The Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, known as a world leader for hosting world-class performing artists, providing the largest performing arts education programs in Washington state and preserving downtown Tacoma's historic theaters, is conducting a survey to discover how seriously consumers are committed to their entertainment.

The Broadway Center Survey asks: What do you want to see more of during their 2012-2013 season?

Coffee
Sex
Weekly Volcano
Kickass Shows
Vietnamese Noodle Soup

The results so far? "Kickass Shows" is second only to the Weekly Volcano on the priority list for both men and women. The majority of respondents would give up coffee, sex and Vietnamese noodle soup - in that order - for an entertaining night at the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts.

Women were twice as likely to jettison sex as men. Men claimed (by a wide margin) that they'd give up sex before the Weekly Volcano, although analysts are divided on whether this measures commitment or honesty.

(These results are based solely on the votes by employees at Weekly Volcano World Headquarters. Outside results may vary.)

There is STILL TIME TO TAKE THE SURVEY. 

The Broadway Center invites you to participate in the selection process for the upcoming 2012-13 season! Please take a moment to share your opinion and influence the Broadway Center line-up next season. The theaters are yours, and the folks behind the scenes at the Broadway Center hope you'll take a moment to tell them "YES" you would be interested in attending, or "NO" you would not, for several exciting potential shows. Or, answer "SOUP AND VOLCANO" if you would like Vietnamese Noodle Soup and a copy of the Weekly Volcano to be available inside the lobby of the Pantages Theater, Rialto Theater and Theatre on the Square next season. 

Saying "YES" does not commit you to purchasing a ticket to a kickass show; rather, it serves as a valuable tool as the Broadway Center selects the next season's shows.

WORTHY TRADITION >>>

Now in its 21st year, the annual Arts Olympia Show and Sale this weekend at the Capital Museum Coach House promises, according to hype for the event, to be the best ever. And we're inclined to believe said hype. Why? Well, this year's event hype includes mention of Olympia's new mayor, Stephen Buxbaum, kicking off the festivities during a Friday-night opening reception (a definite plus), and - more importantly - Volcano arts writer and critic Alec Clayton delivering a lecture Saturday afternoon.

And did we mention Sunday promises a poetry event featuring members of the Olympia Poetry Network? 

The three-day show comes under the header Perspectives 2012 and will include the work of nearly 40 local artists. This one's a no-brainer - which is probably why, year after year, the Arts Olympia Show and Sale keeps coming back for more.

[Capital Museum Coach House, Friday, Feb. 10 5-7 p.m. opening reception with Olympia Mayor Stephen Buxbaum, Saturday, Feb. 11 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Alec Clayton speaks at 1 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 12 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. poetry event at 1 p.m., 211 W. 21^st Ave., Olympia, artsolympia.org]

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 8, 2012 >>>

1. Pacific Lutheran University and the school's School of Arts and Communication kick off the fledgling SOAC Focus Series today with an exhibition of printmaking from around the country. Designed as an annual event, this year's first-ever SOAC Focus Series will center on a theme of compassion. According to hype, the series will have a goal of bringing together "talented students and faculty each year," with "a common theme will be selected and discussed through a multi-disciplinary approach. ...  Each year, the theme selected will be relevant, timely and appropriate to the mission of SOAC and PLU." Today sees the opening of the National Print Exhibition: The Human Experience, a collection of juried printmaking entries from around the country that are apparently, "as varied as the human experience," and feature, "many touchstones that speak to us in different ways and tie one individual to another through the love of art and a broader understanding of each other."

2. Do you enjoy comedy? Do you like bliss? Then you'll want to catch the musical Newsday called "blissfully funny," Mel Brooks's adaptation of Young Frankenstein, in its final day today  at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in Olympia. The production, developed in Seattle in 2007 and hit Broadway two years late, is a mostly faithful translation of the 1974 movie. It includes all your favorite moments: "Abby Normal," "Puttin' on the Ritz," Frau Blücher's way with horses and one enormous schwanzstucker. (Voof!)

