360 May 9, 2013

Ways to honor mom this weekend PAGE 3

Skagit Valley Herald Thursday May 9, 2013

Reviews

On Stage

At the Movies

Music: Lady A, LL Cool J, Daughter Video Games: “Dead Island: Riptide”

Catch the Sedro-Woolley High School performance of “Legally Blonde”

Leonardo DiCaprio captures the essence of “The Great Gatsby”

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Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

E2 - Thursday, May 9, 2013

NEW ON DVD THIS WEEK “Safe Haven”: A woman (Julianne Hough) goes into hiding to get away from her abusive husband. The latest film based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks includes plot points of spousal abuse, cancer, cute kids, children in peril, a hunk with a heavy heart, loss of a parent, letters from the grave and a lot more.

Lasse Hallström’s film is a beautiful blend of Hallmark Card moments: from a couple meeting to sharing a disastrous date in the rain to eventually giving into their obvious attraction for each other.

These are such schmaltzy moments they block the dark side of the tale.

None of this story is very original.

But if you have even the tiniest sliver of romance in you, see this movie. And be sure to take some extra tissues.

“Jack Reacher”: Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) investigates the murder of five people by a sniper.

Cruise has found a fast-moving and interesting action role that could replace his “Mission: Impossible” days, should it become a film franchise. There aren’t as many cool gadgets or super spy disguises, but Jack Reacher, the character introduced through a series of bestselling novels by Lee Child, is as rough and tumble as Cruise’s Ethan Hunt in the trilogy of spy movies.

Director Christopher McQuarrie and Child have created a story that could have been any episode of “CSI.” There are some twists and turns to the story, but never so much as to cause the facts to get tangled. Plus, Russian mobsters and corrupt cops aren’t that original. It’s a simplistic story made more interesting

by Cruise.

“Mama”: Jessica Chastain stars in “Mama,” which would have been good for a few scares if the biggest plot point made even a tiny bit of sense. Director Andrés Muschietti’s horror film looks at what happens when two small girls spend five years in the forest being raised by a spectre. How they got there is a jumble.

“Liberace: The Ultimate Entertainer”: TV special taped in London.

“Witness: A World in Conflict Through a Lens”: Series shows viewers the difficult life of war photographers in conflict-torn countries.

“30 Rock: Season 7”: Tina Fey comedy about life behind-the-scenes at a TV show.

“Doctors of the Dark Side”: Documentary about American psychologists and physicians at military prisons at

YOUR ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION GUIDE TO WHAT’S GOING ON IN SKAGIT COUNTY AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS

Upcoming movie releases Following is a partial schedule of coming movies on DVD. Release dates are subject to change: MAY 14 Back to 1942 - Well Go USA Cloud Atlas - Warner A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III - Lionsgate If I Were You - Kino Lorber Texas Chainsaw 3D - Lionsgate

This Weekend / Page 5

MAY 21 Beautiful Creatures - Warner The Last Stand - Lionsgate Parker - Sony Side Effects - Universal Stand Up Guys - Lionsgate Yossi - Strand MAY 28 Dark Skies - Anchor Bay JUNE 4 The Last Ride -- Fox Mosquita y Mari -- Wolfe Warm Bodies -- Lionsgate / Summit JUNE 11 Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters -- Paramount Oz the Great and Powerful -- Disney Snitch -- Lionsgate / Summit

Check out classic and custom cars, trucks and more at the Show ‘n’ Shine on Saturday at Foothills Toyota in Burlington

Inside

n McClatchy-Tribune News Service

CIA Black Sites.

“Marley Africa Road Trip”: Ziggy, Rohan and Robbie Marley travel to South Africa.

“Fringe: The Complete Fifth and Final Season”: Fox sci-fi series comes to an end.

“Steel Magnolias”: TV version of the story that stars Queen Latifah.

“Rookie Blue: The Complete Third Season”: TV series about young police officers.

“Elmo the Musical”: Includes Elmo’s math skill-enhancing lessons.

“Nature: What Plants Talk About”: Ecologist JC Cahill maintains plants lead anything but solitary lives.

“The Exorcist in the 21st Century”: Fredrik Horn Akselsen’s documentary on exorcisms.

“The Great Escape”: The Steve McQueen film is being released on Bluray to mark its 50th anniversary.

“The Assassin’s Blade”: A woman disguises herself to be accepted into a male-only martial arts academy.

“Superman: Unbound”: A destructive force is headed toward Earth and even Superman may not be able to stop it. n Rick Bentley, The Fresno Bee

SUBMISSIONS Email features@skagitpublishing.com vrichardson@skagitpublishing. com (recreation items) Phone 360-416-2135 Hand-deliver 1215 Anderson Road Mount Vernon, WA 98274 Mailing address P.O. Box 578 Mount Vernon, WA 98273 Online events calendar To list your event on our website, visit goskagit.com and look for the Events Calendar on the home page

At the Lincoln Theatre.................... 6 Music, Game Reviews..................8-9 On Stage, Tuning Up................10-11 Travel........................................12-13 Hot Tickets.................................... 13 Get Involved.................................. 14 Movie Reviews, Listings..........16-17 Out & About.............................18-19

HAVE A STORY IDEA? w For arts and entertainment, contact Features Editor Craig Parrish at 360-416-2135 or features@skagitpublishing.com w For recreation, contact staff writer Vince Richardson at 360-416-2181 or vrichardson@ skagitpublishing.com TO ADVERTISE 360-424-3251

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

Thursday, May 9, 2013 - E3

COMMUNITY MOTHER’S DAY ESSAY CONTEST: The Skagit Valley Food Co-op is holding a free essay contest open to all moms who’ve got a story to tell about raising their kids and the Co-op. First place: $250 Co-op gift card; two second places: each will receive $50 gift card. Winning essays will be published in the Coop’s June newsletter, posted in the store and on its website.

Submit entries by Mother’s Day, May 12, 500 words or less, to: COOPMOMSDAY@ gmail.com or by mail: Skagit Valley Food Co-op Mom’s Day Contest, 202 S. First St., Mount Vernon, WA 98273. www.skagitfoodcoop.com.

MOTHER’S DAY FESTIVE COOKING: 6 p.m. Friday, May 10, Christianson’s Nursery, 15806 Best Road, Mount Vernon. Anacortes cooking instructor and studio owner Jackie Davison will demonstrate a springtime luncheon for mom on Mother’s Day. On the menu: Chilled Pea and Mint Soup; Garden Green Salad with Spring Flowers; Smoked Salmon, Asparagus and Goat Cheese Strata; Strawberry-Rhubarb Tartlets.

Bring mom with you. $10.

Reservations required: 360466-3821.

CAMANO STUDIO TOUR: The 15th annual Camano Island Studio Tour will take place on Mother’s Day weekend from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Friday through Sunday, May 10-12, and the following Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19, at numerous locations around Camano Island and Stanwood. Check out artwork in a variety of media offered by 48 artists, 31 studios and three galleries. Pick up a self-guided tour map at local merchants or at www.camanoarts.org.

Free. 425-478-0777.

MOTHER’S DAY “TEA”: Celebrate from 1 to 4 p.m.

Saturday, May 11, at Challenger Ridge Winery, 43095 Challenger Road, Concrete.

The “tea” is actually a glass of wine, accompanied by a variety of tasty morsels and live music by Trio Con Brio. $15. Limited seating. Make reservations by May 9 at 425422-6988. www.challenger ridge.com.

ROLLER DERBY ART AND CRAFT FAIR: Shop for a Mother’s Day gift at the Skagit Valley Roller Derby Art and Craft Fair from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 11, at The Skateway, 1834 W. Highway 20, Sedro-Woolley. Local artisans will offer a selection of handcrafted goods. Rent a table and sell your goods or come to shop. Free admission for shoppers. 360-399-6044 or www. skagitvalleyrollerderby.com.

Mother’s Day

TAKE MOM SAILING: The Center for Wooden Boats will offer free sailboat rides from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 11, at Cama Beach State Park, 1880 S. West Camano Drive, Camano Island. Enjoy free rides in a variety of classic wooden boats, music, toy boat building, food and drinks and more. Free. Limited parking. Discover Pass required.

360-387-9361 or www.cwb.org.

EVENTS IN THE AREA

MOTHER’S DAY TRAIN: Lake Whatcom Railway will let moms ride for half price when accompanied by one fare-paying companion on a special train trip at noon Saturday, May 11. The train will leave from Wickersham, located 10 miles north of Sedro-Woolley on Highway 9, and will stop at a waterfall and a small park during the 11⁄2-hour ride aboard vintage passenger coaches dating from 1910 to 1925. $20 ages 18 and older; $10 children; free for ages 1 and younger. Tickets must be purchased in advance from the Bellingham Railway Museum, 1320 Commercial St., Bellingham, or by phone at 360-393-7540. For information and directions, visit www.lakewhatcomrailway.com.

MOTHER’S DAY BRUNCH, PERFORMANCE: “Hello Dolly!”: The Skagit Valley College Music Department will host a special Mother’s Day brunch at 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 12, followed by a performance of the hit musical “Hello Dolly!” at 2 p.m. at McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $45, discounts available for seniors, students and children.

