Current Work at the Brick House

The Weekly Volcano,

March 20, 2014

"An Assemblage for Rats" by Alan Hopkins

“Floating Island Estates” by Gabriel Brown

The current show at Brick House Gallery is an eclectic selection of current work (all done since 2013) by more than 20 artists including many old friends who have shown often at this and other Tacoma galleries. My overall impression was that there are three or four excellent works and a whole lot that are good but not outstanding.

Bill Colby’s two woodcuts, one with acrylic and one with acrylic and water color, “Stone Wall: Beach 1” and “Sun River,” are excellent — possibly the most accomplished works in the show. Both are simplified, semi-abstract landscapes with the flattened, scraggly look of woodcut illustrations but sparked up with the addition of high-keyed blue, orange and green. In both pieces there are bodies of water, land and sky, and in both clouds are as solid as boulders. Reading too much into these subject-wise would not be the best way to appreciate them. Seen as simple abstract shapes on a flat surface they are exciting yet placid with good color contrasts and a unity of mark-making and directional thrust.

Alan Hopkins’ “An Assemblage for Rats” is intriguing and well-made but not placed well in the gallery. It is an assemblage of wood, something like women’s hosiery filled with unidentifiable materials and hanging heavily beneath a shield-like shape covered with a dense montage of pictures of rats. An artist’s statement says it celebrates something called a “rat rod” from hot rod culture.

Suspended over a coffee table in the back room is Gabriel Brown’s “Floating Island Estates,” a lovely fantasy of little houses on green grass and earth that has been plucked from the ground like roots of dirt. They are made of corrugated cardboard and cut and pasted bits of containers such as milk cartons and cereal boxes and all hang from monofilament line amidst fluffy white clouds made of cotton.

Sharon Styer is represented with a couple of outstanding photographs printed on aluminum. Both “Fog at Thea’s Park” and “Dungeness Spit” are moody and atmospheric scenes in soft sepia tones that capture the look of the Pacific Northwest on a foggy morning just after sunrise (for all I know they could have been taken at noon, but there is an early morning feel to them).

Also likeable is Margo MacDonald’s little tapestry “Ozette River.” It is a peaceful scene of a river mounted on a board that is covered with what appears to be rice paper and angel hair but is listed as cotton and wool.

I also like Richard Turner’s “Virgin Du Guadalupe,” a wall-hanging relief sculpture of conch shell, rivets, pine board, lizard skin and Mexican popsicle sticks. It is a strong, simple and reverent image.

Just a few of the other artists of note in this show are: Jeffree Stewart, Jada Moon, Peter MacDonald and Cathy Fields.

[Brick House Gallery, Third Thursday 5-9 p.m. and by appointment, through March 31, 1123 South Fawcett St., 253.230.4880 or 253.627.0426.]

Photo: “An Assemblage for Rats,” mixed media by Alan Hopkins. Courtesy Brickhouse Gallery.

Cuff Me - The 50 Shades of Grey Parody

L to R: Brock Madden, Kate Alden, Anna Maria Clausen, Casey Raiha

The title pretty much says it all — Cuff Me: The 50 Shades of Grey (unauthorized) Musical Parody. If that doesn’t give you a strong hint of what to expect, you’ve been living under a rock since 2011 when the book Fifty Shades of Grey was published and immediately became a worldwide sensation. I never read the book but from word of mouth — not to mention a slew of Facebook postings — I gather that is a very badly written book about sadomasochistic sex, filled with descriptions of one kinky, fetishistic sexual escapade after another. And that’s what this stage show is, except for the badly written part.

This musical parody written by the sketch and improv comedy group The Pushers tells the story of the dominatrix Christian Grey and his submissive, Ana, a.k.a. Anastasia, in song and dance. Beware: the songs and dialogue contain graphic mention of every kinky sex act imaginable, and the dancing comically simulates these same acts. The first half hour is laugh-out-loud funny, and may be shocking to some audience members who don’t know what to expect. Then all the sex becomes wearying. The singing and dancing, however, is highly energetic and audacious throughout, and the four-person cast holds back nothing.