3. There was a time when the Big Friction Jam at Jazzbones was THE place to be for Sunday night maxin', relaxin' and jammin'. Powered by the groove-heavy leanings of saxophonist Brett "Big Friction" Cummings, the Big Friction house band took the stage, laid down the funk and groove, and magic ensued, with a cast of talented locals streaming through to take the stage and get down. TonightJazzbones will welcome back the Big Friction Jam for an evening that's sure to blow your usual Hump Day plans out of the proverbial water. If you're down to jam on it (or enjoy when others jam on it) this one's for you.

4. In all-ages musical action, tonight at the Mandolin Café Really Old Airplanes will play from 6 -7 p.m., and singer/songwriter Gina Belliveau will lay it down from 7-8 p.m.

5. The Northern Pacific Coffee Co. in Parkland holds its renowned open mic tonight from 8 - 11 p.m. There's no cover, and sign-ups star at 7:30 p.m. Bring the kids, because the NPCC open mic is totally all-ages.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

SEE SOMETHING NEW EACH WEEK >>>

Hey, me again. With the first month of the year already gone, just thought I'd check in and see how those New Year's resolutions were coming. Maybe your list looks a lot like everyone else's - exercise more, drink less, actually start reading the Buzz and send its tireless author some fan mail.

But how about bulking up your IQ? No, the other one - your Indie Quota. Do you get enough alternative cinema in your weekly diet? If Mom said eating your carrots sharpened those eyeballs, consuming enough indie film will indeed change how you see the world.

Thanks to its Tuesday Film Series, The Grand Cinema has spent the last six months ramping up the number of titles marching through its doors. The program kicked off on July 26, 2011, with the American documentary Lords of Nature. The theater has since used each subsequent Tuesday to bring in a different film beyond its regular weekly run, amounting to a unique experience for viewers every time.

Executive director Philip Cowan handpicks the growing list, noting that the series "gives me a chance to play 52 more films a year ... that (The Grand) otherwise wouldn't have had a chance to play."

Since a movie shows only twice before moving on (typically afternoons and evenings), it pays to plan ahead. Reviewing options for the next several weeks on the Grand's website, grandcinema.com, I'd say the locally-shot doc Grounds for Resistance (Feb 7), followed by rom-com Medianeras for Valentine's Day, may start making Tuesday the new day for film.

Watch the Grounds for Resistance trailer below.

TUESDAY, FEB. 7, 2012 >>>

1. Bring your love of the bagpipes out of the closet and into full view today when Dick Hensold, billed as "one of America's finest traditional bagpipers," drops in on Tacoma for a performance brought to us by the Old Town Music Society and Puget Sound Revels. Dabbling in Northumbrian smallpipes, reel pipes, seljefloyte, sackpipa and piborn according to promotion - in traditional and historical styles including Cape Breton, early Scottish, Northumbrian, Scandinavian, Irish and medieval - Hensold seems certain to blow the roof off the joint.

2. Tonight at Varsity Grill join the United Way of Pierce County's Project:U for a fundraiser and food drive event. The Varsity Grill will donate 20-percent of all sales proceeds to the United Way of Pierce County cause, and canned food donations will be collected for area F.I.S.H. food banks.

3. Saint Martin's University in Lacey will celebrate the 200^th birthday of Charles Dickens today with what's described as "a marathon reading of the renowned author's works." According to hype, Saint Martin's English Department and the English honor society Sigma Tau Delta will host the event from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Harned Hall. Expect excerpts from Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities and more.

4. Tuesday means it's time for another Ha Ha Tuesday at Jazzbones, a night of comedy hosted by the venerable Ralph Porter. After the comedy, stick around for Jazzbones' hot weeknight DJ action.

5. It's open mic night at Tugboat Annie's in Olympia. Bring your geetar or your best songs and show the world what you've got (and by "world" we mean the collection of Thurston County folks on hand at the favorite local watering hole).

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

MONDAY, FEB. 6, 2012 >>>

1. Catch the Greta Jane Quarter tonight at the Fourth Ave. Tavern in Olympia, as, after a long run at the Royal Lounge, Ms. Greta Jane Pederson's jazz combo featuring Cary Black, Vince Brown, and Andrew Dorsett reclaims Monday nights at a new downtown Oly locale.

2. Throw on your best aging t-shirt and limber up your devil horns, because Monday means it's time for yet another Metal Monday at The New Frontier Lounge. The head-banging starts at 9 p.m.

