Tacoma Actors Guild has closed its doors, failing to finish its first season as a "new" and "restructured" organization.

Tacoma's only professional theater first closed its doors a year ago to restructure itself and pay off a $400,000 debt it had accumulated over a four-year stretch. It then emerged last spring with a series of shows it staged through a partnership with Bellevue Civic Theatre.

TAG's production of "Proof" was the first show it staged on its own this season, and it will apparently be its last. The show closed along with the theater over the weekend despite efforts to raise money through a creative "Hit List" viral donation campaign. The donations weren't apparently enough to sustain the 300-seat theater's $25,000-a-month payroll and expense budget.

Calls to the theater went unanswered, although it's volunteer playwright in residence Bryan Willis confirmed the closure, noting that the closure should not be seen as a indicator that Tacoma won't support theater.

Willis' Northwest Playwrights Alliance performed staged readings at TAG once a month and routinely had more than 100 people in the audience.

"If you get 100 people in for a reading you are doing something right," Willis says. "Our audiences would put any theater in Seattle to shame."

News of the closure was first posted on Exit133.com, where there is an ongoing discussion about theater in the South Sound. â€" Steve Dunkelberger

There's a slew of new features at Kevin Freitas' FeedTacoma.com today, including a weekly comic by R.R. Anderson of Holistic Forge Works titled Tacomic that will keep tabs on our Gritty City.  Check it here. â€" Suzy Stump

Forget less is more. As far as we’re concerned, more is more â€" which is why 75-person choir backed by a 19-piece orchestra is better than this.

Confused?

It’s simple: The Pacific Lutheran University Choral Union will belt out Handel’s “Dettingen Te Deum,” Pergolesi’s “Magnificant,” Schein’s “Die Mit Tranen Saen,” and Monteverdi’s “Beatus Vir.”

Those are funny words.

“This concert is a must hear because of the energy and grandeur of a large choir and orchestra playing Handel’s magnificent music,” explain Kirsten Lysen with the Choral Union.  “We also have terrific soloists.”

You can’t beatus a night of Baroque favorites. â€" Suzy Stump

[Lagerquist Concert Hall, Saturday, March 3, 8 p.m., $5-$15, Pacific Lutheran University, 253.535.7787]

The Night Tacoma Danced is not for everybody, believe me. It is only meant for those of you who like to eat a variety of yummy food, enjoy a lot of fine entertainment, appreciate good art and are willing to have fun to support programs for kids.

Sounds like a horrible way to spend a Saturday, eh?

The Tacoma Art Museum's largest fund raiser of the year, The Night Tacoma Danced, er, dances into the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center March 3 as an "European Cabaret: Where Dreams and Reality Converge."  Yep, that's the theme of this year's black tie gala so those with enough dough to get in might want to throw on a few feather bows and sequins.

I've held the arm of many of these Night Tacoma Danced galas, dining on fine fare, participating in the silent auction, grabbing an item or two in the artisan marketplace, which boasts 300 pieces this year.  Lovely, really.  However, this year's live auction, music by the Kim Archer Band and free salon on site additions has inspired me to fine a finer date.  My dude, I mean, my gentlemen has been encourage to bid me a tan.

Proceeds from the event will go into the pocket of TAM's educational department.  The museum's educational program is a great cause â€" it keeps the little snot-noses out of sight and out of mind while I check out the "Frida Kahlo: Images of an Icon" exhibit. â€" Suzy Stump

[Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center, Saturday, March 3, 7 p.m., $175-$250 per person with the box office closing March 1 at 6 p.m., 1500 Broadway, 253.272.4258]

I took the wee one to "MOVE!" for the first time â€" hers, not mine.

Having gone to all the other "MOVE!" dance productions, there was no way I would miss this one, and since the evening show started at 8, I couldn’t really drag the kid Friday night.  But Saturday’s 2 p.m. matinee was too perfect an opportunity to go share something I loved with my kid.

She was riveted (as was I, truth be told.)

Once again, "MOVE!" was a great compilation of creative expression, with a few stand-out treats thrown in for us to appreciate: the introductory film, a five minute piece by Tacoma’s own TV 12, showed the striped back of the wee one herself, enjoying herself at an MLKBallet class, and the following piece, “The Breaking” by The Can-Can Castaways of the Seattle Pike Place Market’s Can-Can Kitchen and Cabaret had a  toy-box feel to it that brought my kid immediately into the moment.

