Stage
Scot and Linda Whitney have worked wonders with their professional theater company Harlequin Productions, producing top-flight theater consistently since 1991 with many of the best actors from Seattle to Olympia. Olympia and Tacoma-based actors have told me that Harlequin is the best company in the area to work for, which
Stage
Eric Overmyer's strange and marvelous comedy, On the Verge, is like a marriage of Tom Stoppard and Monty Python. As presented by Theater Artists Olympia, it is a technical marvel. With little but a few wrapped boxes, some beautiful video projections and a plethora of props, TAO has turned the
Arts
Aaron Badham's playful and inventive sculptures can be seen in the main gallery space in Kittredge Gallery, University of Puget Sound, while Rita Robillard's restful and hotly colorful Pacific Northwest landscapes grace the smaller back gallery. I was pleasantly surprised by Badham's sculpture after having seen photographs. They are not as
Stage
And now for something completely and delightfully different - Circle Mirror Transformation at Olympia Little Theatre, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker and winner of the 2010 Obie Award for Best New American Play. It might seem silly and disjointed at first, but stick with it and you'll be rewarded.
Arts
Lisa Kinoshita curates art exhibits in fantastic venues and presents the work in such a manner that it blends in with, becomes a part of, and enhances what is already there. She did it beautifully at the Seaport Museum last summer and has now done it again at the W.W.
Stage
Ring of Fire at Centerstage in Federal Way is wonderful entertainment, well worth the drive. Adapted from the Broadway Production by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Jason Edwards, it is a hybrid falling somewhere between a play and a musical revue. It tells the life story of Johnny Cash through his
Arts
Winter Pop-Up at B2 Fine Art Gallery is a surprisingly rich collection of sculpture, basketry and pottery by (mostly) artists who are new to the Tacoma art scene - the one exception being longtime local favorite Ric Hall, who is showing a totally new work never before seen and a
Stage
Tacoma Little Theatre's production of Second Samuel is a little play that tackles big subjects in an inventive manner while maintaining its light-hearted feel. It is a stylistic marvel with two sets: the Bait and Brew Bar (stage left), advertising red eye - that's booze and red wigglers - that's
Arts
Like images captured with a pinhole camera, also known as a camera obscura, the exhibition "Prison Obscura" at The Evergreen State College "considers this fundamental distortion that characterizes vision and viewing, how we see and don't see the people we incarcerate - the people we put in boxes. Guiding the
Stage
Watching TMP Family Theater's Junie B. Jones was a joyful experience. This upbeat musical is based on the popular children's book series by Barbara Park. And it's not just for children. My wife and I don't have any young children, and we enjoyed it as much as many musical comedies
Arts
Is it kosher for an art critic to say he doesn't know what he thinks about an exhibition he's reviewing? Somehow it doesn't seem right, and yet we're human. Sometimes it takes us more time than we have to study an artist's work and mull it over before coming to
Arts
The term "Textile Paintings" is my term, not the artists and not the gallery's. It's what I see as the best possible descriptor of Barbara Lee Smith's art at The Gallery at Tacoma Community College. It's neither fabric art nor painting, and yet it combines some of the best elements
Arts
I have never been a huge fan of cowboy art, so I was surprised to find I actually enjoyed "Creative Cowboys" and its companion show, "Saddles, Spurs and Quirts" as much as I did. "Creative Cowboys" celebrates cowboy culture in the Pacific Northwest from art about cowboy festivals and rodeos from
Stage
I can't help but wonder why in the world any actor or any director or producer would want to do Romeo and Juliet when it's already been done so many times in so many ways. Niclas Olson said, "I think a lot of it has to do with how much
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Watch out, Olympia, Circle Mirror Transformation is coming to Olympia Little Theatre, and it's just liable to knock you out. This play by Annie Baker is an Obie Award winner for Best New American Play and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award. It opens at OLT Feb. 5. In a
Arts
This large group show compares plein air paintings by Washington artists with larger studio paintings of the same subject by the same artists. It would be reasonable to assume that the plein air paintings done on the spot out in nature might be better than the studio paintings - fresher,
Stage
When I started writing theater reviews 10 years ago, few people outside of Federal Way had ever heard of Centerstage, but in the years since, this little-known theater has blossomed into one of the finest in the Puget Sound region - thanks in large part to outstanding productions spearheaded by,
Arts
I love the new show at Fulcrum Gallery. It is called "Blue Collar," paintings in acrylic on antique platters by Adrian Bouchard. How such an outstanding Tacoma painter could have escaped my attention until now is beyond comprehension. Bouchard paints portraits taken from old photographs. They are hyper realistic, painted with
Arts
"Ringside" at B2 Fine Art Gallery is an unusual departure from the regular fare at art galleries. It is an art exhibition about boxing, featuring photographs by veteran sports photographer Chris Farina, paintings by international kickboxer Kevin Brewerton, and paintings by Julie Snyder. Also listed in the show announcement is
Stage
Olympia Family Theater's A Charlie Brown Christmas is the same show that's been running on television as an animated story every Christmas season since 1965. I would venture to guess that at least 90 percent of the adults who bring their children to see this show have already seen it,