The show opens with the cast dressed in classical S&M garb singing a song that introduces the book with the repeated line, “You read it, we touch it,” followed by “Touch Myself” with “The Clown” (Brock Madden) in the lead and the rest of the cast singing backup. These songs and all to follow are raunchy and rocking.

Casey Raiha plays Christian. Kate Alden plays Ana, a wide-eyed innocent who willingly submits to Christian’s every kinky desire. The other two cast members, Madden and Anna Marie Clausen, are a two-person chorus listed in the program as Kate and “The Clown,” but actually playing a variety of characters demanding a great range of acting skill and some great costume changes including lots of black S&M gear, Seahawks feet pajamas and some cross dressing from Madden. Christian and Ana don’t display such a wide ranging wardrobe, but Christian’s cutaway pants are funny, and Ana’s black underwear and mesh stockings epitomize the hedonistic culture — great costuming from Riona Faith O’Malley.

The stage is set even before the opening musical number when the customary admonition to turn off all cell phones ends with “If it’s on vibrate put it between your legs.”

The opening number establishes that the show is going to be about the book, which they describe as very badly written. Kate says she has never heard of 50 Shades of Grey, so the others tell her all about it, acting it out with lots of hip thrusts and hot music that consists of clever parodies of hit songs like Britney Spears’ “Hit Me One More Time" and Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” (changed to “I’m a Virgin,” and believe me, she doesn’t remain a virgin very long). There are even parodies of popular songs from Broadway musicals such as “If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof. Other memorable songs are “Spankin’ It While I Poke Ya” and “Hit Me Baby.”

The smartly designed set by Steven Anschutz consists of marbleized boxes that are moved to configure various seats, and screens on wheels with an array of torture implements hung on them.

The program did not list a choreographer so I can only guess that it was the work of director Sonya Carter, probably with input from the cast and from Musical Director and Creative Consultant Amy Jones, all of whom did a great job.

If you have seen any of the Christmas pantomimes at Centerstage or if you saw the great summer musical revue I’m Into Something Good, just imagine a combination of those with a surfeit of sex thrown in and you’ll have a good idea of what to expect from Cuff Me. It is a relatively short play running under two hours with no intermission. They expect to sell out the remaining performances, so go online or call early to reserve tickets.

Centerstage at the Knutzen Family Theatre 3200 SW Dash Point Road, Federal Way, through March 30. 

Ticket prices range from $49 to $28. To purchase tickets or for more information about group rates, call the Centerstage Box Office at 253-661-1444 or online at www.centerstagetheatre.com.

Neil Simon’s Chapter Two at Tacoma Little Theatre

George (Robert Alan Barnett) and Jennie (Brynne Garman)

South Puget Sound is blessed with a cornucopia of theatrical talent. Just in the past few weeks I’ve seen a mind-boggling array of acting talent — Russ Holm and Rachel Fitzgerald in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Harlequin, Bruce Story-Camp and the entire ensemble cast of 12 Angry Men at Lakewood Playhouse, Brynne Garman powerful portrayal of Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at and now Robert Alan Barnett, Kent Phillips, Brynne Garman (again) and Holly Rose in Neil Simon’s Chapter Two at Tacoma Little Theatre.

Neil Simon is sometimes scoffed at as frothy and unworthy of serious consideration, as pandering to popular taste. I admit to have been among the scoffers at times, but I have also loved many of his plays. Plaza Suite, The Odd Couple, Brighton Beach Memoirs among others. I admire his quick-fire dialogue, one-liners and evident humanity.

George and Leo (Kent Phillips)

The first act of Chapter Two is typical Simon, and it is hilarious. The budding romance between George (Barnett) and Jennie (Garman) is as funny and touching as anything you’re likely to see on stage anywhere. George has lost his wife and is still grieving while his brother, Leo (Phillips) tries to fix him up with Jennie, a recent divorcee, as does Jennie’s best friend, Faye (Rose). Neither Jennie nor George wants to dive into a romantic relationship, but they can’t help falling in love. Simon writes this beautifully with great humor and depth of understanding, and Garman and Barnett play their parts to perfection.

