Stage
Apple Tree Productions' fifth summer of theater for children has already begun and will culminate with productions of Seussical the musical and Evita in Concert. Apple Tree's Showcase is a separate class for special-needs students. It is theater games, songs and fun, and it is free. Students can drop in
Arts
Tacoma Academy of Fine Art is a relatively new private art school and gallery founded and operated by Tim Matsen in an art space with a short but storied history - former home to Lisa Kinoshita's cutting-edge Mineral Gallery and later Andrea Erickson's modernist Flow Gallery. But TAFA goes in
Arts
I have followed the work of Barlow Palminteri and Nathan Barnes for quite some time, and have written laudatory reviews of each separately, but never have I seen their paintings shown together or in such a huge show as in the current exhibition at The Gallery at Tacoma Community College.
Stage
I don't want to be caught gushing like a pre-teen meeting Justin Bieber, but I can think of nothing but high-decibel superlatives when trying to write about the performances of Gretchen Boyt, Rich Garrett, John Serembe and Brad Walker in Harlequin Production's Little Shop of Horrors. I remember seeing it
Arts
For six years, B2 Fine Art Gallery has offered Tacoma a smorgasbord of art from emerging locals to established international art stars. And now they offer up their final show before packing up and moving north to the Emerald City. The current show, "The Naturalist: A Landscape Abstraction," slightly misnamed, features
Stage
New Muses Theatre Company's Into the Woods at Dukesbay Theater is the third version of this popular Stephan Sondheim musical I have reviewed, and it is quite different in some important ways, primarily in that it is scaled down with a much smaller set in a smaller space with fewer
Stage
If you are easily offended by irreverent humor, steer clear of The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged) at the Midnight Sun. They don't make them any more irreverent. Produced by Theater Artists Olympia and written by Adam Long, Reed Martin, and Austin Tichenor for The Reduced Shakespeare Company,
Arts
Betty Sapp Ragan passed away a year ago. She was an excellent artist, and she left behind an impressive body of work, a lot of which is now being shown in an exhibition of photo collages and prints at the Mary Bozeman Gallery in the Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Curated by
Arts
As an art critic and lifelong student of art, I must confess that my education is sorely lacking in certain areas - 19th and 20th century Western art being a prime example. I don't mean Western as opposed to Asian or Egyptian or African; I mean American cowboy art and
Arts
I almost missed seeing the "11th Annual Student Art Exhibition" at South Puget Sound Community College. It has only another week to run. If I were cynical enough, and I admit that I often am, I could say, "What's the big deal? It's only a student show." There's some truth
Stage
The Wiz hit Broadway like Soul Train on steroids in 1975, winning seven Tony Awards, including best musical. It was followed-up three years later by a popular film version starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. To ask any community theater to follow that is a tall order. Tacoma Musical Playhouse
Arts
"NW Art Now" at Tacoma Art Museum is a big, colorful, and cutting-edge exhibition of new and recent works by 24 regional artists. Included are 47 works in a wide range of media including painting, sculpture, craft-based work, as well as conceptual, performance, installation and digital projects. One of the
Arts
Art entrepreneur Lisa Kinoshita, along with birdloft furniture (Jeff Libby and Adrienne Wicks) and rePly Furniture (Steve Lawler), have opened an exciting new shop on Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma. Called Matter: Tacoma made modern, the new shop is a showcase for furniture, woodworking and visual arts. For its inaugural
Stage
Olympia Family Theater's A Year with Frog and Toad is so joyous that watching it should banish all thoughts of election season politicking. For more than an hour, all worries about war and poverty and climate change should go away. It is the show Olympia Family Theater opened its first season
Arts
Salon Refu owner Susan Christian describes the gallery's current show, "Hatch", as an experiment in literary installation. "It began as a chapbook of poems exploring a devastating birth experience and the eventual joys of parenting an uncommonly determined (and exceptionally funny) child. Images from the poems are ‘built out' into
Stage
Playwright Bryan Willis' riveting play Seven Ways to Get There premiered a year ago this month at ACT Theatre in Seattle and is now being performed by Theater Artists Olympia. It was good in Seattle, and it's even better, perhaps - more intense and more engaging in the intimate performance
Arts
Tacoma's major museums will offer free admission to military families from Memorial Day, May 26, through Labor Day, Sept. 1, as part of the Blue Star Museums program. Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and museums across
Arts
I am continually surprised by the museum-quality art Gary and Deborah Boone bring to B2 Fine Art. Few commercial galleries, especially not in smaller cities such as Tacoma, can mount shows such as B2's recent showing of works by Faith Ringgold and Aminah Robinson or bring in top-notch artists such
Stage
New Muses Theatre Company is performing two plays by Henrik Ibsen in repertory: A Doll's House and Ghosts. New Muses Managing Artistic Director Niclas Olson, who directs and performs in both plays, explained why he decided to do the two plays on a rotating schedule: "When Ibsen experienced the backlash
Arts
Thanks to crime shows on television, we know that exit wounds are where bullets leave the body, but to Portland-based photographer Jim Lommasson, the term also refers to the wounds soldiers bring with them when they come home from war. Lommasson's series "Exit Wounds: Soldiers' Stories - Life after Iraq and