360-416-7727, ext. 2, or www. mcintyrehall.org.

MOTHER’S DAY WEEKEND: Celebrate mom with a variety of activities Saturday and Sunday, May 11-12, in Langley. n Suffragettes March: Step back in time as the Langley suffragettes march down Main Street at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 11. The event marks the 100th anniversary of the original Suffragette march on Washington in 1913, and will include costumes, banners and songs from a 1909 suffragette songbook. A rally at Whale Bell Park will feature speeches and a group of male hecklers. n Mother’s Day Brunch and Tea: 1 and 3 p.m., Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12, Ott & Murphy’s, 204 First St. The Whidbey Chamber Singers will perform part songs, madrigals and more. Reservations required: 360-221-7131. n Mother Mentors, a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting families with young children, will hand out flowers to mothers as a thank you for all the work mothers put in every day. n Shops, spas and other venues will offer Mother’s Day specials. 360-929-9333 or www.langleymain street.org.

MOTHER’S DAY CONCERT: Meerkerk Rhododendron Gardens will host its traditional Mother’s Day concert from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 12, at 3531 Meerkerk Lane, Greenbank, Whidbey Island. Enjoy Harper Tasche’s folk harp music on the Gazebo Green. Bring a garden chair or blanket and picnic basket. $10, free for ages 15 and younger accompanied by an adult. 360-678-1912 or www.meerkerkgardens.org.

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

E4 - Thursday, May 9, 2013

MOVIES

Film the Great American Novel in Australia?

Baz Luhrmann was up to the challenge

By JOHN HORN Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ambition for “The Great Gatsby” was scarcely modest: “Something new — something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned,” the novelist wrote to his editor of his plans for the 1925 novel.

Tobey Maguire, who stars as narrator Nick Carraway in director Baz Luhrmann’s big-screen adaptation of the classic, said the Australian filmmaker’s goal was no less cheeky.

Luhrmann “Baz set out to do something very much like that,” he said.

You could safely strike the word “simple” from Luhrmann’s plans, though.

“The Great Gatsby” is Luhrmann’s long-in-the-works, half-year-delayed telling of what many consider the Great American Novel. Though the story is centered on New York, budget pressures prompted the production to relocate to Australia.

The move, made after Luhrmann’s team had started scouting New York locations, created logistical quandaries — for instance, how do you find 1920s American cars with left-hand drive in Sydney?

Still, Luhrmann believed the hemispheric shift had substantial upsides: focusing the film’s creative energies, allowing for more days of principal photography because shooting in Australia is cheaper than in New York, and providing the production the distance to take more cinematic risks as Luhrmann tried to find the heart of the novel.

“Baz is inspired by building an ensemble — he makes sure that

Warner Bros. Pictures / MCT

Tobey Maguire (from left) as Nick Carraway, Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan and Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan star in “The Great Gatsby.” every extra has some biographical information about who he or she is playing in a scene,” said producer Doug Wick. “In moving to Australia, it was like the ultimate art camp, where everybody is immersed in the 1920s and a day and a half away from the rest of their lives.”

Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” closely tracks the novel’s central stories: Bootlegger turned millionaire Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) is desperate to reconnect with former flame Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), who is married to a philandering, poloplaying blue blood, Tom (Joel Edgerton).

Observing all the romantic and class entanglements with increasing contempt is Nick (Maguire), who was a college classmate of Tom’s and who happens to be Gatsby’s neighbor. The cast includes Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki as Nick’s girlfriend, Jordan Baker; Isla Fisher as Myrtle Wilson, with whom Tom is having an affair; and Jason Clarke as Myrtle’s husband, George.

Adapted by Luhrmann and longtime screenwriting partner Craig Pearce (“Romeo + Juliet,” “Moulin Rouge!”), the script creates a new framing device — Nick is writing “The Great Gatsby” as therapy for alcoholism — and does away with several scenes, mostly those that follow Gatsby’s death because Luhrmann felt they diffused the story. The film’s most notable deviations from the 1925 novel can be measured in scale.

On-screen, Gatsby’s famously extravagant parties are even more over-the-top than they are on the page and are magnified further by 3-D filming. The soundtrack features contemporary artists such as Lana Del Rey, will.i.am, Jay-Z and Gotye. And infidelities that are whispered in print become more explicit in the film.

“Fitzgerald couldn’t quite say, ‘Hey, they all took their clothes off and had sex,’” Luhrmann said of a scene between Tom and Myrtle in his New York love nest.

“But when I read that scene, I thought, ‘They went crazy. It was an orgy — a wild, wild party.’”

To make sure his actors were in the right mood for that scene, Luhrmann cranked Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “… in Paris” during filming.

Because the novel is thin on exposition, Luhrmann turned to an array of sources for inspiration.

When lead actors were cast, about a year before filming began in summer 2011, Luhrmann gave them iPods loaded with period music, including Louis Armstrong and George Gershwin, and sent along Ken Burns’ “Prohibition.” Mulligan was handed several biographies of Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, and letters the novelist wrote to his early love, Ginevra King.

DiCaprio said he relied heavily on “Trimalchio,” Fitzgerald’s draft of “The Great Gatsby.” “‘Trimalchio’ was almost like a bible for us on set. We referenced it constantly,” said DiCaprio, adding that the early version of the novel made Fitzgerald’s “intent shine more clearly through.” The actor didn’t find a kindhearted, lost soul there. As Mulligan said,

“Leo took his characterization of Gatsby into more of a desperate, extreme place.”

When Luhrmann told his cast in mid-2011 that they were abandoning New York for Australia (the state’s film tax rebates had been largely exhausted by “Men in Black 3”), the actors were not sure what to make of the news.

“In truth, it was probably something like, ‘I wonder how we’re going to pull it off?’” Maguire said. “I was definitely thinking about how it would affect the look of the film and how we would make it work.”

Production designer Catherine Martin, Luhrmann’s wife, had the same concerns. She and Luhrmann, who wanted to film in New York, had scouted several locations for the Buchanan estate (Old Westbury Gardens in Nassau County) and Gatsby’s mansion (Hempstead House, near Port Washington). Those estates, they thought, would need to be decorated in period style, but construction would be minimal.

When “The Great Gatsby” moved to Australia, it was a different story.

Martin and her crew had to build numerous massive sets and create parts of the mansions through visual effects. Even the interior of the Plaza Hotel, where Jay and Tom have their famous quarrel over Daisy, had to be constructed on an Australian sound stage. (A “Great Gatsby” shot from the hotel toward Central Park actually was filmed in New York, in designer Tommy Hilfiger’s apartment at the Plaza.)

To fill out its fleet of left-handdrive cars, some imported, the production would sometimes put a fake steering wheel on the left, before an actor in a chauffeur costume, while an extra dressed as a footman on the right would drive with a lowered steering wheel.

“And we had to make sure people were driving on the right-hand side of the road, which can be really confusing,” said Martin.

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

Thursday, May 9, 2013 - E5

THIS WEEKENDin the area

Show ‘n’ Shine

“GREASE” The La Conner High School Drama Department will present its spring musical production of “Grease” at 8 p.m.

Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 10-12, at the La Conner High School auditorium, 305 N. Sixth St., La Conner. $5.

Tickets available at the administration office or call 360-466-3171.

CAMANO STUDIO TOUR The 15th annual Camano Island Studio Tour will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday, May 10-12, and Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19, at numerous locations around Camano Island and Stanwood. Check out artwork in a variety of media offered by 48 artists, 31 studios and three galleries. Pick up a self-guided tour map at local merchants or at www.camanoarts.org. Free. 425-478-0777.

DECOY CARVING CONTEST The nonprofit Washington Brant Foundation will hold its annual Puget Sound Open Decoy Carving Contest and Celebration from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 11, at Holiday Sports, 895 Nevitt Road, Burlington. 360-757-4361.

Watch judging, visit with nationally known carvers, and bid on contest winners in silent and live auctions. The celebration will feature art and antique decoys, kids’ activities, Reverie BBQ food, a raffle and a sport shop tour. Judging at 10 a.m., awards at 12:30 p.m., live auction at 1, raffle at 2. www.wabrant.org or 360-202-0415.

Check out more than 100 classic and custom cars, trucks and more at the sixth annual Show ‘n’ Shine from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 11, at Foothills Toyota, 1881 Bouslog Road, Burlington. Registration: 9 to 11 a.m. day of show. First 150 vehicles to arrive receive a dash plaque. Judging for awards and trophies begins at 11 a.m. Free entry, bring nonperishable food donations to benefit the food bank.

360-757-7575.

DRINK COFFEE, SEND KIDS TO CAMP Royal Family Kids’ Camp will receive all tips and donations collected from 6 to 9 a.m. Friday, May 10, at three Cruisin Coffee locations in Skagit County: 18494 Bow Hill Road; 1019 13th St., Anacortes; and 1715 N. LaVenture Road, Mount Vernon. Make a donation to help abused and neglected children attend the weeklong Royal Family Kids’ Camp.

360-840-8361.

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

E6 - Thursday, May 9, 2013

AT THE LINCOLN THEATRE 712 S. First St., Mount Vernon 360-336-8955 n www.lincolntheatre.org

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The Geoffrey Castle Band, featuring Geoffrey Castle (pictured), and Turn on Red will perform on Sunday, May 12.

