THURSDAY, FEB. 20 2014 >>>

1. Poppet, AKA Molly Raney, is a hard act to do any justice in describing. Just one woman, a keyboard and a looping pedal, yet it amounts to so much more than the sum of its parts. Clad in a spandex green onesie, Raney commands the stage with inventive melodies and whimsical interpretive dance. Setting aside the clear complexity and thought that goes into her music, Poppet's performance has a very childlike quality to it. Even though her impressive voice and lively arrangements betray a sure hand, Poppet still feels like a little girl who has come down to the living room to put on a show. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's interview with Poppet in the Music and Culture section, then catch Poppet with Mirrorgloss and True Holland at 9 p.m. In The New Frontier Lounge.

2. You thought you knew Sean Alexander, didn't you? He's the guy who did the illustrations for the South Sound Users Guide, an artist known for detailed ink drawings. But there is more to Alexander than that. From 4-8 p.m. at Moss + Mineral you'll see modernest furniture inspired by mid-20th century design by Alexander, along with 2-D art and oil paintings. Examples of his 2-D art give a nod to the precise ink drawings he is known for but featuring geometric designs combined with pop and dada imagery.

3. After a two-month hiatus, the Art Bus rolls again - this time with special guest Willy Wonka as tour guide. You might be thinking the character from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a strange choice, but the Art Bus has a long history of fictional celebrities as tour guides, like Vern Fonk, Buddy the Elf and Vinnie from Doogie Howser (OK, that last one was actually a guy who worked for the city but just reminded me of Vinnie). Of course there'll be games and prizes, and stops at various art galleries: Spaceworks Tacoma: Gallery of Ambition, Embellish and Ginko Forest Winery, to name a few. Puget Sound Pizza will be providing their delicious pizza. Catch the bus at 6 p.m. in front of the Tacoma Art Museum.

4. Tacoma Sister Cities Film Festival presents Daniele Thompson's Avenue Montaigne - a French soufflé of the old school, a romantic comedy set in Paris's arty district - at 6:15 p.m. in the Tahoma Room of Commencement Hall which is located on the corner of North 13th and Lawrence streets on the University of Puget sound campus.

5. Nikki Giovanni - a world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator - will present the truth as she sees it at 7:30 p.m. inside the Washington Center.

LINK: Thursday, Feb. 20 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and olympia area