, digital prints of imaginative machine-like objects, and fantastical installations involving sculptural objects that appear to
Stage
What's wrong with these people? Why are they laughing so hysterically at stuff that's only slightly funny? Have they never heard a risqué joke, or am I just totally jaded? Those are the thoughts that often go through my head when attending comedic plays that rely on titillation humor. Not so
Arts
Talented artists all, members of the art faculty at Tacoma Community College are showing some of their latest works. Exhibiting artists are: Kyle Dillehay; Alice Di Certo; Jenny Roholt; Melinda Liebers Cox; Anthony Culanag; Frank Dippolito; Karen Doten; Rick Mahaffey; Reid Ozaki; and Marit Berg. Probably the most engaging piece in
Arts
Lucy Gentry Meltzer's "Biophilia Collection" at Salon Refu is a selection of small voodoo dolls and sculptural figures on dress mannequins standing on the floor and floating from a natural wood frame just below the gallery ceiling. Figuratively, they are wood sprites, fairies, Medieval warriors and goddesses, and a sleek,
Stage
My first reaction when I saw that Tacoma Little Theatre was doing Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington was "What a great title" - a switcheroo on the famous Jimmy Stewart film of the same title, but with "Mrs." Instead of "Mr." I had never heard of the play, but assumed
Arts
All the way from Berlin, Germany, comes multi-dimensional artist Isabelle Gresser with a multi-media installation on the theme of pine trees, humanity, and international cultures. There are multiple videos with found footage and brilliant editing, drawings, photographs, and one wall featuring student work from a project called "Nocturn Encounters: Utopian
Stage
Randy Clark, co-founder of Dukesbay Theater and director of the French farce The Waltz of the Toreadors, said he saw this play years ago at The Seattle Repertory Theatre and loved it, and that he has never seen it performed anywhere since. He said he does not understand why it
Arts
Little is known about the United States' involvement in Cambodia during the Vietnam War or about the aftermath - the refugees, the deportees, the Americans in exile. The exhibition "Scars and Stripes" at Spaceworks Gallery examines all of that through photographs, paintings, video and performance art (readers may recall the
Arts
I have been following Sherry Buckner's art, mostly in shows at Childhood's End, for well over 20 years. Her latest serigraphs and pastels might be her best yet. There are two groups of these works in the current show. On the first group of panels as you enter the gallery
Stage
Come out of the rain to kick off spring with Olympia Family Theater's production of Alice in Wonderland - a lot of fun for kids from 3 to 73. Adapted from the book by Lewis Carroll by the multi-talented writer/director/actor Kate Ayers and directed by OFT co-founder and artistic director
Arts
Once again, Susan Christian is showing her painted stick constructions at her own gallery, Salon Refu. The paintings are assemblages of various kinds of sticks, mostly lathe, which she puts together in rectangular shapes and paints as if they were stretched canvases. The last time I reviewed an exhibition of these
Stage
The musical Gypsy with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents and starring Ethel Merman as the iconic stage mother, Rose, opened on Broadway in 1959. Three years later came the film version with Rosalind Russell as Rose. I saw the film when I was
Arts
I was overwhelmed upon stepping into the James Mongrain and Stroemple Collection at the Museum of Glass. It was like stepping into some decadent over-decorated castle - a long shelf running the length of one wall stuffed to overflowing with delicate and elaborately decorated Venetian glass vessels, and on tables
Arts
Now open at Spaceworks Gallery is a startling exhibition presented by Red Scarf Revolution that explores the impact of war, genocide, resettlement, and deportation of Cambodian Americans today. Curated by Silong Chhun, founder of Red Scarf Revolution, the exhibition features photos and text from "Khmer American: Naga Sheds Its Skin," an exhibition
Arts
I was warned ahead of time by Salon Refu owner Susan Christian that Dan Barron's pop-up exhibition of "extraordinary" photos was going to be "exceedingly unnerving" and "incomprehensible." With words like that, how could I not be intrigued? So I took myself down to Salon Refu, the most innovative gallery in
Stage
Hilarity, innovation and all-around fabulousness meets South Sound theater patrons this month in performances that seldom get reviewing because there are so few opportunities to see them, starting with Theater Artists Olympia's Playhouse Creatures in the intimate space of The Midnight Sun. This one started its run in February and
Stage
John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, A Parable, has earned the rare honor of taking home the trifecta of awards: the Tony, the Academy Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Chances are you've seen the film starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, but if you have not seen it live on stage -
Arts
Tacoma artist Lacey Reuter was only 17 years old when she created the "Harlem Renaissance" paintings now on display at American Art Company, said gallery director Tammy Radford. It's an impressive body of work for anybody, especially a 17-year-old. There are five large paintings, each measuring 5-foot, 5-inches by 5-foot,
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If I could choose two galleries, I would start with Childhood's End because they have consistently shown top-notch local and regional artists since 1971. Many of the best local artists got their first major exposure at Childhood's End, and the gallery continues to show works by such stellar artists as