The second act is not as strong. Here Simon mixes heart-wrenching emotion with humor, and it doesn’t work as well. The flippant one-liners are too facile, and George’s difficulty with accepting his wife’s death and moving into another relationship, while realistic and believable, is too sudden, despite brother Leo’s impassioned plea for Jennie to recognize George’s vulnerability and for both of them to go slow.

Jennie and Faye (Holly Rose)

What few weaknesses there are lie squarely on the playwright’s shoulders. The actors and director Alyson Soma play it as well as it can be played. The good-buddy relationship between Jennie and Faye is convincing, as is the humor-tinged brotherly love between George and Leo. Garman is absolutely believable as the loving and heroically patient Jennie. Watching her in action, it’s no wonder George fell in love with her.

If the pathos seems too raw that may be because the story is based on Simon’s whirlwind romance and marriage to the actress Marsha Mason after the death of his previous wife. (Could it be coincidence that Garman looks a lot like Mason?)

The set by Curt Hetherington and Bill Huls cleverly uses a split backdrop to represent two apartments with a shared couch between them. It’s an effective way of moving scene-to-scene, helped along greatly by Hetherington’s lighting, but the back walls look too cheap for the apartments of a successful actor and writer.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:00 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 17

WHERE: Tacoma Little Theatre, 210 N “I” St., Tacoma

TICKETS: $12

INFORMATION: 253-272-2281, www.tacomalittletheatre.com.

All Photos courtesy: DK Photography

Gothic Forest at SPSCC

The Weekly Volcano, March 13m 2914

There’s only one thing to see in the art gallery at South Puget Sound Community College, but it will draw you in like the smell of pine leaves in a forest. It is Mike Adams’ Gothic Forest.

The installation incorporates video projections on suspended sewn-mesh forms evocative of natural forests and gothic architecture. Inspired by the gothic cathedrals of Chester and York in Northern England, as well as the forests of the Pacific Northwest, this forest is quiet. Walk in slowly. Take your time. Relax. You’ll have to re-immerse yourself into the struggle of everyday life soon enough.

Adams’ installation dominates the entire space of the gallery except for one small alcove with a window that has mercifully been covered. Hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the gallery are what appear to be 15 spires or columns that reflect the form of columns in a Gothic cathedral. I say “appear” because due to movement both literal and illusionary it is impossible to count them. They rotate ever so slowly, and onto and through the transparent mesh material are projected images of dense forests. The movement of the images combined with the gradual rotation on the hanging forms create the illusion of undulation. It can be slightly disorienting. The projected images pass through and onto the walls while other film projections of similar forest scenes fill the three walls of the gallery space.

The projections come from three corners of the gallery, and each has a slightly different focus. Those on the back wall as seen straight ahead when entering the gallery are in sharp focus, while those on the left wall are in soft, blurry focus and appear abstract. I could not tell whether the difference in focus was intentional or not.

The images are reflected from the shiny floor, and shadows — including those cast by people walking through the gallery — become an integral part of the installation.

Periodically one of the projections changes from a forestland film to a drawn floral image. These projections bring to mind works by two well-known regional artists: the filmed forest scenes look like paintings by Kathy Gore-Fuss, and the floral images like paintings by Juan Alonso.

Gothic Forest is a quiet and meditative installation that is quite impressive. One problem is the lighting on the informational wall plaques. There is not enough light on them to read. Fortunately, the same information is available on the announcement cards, which are available in the gallery.

 [South Puget Sound Community College, Kenneth J Minnaert Center for the Arts Gallery, Monday-Friday, noon-4 p.m. and by appointment, through March 28, 2011 Mottman Rd. SW. Olympia, 360.596.5527.]

Note: The photos from the same installation as seen in Seattle. Courtesy South Puget Sound Community College.