3. Monday night is trivia night at the Tacoma Comedy Club on Market Street. There's no cover to get in, and the questions kick off at 7 p.m. In addition to the general thrill of victory, cash and prizes are also advertised.

4. Speaking of trivia, one of the best trivia nights in the area goes down each Monday at the Harmon Tap Room in Tacoma's Stadium District. It runs from 6 -8 p.m., with the winner of each round a $50 cash prize according to hype.

5. Common sense might suggest getting loaded on a Monday night and singing your ass off at the China Clipper's "Late Night Karaoke" might be a questionable idea. But screw common sense. With the karaoke starting at 9 p.m., we suggest sucking down a couple of the Clipper's notoriously strong drinks and then letting it all hang out.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

WE SCENE IT >>>

Tacoma's Goldfinch is working on a new album, and it is going to be very, very good. One of my fine Volcano colleagues will pop up one of these days and tell you all about the band's Spaceworks Tacoma residency at 1310 MLK, and the process behind their new work in progress, so I'll leave that to the experts, and just say that between the Seattle Folk Festival and Saturday night's gig at the aforementioned space, I've been fortunate enough to hear a healthy dose of their new material, as performed in stripped-down fashion by Aaron Stevens and cellist/harmonizer Emily Ann Peterson, and I have already decided that it will be one of my favorite records of the year.

Saturday's festivities were not all about Goldfinch, of course. Not content to deal in one art form at a time, Spaceworks, Goldfinch and the Warehouse engineered an evening of improv comedy, storytelling from KUOW producer Megan Sukys - amusing anecdotes from the life of her South Carolinan family - and live painting in the corner by Britton Sukys, crafting a colorful piece that no-one failed to be impressed by as they passed.

Headliners OK Sweetheart got the house bouncing with their energetic brand of pop, and an oddly entertaining short film about a man and his exercise ball rolled briefly on the wall. But like every other show I've seen them open in recent months, Stevens and whatever brethren he brings along on any given night continually own the show from front to back.

So hurry up and make that record, guys. I want to listen to it. Over. And over. And over.

LINK: Goldfinch and Spaceworks Tacoma

EXHIBITION KICKS OFF THE SOAC FOCUS SERIES >>>

Pacific Lutheran University and the school's School of Arts and Communication kick off the fledgling SOAC Focus Series Wednesday with an exhibition of printmaking from around the country. Designed as an annual event, this year's first-ever SOAC Focus Series will center on a theme of compassion. According to hype, the series will have a goal of bringing together "talented students and faculty each year," with "a common theme will be selected and discussed through a multi-disciplinary approach. ...  Each year, the theme selected will be relevant, timely and appropriate to the mission of SOAC and PLU."

Wednesday sees the opening of the National Print Exhibition: The Human Experience, a collection of juried printmaking entries from around the country that are apparently, "as varied as the human experience," and feature, "many touchstones that speak to us in different ways and tie one individual to another through the love of art and a broader understanding of each other."

Later there will be a kegger. (Just kidding.)

[Pacific Lutheran University - University Gallery, National Print Exhibition: The Human Experience Feb. 8-March 7, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, opening reception Feb. 8 5 p.m., free, 12180 Park Ave. S. Tacoma, website]

LINK: SOAC Focus Series schedule

THE LOWDOWN ON WHAT'S UP THIS WEEKEND >>>

WEATHER REPORT

Friday: Partly sunny, hi 54, lo 34

Saturday: Partly sunny, hi 54, lo 30

Sunday: Partly sunny, hi 54, lo 32

>>> FRIDAY, FEB. 3: LOVE PANEL & DESSERT PARTY

Very few of us fully comprehend the intricacies of love and relationships. Dessert, on the other hand, is something most have a firm grasp on. Friday in Olympia both aspects of our existence will be combined for the scrumptious (and enlightening) sounding Love Panel & Dessert Party at the Olympia Mahayana Buddhist Center. According to event hype, "[t]he evening begins with a decadent dessert and appetizer party featuring an array of irresistible treats," before "The Love Panel" - consisting of three Buddhist teachers (Olympia's Kelsang Tsoglam, Portland's Kadam Heather Rocklin and Seattle's Patrick Meagher) - answers the crowd's questions about love and relationships "from a Buddhist point of view." Should you hit that? Let Buddha guide you.

