FRIDAY, FEB. 8 2013 >>>
1. For its 2012-13 season, Tacoma Opera is all about girl power. Its next installment of feminine mystique is La tragedie de Carmen staged at 8 p.m. inside Rialto Theater. Peter Brook’s La tragedie de Carmen is a stripped-down version of the famous Georges Bizet opera Carmen. The story focuses on passionate gypsy girl Carmen, who seduces a very naïve soldier named Don Jose. Jose leaves his steady and faithful girlfriend, but then Carmen in turn ditches poor Jose for someone else. Pimpin' really truly ain't easy. As the show's title suggests, much tragedy ensues.
2. Distinguished writers, poets, playwrights, short story writers, and people who scribble on cocktail napkins will step up to the mic from 7-9 p.m. as part of the Distinguished Writer Series and Open Mic at King's Books. Kelli Russell Agodon, author Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room, winner of the White Pine Press Poetry Prize, will take lead.
3. There are some hobbies you should just pick up. Stamp collecting is not one of them. Neither is anything involving plastic model kits. Now, these pastimes have nothing inherently wrong with them; they've just become rather, well, mockable over the years. They just can't be taken seriously anymore. They're not cool. And we all know you have to be cool. And these just don't cut it. Not like ice skating does. It's cool, both literally and figuratively. Think about it: you get to go really fast; there's a high potential for injury; and if you get really, really good, really, really, really quickly, you'll probably end up winning a Gold Medal in the next Olympics. The ice skating show returns to a new ice arena at Sprinker Recreation Center Feb. 8-10 for five performances. The theme of this year's show is Once Upon A Dream and features Olympic Silver Medalist Ben Agosto and United States Ladies Champion and Olympian Rachael Flatt. Take that, loser bird-watchers!
4. American pianist William Ransom headlines the University of Puget Sound's 23rd Annual Piano Festival at 7:30 p.m. inside Schneebeck Concert Hall. The Boston-born and technically perfect pianist has performed everything and done everything. The fact that he's going to take time and teach budding talent the next day in workshop settings is pretty cool.
5. It's a hot summer evening and Julie Rodgers has had a bad day. She's lost her job, and is broke and disillusioned. Her roommate Alice has lost her boyfriend and is in the midst of an eating frenzy. Enter a pizza delivery man who agrees to come in and share a beer with them. Little does he know what's in store for him. The evening gets crazier, wilder, angrier, and very funny. That's what you can expect at 8 p.m. inside the Midnight Sun Performance Space when Prodigal Sun Productions presents Pizza Man.
LINK: Friday, Feb. 8 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area
