Walkie Talkie Blog
ON STANDING (OR SITTING) OVATIONS >>> Packed with parents and other well-wishers, a full opening-night house leaped to its feet at the end of the show. Only two unrepentant naysayers remained seated: myself and my fiancee. It's happened before. It'll happen again. And yes, we did see you staring bloody daggers
Walkie Talkie Blog
THE PERILS OF REAL, LIVE THEATER! >>> When actors or crew members improvise a detour around line glitches, missing sound cues, and other onstage mayhem, we call that a "cover." All stage performers know the thrill and relief of clever covering; we've all had to do it, and we're all grateful
Walkie Talkie Blog
EURYDICE OPENS THIS WEEK >>> We've learned our lesson. I was happily disinvited from reviewing Riot to Follow's production of Eurydice (pronounced "you-RID-a-see") two weeks early; since it opens the same weekend as four other shows, I volunteered to watch a rehearsal and write this preview instead. What happens between now
Walkie Talkie Blog
SEEKING SALVATION >>> In no way do I mean this as a slight, but it doesn't take long before Everyman starts to feel just a bit silly. That's a good thing. I find silliness extremely underrated in modern art critique. Indisputably the most famous English morality play of the late 15th century,
Walkie Talkie Blog
BUT HE THINKS YOU'RE FULL OF SHIT >>> I'd never heard of Ken Balsley when I was assigned this interview, but that was my fault, not his. He's been doing everything he can to get his name out there. If you grew up in this area, you know him from his
Walkie Talkie Blog
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES >>> As you know if you read my review of what I called Cannibal! the Rehearsal, it's a tragically bad idea to invite your critics eight days early when you're still putting in lights and sound equipment, your costumes aren't finished, and you still have
Walkie Talkie Blog
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES >>> As you know if you read my review of what I called Cannibal! the Rehearsal, it's a tragically bad idea to invite your critics eight days early when you're still putting in lights and sound equipment, your costumes aren't finished,
Walkie Talkie Blog
BLOCKING IN THE ROUND IS HARD >>> The first show I ever directed was The Boys Next Door by Tom Griffin. It was staged in a fair-sized college proscenium theater, meaning the elevated stage was framed by a rectangular arch. The entire audience watched the show from a single direction. There
Walkie Talkie Blog
AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES >>> It struck me the other day how fortunate we are to live in an area with so many live entertainment options. In one week, I saw a dynamite performance by the klezmer punk combo Vagabond Opera at Traditions Cafe, a charming production at Olympia Family Theater,
Walkie Talkie Blog
ON THE NATURE OF THEATER CRITICS >>> I'm about to shoot myself in the foot, Gentle Reader. Wait for it... Dear directors, Theater critics are not your audience. You know this. You know you get standing ovations sometimes for shows we turn around and pan, but just as often, we praise productions that
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A THEATER CRITIC GIVES CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE >>> I recently read a piece by Volcano and News Tribune critic Alec Clayton in which he thanked his wife Gabi for help with his columns. I also have an able assistant, my fiancee, Amanda Stevens. While I can justly claim intimate knowledge
Walkie Talkie Blog
DO CRITICS EVEN MATTER? >>> This weekend I saw a movie, Battle: Los Angeles, that Roger Ebert - the best movie critic who ever lived, mind you - gave half a star. "Young women," he advised, "If your date likes this movie, tell him you've been thinking it over, and you
Walkie Talkie Blog
CARV'S SNARKY BLOG OF THE WEEK: OUR CRITIC SEES HIMSELF IN ASHER LEV >>> I was scheduled to review My Name Is Asher Lev at Lakewood Playhouse, but numerous hurdles, including my own absentmindedness, got in the way. Instead, I recruited my friend Brie Yost to review the production, as
Walkie Talkie Blog
THAT WAS THE QUESTION >>> The director called and asked me personally if I'd be interested in auditioning. I told him I'd already sworn off acting for a while. I needed to focus on other things, especially my upcoming nuptials. He persisted. It seems less than a dozen people auditioned for
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THEATER PREVIEW >>> Border Songs, the novel that won Jim Lynch the 2010 Washington State Book Award (not to mention the coveted Best Writer status in our recent Best of Olympia edition!), has now been adapted into a stage play by local playwright Bryan Willis. This version was produced through Saint
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YOUR HUMBLE REPORTER POPS THE QUESTION >>> Thursday night was huge for the Weekly Volcano, as it celebrated the debut of our Best of Olympia edition. Far more important to me, however, was the impending arrival of a certain long-awaited piece of bling. My girlfriend Amanda and I planned to celebrate
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DUDE TALKS FAST >>> On President's Day, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) will roll into Olympia to give a lecture on "The True Cost of War." During his presidential campaigns in 2004 and 2008, Kucinich was widely seen as the far-left candidate, and he's taken quite a bit of ribbing from
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YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD CRITIC SLIPS OUT THE BACK, JACK >>> Last Thursday I was able to do something I almost never get to do anymore: I was invited to a show, so I went, and I didn't review it. Hopefully the cast and crew weren't expecting me to. It was DramaFest
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FRIDAY NIGHTS WON'T BE THE SAME >>> "Into a bright new dawn of fresh enterprises, and challenges..." --Richard Nixon, in Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon It's often said of film sets that cast and crew form familial attachments, only to see them dissolve a few months later. It doesn't always happen that way in
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GET YOUR ACT ON >>> Despite an increase in theater coverage over the last year, we at the Volcano sometimes fall short on listing audition notices. Here, then, is a first attempt at addressing that inadvertent deficiency. Capital Playhouse will be holding auditions for The Secret Garden Saturday, Feb. 5, from 3:30
