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Best of Olympia 2020: Dillinger’s Cocktails and Kitchen

Features

Best of Olympia 2020: Dillinger’s Cocktails and Kitchen

Born in Indianapolis, grandson of German immigrants, he ran afoul of the law while still in his teens. After getting arrested for auto theft, he enlisted in the Navy but deserted his ship, the U.S.S. Utah, and was dishonorably discharged. He got married but couldn't keep a job. Instead, he

Best of Olympia 2020: Equal Latin vs. Ramirez on 4th

Features

Best of Olympia 2020: Equal Latin vs. Ramirez on 4th

Given my last name, it stands to reason Latin food is close to my corazón. Even so, despite years of living and dining in Thurston County, I'd never really warmed to south-of-the-border fare in easy walking distance of theaters and other downtown businesses I frequent. That changed in 2019, when

The South Sound greets the new year

Music

The South Sound greets the new year

It might be startling to realize this, but there's no particular reason to begin a new year on the first day of January. It's a week and a half past winter solstice, the shifting date on which the ancient Greeks rebooted their communal calendar, and nowhere near ancient Mesopotamians' preferred

Reunited and it feels so good

Stage

Reunited and it feels so good

Let us now sing once again (or should we say "carol?") the praises of The Christmas Revels at Tacoma Arts Live's Rialto Theater. It's a mid-December medley of family-friendly skits, songs and instrumental performances that showcase a different, though primarily European, culture each year. As it has been for the

Haunted Happenings

Stage

Haunted Happenings

If winding your way half-blindly through a haunted house on Halloween gives you the sniveling fantods, consider downshifting to lighter-hearted Shocktober shindigs. Your lily-livered friends at the Weekly Volcano have you covered. It may surprise you, for example, to learn Halloween's a great night for theater entertainment, thanks to performers

Still livin’ ‘La Vie Bohème’

Stage

Still livin’ ‘La Vie Bohème’

Italian composer Giacomo Puccini was a star in his own time; his legacy remains eminent among the operatic pantheon. Yet even he could never have expected the way his 1896 opera La Bohème, about young bohemians in Paris' earthy Latin Quarter, would be transplanted a hundred years later. A belted

Fairly amazing

Attractions

Fairly amazing

It's once again time to "do the Puyallup." Put another way, it's time to plan a family trip to the Washington State Fair in Puyallup -- a town regional newcomers should learn is pronounced "Pyoo-AHL-up" in defiance of all phonetic logic. Once that tongue trick's been mastered, a world of

¡Olé!

Attractions

¡Olé!

The term bullfighting tends to evoke images of brave, Spanish toreros in traditional Andalusian costumes called trajes de luces (suits of lights), flamboyantly sweeping their gold and magenta capotes (dress capes) to misdirect angry bulls. (Fun fact: Bulls are color blind. The capotes are red only to obscure bloodstains.) Indeed,

Best of Tacoma 2019: Summer Concert Series in Old Town Park

Outdoors

Best of Tacoma 2019: Summer Concert Series in Old Town Park

Kim Archer is one of Tacoma's most popular soul singers, but that's not why we interviewed her for this issue. Rather, she doubles as the organizer of your pick for family-friendly venue, the Old Town Park Summer Concert Series, now in its sixth year. That all-ages series runs from the

Best of Tacoma 2019: Cham Garden Korean BBQ

Features

Best of Tacoma 2019: Cham Garden Korean BBQ

Never in world history has there been a better time to be a hardcore foodie. Educated by thousands of hours of globe-spanning food TV and toting enough celebrity cookbooks to overfill a library, we race into cuisines that would've scared American diners away before the debut of Iron Chef America.

Company of the century

Stage

Company of the century

When Chris Serface became managing artistic director of Tacoma Little Theatre (TLT) May 1, 2013, the company was in serious straits. "We had $10,000 in the bank and floundering ticket sales and attendance," he admits, "and not really a clear idea of what we were going to do

Come sail away

Attractions

Come sail away

Born in Aberdeen, Washington, she celebrated her 30th birthday March 7. She stands tall at 89 feet and weighs 99 tons, and boy, is she ever a world-class beauty. Maybe that explains her rapid success in the movie business, starting with her key role in Star Trek: Generations in 1993.

Leaping at windmills

Stage

Leaping at windmills

In early 17th-century Spain, on the plains of La Mancha near the town of El Toboso, a brave hidalgo (minor nobleman) and self-declared knight-errant mounts his timeworn steed to square off against dozens of titanic foes. "Fly not, cowards and vile beings," cries the hero born Alonso Quixano, "for a

A room of their own

Stage

A room of their own

Salon is the French word for room. It sounds much the same in la langue française as it did in Latin (sala) or Italian (salone) in days past, but leave it to the Italians and French to elevate it into the realm of the intellectual. Beginning in the 1500s, artsy-smartsy

A banquet on the boards

Stage

A banquet on the boards

"All the world's a stage," the Bard famously said, "tho' only certain parts deserve to charge admission." Or perhaps we're misremembering. In any case, the South Sound is resplendent with theatrical talent, from amateur, outdoor Elizabethans to union actors beautified by state-of-the-art lighting. Here's a quick survey of regional venues,

Isaan central

Features

Isaan central

The largest region in Thailand is a landlocked conglomeration of 20 northeastern provinces. At 65,200 square miles, it's a bit smaller than Wisconsin. We'll spare our typesetters the challenge of printing its authentic name, four Thai characters, noting instead that its English-language name has been transliterated as Esan, Isaan, Isan

Good Fortune

Stage

Good Fortune

Some comics just have it. They're blessed with a fresh look, a distinctive voice, a hot take and it seems they hit the national market as overnight successes. Unfortunately, though, in the overcrowded world of standup comedy, even so-called overnight success is bound to be the result of over a

Teen beats

Stage

Teen beats

"I'm even lethal when I'm unarmed," rapped Public Enemy, "'cause I'm louder than a bomb." That song inspired the title of Louder Than a Bomb (LTAB), a competition for Chicago poets ages 12 to 19. This month-long event was founded in 2001 by Kevin Coval and Anna West of the

A decade of dance

Stage

A decade of dance

"People come to see beauty," said Judith Jamison, former artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, "and I dance to give it to them." Thurston County's about to get served a veritable banquet of beauty in the form of Olympia Dance Festival. The capital city is the hub for a

Best of Olympia 2019: Keith Eisner

Online Newspapers

Best of Olympia 2019: Keith Eisner

Keith Eisner's a man of many talents. He and his wife, Debe Edden, are in Olympia Family Theater's upcoming production of The Hundred Dresses. Word's getting out, though: He's also one of Olympia's pre-eminent writers. He teaches writing classes at the Olympia Senior Center, but it was his own work

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