Mighty Miniatures and Modern Jewels in Spring Popup at Minka

Tacoma artist and arts promoter Lisa Kinoshita just sent me this announcement. It's a one-day-only showing, so mark your calendar and plan to get to Minka.

It's true: the best (and most irresistibly peculiar) things come in small packages! Tacoma-based artist Devon Urquhart makes fabulous, miniature paintings and dioramas smaller than a slice of bread but action packed. Meet the artist at MINKA on April 28, 2-5:30, and enter her tiny universe of laid-back, beer drinking locusts, astronauts tethered to ovaries, and more! You might even go home with a ceramic Boob Cup...

Designer Regina Chang sells her jewels from Hong Kong to Seattle to L.A., and on April 28, 2-5:30 she'll be at MINKA! Please join us and meet the artist - well-known for her juicy-colored natural stones set off with beautiful hammered metals! You know the drill - simple top, plain neckline to show off those amazing necklaces.

Also showing on 4/28: new prints by San Antonio artist, Guy Hundere, colorful abstracts based on algorithms that appear to mirror the natural world.

MINKA is located at 821 Pacific Ave. in Tacoma's Theater District. Hours: Friday 12-5, Saturday 11-5 and by appointment. STARTING IN MAY, we will also be open Thursdays 12-5. Phone: 253.961.5220. www.minkatacoma.com. Also on April 28, meet Paula Shields, MINKA's new co-owner with Lisa Kinoshita. New art, furnishings and collectibles are arriving weekly! MINKA is Japanese for, "house of the people".

Pajama Game comes to Centerstage!

By Alec Clayton

Published in the Weekly Volcano, April 13, 2018

Reheasal photo, left to right: Sharon Armstrong, Timothy Duval, Caiti Burke, Sam Barker, Lia Lee, Rico Lastrapes, Ashley Roy, Colin Madison, Cassie Fastabend, and Tyler Dobies. Photo by Monique Preston.

The Pajama Game has a long and storied history, beginning with its beginning on Broadway in 1954 featuring the choreography of the great Bob Fosse, with Shirley McClain as an unnamed dancer, and through two Broadway revivals and a film. to America. The Pajama Game won the Tony Award for Best Musical, and the 2006 revival copped a grand total of nine Tony Awards. And now it is coming to Centerstage! In Federal Way.

With book by George Abbott and Richard Bissell and music and lyrics by Jerry Ross and Richard Adler, the musical is based on Bissell’s novel about workers at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory revolting against harsh conditions when they’re pushed to work faster and faster. They threaten to go on strike and ask for raises of seven-and-a-half cents an hour. Naturally, a love story is thrown into the mix when Sid, the factory superintendent, falls in love with Babe, head of the factory grievance committee, and Prez, the union leader and a married man, has the hots for Gladys, who is dating Vernon Hines, a factory worker who is wracked with jealousy. Sid is played by Eric Dobson; Babe by Taylor Davis, recent director of Return to the Forbidden Planet at Centerstage! Prez is played by Sam Barker, Gladys by Ashley Koon, and Vernon Hines by Colin Madison, Puget Sound area resident and Casting Director at StageRight Theatre in Seattle.

There are fireworks galore, all played out with music and dance with musical theater standards from the 1950s such as “Steam Heat” and “Hernando’s Hideaway.”

“I am really excited by the fabulously diverse cast — some good age range, great racial diversity, and a strong talent pool,” says director Trista Duval. “We have some return actors from this season, but also a few new ones. One of my fave new ones is Gary Taylor, who did film and TV back when that was huge in Seattle. He was in “Northern Exposure” for a 10-or-12-episode arc, and in the film Homeward Bound, which was a formative childhood film for about half the cast, so everyone a bit lost it at that.”

Duval joined Centerstage as the artistic director this past summer after the retirement of Alan Bryce. She has several Centerstage! shows under her belt and says she is honored to be able to continue to build its legacy. She has performed up and down the East Coast, in Texas, and now in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where she first began to grow her experience as an arts team builder and director. She is “married to a stellar guy and has two gorgeous boys who think they own this theatre.” Duval is familiar to South Sound audiences from her performance as the Good Fairy in the panto Little Red Riding Hood and as the Lady of the Lake in Tacoma Musical Playhouse’s Spamalot.