‘Evermore’

8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, May 9-11 A thousand years in the future, small bands of people live in the ruins of a forgotten civilization. Rush That Speaks, a young man of Little Belaire, falls in love with a girl of Dr. Boot’s List, but the call of clan identity is stronger than love, and Once A Day returns to her own people.

Rush meets a messenger from The City In The Sky who offers him a compelling gift.

The story of Rush That Speaks and his strange destiny is told in dialog, song and dance with a large cast of characters and the backing of a full rock ensemble. $1220.

Geoffrey Castle Band, Turn On Red 6 p.m. Sunday, May 12

The Geoffrey Castle Band, featuring the acclaimed rock violinist, performs along with the premiere performance of Turn on Red, appearing with Frank Gambale for a special Mother’s Day concert.

Turn on Red is a tribute to the genius bass player Jaco Pastorius and bands like

Weather Report and Return to Forever.

Joining them will be Gambale, a Grammy Award-winning jazz guitarist, with his new band. $20.

NT Live: ‘This House’

7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 16 It’s 1974 and the corridors of Westminster ring with the sound of infighting and backbiting as Britain’s political parties battle to change the future of the nation, whatever it takes. In this hung parliament, the ruling party holds on by a thread.

Votes are won and lost by one, fist fights erupt in the bars, and ill MPs are hauled in to cast their votes.

It’s a time when a staggering number of politicians die, and age-old traditions and allegiances are thrown aside in the struggle for power. James Graham’s biting, energetic and critically acclaimed new play strips politics down to the practical realities of those behind the scenes who roll up their sleeves, and on occasion bend the rules, to maneuver a diverse and conflicting chorus of MPs. $15 general, $13 seniors, $11 students with $2 off for Lincoln members.

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

POP CULTURE Q&A

TV commercials brim with familiar faces and voices actress is Morgan Smith, a native Alabaman now living in New York City. June is played

by Juliette Angelo, a New Jersey native who Q: I have a question about John Corbett. has worked mainly on Broadway in producHe was the radio announcer in the old TV tions of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” favorite “Northern Exposure.” Is he also “Billy Elliot” and “Mary Poppins.” the one who does the current Walgreens commercials about “the corner of happy Q: We love the shows “Arrow” with Steand healthy” and did he also do Applebee’s phen Amell and “NCIS: Los Angeles” with ads on TV? It sure sounds like the same Chris O’Donnell. Could you tell us if these pleasant voice. guys are related, even though their last A: Corbett, whose credits also include names are different? They have a striking “Sex and the City,” is indeed a commercial resemblance. voice for Walgreens and Applebee’s. When A: There’s no relation that I can find. As the Huffington Post made its list of 29 you may know, Amell is a Canadian actor favorite celebrity-voiced commercials — whose previous credits include “Hung,” one ad per star, which should tell you how “Private Practice” and “New Girl.” many famous folk do ads — a Corbett spot O’Donnell hails from Chicago; before his for Walgreens was the first in line. current show, his biggest credits were probably “Scent of a Woman” and two films Q: Who is the young lady who plays where he played Robin to different BatWilliam Shatner’s daughter on the Pricemans: Val Kilmer and George Clooney. line commercial as well as the genie in the Toyota commercial?

Q: Is the series “Drop Dead Diva” going A: That’s Kaley Cuoco, best known for to be back on Lifetime? I read it was canplaying Penny on the hit comedy “The Big celed, then maybe another network would Bang Theory.” She has other TV credits bring it back, then Lifetime was bringing it including the series “8 Simple Rules,” but back, and then I heard it wasn’t. Could you “Big Bang” has given her career a big boost. please explain?

A: Lifetime in fact canceled the comedyQ: Who is the woman who stars in the drama in January after four seasons. But Sears fashion commercial? in March, the network made a deal to conA: I am guessing you mean the one with tinue the series — and series creator Josh the woman asked repeatedly where she got Berman expects it to return later this year. her clothes. That’s actress Jama Williamson, While there were some cost adjustments who you may also know as Nora Tate on (which Berman says will not affect the the series “Hollywood Heights” and as Tom look and feel of the show), he believes fan Haverford’s wife Wendy on “Parks and support really saved the series. There were Recreation.” petitions, Facebook posts, YouTube videos and more.

Q: Who is the young man who sings in the Chase credit card commercial?

Q: I watch “Law & Order: Special VicA: If you are referring to the man who tims Unit” quite often. The lady who plays sings the variation on “Footloose” for the Olivia is beautiful. I remember seeing her Freedom card, it is actor Michael Torpey. In mother in the movies. What was her name addition to work on shows like “Late Night and is she still living? Who was her father?

With Jimmy Fallon” and “30 Rock,” he has I remember the name Mickey. Did that been a frequent presence in ads. You may apply to any of these people? remember him from Hanes spots where he A: Mariska Hargitay, who plays Olivia, chats up Michael Jordan during an airplane is the daughter of actress Jayne Mansfield flight. (“Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter,” “The Girl Can’t Help It”) and Mickey Hargitay, a Q: Is the actress who plays June on bodybuilder and actor who was Mansfield’s “Mailbu Country” the same one in the second husband. Mansfield died in an auto Wendy’s commercials? accident in 1967. Mickey Hargitay died of A: No. According to Wendy’s, their cancer in 2006.

By RICH HELDENFELS Akron Beacon Journal

Thursday, May 9, 2013 - E7

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

E8 - Thursday, May 9, 2013

REVIEWS MUSIC CDS Compiled from news services

The Pistol Annies

originals by other writers — with one strong original, “Take It On Faith.” She leans hard on philosophical lyrics about “Annie Up” self-identity (the title song, “Free Life”) and the importance of strong relations “Annie Up” is a (“Without You,” “Come Cryin’ To Me”). good title for the Much like Maines’ public persona since Pistol Annies’ second her fallout with the conservative right album. Like the gambling term it playfully after speaking out against the Iraq War, puns, the title underscores that this brash the songs waver between gutsy stands and trio is raising the stakes, investing more seeking shelter with those who care for time, effort and artistic nerve into its new and understand her.

12-song collection.

Musically, producer Ben Harper gives The gamble pays off: “Annie Up” builds her a lush background on intimate songs on the trio’s successful debut “Hell on and a bluesy raucousness on up-tempo Heels” by taking even more risks with tunes. Maines shows how she can wail on bold material and inventive arrangements. rockers like Patty Griffin’s “Silver Bell,” Mixing bawdy humor with sensitive but it’s on Jeff Buckley’s dramatic “Lover, insight, the Annies entertainingly take You Should’ve Come Over” that shows on real-life issues, including how Southhow effective she can be with emotional ern families quell their secrets (“Hush vulnerability and the power of the full Hush”), how alcoholics curse themselves range of her vocals. while pouring another drink (“Dear Maines’ talent once put the Dixie Sobriety”) and how women struggle with Chicks atop the country music world, what it takes to prepare for an evening which made the group’s rejection and (“Being Pretty Ain’t Pretty”). withdrawal such a loss. “Mother” finds The Pistol Annies began as a side lark Maines still affected by that controversy. for country music star Miranda Lambert. But it also proves that, as an artist, she’s Formed with songwriting buddies Ashstill an American treasure. ley Monroe and Angaleena Presley, the n Michael McCall, Associated Press trio’s debut initially was available only through the Internet and without the full promotional effort given Lambert’s other Daughter albums. But fan support and significant “If You Leave” sales lifted these fully armed artists into a significant, ground-breaking act. Rather Many of the tracks than play it safe, they roll the dice with on Daughter’s debut another daring collection that should lift album “If You Leave” their profiles even higher. are quite similar, with their monosyllabic n Michael McCall, Associated Press titles and melancholy feel. It’s anything but a boring listen, though, and Elena Natalie Maines Tonra’s smooth, silky voice is a delight to “Mother” hear.

Tonra first gained recognition as a solo Natalie Maines’ artist, but has enhanced her sound with first solo album guitarist Igor Haefeli and drummer Remi continues her moveAguilella. ment into a deeply The opening track “Winter” sets the considered, provocatone for the record. It’s a song about love tive form of polished adult rock heard lost, but not in a blatant, obvious way. on her last recording, the Dixie Chicks’ “Drifting apart like two sheets of ice,” 2006 award-winning “Take the Long Way Tonra laments, coupling emotions and Home.” nature. And “Smother” is so relaxing, even As with that album, Maines sets aside when a steady drum beat is introduced. the cheeky playfulness that marked her However, you can’t lose yourself in the success in country music. Instead, she fabric of the song as the lyrics force you carefully curates an album of covers and to sit up and listen: “In the darkness I will

meet my creator,” Tonra sings.

“Youth” is completely beautiful, again synching Tonra’s voice and the pounding drums. Toward the conclusion of the record, they start mixing things up slightly, combining synth and drums on “Touch” so it sounds like it could have jumped straight from a record by The xx. n Sian Watson, Associated Press

!!! Chk Chk Chk “Thr!!!er”

Sometimes to appreciate a band you have to experience them live: hear the instruments in a raw form, immerse yourself in the energy onstage, smell the musty air, see the sweat dripping from the band members’ faces and feel the warmth of bodies jumping around you. !!!, pronounced Chk Chk Chk, can put on a remarkable live show, and “Thr!!!er,” their fifth studio album, cleverly captures their talent.