• Olympia Mahayana Buddhist Center, 6:30-8:30 p.m., $12, free for supporters, 211 Legion Way SW, Olympia, 360.754.7787, meditateinolympia.org

>>> FEB. 3-19: THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH

The Phantom Tollbooth, a children's adventure novel by Norton Juster published in 1961, is loved to this day by children and adults alike. While it's easy to see why children connect to young Milo's tale, it also doesn't take much pondering to see why many adults still harbor a soft spot for the book. Luckily for all parties involved, Olympia Family Theater opens a three-week run of the stage version of The Phantom Tollbooth this week at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts - Black Box.

• Washington Center for the Performing Arts - Black Box, Friday - Saturday 7 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m., "Thrifty Thursday," Feb. 9 at 7 p.m., $16 adults, $13 senior/military/student, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia, 360.753.8586

>>> FRIDAY, FEB. 3: WISH YOU WERE HERE

Derailed, like many things, by snowmaggedon 2012, the opening reception for South Puget Sound Community College's Wish You Were Here postcard exhibit has been rescheduled for Friday. As Volcano arts critic Alec Clayton noted in his review of the show, "There are a lot of artist-made postcards in the Wish You Were Here postcard exhibit at the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts Gallery at South Puget Sound Community College. More than 75 local and regional artists submitted more than 250 works. ... [T]hey run the gamut, from sweet and sentimental to corny, wise, clever, beautiful, stupid and amateurish. The postcards include paintings, prints, photography, drawing, ceramics, sculpture and mixed media. A few of the postcards in this show are clichéd, and there are some that are badly done; but for the most part the works are very inventive and skillfully executed." Wish You Were Here runs through March 2 at the SPSCC Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts Gallery.

• SPSCC Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts Gallery, opening reception, Friday, Feb. 3, 6-8 p.m., free, 2011 Mottman Rd. SW. Olympia, 360.596.5527 or email artgallery@spscc.ctc.edu

>>> FRIDAY, FEB. 3: SCREWING MOTHER NATURE

Screwing something for profit gets a negative connotation when taken in its most basic form, but - if you think about it-it's also the American way. Or at least the American Capitalist way. Friday at Orca Books in Olympia, local author and television producer Elaine Smitha will delve into her recent book, Screwing Mother Nature for Profit. (But what about fun?) According to event hype, "Ransacking pristine forests, vandalizing sacred lands and exploiting nature the world over: there are no limits to what Big Business will do to turn profit. But in this revelatory book, renowned businesswoman Elaine Smitha takes on the corporations and governments, showing them how to clean up their act by adopting the characteristics of the one thing they are damaging the most: Mother Nature herself. Will they listen? Only time will tell. The one thing that's certain is you should listen to Smitha in person at Orca Friday.

• Orca Books, 7 p.m., free, 509 Fourth Ave. E, Olympia 360.0123

>>> FRIDAY, FEB. 3: TACOMAPOCALYPSE II

We'll be frank. Apocalypse-like events usually only happen once. If an apocalypse-like event ever returns, it's either really bad news, or a sign that things weren't that apocalyptic in the first place. The good news about the Treefish Studio-produced Tacomapocalypse II, set to inhabit Amocat Café during the month of February starting Friday, is neither statement is true. A collection of two and three-dimensional art that's heavy on the zombie, and designed to offer a gruesome alternative to the usual Valentines-style lovey-dovey crap that's everywhere else this time of year, Tacomapocalypse II is the sequel to last year's successful Zombie Tacomapocalypse. Stuart M. Dempster of Treefish Studio in Tacoma spoke to the Volcano prior to last year's event, saying, ""While other shows will be talking about how they want you for your heart or your body, we're only out for your brains." We imagine the same, or something very similar, holds true this year. Friday's opening party will include snacks, live electronic music from Gibson Starkweather and quite possibly a zombie horde.