“I became ill shortly after marrying nine years ago and had to take nearly four years off from the theatre world, then complications with having my kids added another three. So during that time I taught voice and worked with a nonprofit developing their arts programs. Then I began taking directing jobs in the area. When I got back into acting, Centerstage! was my first stop,” Duval says. 

The large cast in The Pajama Game includes a group of high school interns from several Federal Way schools. Choreography is by Ashley Roy. Duval says Roy “will be heavily influenced by Fosse but will be bringing her own stuff.”  Music direction by John Lehrack, owner of Dorothy's Piano Bar in Seattle. And the design team, Duval says, “is a great group of awesomeness, which gives it a really fun colorful look and style.” 

Pajama Game, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, May 18 through June 3, plus 2 p.m. Saturday matinees beginning May 26, $12-$29, Centerstage at Knutzen Family Theatre, 3200 SW Dash Point Road, Federal Way, 253-565-6867, http://www.tmp.org

Katlyn Hubner’s #SEXUNTOLD

Disturbing and provocative art at 950 Gallery

by Alec Clayton

Published in the Weekly Volcano, April 12, 2018

 “Faith” painting by Katlyn Hubner, courtesy 950 Gallery

It was just this past December that I reviewed Katlyn Hubner’s paintings at Feast Art Center. In that review I made the audacious statement, “. . . might be the best figure paintings I have ever seen outside a major museum.” And now she’s showing in Tacoma again, this time at 950 Gallery, which used to be called Spaceworks Gallery. Her latest outing is called #SEXUNTOLD (hashtag and call-caps part of the title). It is an investigation into how men view sex interpreted from a woman’s point of view. It is definitely an adult-only art exhibition, with male and female nudity and depictions of sexual situations. This show is provocative and might be disturbing to some viewers — not because of the sexual content (it is not in any way pornographic), but because the images are harsh and uncompromising.

Hubner blends distortion and abstraction with realism. She puts her models in uncomfortable poses and views them from strange points of view, and paints extreme closeups and pictures of bodies at harsh angles. You might say they are all teeth and elbows, sweat and strain. The colors are electric, with deep blues and greens, fiery reds, purples, sickly skin tones, soft and delicate modeling adjacent to or blending into the kind of heavy bushstrokes associated with Abstract Expressionism.

The only painter I can think of who has ever done anything similar is Francis Bacon. That might give readers an inkling of what they’re in for. This show is not for the squeamish.

And it’s not just painting. Hubner interviewed men, asking questions about sexism, and their responses are presented as written text and film projection including film of one man reciting poems he wrote in answer to Hubner’s questions.

Among the more haunting images is “Trouble Shooting,” a closeup of a hand gripping a neck and “Self 101” a seated naked woman with splashes and drips of paint obscuring her face, breast and pubic area as a violet kind of censorship.

One of the most disturbing (and most Baconesque) is “Faith,” an extreme closeup of a screaming face with a monstrous open mouth, the head covered in clear plastic painted with expressionistic slashes of white paint.

There are also two unfinished paintings that demonstrate the artist’s method of working. In these, the background appears almost finished but the figure includes blue-green outlines of areas that will be light and shadow.

Hubner works from photographs she takes herself from models of her choosing. There are six such photographs in the show, all with the same range of electric colors we see in the paintings.

Between the paintings, the texts, the films and photos, there is a lot to see. I find the written work and the filmed responses to her questions mildly interesting. I find the paintings mesmerizing and marvelous.