“Pendulum” by the Tacoma Dance Collective, showed the sinuous-strong talents of Lynn Wilmot-Stenehjeman, whom my daughter recognized from when she took dance classes at the YMCA, in collaboration with Trina Doss, Kristi Hoke, Robin Jaeklein, Mary Mabry, Laura Miltner. 

“Stella Alone,” a film by Christiana Axelson danced by Heather Budd, showed the kinds of fun you could have with heaps of clothes, a fridge and oven, and a rooftop (don’t try this at home, kids!)

Then “Moon” from the Selfick Ng-Simancas & Co delighted Miss thing â€" though the headdress on Ng-Simancas, designed by Lisa Fruichantie spooked my kid at first, seeing her teacher Kate in dancer-mode gave her inspiration.  The intensity and multimedia dimension of this piece (film was projected behind the dancers) created an involving dis-ease that reminded me of films like Farewell My Concubine, a fact that I appreciated as I read, in the program, that the intent was for the piece to evolve into a Chinese opera style ballet.

My last happy surprise was seeing former intrepid Volcano intern Jessie Fouts with her group of co-dancers from the School of the Arts.  This dance, “The Hunt,” captured the intensity of a hunt in nature, tigers versus Zebras.

I was impressed.

All the dancers impressed us, as did the show’s construction.  I loved seeing the poetic geometry and physical skill, and loved feeling swept away by the action on the stage. 
More, I loved knowing that the group sitting with us were helping to support MLKBallet, since proceeds go toward the free ballet school that brings such an amazing art form to people who might consider it “boring.”

See a "MOVE!" show and I guarantee, that “B” word won’t enter your vocabulary. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

Following a national search which involved critical review of more than a dozen candidates to replace Judy Cullen after she left the theater, Tacoma Little Theatre announce today the appointment of David Duvall as its new artistic director. 

In addition to the new top dog at TLT, the theatre also announced it has strategically restructured its leadership hierarchy so that Duvall will partner with existing Business Director Corinna Chapo to jointly manage the 88-year-old institution.

Duvall a native of Bellevue and comes to Tacoma Little Theatre with more than 30 years in professional theatre and more than 250 productions to his credit. 

He has performed in various capacities with such companies as The Montana Repertory Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Eastside Theatre Company, Tacoma Actor’s Guild, Evergreen Theatre Company, Studio East, Tacoma Little Theatre, ACT in Seattle, Western Washington University, Western Theatre Summer Stock and American Revue Theatre, where he served as founding artistic director for four years. 

“I am elated to have this opportunity to serve Tacoma’s theatrical community as well as the community at large," Duvall stated.  "In my 10 years of working at TLT, I have truly grown to love Tacoma, our audiences and particularly the enormously talented people who appear on the TLT stage.  To watch them grow and blossom, over and over, is truly a thrill for me! I’m looking forward to what we will all create together in the coming years.” 

Chapo is a native to the Seattle area and has been employed as the theater’s business director for more than a year.  She brings with her ten years of financial planning with local retailer Eddie Bauer and has served as senior marketing manager at local candy manufacturer Brown & Haley. â€" Steve Dunkelberger

Move out the way! That’s what Ludacris would say if he was participating in the second annual "MOVE!" concert. The contemporary dance concert opens tonight at the Tacoma School of the Arts Theater for two nights with a matinee show on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 2 p.m.

All proceeds go to benefit MLKBallet, which offers free dance instruction to Tacoma’s  children and adults alike.

MLKBallet Executive Director Alexa Folsom-Hill had amazing vision for this new dance program. Kudos to her for the free admission, as well as ballet instructor Kate Monty.