• Amocat Café, Tacomapocalypse II opening party,5:30 - 9  p.m., free, Tacomapocalypse II runs  through Feb. 29, 7 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., Monday -Friday, 625 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma

>>> FRIDAY, FEB. 3: STYX

Styx will never fucking die. The band is like a dated, long-haired, tight-jeaned, effeminate Energizer Bunny, stuck in a era long gone but still chugging along like nothing has changed. And, for many of the band's fans, as those in attendance Friday night at the Emerald Queen Casino will see firsthand, nothing has changed. Especially when it comes to fashion sense. Sing along to the hits or just revel at the bald spots when Styx hits the EQC. Later, blow a few dollars on the slots.

• Emerald Queen Casino - I-5 Showroom, 8:30 p.m., $40-$70, 2024 E 29^th St., Tacoma, 888.831.7655, emeraldqueen.com

>>> SATURDAY, FEB. 4: SCRAPARTSMUSIC

Like banging on s***? So do the folks behind ScrapArtsMusic, a Canadian performance outfit coming to Olympia this week to blow your mind. On the group's website, ScrapArtsMusic is described thusly: "An earth-friendly, Vancouver-based company that creates unforgettable percussion performances using kinetic instruments skillfully crafted from industrial scraps. 2. An entertaining contemporary invented instrument ensemble. 3. Five extraordinarily virtuosic and innovative drummers. 4. The result of transforming ‘scrap' into "art,' and ‘art' into'"music.'" Intrigued? You should be. The brainchild of percussion freak Gregory Kozak and designer Justine Murdy, ScrapArtsMusic may well prove to be the week's grandest spectacle.

• Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 7:30 p.m., $7.50-$35, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia, 360.753.8586

>>> SATURDAY, FEB. 4: TWO TRAINS RUNNING

Playwright August Wilson is best known for his Pittsburgh Cycle - a series of ten plays each set in a different decade recalling the struggles and comedies of the African American experience in the Twentieth Century. That's what happens when you win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama for something. Saturday, the Broadway Center, Northwest Playwrights Alliance and Washington State History Museum bring us Two Trains Running, part of Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle recalling Civil  Rights Era Pittsburgh in 1969.Hype on the Broadway Center website describes the play, saying "In spite of the political and social change that sweeps through the nation, many of the characters are too cynical and down-trodden to experience hope for the future or even rage for the ongoing tragedies."

• Washington State History Museum, Two Trains Running, Saturday, Feb. 4, 3 p.m., $14, 1911 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.9747, broadwaycenter.org

>>> ALL WEEKEND: THE SEAFARER

Olympia's Harlequin Production's celebrates the opening of Conor McPherson's The Seafarer Thursday, a production running through Feb. 18 at Harlequin's home, The State Theater. According to hype, McPherson "has a stunning ability to remind us that logic and reason are but weak weapons against the myth and magic that permeate our lives," and The Seafarer, "is an incredibly beautiful and rewarding story of redemption that may put people off initially, because who wants to watch a bunch of alcoholic losers celebrating Christmas?" We do! We do!

• Harlequin Productions - The State Theater, through Feb. 18,Thursday - Saturday 8 p.m., Sunday 2 p.m., "Pay What You Can" Wednesday, Feb. 1 8 p.m., "Ladies Night" Friday, Feb. 3 7 p.m., $31, 202 Fourth Ave. E, Olympia, harlequinproductions.org

>>> WHAT SOME OF OUR STAFF MEMBERS ARE UP TO

CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL Theater Critic
I'm seeing The Phantom Tollbooth at Olympia Family Theater, followed by a trip to Seattle on Saturday. I'm feeling Lunchbox Labby this weekend.

STEVE DUNKELBERGER Photographer
I will be the emcee at the St. Mary's Church and School on Saturday so I have my tux all  ready to go. Other than that, I have some kiddo plans for geocaching around T town if we don't need a canoe to get around.

JOANN VARNELL Theater Critic
Sleep. Wake. Hang out with the toddler and document new words and funny moments with video/pictures. Sleep. Wake. Church. I'll also eat whenever and wherever I can fit it in. Maybe shower. You know, the usual.

ALEC CLAYTON Visual Arts Critic
It's going to be a great big weekend full of theater. The Seafarer at Harlequin, Hair at Capital Playhouse and California Suite at Tacoma Little Theatre.