#SEXUNTOLD, 1-5 p.m. Thursdays, 1-9 p.m. Third Thursday, and by appointment, through April 19, 950 Gallery, 950 Pacific Ave. (Entrance on 11th St.),
Tacoma,

Review: Peter and the Starcatcher

by Alec Clayton  

Published in The News Tribune, April 6, 2018

(L to R)  KYLE SINCLAIR (Black Stache), CHAP WOLFF (Smee) and the Ensemble Cast from the Lakewood Playhouse Production of "PETER & THE STARCATCHER" - photo by Tim Johnson

The Ensemble Cast of the Lakewood Playhouse Production of "PETER & THE STARCATCHER" - photo by Tim Johnson

Lakewood Playhouse’s South Sound premiere of “Peter and the Starcatcher” is two-and-a-half hours of buffoonery with moments of tenderness that will remind you of every comedy bit you’ve ever seen, from Willie Wonka to Monty Python and Carol Burnett, to “The Rocky Horror Show” and “Pirates of Penzance” – the latter because there are pirates galore in the show, and because of director John Munn’s unique stylings recently seen in Lakewood Playhouse’s production of “Penzance.” This one is not a musical, but there is a lot of singing in it and, if not dancing, at least a lot of choreographed movement, particularly a lot of hilarious overly histrionic posing in freeze-frame.

The one drawback to this ambitious undertaking is the story itself. It is the story of Peter Pan before he became Peter Pan and Captain Hook before he lost his hand. Based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson and adapted for the stage by Rick Elice, the story is a hodgepodge of loosely connected skits with no dramatic arc until the bare outline of a story appears in the second act. It starts out fall-on-the-floor funny but begins to drag in the second act. Some cuts would have helped, but copyright laws prevent that.

What the story lacks in cohesion is compensated for by outstanding acting on the part of the 13-member ensemble cast. It is a true ensemble, not a few leads backed up by an ensemble. Nevertheless, there are actors who stand out, such as Kyle Sinclair as the sinister Black Stache. Theatergoers will remember Sinclair for his standout role in “Avenue Q.” Sinclair plays this epitome of all b-movie bad guys with grand gestures and comic timing worthy of the greatest of the old silent-movie stars. Emily Cohen who plays the unnamed Boy (cq) who eventually becomes Peter Pan as a sweet, unaffected, and brave young man. Cohen is also the show’s fight choreographer. Kudos also to W. Scott Pinkston, who is over-the-top silly as the lovesick Alf, in love with the delightful Martin Larson, in drag throughout as Mrs. Bumbrake. And to Tony L. Williams (also an “Avenue Q” alum) as the gruff and growly pirate Bill Slank and later as the dumber than dumb Hawking Clam.

Scenic designer Blake York does his usual primo job of designing a kind of rundown waterfront scene that looks deceptively tacked together with scrap lumber but is strong and serviceable. Lighting by Jacob Viramontes and Joy Ghigleri brilliantly enhance the fast-moving action.

Munn and his crew deserve maximum credit for pulling this mish-mosh together and somehow making it work.

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through April 22

WHERE: Lakewood Playhouse, 5729 Lakewood Towne Center Blvd., Lakewood TICKETS: $20-$26

INFORMATION: (253) 588-0042, https://www.lakewoodplayhouse.org/ 

Priscilla Dobler’s ‘La Sala’ at Feast Art Center

by Alec Clayton

Published in the Weekly Volcano, April 5, 2018

 installation shot of Priscilla Dobler’s La Sala, photo by Gabi Clayton

La Sala is Spanish for “living room,” and Priscilla Dobler’s installation by that name at Feast Art Center is a conceptual environment that questions how a person’s living room affects their life — turning on its head the concept that we affect the spaces in which we live. After all, we choose the furnishings, the colors, and what goes on the walls of our living rooms. But we live in those rooms day in and day out, so our living rooms affect us as well as we affect them. To some people this might be nothing more than a mind game, but in the hands of an artist it can be intellectually stimulating and beautiful.

This installation investigates how architectural spaces represent gender roles and cultural structures. In it, Dobler has constructed a room with a couch, a chair, tables, and artwork hanging on the walls, all built with wood frames upon which she weaves layers of colorful thread. The furniture is a boxy kind of reductive sculpture. The “paintings” on the wall are simple scrims of overlapping lines of thread that hang a foot or two from the walls. Three of them are traditional rectangular frames, and two are oddly shaped.