The nine-track set is a merry-go-round of quirky psychedelic dance beats with vocalist Nic Offer at the helm. The happy “Even When the Water’s Cold” transports you to a sunny festival for a singalong, while “Get That Rhythm Right” puts you back in the club with its piano groove and saxophone.

The electronic beats step up a notch on “Slyd,” while the guitars on “Expect Death” will have you punching your fist in the air. “Careful” is an infectious dance floor anthem — this one is a sure club hit. n Reetu Rupal, Associated Press

LL Cool J “Authentic”

LL Cool J knows how to play well with others.

On his 13th studio album, “Authentic,” he delivers an eclectic mix of songs with a variety of guest singers that elevate the material to a worthy listening experience.

This is not a rap album, but more of a hip-pop/hip-rock one, hitting all the right notes from romantic to raucous to punk.

The 12-track record sees a roster of stars lend their voices, including Eddie Van Halen, Snoop Dogg, Travis Barker, Monica, Seal, Earth, Wind & Fire and Brad Paisley (not “Accidental Racist,” thankfully. Their other collaboration, “Live for You,” is a rock ballad that is enjoyable.)

From the sarcastically cinematic intro “Bath Salt,” to the delightfully cheesy lust song “Between the Sheetz,” to the vivacious, Charlie Wilson-assisted “New Love,” the rapper sounds fresh. n Cristina Jaleru, Associated Press

Lady Antebellum “Golden”

After pulling out the stops with the heavily orchestrated grandeur of 2011’s platinum-selling album “Own The Night,” Lady Antebellum heads in the opposite direction with the stripped-down sound of “Golden.”

The country vocal trio hinted at its new direction with the sparse, soul-strutting groove of “Downtown,” one of the spring’s most engaging country hits. As usual, Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood deal with the complexities of modern relationships — in this case, a woman asking why her man doesn’t take her out for a fun night on the town, like he once did.

The bare-bones arrangements also work well on the emotionally moving “It Ain’t Pretty,” about a woman living out her heartbreak in public, and on the rootsrocking “Better Off Now (That You’re Gone),” which is reminiscent of classic Tom Petty.

The album occasionally recalls past successes: “Long Teenage Goodbye” has the sunny innocence of the 2010 hit “American Honey,” once again showing off Scott’s shimmering alto. The dramatic crescendos of “All For Love” prove that a big, grand sound, deployed at the right time, fits the group’s dynamic duets.

A couple of weak songs dampen the overall impact, but all in all, Lady A continues to experiment and grow while sounding like no one else in contemporary country music. n Michael McCall, Associated Press

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

Thursday, May 9, 2013 - E9

REVIEWS VIDEO GAMES Chris Campbell, Scripps Howard News Service

‘Dead Island: Riptide’

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC Genre: Action Publisher: Deep Silver ESRB Rating: M, for Mature Grade: 2 stars (out of five) Those who enjoy Syfy movies like “Sharktopus” or “Arachnoquake” would perhaps relish the experience of playing a video that so desperately acts like a B movie itself. Yet while you can sit back and passively watch the camp unfold on your TV screen in those schlocky films, “Dead Island: Riptide” requires you to play an active role.

You have to pick up a controller and interact with the mindless characters,

bludgeon a few million zombies and explore the island in search of meaning to its rather meaningless mysteries.

One can quickly discern from the title what you’re getting into here. There’s an island, and it’s dead. Well, filled with the undead. While technically a sequel to the original “Dead Island,” after the enjoyable opening tutorial-by-way-of-prologue section, everything begins to fall apart. The developers not only failed to learn anything from the first game’s pitfalls, they appear to have doubled down on them.

There were more than a few moments within the first four hours of playing when I thought I had put in the wrong disc. I mean, they wouldn’t have us just going through the motions of the first game again, would they? Yes, they would.

This being a sequel, I could import my character from the first “Dead Island” game, though I quickly realized it made little difference other than having a jumpstart on the leveling-up system. The same

monotonous combat returns, where you and frustrating quickly.

Playing cooperatively online could have rely primarily on weapons of crowbars, made for decent action, but whether you baseball bats, wrenches, knives, hatchets and the occasional nail gun. Sure, you can play alone or with someone else doesn’t alter the gaming experience. This makes mix and match to create spiked bats or little sense, because why allow someone fancy saws, but none of this comes off as else to poach my zombie kills and deprive new if you’ve played an action game in me of gaining valuable cash and experithe last decade.

Among the other major problems lurk- ence points for upgrades? It’s an online option for the sake of creating one, not for ing around “Riptide” is the reliance on fetch quests. At some point we all enjoy a meaningful value.

You stop caring for the fate of just little side adventure to mix in some new about any character long before you reach game-play elements or briefly showcase the conclusion, if you even get that far. some kind of new feature or experience.

The original “Dead Island” created buzz And who doesn’t love an open-world off its promotional trailer — and failed system where you can lose yourself for a to live up to the hype. This sequel plods few hours down the rabbit hole of a side along like a limping zombie you can either quest? ignore entirely or hack to pieces. Either But when you start burying multiple way, “Riptide” sucks you under and never fetch quests within a fetch quest and the same areas get traversed without opening Y Oboredom.

A FyouGup for air, instead drowning you D lets in T I you up to anything new (hey, why IV G couldn’t INCampbell@campbler or email I pick up this item when I wasAon this n Follow Chris K G beach four quests ago?), itSgets tiresome him at game_on_games@mac.com.

SVH_4.949x4.75_ MAY Week2

MAY AT TULALIP BINGO Paying Out Up To $7.3 Million

SPIN TO WIN HOT SEAT DRAWINGS SATURDAYS

MAY 4, 11, 18 & 25 (1) Winner drawn at session halftime, each winner will “Spin A Wheel” to determine cash prize.

Winners must be present and playing a Bingo Class II slot machine to win.

No seat hopping allowed.

$

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CELEBRATING

ALL SESSIONS

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MAY 26

(5) $100 at 11AM & 3PM (10) $200 at 7PM

GROOVY TIMES! 11AM Regular Games Pay

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Drawing winners must be present and playing with a valid bingo receipt to claim prize. Drawing winners may win more than one prize.

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Must present your Winners Club card to cashier.

One coupon per guest, per week • Redeem at cashier window - Not valid with any other offer. No cash value. Only original ad will be honored for special offers - no copies. Management reserves the right to cancel or amend promotion at any time.

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Valid 5/9/13 - 5/15/13 SVH BING0513

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Benefiting:

Y T DA OF GIV GI IN A G SK

Thursday, May 2013 • 4-8pm Thursday, May9, 9, 2013 • 4-8pm Strengthen your community.

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Double your impact.

Double your impact. www.skagitcf.org www.skagitcf.org

IF YOU KNEW THAT FOR

EVERY $1 YOU GAVE

YOUR DONATION WOULD BE MATCHED

HOW MUCH WOULD YOU

GIVE?

Skagit Day of Giving will Feature: • Education Booths • Food & Beverages • Live Music • FREE Admission

JOIN US AT ST. JOSEPH CENTER 215 North 15th St., Mount Vernon Thursday, May 9, 2013 • 4-8pm Can’t Attend? Gifts accepted online at www.skagitcf.org

Seven local, community non-profit partners seek to raise $100,000 in matching funds from the Skagit Community Foundation. Each of the participating organizations can earn up to $15,000 in matching funds.

E10 Thursday, May 9, 2013

ON STAGE in the Skagit Valley and surrounding area May 9-16

TUNING UP Playing at area venues May 9-16

Thursday.9

“Grease”: La Conner High School Drama Department: musical: 2 p.m., La Conner High School auditorium, 305 N. Sixth St., La Conner. $5. Tickets available at the administration office or call 360466-3171.

THEATER

“Evermore” (science fiction rock musical): 8 p.m., Lincoln Theatre, 712 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $12-$20.

360-336-8955 or www.lincolntheatre.org.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY.10-12 “HELLO, DOLLY!” Skagit Valley College Music Department, McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $15-$25, discounts available for seniors, students and children.

360-416-7727, ext. 2, or www.mcintyre hall.org. Check individual listings for times.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: 7:30 p.m., Whidbey Playhouse, 730 SE Midway Blvd., Oak Harbor. $16. 360-6792237 or whidbeyplayhouse.com.

“Soapbox”: Western Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance, 7:30 p.m., WWU Performing Arts Center Mainstage Theater, Bellingham. $8-$12. 360-650-6146 or www.tickets. wwu.edu.

“Legally Blonde”: musical comedy, 7 p.m. Sedro-Woolley High School, 1235 Third St., Sedro-Woolley. $10, $5 students and seniors. 360-855-3510.

Friday.10

THURSDAY-SATURDAY.9-11

MAGIC

“LEGALLY BLONDE” 7 p.m., Sedro-Woolley High School, 1235 Third St., Sedro-Woolley. $10, $5 students and seniors. 360-855-3510.