NIKKI TALOTTA Music and Features Writer
My house is officially becoming a ranch. This weekend I'm getting two more chickens, a pretty white dog, and some neon fish to go along with the existing chicken, koi fish, tom cat and two barefoot children. Wish me luck.

JENNI PRANGE BORAN Arts and Features Writer
Saturday, pizza and cake to celebrate my son's 5th birthday.  Sunday, babysitter permitting, Super Bowl at the Harmon Tap Room where my husband and I will enjoy discount food and beer during the game, and a lovely cab ride home afterwards.

REV. ADAM MCKINNEY Music and Features Writer
Venturing up to Ballard on Saturday to catch Derek Kelley and the Speedwobbles at the Sunset Tavern. The performance will apparently be broadcast on KEXP, so maybe listen for me girlishly creaming Tristan Marcum's name from the crowd.

JOSH RIZEBERG Tacoma Hip-Hop Writer
I'll be teaching my spoken-word/poetry class at the D.A.S.H. Center for the Arts on Friday from 6-7 p.m. Saturday I'll be recording two verses for Jon Salt's new album at Remedy Recording with DJ Phinisey and I'll be hitting Illizm's video shoot in Everett to make a cameo.

NIC LEONARD Olympia Hip-Hop Writer
I'm going to the Andre Nickatina show on Saturday at the capitol theatre then probably go get drunk at the Brotherhood afterwards.

MOLLY GILMORE Olympia Arts and Features Writer
I'm going to see The Seafarer at Harlequin and taking a day trip to Port Townsend.

.

JENNIFER JOHNSON Food & Lifestyles Writer
Friday date night, Saturday gym and homework, Sunday church and potluck dinner.

LINK: Even more local events that we recommend

LINK: Comprehensive South Sound Arts & Entertainment Calendar

ARTS COVERAGE TO END ALL ARTS COVERAGE >>>

At this point it goes without saying. If you're looking for coverage of local arts in Tacoma, Olympia, and all points in between, the Weekly Volcano is THE place to find it. Our goal is to consistently provide the best local arts coverage possible to our fantastic readers. We're  always on the lookout for ways to shine a light on all the awesome creativity we see around us.

This week's Volcano arts section includes a feature on Olympia's Flat Win Co., as well as reviews of Dawn of 2012 art show at Fulcrum Gallery, Lakewood Playhouse's Play It Again, Sam, Capitol Playhouse's Hair and Harlequin's production of The Seafarer - among other bits of awesomeness.

Here's a look at the Volcano arts coverage waiting for you this week in print and online.

FEATURE: THE FLAT WIN CO.

You know the old saying about selling snow to an Eskimo?

Well, that's one way to explain the Flat Win Co., the business/art project of David Scherer Water of Olympia.

Although he hasn't yet sold rain to Western Washington, Scherer Water does sell, among other things, dirt, rocks, gravel and - perhaps most impressive - nothing.

Scherer Water demonstrates the virtues of these products at Olympia's twice-yearly Arts Walk and the annual Lakefair.

In the four and a half years since he started the company, he has sold, he says, more than 5,000 products - including combs, flattened beer cans, twigs and, of course, nothing.

He says this, though, in character. ... -- Molly Gilmore

VISUAL EDGE: DAWN OF 2012

There's quite a range of imagery and styles in the new show at Fulcrum Gallery, Dawn of 2012. The show features emerging artists - a loosely defined and often over-used term that generally means artists who have not yet received the recognition they deserve. Some of us are emerging all of our lives.

But in this case the artists truly are emerging. Some of these artists have never before had gallery shows. They're young, innovative and exciting. Surrealistic and pop imagery abounds, and there is an interesting variety of media, including repurposed materials.

One of the most exciting works is Gabriel Brown's "Floating Islands Estates," which is a surrealistic city of floating houses suspended from fluffy clouds.

THEATER: THE SEAFARER

We often speak of a movie or play as a "rollercoaster ride," but it's easy to forget that even the best rides begin with a slow, clanky climb up a hill. In the latter Harry Potter novels, Jo Rowling seemed to relish torturing readers with hundreds of actionless pages, the better to unleash hell toward the end.

