Stage
Tis the season for the playhouses to be rolling out their family fare in the hopes of spreading cheer and hooking the next generation of potential theatergoers. Instead of choosing a straight up Christmas tale this year, Lakewood Playhouse chose to go the more reflective route. A Year with Frog
Stage
With the days getting increasingly shorter, the anticipation for the longest night of the year and the steady and glorious return of the sun will soon culminate in the winter solstice. Some will throw parties, others will sleep and people who don't experience a 4 p.m. (or earlier) sunset may
Stage
With 150 years of popularity, it's no wonder that Louisa May Alcott's Little Women was the number one patron pick for plays to be performed during the 2014/2015 season at Lakewood Playhouse. The script highlights most of the major plot points of the novel and takes the audience on a
Stage
Olympia Family Theater has joined the ranks of recent Tacoma and Olympia companies to make physical changes to their space. As of Sept. 1, they have finally found a permanent home in the old Capital Playhouse theater. They are currently fundraising to update the sound, put in new carpet in
Stage
First off, it's A Midsummer Night's Dream, not Midsummer's or Midsummers. Er, not that you would know anyone who doesn't actually know the correct way to say the title of this particular Shakespeare comedy. Secondly, Shakespeare can be a bit inaccessible for the average Joe and many a community theater
Stage
Lakewood Playhouse opens their 76th season with a bang with Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. With such an ominous title (and with Christie's legacy), director Rick Hornor and the ensemble cast had their work cut out for them pulling this classic "whodunnit" together. Creating suspense while giving enough
Stage
"Good acting in a humble house" is the motto of Marilyn Bennett's Toy Boat Theatre. Back from a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, Bennett brings Jean Genet's play, The Maids, to life among the stacks at King's Books. An affiliated event of the 2014 Tacoma Pride Festival, The Maids, is a dark, assuredly
Stage
Lakewood Playhouse never seems to disappoint and their most recent production is no exception. People who don't like Monty Python humor, also known as fuddy duddies, might want to skip it but for everyone else, Spamalot (books and lyrics by Eric Idle) will have them laughing, whistling and singing even
Stage
Olympia Family Theater continues to make amazingly high quality family theater with their latest production, 3 Tales with 8 Tails. Deanne Shellman directs, in collaboration with Mark Asbel Gerth, a phenomenally fun show that has the actors singing, dancing and puppeteering. While the puppets are one of the best things
Stage
Chamber Music by Arthur Kopit is an absurdist one-act play set in 1939 and performed by Theater Artists Olympia, or TAO. It is TAO's 11th season and their website states, "TAO is a collective of local artists committed to producing high quality theater. TAO's focus is on producing more thematically
Stage
There's not much better than sharing something you love from your childhood with the next generation of kids. There's not much worse than beloved literature being remade into something unrecognizable in the name of "modernization." The House at Pooh Corner currently at Olympia Family Theater allows you to revel in
Stage
With a larger than usual amount of plays opening Thanksgiving weekend, fellow theater critic Christian Carvajal and I divided and conquered. Each taking two plays we split them up based on several different criteria. One of the plays I was fortunate enough to review was Lyle the Crocodile at Olympia
Stage
Oh, George Bailey. A heroic, self-sacrificing, and a generally likable fellow. It's nearly impossible not to feel empathy (or resonance) with the dashed dreams and settling for second place for the sake and betterment of others. Unfortunately George is unable to continue saving those less fortunate due to the greed
Stage
At nine months pregnant, I have little patience for things that don't particularly interest me. Maybe it's just feeling huge, or perhaps it is because I'm also chasing after a 3 year old as well as working full time. Whatever the reason for my lack of patience, I have never
Stage
While not a true biography, Shadowlands by William Nicholson depicts the meeting, courtship, and subsequent marriage of British author and Christian theologian C.S. Lewis to American poet Joy Gresham. Fans of historical accuracy will be disappointed that many details are left out such as one of Gresham's sons or that
Arts
Tacoma Opera's season opener is the Gilbert & Sullivan comedy Pirates of Penzance, Oct. 25 and 27. This will mark the first Gilbert & Sullivan show produced by Tacoma Opera. Bernard Kwiram, musical director and conductor of the Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society, will conduct a cast that includes several
Stage
Tacoma Musical Playhouse opens its 20th anniversary season with the Broadway hit Les Misérables. TMP raised roughly $1.2 million to renovate the stage, orchestra location and backstage areas. The stage is larger and the orchestra is now placed above and behind the stage which helps the actors voices come through
Stage
Sometimes you desperately need something to bring a laugh or distract you enough to allow you to let go of whatever has been troubling you, even if only for a couple hours. Lakewood Playhouse's production of The Importance of Being Earnest does all of that. Oscar Wilde's 118-year-old script is
Stage
In an era of Mad Men where glamorizing sexism and misogyny isn't given a second thought, it's no wonder that shows like 9 to 5, based on the 20th Century Fox motion picture, are being produced. True to the plot of the film starring Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane
Stage
If you've never been to a show at Harlequin Productions in Olympia, Gloucester Blue by the prolific and celebrated American dramatist, Israel Horovitz, would be an amazing initiation. Horovitz has written more than 70 plays, won numerous awards for his work, founded the Gloucester Stage Company in Gloucester Mass. and