Participating artists in this show include Selfic Ng-Simancas, The Tacoma Dance Collective, Rainbow Fletcher, and Tacoma School of the Arts Modern 3. This will be a night to watch dance and be a part of an organic movement hitting downtown. â€" Jessie Fouts

[SOTA Theater, Friday, Feb. 23 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 and 8 p.m., $12 at brownpapertickets, 1118 Commerce, Tacoma]

South Sound theater landed a big fish this week when Tacoma Little Theatre, Tacoma Musical Playhouse and The Washington State Community Theatre Association joined forces to bring more than 600 theater enthusiasts, advocates and performers from around the country to Tacoma to celebrate the power of community created theatre in June of 2009. The effort will mean Tacoma will host the American Association of Community Theatre’s 2009 biennial festival: AACTFest 2009.

The local partnership presented a formal bid proposal to the AACT in January.  TMP founder Jon Douglas Rake and former TLT artistic director Judy Cullen attended the group's winter meeting in Fort Worth, Texas to state their case.

It worked. They learned this past weekend the Tacoma delegation was informed that their proposal had been accepted.

“Tacoma has a great tradition of community theatre, and Washington is one of the western states that is most active in the AACT, “ said Cullen, who is also the WSCTA president.  “ This festival will be a great event for our local theatres and our state organization.  I am incredibly excited about the task at hand and all of the terrific northwest hospitality that we will share with our guests.” â€" Steve Dunkelberger

Things are crazy-cool on Broadway at 6:30 p.m.  Mariachi music is streaming out onto the street from an event at the Crystal Ballroom, the jazz crowd is walking up the hill to the Rialto to see Bill Frisell, the Black History Celebration is packing the Pantages, and as the rain spatters down, the actors at Tacoma Actors Guild are waiting to get into the building for their show, "Proof," set to hit the stage at 8 p.m. 

TAG's Direcotr of Education Jesse Star Michener walks up, keys in one hand, plate of banana bread muffins for the cast and crew in the other, two bags over her shoulder.  Letting everyone in, she makes her rounds in the vast building, unlocking doors and showing me around “behind the scenes.”

I’m impressed.

We walk up the street to Tully’s, and she tells me that the Broadway vibe on this night makes her happy, and sad.  Happy, because this is exactly the energy that makes the Theatre District feel alive.  Sad, because she’s uncertain that TAG will survive.

“The community just has to show its support by coming to the show, or else the organization just won’t be here,” she admits sadly.

This organization is both her past â€" as well as her husband’s â€" and her household’s livelihood.  Her husband, Mikel Michener, is technical director for "Proof," though right now she’s technically “laid off.”

“Three of us were,” she tells me. “We’re just doing this because we believe,” she adds.

“Everyone here at TAG is giving 150 percent, and it’s just not working,” she admits sadly.

Funding, which petered out and hasn’t come back, has created the need for a creative group of people to resort to creative measures, like the Hitlist seen and heard about in cyberspace, as well as a silent auction, raffle, and proposed donations from sales of artworks by artists Frank d’Ippolito and Alec Clayton, as well as items from the ArtStop at LeRoy Jewelers.

The hope is that these measures, as well as others (like the dare to past subscribers: see the show, for free.  If you like it, join the Hitlist) will lure audiences back into the theater.

“We’re doing everything we can to show the community, ‘we’re back,’“ Jesse asserts, alluding to the non-TAG recent past when the shows produced were technically, “the house of TAG” but driven by the Bellevue Civic Theatre.

Some long-time supporters I talk to before the show have held stoically to their belief in TAG. 

“If I had to choose between TAG and the Sonics,” a gentleman asserts, “I’d choose TAG.”

Betsy Miller, our volunteer Flight Attendant and stand-up comedian for the evening, introducing the show, explains to us that everything we’re about to see is TAG; it “proves” the caliber of what a Tacoma theater is capable of.

I hear someone murmuring “beautiful set” behind me (and I agree, inwardly,) and then the play begins.

I’m impressed.   

I’m also amused, fascinated, emotionally involved, and gut-level troubled by the story that rolls out in front of me.  Yep, F-bombs are scattered about.  Yep, there’s some sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

I’m not a theater critic; anymore I rarely attend the theater and have no “formal” knowledge of what make a theater tick, or what makes a show work.

All I know is, based on my viewing, and experience at the show I saw, I’m joining the Hitlist, despite not having been “tagged.”

I’m challenging all of you reading this to go see the show as well.  Take some time away from the computer, sit in a theater with a few of your closest friends, and get swept away.