Of course, if a writer constructs his or her story this way, then the payoff had better be worth the wait. In the case of Conor McPherson's The Seafarer, boy, is it.

I knew almost nothing about the show when I walked in. "That's good," director Scot Whitney laughed, and like Whitney, I don't want to drop spoilers. Suffice it to say that as we get to know "Sharky" Harkin (Jason Haws) and his blind, irascible brother, Richard (David Wright), we become slowly convinced the play is going nowhere ... and we're wrong. ... -- Christian Carvajal

THEATER: PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM

I haven't seen the film version of Play It Again, but I'm confident I know exactly what old Woody's version of Allan Felix is like, and Smith's rendition is a healthy departure from the type. Like most of his recent roles - Hamlet in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, Vice Principal Panch in Spelling Bee, and others - Smith brings a flailing, manic quality to the typically depressed set of standard Allen neuroses, allowing injections of slapstick throughout.

Felix's romantic tribulations after his wife walks out form the core of the story. He experiences a series of romantic flubs and faux pas in his desperate attempts to convince women he is not the loser he thinks he is. ... -- Joseph Izenman

THEATER: HAIR

The musical Hair is much like a jam band concert: it's multi-sensual, it elicits an emotional ride, and it's probably about 15 minutes too long. That said, director Heidi Fredericks shakes every last nugget from Hair's theatrical dime bag at Capital Playhouse.

There's no questioning the difficulty of the material, for this company or its audience. The script is not, shall we say, overburdened with plot, and the lyrics must be hell to memorize, let alone sing. When Leonard Bernstein griped, "The songs are just laundry lists," he had a point. But is any song in the Broadway canon more irresistible than "Let the Sun Shine In?" It lifts itself out of a dirge, "The Flesh Failures," that's as lovely (and hauntingly worded) as "Sun Shine" is bright and beatific. ... -- Christian Carvajal

LOCAL FILM: KEN CARLSON & LYQUOC VO'S IRRESISTABLE

Last year, Olympia filmmaker Ken Carlson and his team, Mutually Assured Productions, embarked on an experiment. They decided to build their very own film festival from scratch, calling it the Olympia Awesome Film Festival. This one-day event debuted in May, successfully attracting short movies and their makers from across Washington and beyond. OAFF exuded a laid-back style that showed potential to widen its fan base and stick around for years to come.

But alas, sometimes you have to shelve a great idea to make way for an even better one. With 2012 here, Carlson could either foster his fledgling fest into its second year, or quit while ahead and move on. He went with door number two.

Already he's found a project to replace OAFF: writing and producing a feature-length concept with fellow Olympia resident and friend Lyquoc Vo. They haven't yet given away too many plot details of Irresistible (a working title), other than the tough heroine is loosely based on the "femme fatale" archetype of film noir. And given Mutually Assured's track record, it wouldn't surprise me to see violence make a cameo. ... -- Christopher Wood

FEATURE: TACOMA'S GLBT BOOK CLUB

In amorous Spain, Catalonia to be precise, Valentine's Day is superseded by the late-April holiday La Diada de Sant Jordi, Saint George's Day, a celebration during which lovers exchange books. What better way to show the object of one's affection what's inside one's heart than with a literary work that moves that person? A book that speaks to his or her soul?

But, where to find such a book? Anyone in the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender community is in luck, as recently imported Tacoma resident Matt Lemanski has joined forces with King's Books to form its seventh active book club, the GLBT Book Club.

Above all, Lemanski is a book lover. Sure, he wrote poetry in his teens and 20s. "Like everyone does," he says. As far as movies go?  The last movie he saw in an actual theater was 2007's Juno.  It's no surprise then that his work life found him, after obtaining a Masters in Library Sciences, at a library in his home state of Michigan.

"As part of my job, I was required to lead three book discussions, which I did not enjoy. Those who attended were not looking for books to expand their experience. They were looking for books to underline the bubble they were living in," recalls Lemanski.

He adds with a smirk, "One month we read David Sedaris.  That did not go over well."

It didn't take much twisting of the arm when Lemanski was offered a position with the Pierce County Library. ... -- Jenni Prange Boran

PLUS: COMPLETE SOUTH SOUND ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR

PLUS: RAMPANT GOOFINESS