MUSIC

Jo Ann Stremler, organ concert: 7 p.m., First Christian Reformed Church, 701 W. Blackburn Road, Mount Vernon.

Free; donations accepted. 360-336-2405.

“The Sounds of Spring: Light, Love and Music”: Cantabile of Skagit Valley, 7:30 p.m., Anacortes Christian Church, 1211 M Ave., Anacortes. Donations accepted. www.cantabileofskagitvalley. org.

Scarlett Abuhl: 8 to 10 p.m., 1st Street Cabaret & Speakeasy, 612 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $5 cover. 360-336-3012 or www.riverbelledinnertheatre.com.

Sanford-Hill Piano Series, Alessio Bax: 7:30 p.m., Western Washington University Performing Arts Center Concert Hall, Bellingham. $9-$24. 360-650-6146 or www.tickets.wwu.edu.

THEATER

“Grease”: musical: La Conner High School Drama Department, 8 p.m., La Conner High School auditorium, 305 N. Sixth St., La Conner. $5. Tickets available at the administration office or call 360466-3171.

THURSDAY.9

Tuesday.14

“Legally Blonde”: musical comedy, 7 p.m., Sedro-Woolley High School, 1235 Third St., Sedro-Woolley. $10, $5 students and seniors. 360-855-3510.

Elliott Hofferth: 7 p.m., Brodniak Hall, 1600 20th St., Anacortes. Advance tickets: $5, Boxes and Bears, 907 Commercial Ave., and Read Me A Story, 1005 Ninth St., both in Anacortes. $7 at the door.

360-293-2166.

Thursday, May 9, 2013 E11

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

“Evermore” (science fiction rock musical): 8 p.m., Lincoln Theatre, 712 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $12-$20. 360336-8955 or www.lincolntheatre.org.

“Hello Dolly!”: Skagit Valley College Music Department, 7:30 p.m., McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $15-$25, discounts available for seniors, students and children. 360-4167727, ext. 2, or www.mcintyrehall.org.

“Driving Miss Daisy”: Alger Lookout Thespian Association Dessert Theatre, 7 p.m., Alger Community Church, 1475 Silver Run Lane, Alger. $14, $12 seniors and students. 360-424-5144 or www.alta theatre.com.

Saturday.11 MUSIC

Collegium Musicum (medieval through classical): 8 p.m., Western Washington University Performing Arts Center Concert Hall, Bellingham. Free.

360-650-2282.

THEATER

“Grease”: musical: La Conner High School Drama Department, 8 p.m., La Conner High School auditorium, 305 N. Sixth St., La Conner. $5. Tickets available at the administration office or call 360-466-3171.

“Legally Blonde”: musical comedy, 7 p.m. Sedro-Woolley High School, 1235 Third St., Sedro-Woolley. $10, $5 students and seniors. 360-855-3510.

“Hello Dolly!”: Skagit Valley College Music Department, 7:30 p.m., McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $15-$25, discounts available for seniors, students and children. 360-4167727, ext. 2, or www.mcintyrehall.org.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: 7:30 p.m., Whidbey Playhouse, 730 SE Midway Blvd., Oak Harbor. $16. 360-6792237 or whidbeyplayhouse.com.

“Evermore” (science fiction rock musical): 8 p.m., Lincoln Theatre, 712 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $12-$20.

360-336-8955 or www.lincolntheatre.org.

“Soapbox”: Western Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance, 7:30 p.m., WWU Performing Arts Center Mainstage Theater, Bellingham. $8-$12. 360-650-6146 or www.tickets. wwu.edu.

“Driving Miss Daisy”: Alger Lookout Thespian Association Dessert Theatre, 7 p.m., Alger Community Church, 1475 Silver Run Lane, Alger. $14, $12 seniors and students. 360-424-5144 or www.altatheatre.com.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: 7:30 p.m., Whidbey Playhouse, 730 SE Midway Blvd., Oak Harbor. $16. 360-6792237 or whidbeyplayhouse.com.

“Soapbox”: Western Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance, 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., WWU Performing Arts Center Mainstage Theater, Bellingham. $8-$12. 360-650-6146 or www.tickets.wwu.edu.

Sunday.12 MUSIC

“The Sounds of Spring: Light, Love and Music”: Cantabile of Skagit Valley, 2 p.m., St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 415 S. 18th St., Mount Vernon. Donations accepted. www.cantabileofskagitvalley. org.

Jazz At The Library — David Arteaga Quartet: 2 to 3 p.m., Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes. Free.

360-293-1910, ext. 30, or www.jazzatthe library.com.

THEATER

“Hello Dolly!”: Skagit Valley College Music Department, 2 p.m., McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $15-$25, discounts available for seniors, students and children. (Special Mother’s Day brunch and performance: 12:30 p.m. brunch followed by performance at 2 p.m., $45.) 360-416-7727, ext.

2, or www.mcintyrehall.org.

VARIETY

Betty Desire: 9 p.m. to midnight, 1st Street Cabaret & Speakeasy, 612 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $3 cover. 360-3363012 or www.riverbelledinnertheatre. com.

Wednesday.15

THEATER

“Vaudevillingham”: Bellingham Circus Guild, 7 and 9 p.m., Cirque Lab, 1401 Sixth St., Bellingham. $5 suggested donation at the door. www.bellinghamcircus guild.com.

Thursday.16 THEATER

Disney’s “Aladdin” (dual language edition): musical, 7 p.m., LaVenture Middle School, 1200 LaVenture Road, Mount Vernon. $5. 360-428-6116.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: 7:30 p.m., Whidbey Playhouse, 730 SE Midway Blvd., Oak Harbor. $16. 360-6792237 or whidbeyplayhouse.com.

“Soapbox”: Western Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance, 7:30 p.m., WWU Performing Arts Center Mainstage Theater, Bellingham. $8-$12. 360-650-6146 or www.tickets. wwu.edu.

The Alan Hatley Band: 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Varsity Inn, 112 N. Cherry St., Burlington.

No cover. 360-755-0165.

Highway 9 (country, rock): 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., Conway Pub & Eatery, 18611 Main St., Conway. 360-445-4733.

Ria Peth: 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Conway.

360-445-3000.

Jammin’ Jeff: 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Big Lake Bar & Grill, 18247 Highway 9, Mount Vernon. 360-422-6411.

Jack Mattingly & Whiskey Fever (roots, Americana, folk, rock): 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/ Main, Conway.

360-445-3000.

Jammin’ Jeff: 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Big Lake Bar & Grill, 18247 Highway 9, Mount Vernon.

360-422-6411.

Jazz at the Center — Pearl Django: 7 p.m., Camano Center, 606 Arrowhead Road, Camano Island. $20, $10 students.

360-387-0222 or www.camanocenter.org.

VARIETY

Nick Swanson: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Jansen Art Center Piano Lounge, 321 Front St., Lynden.

No cover. 360-354-3600.

Nitecrew: 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., Skagit Valley Casino Resort, Winners Lounge, 5984 N. Darrk Lane, Bow. No cover.

877-275-2448.

Black Breath, Crag Dweller, Devotion: 10 p.m., The Shakedown, 1212 N. State St., Bellingham. $8-$10.

360-778-1067.

SATURDAY.11

MUSIC

“Soapbox”: Western Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance, 7:30 p.m., WWU Performing Arts Center Mainstage Theater, Bellingham. $8-$12. 360-650-6146 or www.tickets. wwu.edu.

FRIDAY.10

FRIDAY.10 THE ALAN HATLEY BAND 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Varsity Inn, 112 N. Cherry St., Burlington.

No cover. 360-755-0165.

FRIDAY.10 JACK MATTINGLY & WHISKEY FEVER 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Conway. 360-445-3000.

Daniel Burnsch (guitar): 8 to 10 p.m., 1st Street Cabaret & Speakeasy, 612 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $5 cover.

360-336-3012.

Lane Fernando: 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Longhorn Saloon, 5754 Cains Court, Edison.

No cover.

360-766-6330.

El Colonel and Doubleshot: 8:30 to 11:30 p.m., Rockfish Grill, 320 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. 360588-1720.

The Atlantics: 8:30 p.m., Edison Inn, 5829 Cains Court, Edison.

360-766-6266.

Still Bill Band: 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., H2O, 314 Commercial Ave., Anacortes.

360-755-3956.

SUNDAY.12 Geoffrey Castle Band, Turn On Red: 6 p.m., Lincoln Theatre, 712 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $20. 360-336-8955 or www.lin colntheatre.org.

Nitecrew: 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., Skagit Valley Casino Resort, Winners Lounge, 5984 N. Darrk Lane, Bow. No cover. 877-2752448.

Slim Fat Lips (blues, rock): 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/ Main, Conway. $7 cover.

360-445-3000.

Highway 9 (country, rock): 9:30 Ben Starner p.m. to 1:30 (piano): 7:30 a.m., Conway p.m., Conway Pub & Eatery, Muse, 18444 18611 Main Spruce/Main, St., Conway.

Conway. No cover. 360-445- 360-445-4733.

3000.

WEDNESDAY.15 Spoonshine Duo: 6 to 9 p.m., Rockfish Grill, 320 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. 360-588-1720.

