THURSDAY, MAY 22 2014 >>>

1. Lights! Camera! Acne! Here is a unique film event for local cinephiles to support. This could be your chance to meet the next Scorsese, or at least DePalma. The Tacoma School of the Arts seniors Dylan and Dustin Rich will produce the Tacoma High School Film Festival, in partnership with the Tacoma Film Festival and The Grand Cinema. The program will include the screening of a collection of original short films by filmmakers who are students at local high schools followed by a film discussion with the filmmakers in The Grand's lower lobby. Our words of advice: Remember these kids' names - chances are you'll be seeing them again soon enough. The Grand turns on the projector at 6:45 p.m.

2. King's Books hosts a special reading from the new anthology Reverberations from Fukushima: 50 Japanese Poets Speak Out at 7 p.m. The U.S. editor, Leah Stenson, will read selections from, and talk about, this important new collection about the horrors of the century's first nuclear disaster and the empathy required to heal our communities.

3. We're not certain if they'll be school hazing inside Tacoma Community College Building 2 Auditorium, be we're certain awesome music will be performed when the TCC Symphonic Band and Jazz Band host the Eastern Washington University Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, and Code Red (pep band) for a 7 p.m. concert.

4. What happens when you fuse spoken word with deep, funny, tender, raucous Broadway tunes? Claudette Evans, an alumnus of AMDA College and Conservatory of New York City, brings her heavenly powerhouse voice to the B Sharp Coffee House in collaboration with Tacoma poet Lucas Smiraldo, beginning at 7 p.m. "Being Alive" explores the life of one lonely soul in the aftermath of the 911 attacks. 

5. Oregon-based folky Alice DiMicele will drop by Traditions Café at 8 p.m. to bust out a soothing blend of acoustic-soul and folk-rock. She's shared the stage with some of music's best, including Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, JJ Cale, David Grisman, Arlo Guthrie and Steve Winwood. Don't screw up.

LINK: Thursday, May 22 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area