The show plays until March 4, and is, in my humble estimation, wicked good. 

Another woman questioned after the show, a Seattleite visiting our fair city, agrees with me.  She’s seen the Broadway version, with Jennifer Jason Leigh, and thought the T-Town version was better.

Yeah, for real. 

Once again, I’m impressed. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

Over the last 12 Valentines Days the significant one and I have shared, he has staunchly subscribed to the theory that Valentines Day is a non-holiday; that the commercial Establishment created the event purely for profit.

I have always smiled, nodded and agreed, because doing so saved me expense and “what do I get him” headaches, and besides, it is a commercial fabrication â€" I’d rather show a person more often than once a year, that they are appreciated.  But that’s just me.

So it came to pass that this year, the Significant Dude sent me “flowers.”

Turned out to be a basket of chocolates from a florist; (Gracias, Grassis!) â€" in it were truffles of many shapes and sizes, dark chocolate bars, many items formerly known as Frangos, and more, more, more.

As it turned out the kid brought me home chocolate, and it turned out the mother-in-law brought me some, too.

I like chocolate, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t love chocolate.

So then we, mother-in-law and I, went to Cello Octet Conjunto Iberico presented by the Tacoma Philharmonic at the Pantages Theater.

More chocolate.

The rich sounds of the cello â€" eight of them, in point of fact â€" soothe the soul in ways that must be experienced.  There is something about the range of the instrument that’s not quite bass, not quite treble, not quite limited by mere mortal “range.”

The instruments, especially in the hands of the Spanish ensemble, can soar from elemental low points into treble notes, can whine into surreal ranges, can rhythmically move together in primal, sensual, modern, beautiful ways.

Combine this with Pilar Jurado, and you have death by aural chocolate decadence.

The first notes she sang, in the opening number by Marlos Nobre, “Tres Cancoes de Beiramar” stunned in ways her mink-brown gown with no back and a train to die for didn’t.  Her voice couldn’t be classified, my mother-in-law and I agreed, as strictly “soprano” because her low notes were just so emotionally involving, and the high notes were always rich, not shrill.  Her voice was so perfectly the cellos’ match that there were times I couldn’t tell where Jurado ended, and the cello began, and vice versa.  That was amazing.

Jurado’s stage presence and interplay with the audience was also engaging; even when she wasn’t on stage and the octet played the excitement was maintained through the innovative pieces that combined the chamber orchestral stylings and synergy that I love with a hint of the unknown.  Surprises were plenty: the second piece was not, as on the program, the stunning Phillip Glass “Symphony for Eight,” (although it did appear, as number three) rather, piece #2 was a Dutch composer’s idea of a Turkish dance.  Conductor Elias Arizcuren explained, through his sexily thick Spanish accent, that the piece was created for the ensemble.  The composer, whose name I wish I understood, said, according to Arizcuren, “I don’t want to hear a single cello sound.”

The piece, unsettling and ghostly, showed the amazing range of the cello; my mother-in-law shook her head sadly and said, “can’t dance to it.”  I tingled with goosebumps at a totally new aural experience and smiled and nodded.

My last surprise of the evening did not lay in the two encores performed by Conjunto Iberico and Pilar Jurado; these pieces had a Spanish flair and emotion that made me happy, make no mistake, but these pieces where what I had expected the whole evening to be.

No, my last surprise in the evening lay in the stunning Christobal Halffter piece, Fandango Sobre un tema del Padre Soler.

Beginning with a pizzicato interplay between two cellists, the piece built from notes spaced seemingly bars apart, which felt like the Simon game I played as a kid, to a soaring, old-school chamber orchestra piece with fun twists on dissonance, and a crazy-cool rising-note pizzicato. The piece very nearly ended on a pianissimo pizzicato, but soared again into a frenzy of sensory overload, then ended on a single note, played in unison, forte pizzicato.

It made my heart sing, and it made me yearn for chocolate.

I bought a bottle of wine, came home, relieved the sitter as I sent the mother-in-law home, munched on some yummies from my basket as I sipped and reveled in how apropos the treat was as a metaphor for my evening.

Yum, Tacoma Philharmonic.

Yum, Significant One.  Happy Valentines Day, and I love you.