Scary Monster and the Super Creeps: 10 p.m., The Shakedown, 1212 N. State St., Bellingham. $7.

360-778-1067.

THURSDAY.16 Trish Hatley, with Hans Brehmer and John Anderson: 6 to 9 p.m., Rockfish Grill, 320 Commercial Ave., Anacortes.

360-588-1720.

Jazz at the Center – Pearl Django: 7 p.m., Camano Center, Knut Bell & The Blue Collars: 606 Arrowhead Road, Camano Wired Band: 8:30 p.m., Edison 5 to 9 p.m., Conway Pub & Inn, 5829 Cains Court, Edison.

Island. $20, $10 students. 360Eatery, 18611 Main St., Conway. 387-0222 or www.camanocenter. 360-766-6266.

360-445-4733. org.

Swil Kanim (Lummi storyteller, Gary B’s Church of the Blues violinist): 7:30 p.m., Conway (blues, classic rock): 6 to 10 Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, p.m., Castle Tavern, 708 Metcalf Conway. 360-445-3000.

St., Sedro-Woolley. 360-855-2263.

Steve Rudy: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., SmokeWagon: 5:30 p.m., Edison Jansen Art Center Piano Inn, 5829 Cains Court, Edison.

Lounge, 321 Front St., Lynden.

360-766-6266.

No cover. 360-354-3600.

E10 Thursday, May 9, 2013

ON STAGE in the Skagit Valley and surrounding area May 9-16

TUNING UP Playing at area venues May 9-16

Thursday.9

“Grease”: La Conner High School Drama Department: musical: 2 p.m., La Conner High School auditorium, 305 N. Sixth St., La Conner. $5. Tickets available at the administration office or call 360466-3171.

THEATER

“Evermore” (science fiction rock musical): 8 p.m., Lincoln Theatre, 712 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $12-$20.

360-336-8955 or www.lincolntheatre.org.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY.10-12 “HELLO, DOLLY!” Skagit Valley College Music Department, McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $15-$25, discounts available for seniors, students and children.

360-416-7727, ext. 2, or www.mcintyre hall.org. Check individual listings for times.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: 7:30 p.m., Whidbey Playhouse, 730 SE Midway Blvd., Oak Harbor. $16. 360-6792237 or whidbeyplayhouse.com.

“Soapbox”: Western Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance, 7:30 p.m., WWU Performing Arts Center Mainstage Theater, Bellingham. $8-$12. 360-650-6146 or www.tickets. wwu.edu.

“Legally Blonde”: musical comedy, 7 p.m. Sedro-Woolley High School, 1235 Third St., Sedro-Woolley. $10, $5 students and seniors. 360-855-3510.

Friday.10

THURSDAY-SATURDAY.9-11

MAGIC

“LEGALLY BLONDE” 7 p.m., Sedro-Woolley High School, 1235 Third St., Sedro-Woolley. $10, $5 students and seniors. 360-855-3510.

MUSIC

Jo Ann Stremler, organ concert: 7 p.m., First Christian Reformed Church, 701 W. Blackburn Road, Mount Vernon.

Free; donations accepted. 360-336-2405.

“The Sounds of Spring: Light, Love and Music”: Cantabile of Skagit Valley, 7:30 p.m., Anacortes Christian Church, 1211 M Ave., Anacortes. Donations accepted. www.cantabileofskagitvalley. org.

Scarlett Abuhl: 8 to 10 p.m., 1st Street Cabaret & Speakeasy, 612 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $5 cover. 360-336-3012 or www.riverbelledinnertheatre.com.

Sanford-Hill Piano Series, Alessio Bax: 7:30 p.m., Western Washington University Performing Arts Center Concert Hall, Bellingham. $9-$24. 360-650-6146 or www.tickets.wwu.edu.

THEATER

“Grease”: musical: La Conner High School Drama Department, 8 p.m., La Conner High School auditorium, 305 N. Sixth St., La Conner. $5. Tickets available at the administration office or call 360466-3171.

THURSDAY.9

Tuesday.14

“Legally Blonde”: musical comedy, 7 p.m., Sedro-Woolley High School, 1235 Third St., Sedro-Woolley. $10, $5 students and seniors. 360-855-3510.

Elliott Hofferth: 7 p.m., Brodniak Hall, 1600 20th St., Anacortes. Advance tickets: $5, Boxes and Bears, 907 Commercial Ave., and Read Me A Story, 1005 Ninth St., both in Anacortes. $7 at the door.

360-293-2166.

Thursday, May 9, 2013 E11

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

“Evermore” (science fiction rock musical): 8 p.m., Lincoln Theatre, 712 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $12-$20. 360336-8955 or www.lincolntheatre.org.

“Hello Dolly!”: Skagit Valley College Music Department, 7:30 p.m., McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $15-$25, discounts available for seniors, students and children. 360-4167727, ext. 2, or www.mcintyrehall.org.

“Driving Miss Daisy”: Alger Lookout Thespian Association Dessert Theatre, 7 p.m., Alger Community Church, 1475 Silver Run Lane, Alger. $14, $12 seniors and students. 360-424-5144 or www.alta theatre.com.

Saturday.11 MUSIC

Collegium Musicum (medieval through classical): 8 p.m., Western Washington University Performing Arts Center Concert Hall, Bellingham. Free.

360-650-2282.

THEATER

“Grease”: musical: La Conner High School Drama Department, 8 p.m., La Conner High School auditorium, 305 N. Sixth St., La Conner. $5. Tickets available at the administration office or call 360-466-3171.

“Legally Blonde”: musical comedy, 7 p.m. Sedro-Woolley High School, 1235 Third St., Sedro-Woolley. $10, $5 students and seniors. 360-855-3510.

“Hello Dolly!”: Skagit Valley College Music Department, 7:30 p.m., McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $15-$25, discounts available for seniors, students and children. 360-4167727, ext. 2, or www.mcintyrehall.org.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: 7:30 p.m., Whidbey Playhouse, 730 SE Midway Blvd., Oak Harbor. $16. 360-6792237 or whidbeyplayhouse.com.

“Evermore” (science fiction rock musical): 8 p.m., Lincoln Theatre, 712 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $12-$20.

360-336-8955 or www.lincolntheatre.org.

“Soapbox”: Western Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance, 7:30 p.m., WWU Performing Arts Center Mainstage Theater, Bellingham. $8-$12. 360-650-6146 or www.tickets. wwu.edu.

“Driving Miss Daisy”: Alger Lookout Thespian Association Dessert Theatre, 7 p.m., Alger Community Church, 1475 Silver Run Lane, Alger. $14, $12 seniors and students. 360-424-5144 or www.altatheatre.com.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: 7:30 p.m., Whidbey Playhouse, 730 SE Midway Blvd., Oak Harbor. $16. 360-6792237 or whidbeyplayhouse.com.

“Soapbox”: Western Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance, 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., WWU Performing Arts Center Mainstage Theater, Bellingham. $8-$12. 360-650-6146 or www.tickets.wwu.edu.

Sunday.12 MUSIC

“The Sounds of Spring: Light, Love and Music”: Cantabile of Skagit Valley, 2 p.m., St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 415 S. 18th St., Mount Vernon. Donations accepted. www.cantabileofskagitvalley. org.

Jazz At The Library — David Arteaga Quartet: 2 to 3 p.m., Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes. Free.

360-293-1910, ext. 30, or www.jazzatthe library.com.

THEATER

“Hello Dolly!”: Skagit Valley College Music Department, 2 p.m., McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $15-$25, discounts available for seniors, students and children. (Special Mother’s Day brunch and performance: 12:30 p.m. brunch followed by performance at 2 p.m., $45.) 360-416-7727, ext.

2, or www.mcintyrehall.org.

VARIETY

Betty Desire: 9 p.m. to midnight, 1st Street Cabaret & Speakeasy, 612 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $3 cover. 360-3363012 or www.riverbelledinnertheatre. com.

Wednesday.15

THEATER

“Vaudevillingham”: Bellingham Circus Guild, 7 and 9 p.m., Cirque Lab, 1401 Sixth St., Bellingham. $5 suggested donation at the door. www.bellinghamcircus guild.com.

Thursday.16 THEATER

Disney’s “Aladdin” (dual language edition): musical, 7 p.m., LaVenture Middle School, 1200 LaVenture Road, Mount Vernon. $5. 360-428-6116.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: 7:30 p.m., Whidbey Playhouse, 730 SE Midway Blvd., Oak Harbor. $16. 360-6792237 or whidbeyplayhouse.com.

“Soapbox”: Western Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance, 7:30 p.m., WWU Performing Arts Center Mainstage Theater, Bellingham. $8-$12. 360-650-6146 or www.tickets. wwu.edu.

The Alan Hatley Band: 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Varsity Inn, 112 N. Cherry St., Burlington.

No cover. 360-755-0165.

Highway 9 (country, rock): 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., Conway Pub & Eatery, 18611 Main St., Conway. 360-445-4733.

Ria Peth: 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Conway.

360-445-3000.

Jammin’ Jeff: 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Big Lake Bar & Grill, 18247 Highway 9, Mount Vernon. 360-422-6411.

