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Chatting with Miss Lily Verlaine, ballet-trained burlesque artist extraordinaire, two things become instantly clear. First, she and her partner, Jasper McCann, have exceptional phone voices. Seriously, these folks should moonlight (daylight?) on FM radio. Second, they're about to give Oly one hell of a show. They've reimagined Lewis Carroll's 1871 classic,
Stage
Anton Chekhov once famously opined, "If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there." In Henrik Ibsen's 1890 classic Hedda Gabler, a pair of loaded pistols have indeed been introduced into the
Stage
Now, you listen here, hombre. You and me, we done rode through all that "talk like a pirate" bosh, but all that balled-up palaver didn't hold a candle to talkin' like a cowboy. And you might think such frontier lingo wouldn't rightly fit into the flannel-mouthed Elizabethan purty-talk of one
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Now, you listen here, hombre. You and me, we done rode through all that "talk like a pirate" bosh, but all that balled-up palaver didn't hold a candle to talkin' like a cowboy. And you might think such frontier lingo wouldn't rightly fit into the flannel-mouthed Elizabethan purty-talk of one
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Riot to Follow's take on Hedda Gabler is an ambitious effort that eases its way into a frothy cloud of Mr. Bubble. The title character has often been called "the female Hamlet," but that's superficial; granted, the melancholy Dane has his perfect "self-slaughter" soliloquy, but his primary goal is vengeance
Stage
There are elements I've come to expect from Olympia Family Theater: technical polish, figurative costumes, jokes for adults and, above all, an auditorium full of gleeful kids hopping in their seats. OFT and director Jenny Greenlee continue that reliable tradition with a reprise of A Year with Frog and Toad.
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There are elements I've come to expect from Olympia Family Theater: technical polish, figurative costumes, jokes for adults and, above all, an auditorium full of gleeful kids hopping in their seats. OFT and director Jenny Greenlee continue that reliable tradition with a reprise of A Year with Frog and Toad.
Stage
The sad fact is my memory isn't as good as I remember it being, so take it with a grain of salt when I say last year's installment of Lord Franzannian's Royal Olympian Spectacular was described, in Oly theater circles at least, as "the talent show." Lord Franzannian is, in
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"There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." In December 2008, with these words, the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) declared the war on Christmas that Bill O'Reilly
Stage
The history of the musical Hairspray is a convoluted one. It's based on a 1988 film comedy by noted oddball John Waters (Pink Flamingos, Serial Mom), in which drag artist Divine plays mom to Ricki Lake. The young, pre-diet Lake plays Tracy Turnblad, a bright-eyed teen-age girl in 1962 Baltimore
Arts
When Broadway, film and TV dynamo Ben Vereen opened the Washington Center a quarter-century ago, he was already one of the world's proven talents. He won a Tony for Pippin in 1973, a year after playing Judas in the Broadway debut of Jesus Christ Superstar. He's still recognized for playing
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The Dixie Swim Club might be the perfect community theater script. It's gossipy without undue saltiness. It offers laughs - not just chuckles but laughs - several times a minute. It gives female actors a chance to shine in an ensemble, when the byword of community
Stage
One of the common complaints about art critics is that we're nitpicky, as if assessing the finer details of a show weren't our job in the first place. When I watch a play, I notice the broad strokes, but I also inspect the minutiae that can, though barely perceptibly, cumulatively
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This isn't Hinson's first show at Minnaert Gallery, but then again, he used to teach art history there. (Membership has its privileges.) According to the college website, "Palminteri often paints large, colorful narrative pieces highlighting domestic life, while Hinson works more in abstract painted constructions. ... Born of this relationship
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Tacoma artist Shaun Peterson, who also took on the native Puyallup name Qwalsius in 2005, created a 22-foot-tall carved figure for Tollefson Plaza. The figure is a woman in a white dress with a Thunderbird design and woven cedar hat, and she welcomes visitors of all cultures to what was
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It began as a 1988 John Waters film in which Ricki Lake (yes, that Ricki Lake) played Tracy Turnblad, a girl of size in 1962 Baltimore who wants nothing more than to dance on The Corny Collins Show. Drag queen Divine costarred as Tracy's mother. That film was adapted into
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Run frantically, hop in your car and navigate the urban jungle to the Tacoma Art Museum to enjoy the soothing tranquility of nature. Vashon Island landscape painter Victoria Adams, known for such pastorals as River's Edge and Morning Shimmer, creates broad panoramas of the American countryside devoid of humans. She
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Elizabeth Lord is many things: bartender, storyteller, gifted actor - and, once a year, Lord Franzannian, the gruff but lovable drag host of Oly's premier vaudeville revue. We don't know what the good Lord's lineup will be this year, but odds are there'll be music, juggling and lovely ladies of
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Gig Harbor is a quiet suburban community, known largely for a kickass shopping mall with a Blazing Onion Burger Company and that movie theater with the seats that shake you around. But did you also know it's fairly swimming with talented artists in a wide variety of media? Of course
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The current record for Largest Food Drive Ever netted half a million pounds of food. Now Emergency Food Network, Northwest Harvest, Tacoma Public Schools and the Stadium Centennial Foundation hope to celebrate the Stadium Bowl's 100th anniversary by doubling that record from Friday to Saturday. Fill
