How'd you like "As You Like It"?

OCTOBER 10, 2008 - 12:14 PM

The World's a Stage: Julie-Joy Voss as Rosalind and, Bradford Jackson as Orlando in Shakespeare's "As You Like It.” The Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Alaska Anchorage will perform “As You Like It” to open its season, starting tonight and running at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 26, 2008 at the UAA Mainstage Theatre in the Fine Arts Building. Photo by Anita Algiene, courtesy UAA.

Shakespeare's comedy opens Friday night at UAA, and the Claremont Trio performs at the Discovery Theatre. We'll have reviews of these performances posted below as soon as they become available. Feel free to add your own comments to these or any other art events you catch.

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Mask Mayhem

OCTOBER 8, 2008 - 7:20 PM

Ancient Sugpiaq masks in France: photo by Sven Haakanson.
By Mike Dunham

I spent some interesting hours this week looking on as curators prepared "Giinaquq (Like a Face)" at the Anchorage Museum.

The exhibit includes some of the rarest Alaskana in the world - 34 Sugpiaq masks from the Kodiak area collected 136 years ago and borrowed back from France. The full yarn is an interesting story that will get told in this Sunday's Life & Arts section in the Daily News.

Artists examine masks: A group of Alaskans who made the pilgrimage to inspect rare Kodiak masks in France helped convince authorities there to let Alaska borrow them for the new exhibit. Photo: Sven Haakanson.

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Golden voices

OCTOBER 7, 2008 - 5:17 PM

Celebrating!: Alaska Sound Celebration directors Peggy McBride (left) and Karen Leet relish the group's first place trophy.
The Alaska Sound Celebration chorus out-performed 10 other groups to win first prize at this year’s convention of Region 13, Sweet Adelines International in Spokane, Wash. The chorus consists of 70 or more women from Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley, formed when two existing Sweet Ads women’s barbershop-style groups — the Anchorage Sourdough and Top of the World choruses — merged last year.

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REVIEW: "Evita" the magnetic, lively and timely musical

OCTOBER 6, 2008 - 8:11 PM

Dawnell Smith
Daily News Correspondent

Steven Alvarez wears charisma like a nightshirt or wool socks. He looks comfortable in it, and not all that impressed. This stage presence matters when playing Che Guevara in "Evita" by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

As Che, Alvarez stamps purpose onto the fabric of spectacle. With long hair, beard, beret and guerrilla garb, he not only looks the part but also holds the parts together in this production by Theatre Artists United and Alaska Theatre of Youth.

Part of his success has to do with the role itself as scripted narrator, the rest on his formidable presence.

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REVIEW: A wellspring of laughs in "Well"

OCTOBER 6, 2008 - 2:24 AM

By Dawnell Smith
Daily News Correspondent

Fairly early in the play "Well" by Lisa Kron, the narrator talks about reverting to adolescence when returning to her mother’s house as an adult. "Your parents live in an alternative universe where your therapy has no power," she says.

Well, "Well" lives in an alternative universe where assumptions have no power. Actors go out of character, the narrator loses control of her script and multiple story lines slip-slide-slam into a tangential exploration of illness as wellness, wellness as illness, and segregation as metaphor for closing doors, closing minds and closing hearts.

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REVIEW: AGA-BOOM

OCTOBER 4, 2008 - 5:59 PM

Aga-Boom

By Rachael Fisher

Whether you are looking for some family entertainment this weekend or just relish the thought of turning your kids onto theater you will not be disappointed with Aga-Boom.

There is something for all ages at this show. The giggles of children were punctuated with full-blown laughter from their parents as Aga-Boom’s trio of clowns kept the audience entertained with their unique brand of funny. The set was simple and the props were simple which kept my attention focused on the colorfully-dressed characters.

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"Evita" presents a spectacle of ambition

OCTOBER 4, 2008 - 12:57 PM

Dawnell Smith
Daily News Correspondent

In the name of full disclosure, let me present the mood: After a mid-morning dog bite that sent me to the emergency room, I spent the day running errands, finishing deadlines and hobbling from the starting line of the annual elementary school running jamboree to the finish line to cheer on my sons and their friends. Until 7:30 p.m. In the rain.

Then I limped to my van to head downtown for opening night of "Evita," a stellar musical about the life of Eva Peron. The production by Theatre Artists United and Alaska Theatre of Youth deserves high praise for its scope and spectacle. The leads were spot-on, the set effective, the costumes enticing and the choreography astute.