Jack Mattingly & Whiskey Fever (roots, Americana, folk, rock): 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/ Main, Conway.

360-445-3000.

Jammin’ Jeff: 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Big Lake Bar & Grill, 18247 Highway 9, Mount Vernon.

360-422-6411.

Jazz at the Center — Pearl Django: 7 p.m., Camano Center, 606 Arrowhead Road, Camano Island. $20, $10 students.

360-387-0222 or www.camanocenter.org.

VARIETY

Nick Swanson: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Jansen Art Center Piano Lounge, 321 Front St., Lynden.

No cover. 360-354-3600.

Nitecrew: 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., Skagit Valley Casino Resort, Winners Lounge, 5984 N. Darrk Lane, Bow. No cover.

877-275-2448.

Black Breath, Crag Dweller, Devotion: 10 p.m., The Shakedown, 1212 N. State St., Bellingham. $8-$10.

360-778-1067.

SATURDAY.11

MUSIC

“Soapbox”: Western Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance, 7:30 p.m., WWU Performing Arts Center Mainstage Theater, Bellingham. $8-$12. 360-650-6146 or www.tickets. wwu.edu.

FRIDAY.10

FRIDAY.10 THE ALAN HATLEY BAND 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Varsity Inn, 112 N. Cherry St., Burlington.

No cover. 360-755-0165.

FRIDAY.10 JACK MATTINGLY & WHISKEY FEVER 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Conway. 360-445-3000.

Daniel Burnsch (guitar): 8 to 10 p.m., 1st Street Cabaret & Speakeasy, 612 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $5 cover.

360-336-3012.

Lane Fernando: 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Longhorn Saloon, 5754 Cains Court, Edison.

No cover.

360-766-6330.

El Colonel and Doubleshot: 8:30 to 11:30 p.m., Rockfish Grill, 320 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. 360588-1720.

The Atlantics: 8:30 p.m., Edison Inn, 5829 Cains Court, Edison.

360-766-6266.

Still Bill Band: 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., H2O, 314 Commercial Ave., Anacortes.

360-755-3956.

SUNDAY.12 Geoffrey Castle Band, Turn On Red: 6 p.m., Lincoln Theatre, 712 S. First St., Mount Vernon. $20. 360-336-8955 or www.lin colntheatre.org.

Nitecrew: 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., Skagit Valley Casino Resort, Winners Lounge, 5984 N. Darrk Lane, Bow. No cover. 877-2752448.

Slim Fat Lips (blues, rock): 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/ Main, Conway. $7 cover.

360-445-3000.

Highway 9 (country, rock): 9:30 Ben Starner p.m. to 1:30 (piano): 7:30 a.m., Conway p.m., Conway Pub & Eatery, Muse, 18444 18611 Main Spruce/Main, St., Conway.

Conway. No cover. 360-445- 360-445-4733.

3000.

WEDNESDAY.15 Spoonshine Duo: 6 to 9 p.m., Rockfish Grill, 320 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. 360-588-1720.

Scary Monster and the Super Creeps: 10 p.m., The Shakedown, 1212 N. State St., Bellingham. $7.

360-778-1067.

THURSDAY.16 Trish Hatley, with Hans Brehmer and John Anderson: 6 to 9 p.m., Rockfish Grill, 320 Commercial Ave., Anacortes.

360-588-1720.

Jazz at the Center – Pearl Django: 7 p.m., Camano Center, Knut Bell & The Blue Collars: 606 Arrowhead Road, Camano Wired Band: 8:30 p.m., Edison 5 to 9 p.m., Conway Pub & Inn, 5829 Cains Court, Edison.

Island. $20, $10 students. 360Eatery, 18611 Main St., Conway. 387-0222 or www.camanocenter. 360-766-6266.

360-445-4733. org.

Swil Kanim (Lummi storyteller, Gary B’s Church of the Blues violinist): 7:30 p.m., Conway (blues, classic rock): 6 to 10 Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, p.m., Castle Tavern, 708 Metcalf Conway. 360-445-3000.

St., Sedro-Woolley. 360-855-2263.

Steve Rudy: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., SmokeWagon: 5:30 p.m., Edison Jansen Art Center Piano Inn, 5829 Cains Court, Edison.

Lounge, 321 Front St., Lynden.

360-766-6266.

No cover. 360-354-3600.

E12 - Thursday, May 9, 2013

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

TRAVEL

L

AS VEGAS — To step into club XS at the Wynn Las Vegas is to enter the dreamscape of a modern artist with fetishes for gold and bronze and bodies in motion.

A golden-plated frieze made from casts of nude women sits atop a shimmering staircase. Waves of electronic dance music grow louder with each downward step toward a pulsating, football field-sized club where lasers cut the air above thousands of dancers.

The revelers take their cues from the famous DJs onstage who are known to surf the crowd in inflatable rafts, throw sheet cakes at clubbers’ faces and spray vintage champagne into their mouths.

In Sin City, where overthe-top is always the sales pitch, lavish nightclubs featuring a heart-pounding party have become the backbone of a billion-dollar industry that is soaring while gambling revenue slips.

“We learned a long time ago that in order to continue to attract people from around the world, we have to provide things that are hard to find anywhere else,” said Jim Murren, CEO of MGM Resorts International, which operates nine Strip hotel-casinos boasting their own dance scenes. “These clubs, if done correctly, are tremendous magnets.”

A $100 million temple to revelry, XS is the top-earning nightclub in the country, joining six other Vegas venues in the top 10. Its estimated annual revenue hovers somewhere near $90 million, according to the trade publication Nightclub & Bar. The city boasts more than 50 such clubs. New additions are coming all the time, including the five-story Hakkasan at the MGM Grand, which debuted last month, and Light at Mandalay Bay, Cirque du Soleil’s first

infancy in the world of underground raves 25 years ago. Now, at 45, he makes hits for pop music stars including Rihanna, Usher and Nicki Minaj — and conducts the crowd at XS. At the flick of his upraised palms, Guetta had thousands of revelers whooping, jumping and punching their fists in the air. When he added a drumbeat into a chorus, metallic streamers dropped from the ceiling and a fog machine churned.

“Nothing compares with this,” said 23-year-old Katie Kelly, a student in San Louis Obispo, Calif., as she bobbed her index fingers skyward. “You just release and don’t care about anything.”

XS boasts that its layout is modeled on “the sexy curves of the human body.”

Story by HANNAH DREIER t Photos by JULIE JACOBSON / Associated Press In practice, the design steers people to the bars on a back foray into the disco busithat draws older generaStrip his home because it’s people who won’t spend on wall.

Female bartenders, their ness, opening Memorial Day tions while finding a way to the one place he believes is drinks, said nightlife baron long hair draped over weekend. make the city hip enough as dance-music-focused as Sean Christie, managing sequined black corsets, serve The rise of the Vegas to attract a younger, bighe is. partner of another Wynn $15 shots of Jack Daniels super-club coincides with spending set — emphasis on “When you exit the airclub, Surrender. whiskey, coordinating their the decline of the town’s big-spending. port, you see (the face of When it first opened pouring to the skull-rattling gambling supremacy. The “We’re not interested in President Barack) Obama in 2008, XS was lucky to bass and synthetic blares tiny Chinese enclave of competing against everyone — and then you see me,” be filled halfway to its vibrating around them. A Macau surpassed the desert to get the 21-year-olds that said Afrojack, a Wynn casino 5,000-person capacity, supermarket a few miles oasis as the world’s top gam- are going to spend little to favorite. even when featuring an act away sells a bottle of Jack bling destination in 2006. no money and are going to Perhaps no place exemsuch as Tiesto, the world’s containing 17 shots for $16.

Singapore is on track to clog up the hallways,” Mur- plifies the new culture on highest-paid DJ, accordWhen newbies push claim the No. 2 spot. ren said. the glittery Strip better than ing to Forbes, pulling down through the swaying crowd During the heart of the The 10-minute taxi ride XS. And for most wannabe $250,000 a set and making to grab a table, they find that recession, when overall Strip from the airport to the Strip Vegas party people, the $22 million a year.

Vegas has monetized sitting, revenues tumbled by 16 per- takes visitors past dozens night at XS starts in line.

Now, the club may see too. Patrons pay a $10,000 cent, nightclubs saw more of billboards promoting Casinos snake these 8,000 people come and go beverage minimum upfront profit than ever. By 2011, top DJs from Holland and queues past well-traveled over the course of a night. to claim any of the dozen Las Vegas was clubbing all beyond. Celine Dion and areas — entrances, slot That’s nearly half of the the way to the bank, with Elton John now take their banks and restaurant corri- capacity of Madison Square plush banquettes nearest the dance floor.

Strip beverage departments place on marquees alongside dors — turning the gussied- Garden.

By the time Guetta hit earning more than $1 billion, names that recall Internet up partiers into one more As the clock edged and casino tycoons began handles, such as “deadmau5” piece of visual spectacle. toward 2 a.m. on a Saturday his stride on this night, all of remaking the Strip into the and “Kaskade.”

At XS, clubbers line up in earlier this spring, superstar the club’s 95 tables were full, including the cheaper seats club capital of the world.

