Dawnell Smith

Writer Dawnell Smith explores the idea of making room for art, literature and original thought in our busy everyday lives.

Think of "Hullabaloo" as an old Fly By Night Club show without live music or Spam. When it works, it works uproariously and when it doesn't, well, feel free to groan.

Timothy Daly's play "The Man in the Attic" sprang from the true story of a Jewish man hidden by a German couple during World War II; his saviors became captors later by not telling him when the war ended.

The storytelling in "Time Immemorial" succeeds not as a seamless, full-fledged play but as a willfully gentle caress over the face of Alaska history and a story still being told.

It would be easy to call "Hot Spanish Nights" the CliffsNotes of Spanish flamenco and zarzuela. The show opens with flamenco guitar and dance and ends with an abbreviated performance of the Spanish operetta, "Tabernera del Puerto" ("The Tavern Girl of the Port").

Check out the full house, the all-female theater ensemble, the dual lines and lives within the script; watch how everyone in the audience rises to their feet when the room goes black for the last time. Seeing Out North this crowded brings tears to a theater hag's eyes, even more so because of the good writing and acting.

Let's wow Joe Six-Pack with Alaska-made beers like Snow Angel Barley Wine and Smoked Russian Imperial Stout from Kassik's Kenai Brew Stop. Or the 2008 Arctic Devil Barley Wine and oak-aged Berserker Imperial Stout from Midnight Sun Brewing Co. of Anchorage. Or even the auspicious Alaska Statehood Mead and stunningly tasty 2006 Local Tart Cherry Reserve from Ring of Fire Meadery of Homer.

The one choice you won't have to make New Year's Eve is whether to ring in the new year plugged in or unplugged, because this year's shindig at the Bear Tooth Theatrepub promises a good deal of both.

Sara Tabbert makes it a point to take painstaking care in her work. The Fairbanks artist lays a hand on every facet and detail of her work, drawing subject matter from everything, from the delicacy of a broken branch to the intimacy of water over stones.

Portugal. The Man's latest release, "Censored Colors," came out in September, followed by a relentless tour that took it from the East Coast through the Midwest and back to the Pacific Northwest during the presidential campaign. Along the way, the two band members originally from Wasilla -- John Baldwin Gourley and Zachary Scott Carothers -- fielded questions about the year's No. 1 political celebrity, Gov. Sarah Palin.

Things can go dreadfully wrong when teen actors play adult characters with teenagers of their own. Believability can topple out the window, along with the integrity of the script.

A good holiday production can hoist a theater group over the hump of breaking even -- or at least beyond the edge of a financial chasm.

What do the violin and blues have in common? Geoffrey Castle for one thing. The musician from Washington awes and surprises crowds with his broad musical lexicon and sonic scope; when sawing his six-string violin, Castle simply rocks.

If you want details, I can give you a list: Feather headdresses, loincloths, tools of death, a blond wig, shimmering skin, saturation, a wheelchair, drums, an exercise bike, wine in a paper bag, a lectern, executioners, vodka and Pepto-Bismol in a martini glass, savages and roulette.

If a picture speaks a thousand words, how many sentences does it take to paint a picture? Indeed, how do images become story and story image. And what happens when both appear side by side?