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Cards, Creation and Chaos

SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 - 11:44 PM

By Mike Dunham

The First Friday rambles found us downtown this month for the opening reception of two shows at the Anchorage Museum, the Bead International show and Wanda Seamster's solo exhibit, "Run." Both showed that good things can come in small packages. The beadwork ran from jewelry to mosaic "paintings" to three-dimensional sculptures; I was particularly taken by the beaded Mr. T doll.

"Run" is the first ever Patricia Wolf Solo Artist exhibit and consists entirely of small cards and other similarly-sized objects, generally arrayed in themes. Many of the recurring images were familiar from earlier Seamster shows, like the Donald Duck Buddha doll. Both of these museum shows need to be seen close-up, without the opening night crowds.

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REVIEW: Anchorage Symphony Orchestra

SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 - 11:33 PM

StravinskyBy Mike Dunham

The usually rock-solid brass of the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra sounded less than granite-like in the initial notes of the first concert of the new season on Saturday night. The exposed opening chords in Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture” found them unsteady both in terms of pitch and synchronization. The strings came off somewhat tenuously as well. Perhaps it was opening night jitters.

The winds, however, played like they were having the night of their lives, both here and in the numerous solos they would deliver over the rest of the program. There is room here to salute the principals who had most of those solos: Roxann Selland Berry, flute; Sharman Piper, oboe; Martin Hoffer, bassoon; and, filling in the first clarinet chair, Mark Wolbers.

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REVIEW: Alice in Wonderland

SEPTEMBER 26, 2008 - 9:49 AM

Alice in Wonderland: Anchorage Community Theatre's production in Mt. View. From left: Gage Hiseley as the Dormouse, Michelle Beskler as the Mad Hatter, Lori Pathmann as the March Hare, Zak Grauvogel as the Playing Card, and Rebecca Boitz as Alice. Photo: ACT

By Maia Nolan

Looking for something fun to do with the kids this weekend? Consider Anchorage Community Theatre’s production of “Alice in Wonderland,” which opened Friday at Mountain View Community Church.

Produced in collaboration with the Mountain View Theatre Project, “Alice in Wonderland” is a Technicolor trip through Lewis Carroll’s beloved fantasy world. Fans of the book (and its film interpretations) will recognize plenty of favorite characters brought to life – in true community theatre fashion – by actors of all ages and levels of experience.

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The Daily Show finds plenty of parody at UAA

SEPTEMBER 20, 2008 - 9:38 AM

Dawnell Smith
Daily News Correspondent

How does a campus newspaper fill the giant Wendy Williamson Auditorium on a Friday night? A lecture, of course. By a news correspondent.

Not just any correspondent, mind you, but the clueless, often righteous newsman played by comic actor Aasif Mandvi of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," who also plays Dr. Jahangir Prashar in the recently released film, "Ghost Town."

Mandvi did more of a stand-up routine by sharing anecdotes about "The Daily Show" between clips of his work. He called himself as "the brown guy at 'The Daily Snow'" and explained how he often leaves his heart at the door when searching for that "authentic moment."

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Review: Autumn Classics

SEPTEMBER 19, 2008 - 10:48 PM

By Mike Dunham

Amid the roar of a world grown particularly strident, sour, obstreperous and chaotic recently, one briefly felt a sweet breath of civilization on Friday night at the first concert in the Alaska Airlines Autumn Classics chamber music series.

Grant Hall was full, so I wasn’t the only one eager for this concert season to get going.

It began quietly, pensively, with violinist Paul Rosenthal, cellist Jeffrey Solow and pianist Charles Abramowic performing Haydn’s two-movement Piano Trio in E-flat Major. The slow first movement, a set of extended variations, is where the meat lies in this piece. The threesome did not consistently find the perfect balance of sensitivity, power and precision, but when they did it was worth the wait.

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REVIEW: CLEAN HOUSE

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 - 5:27 PM

Clean House: The New York premiere in 2006 starred Vanessa Aspillaga, Jill Clayburgh, Blair Brown and Concetta Tomei. The New York Times called it "one of the best plays you're likely to see." Critic Maia Nolan says much the same of Cyrano's new production. Photo: Sara Krulwich, New York Times.
By Maia Nolan

Like any committed Anchorage theatergoer, I’ve attended countless performances at Cyrano’s since the playhouse opened in the early 1990s. But Cyrano’s Theatre Company’s production of “The Clean House,” by Sara Ruhl, may be the best production I’ve seen staged there since — well, ever.

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Fran Reed celebration at the Anchorage Museum

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 - 1:29 PM

Dawnell Smith
Daily News Correspondent

A celebration of Fran Reed’s life will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, September 26, at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, 121 W 7th Avenue. People from far and wide will contribute to the gathering through professional and personal statements about Reed, including tributes from local artist Gina Holloman, multi-media artist Lis Gram from Copenhagen and curators from the Smithsonian Institution.