The most interesting thing about the paintings and the furniture is that the colors change depending on your point of view, and changes of position can create an effect similar to moiré patterns as you move about the space. For example, one piece of furniture has a web of blue threads with a few inches beneath it a web of red threads. Depending on the viewer’s position in the room, it looks blue, or it might look red, or the red and blue threads might blend together to make purple. Furthermore, since everything is see-through, viewers can see patterns upon patterns upon patterns as they move about.

Added to all this, there is a video projection through one of the “paintings” onto the back wall, with local people sitting in their own living rooms and talking about their perceptions of their environment. Over the past few months, Dobler has been interviewing individuals in Tacoma about their perceptions of how their identity has been shaped based on the political and social structure of identity in society and in private/public spaces. Apparently the film is an ongoing project, because there is an announcement on the gallery wall asking for volunteers to be filmed. Similar versions of the installation have been presented in galleries in Seattle, and others are planned for the near future.

Dobler’s La Sala is a quiet and unobtrusive installation that demands attention and thought. If you enter the gallery expecting to be delighted or entertained, you might be disappointed. But if you go in willing to look and listen with an open mind, your mind just might be expanded.

La Sala, installation by Priscilla Dobler, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, and by appointment, through April 14, Feast Arts Center, 1402 S. 11th St., Tacoma, www.feastarts.com 

Screaming Butterflies Productions presents Shakespeare’s Richard II

Screaming Butterflies Productions presents Shakespeare’s Richard II

Nastassia Reynolds as Henry Bolingbroke and Brittany Henderson as  Richard II. Photo by Kathryn Philbrook 

Note: This is an unedited press release.

Screaming Butterflies, a new theater compny in Tacoma, is producing Shakespeare's Richard II to be performed in the Dukesbay Theater space April 13-29. One of the more rarely produced plays in Shakespeare’s canon, Richard II is about a power struggle between two factions fighting to keep or win the crown of England.  Historically, it marks the beginning of the War of the Roses in England, over a century of civil war during the Middle Ages.  In this production, director Kathryn Philbrook explores the nature of power, how it changes people, how they relate to it, and what happens when they lose it. 

“It feels very timely,” says Philbrook, “We have two potential leaders, neither of whom is really a very good king, and we see what they are willing to do and give up to stay in power.”   

Careful not to try to make this an allegory or one to one comparison to any specific current event, this Screaming Butterflies production is not setting the play in an identifiable time or place, but is style-influenced by 1920s Art Deco and Mad Men era lines.   Set Design is by architect S. Matthew Philbrook, and Costume Design by theater veteran Naarah McDonald.  Original music is being composed by Mateo Herrera, bringing an accessible modernity and a fresh contemporary vibe.  Rounding out the Production Team includes Fight Choreography by Jen Tidwell, and Lighting Design by Leo Foster.

Co-Producers Philbrook and Jeanette Sanchez-Izenman are excited about this maiden voyage for Screaming Butterflies.  They began planning to collaborate over a year ago, and surprised each other with how closely their artistic values aligned. 

“Theatre affords us a space to confront threats to our being as women in a #metoo era and make them safe. Screaming Butterflies is committed to a feminist approach for creating performance with a keen eye on body positivity and a commitment to multicultural artistic collaboration,” says Sanchez-Izenman. 

In this light, the cast features several women in strong and leading roles: Brittany Henderson plays Richard II, Nastassia Reynolds is Henry Bolingbroke.  The rest of the cast play multiple ensemble roles, and include LaNita Walters, Steve Gallion, Cat Waltzer, Ben Stahl, Jackie-Lyn Villava-Cua, Jazmine Herrington, Travis Martinez, Ed Medina, and Tony Hicks. 

Richard II will be performed at Dukesbay Theater in the Merlino Art Center located at 508 6^th Ave Ste 10, Tacoma, WA 98402.  For more information about this production, contact Kathryn Philbrook at 253-691-9615 or proctor_grace@yahoo.com.  Screaming Butterflies website is screamingbutterfliestheater.wordpress.com; and tickets are available for purchase through Brown Paper Tickets at

https://screamingbutterflies.brownpapertickets.com

.