Photo by Dick Reed: Fran Reed in her throne during the July fish skinning and stitching workshop she taught outside of Homer

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Review: John Jorgenson

SEPTEMBER 12, 2008 - 1:39 PM

Gypsy Jazz Star now turns to Southeast

By LELAND SMITH
John Jorgenson: With his Band in Anchorage, Sept. 12, 2008.
The John Jorgenson Quintet delivered a fantastic Alaska debut performance at the Sydney Laurence Theatre Friday Night.

Lead guitarist Jorgenson, in creating a tribute to jazz legends Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli, has created sparkling original compositions that capture the heart and soul of melodic Gypsy Jazz.

From the outset, the excited audience of around two hundred, found themselves literally transported back in time to the 1930s. Opening fire by improvising with an exotic Hungarian melody, Jorgenson and violinist Jason Anick, exchanged rapid-fire solos and then flowered into the haunting romantic ballad “Smoldering Ashes,” from the 2004 release “Franco-American.” Almost every song featured a solo guitar intro and during "Swingapore," from the latest release "Ultraspontane," one could hear a pin drop.

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Wrecking ball party

SEPTEMBER 11, 2008 - 3:48 PM

Wrecking ball party

A wrecking ball will take out the old Color Creek building in Mountain View this Friday, September 12, to make way for a Credit Union 1, but the real fun begins at the swankiest Color Creek location yet.

Check out Color Creek Fiber Art at a shindig from 5:30 to 8 p.m. the same day at the new pad on 2605 Barrow Street on the corner of 26th.

Show up to check the place out, sign up for workshops and munch on food.

Or just to cry for Fran Reed, who died in the early hours of September 11; and to cry for Fran Reed, who knew how to live.

--Dawnell Smith

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FIRST FRIDAY RAMBLES - DID YOU SEE THE SHOW?

SEPTEMBER 5, 2008 - 8:43 PM

The Rambles really started on Thursday this week, when the UAA Student Gallery held its opening reception for "Fontography," a group show worked around the theme of lettering styles. All of the examples were interesting to one who judges books by their typesettings. Some, like Liz Shine's digital print portrait made entirely of letters, "Typeface," were remarkable in their workmanship. Others - notably Aurora Hablett's "Ramona gets schooled by Dinosuit," a series of panels in which a little girl argues with a triceretops about whether Helvetica is a typeface or a font - were instrutionally amusing.

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Head's Up: The Freeze sneak peak

SEPTEMBER 3, 2008 - 2:33 PM

By Dawnell Smith
Daily News Correspondent

Find out about the FREEZE project during a sneak peak from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, September 6, at the Anchorage Museum, 121 W. 7th Avenue. The fundraiser will include food, wine, and live music by Sean Mormelo as well as a look at the lectures and programs planned for the upcoming winter exhibition on the Delaney Park Strip.

Architects, artists, landscape architects, lighting designers, graphic designers and others will contribute to the winter show with installations shaped from snow, ice, light and more.

FREEZE is a project of the Alaska Design Forum in association with the Anchorage Museum and the International Gallery of Contemporary Art. Find out more about it at www.freezeproject.org.

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Review: Kingston plays to mostly beautiful skies

AUGUST 30, 2008 - 11:20 AM

Dawnell Smith
Daily News Correspondent

Rising hip-hop star Sean Kingston got a little sun, a little rain when he played the Alaska State Fair's Borealis Theatre Friday night in two shows that drew throngs of teenagers and families.

Instead of hanging out on the theater grounds, I skulked the securing fence for a peek since the promised guest list never materialized and no one in security or the box office seemed anxious to help me find it.

While spying the contoured mound of the theater grounds through a chain link fence, I ran into Troy McGlashan, a young man in groovy clothes who appeared smitten by the righteous reggae groves of Bare Roots, a local reggae band that started jamming by 5:15 p.m.

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REVIEW: Fator throws his voice around the fairgrounds

AUGUST 28, 2008 - 2:33 AM

By Dawnell Smith
Daily News Correspondent

Let me give it to you straight: I don't watch TV, could care less about cute puppets and probably won't see a single episode of "America's Got Talent" in my life.

Yet somehow the million-dollar winner of the popular NBC talent show won me over Wednesday night at the Borealis Theatre on the Alaska State Fairgrounds. Or should I say Walter T. Airedale the Garth Brooks-singing puppet won me over, for surely Walter most closely resembles the man behind the voices—Texas-born singer, comedian, impersonator, ventriloquist and 2007 "Got Talent" winner Terry Fator.

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