Las Vegas, long known a central hallway near the DJ David Guetta stood at away from the action and With extravagantly paid for catching performers luxury stores Hermes and the control board like a one uber-VIP table on stage.

DJs, larger-than-life venon the downswing of their Chanel. mad king, commanding his Near the bigger-than-yourues and billboard ads that careers, finally appears to Women pay $25 and men people. apartment, 1,100-squarestretch beyond the Strip to have embraced a musical pay $55 just to get in, but A wiry, hollow-faced foot dance floor, four scantHollywood Boulevard and trend at the height of its pretty girls who out-dress Frenchman with a curtain ily clad girls gyrated in front Miami, casinos are trying to popularity. Globe-trotting the dress code are admitted of blond hair, Guetta has pull off a tricky balancing Dutch DJ Afrojack, 25, said for free. The door charge is been churning out electronic of three men wearing suits and skinny ties. act: keeping the kitschy core he has come to consider the mostly there to weed out music since the genre’s

LEFT: DJ Cedric Gervais performs for revelers at the Surrender nightclub in Las Vegas.

BOTTOM: DJ Afrojack sprays a crowd of revelers with champagne while performing at the XS nightclub in Las Vegas.

Casino bosses transform Sin City into a high-rolling Club City

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

Thursday, May 9, 2013 - E13

TRAVEL One of them, Thomas Park, had filled the table with 2004 vintage PerrierJouet champagne and Gray Goose magnums — for $700 and $1,300 a pop, respectively.

“We have a lot to spend,” said Park, who is in his mid-30s and works as a relator in Canada.

“That’s why we have all the girls.”

Casinos learned long ago that some VIPs don’t see the point of being VIPs unless everyone can see them being VIPs, so clubs oblige big spenders with spotlights and velvet ropes cordoning off their miniempires.

But not everyone at a table is a high roller. Some are splurging, or sharing the cost with their friends.

Superstar DJ Kaskade, a Vegas regular, said he hears from fans who saved for months to pay for a table and a weekend of

fun in Vegas.

“It’s because they see videos of this stuff and they say: ‘This is nuts.’”

Today, the club craze is moving beyond the dance floor.

XS opens into an openair adult playground complete with table games, food and a huge circular pool.

Around 3 a.m. — still several hours from closing time — women in bachelorette sashes waded toward floating white platforms as crescendos drifted over the water.

Beckoning from the other side of the pool, past clumps of partiers, is the upscale “vibe-dining” restaurant Andrea’s, where DJs spin lounge music.

Hakkasan is taking the vibe-dining concept further, importing a Londonbased, Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant to serve as the foundation for

Local travel EXPERIENCE CHINA: Skagit Valley College has extended the deadline through May 16 to accept applications for an Aug. 22-Sept. 8 trip to China. The tour’s primary focus is to journey to the remote villages of Yunnan province to work with a partner organization devoted to helping village communities empower minority children through culture, art and music. Travelers will also learn about China’s history and culture through visits to its modern capital, Beijing, and its ancient capital, Xi’an. College credit is available. For information, including cost, application instructions and photos from past trips, visit www. skagit.edu/chinatrip, or contact Ted Maloney at 360-416-7774.

YOGA ADVENTURE SERIES: Join Dawn Jex for day trips and yoga. Each adventure includes activities at an area attraction combined with a yoga class.

For information or to register, call Jex at 360-631-0587 or visit www.yoga-gypsies. com.

Next up:

its five-story complex.

Most casinos have also incorporated nightclubs during the day — a way to infuse the dance scene into an otherwise typical summer pool party.

At Andrea’s, while taking in a production he helped create, Christie confessed he worries about what might happen to Vegas now that it’s banking so heavily on an indulgent club scene — especially if 20- and 30-somethings develop a taste for a new indulgence.

But then he quickly corrected himself, saying he’d be just as happy to lure patrons with country western stars.

“Whatever they want, I just serve up. Hopefully, I serve it up the best,” he said. “I’m not one to care about that kind of stuff.

I’m just here to make money and throw great parties.”

June 15: Theo Chocolate Factory Tour and Troll Yoga: Meet at 10:15 a.m. at the Theo Chocolate Factory, 3400 Phinney Ave., Seattle. Tour the factory, taste a little chocolate and then head up to the Troll under the Fremont bridge for some “Troll Yoga.” Afterward, explore Fremont for lunch, shopping or sightseeing. $20.

ESCORTED TOURS: The Whatcom County Tour Program offers a variety of day trips and longer tours, with most departing from and returning to the Bellingham Senior Activity Center, 315 Halleck St., Bellingham. For information or to register: 360-733-4030, press #, ext.

47015, or wccoa.org/index.php/Tours.

Next up: Oregon Coast and Yosemite: May 29-June 7. Check out the California coastline and loop through Oregon’s wine and lake region. Enjoy sites like Seaside, Gold Beach, Yosemite and Redwood National Park, San Francisco’s Chinatown and the Embarcadero waterfront. $2,650-$3450.

Includes round-trip motorcoach, hotel accommodations, 14 meals, entrance fees, tour guides and escort.

HOT TICKETS BLACKSTREET: May 10, Showbox SoDo, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

FLIGHT TO MARS: May 10, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.show boxonline.com.

PENTATONIX: May 11, Showbox SoDo, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

RICHARD THOMPSON ELECTRIC TRIO: May 12, Showbox at the Market, Seattle.

800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

MGMT: May 15, Showbox SoDo, Seattle.

800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

LAURA MARLING: May 15, Columbia City Theater, Seattle. 800-838-3006 or www. brownpapertickets.com.

YO LA TENGO: May 17, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.show boxonline.com.

SESAME STREET LIVE: “Can’t Stop Singing”: May 17-19, Comcast Arena at Everett.

866-332-8499 or www.comcastarenaeverett. com.

BRIT FLOYD: World’s Greatest Pink Floyd Show: May 18, Paramount Theatre, Seattle.

877-784-4849 or www.livenation.com.

ROSS MATHEWS: “Man Up!” Comedy Tour: May 18, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 877-7844849 or LiveNation.com.

MARIANAS TRENCH: May 18, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www. showboxonline.com.

CANNIBAL CORPSE, NAPALM DEATH: May 19, El Corazon, Seattle. www.elcorazonseattle. com.

FLEETWOOD MAC: May 20, Tacoma Dome, Tacoma. 800-745-3000 or www.livenation.com.

FABOLOUS & PUSHA T: May 21, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

FLYING LOTUS: May 22, Showbox SoDo, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

OZOMATLI: May 26, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showbox online.com.

JEWEL: May 30, Moore Theatre, Seattle.

877-784-4849 or www.livenation.com.

JUICY J: May 31, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

NEW FOUND GLORY: June 2, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www. showboxonline.com.

ALKALINE TRIO: June 7, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.show boxonline.com.

THREE DOG NIGHT: June 7, Mount Baker Theatre, Bellingham. 360-734-6080 or www. mountbakertheatre.com.

JOSEPHINE HOWELL: June 8, Sudden Valley Dance Barn, Bellingham. 360-671-1709 or www.suddenvalleylibrary.org.

ANTHONY JESELNIK (comedy): June 8, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 877-784-4849 or www.livenation.com.

ONE MORE TIME: A TRIBUTE TO DAFT PUNK: June 8, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline. com.

KUBE 93 SUMMER JAM: featuring T.I., Trey Songz, 2 Chainz, Wale and J. Cole, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis: June 8, Gorge Amphitheatre, George. 800-745-3000 or www. livenation.com.

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS: June 12, Showbox SoDo, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www. showboxonline.com.

GIN BLOSSOMS: June 14-15, Skagit Valley Casino Resort, Bow. 877-275-2448 or www. theskagit.com.

GARRISON KEILLOR: “Prairie Home Companion” live broadcast: June 15, Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, Woodinville. 800-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com.

VANS WARPED TOUR: June 15, White River Amphitheatre, Auburn. 800-745-3000 or www. livenation.com.

FALL OUT BOY: June 19, Showbox SoDo, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

DAMIAN “JR. GONG” MARLEY, STEPHEN MARLEY: featuring the Ghetto Youths Crew: June 19, Marymoor Park, Redmond. 888-9297849 or www.marymoorconcerts.com.

BAD COMPANY, LYNYRD SKYNYRD: June 20, White River Amphitheatre, Auburn. 800745-3000 or www.livenation.com.

THE DANDY WARHOLS: June 21, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www. showboxonline.com.

CAMERA OBSCURA: June 22, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www. showboxonline.com.

CODY SIMPSON: June 23, Paramount Theatre, Seattle. 877-784-4849 or www. livenation.com.

HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD: June 26, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www. showboxonline.com.

TWISTA: June 28, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

TIESTO, KASKADE & MANY MORE: Paradiso Festival: June 28-29, Gorge Amphitheatre, George. 800-745-3000 or www.livenation. com.

CHINO Y NACHO: June 29, Showbox SoDo, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

STEVE MILLER BAND: June 29, Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, Woodinville. 800-7453000 or www.ticketmaster.com.

BARENAKED LADIES, BEN FOLDS FIVE, GUSTER: June 29, White River Amphitheatre, Auburn. 800-745-3000 or www.livenation. com.

TILTED THUNDER RAIL BIRDS: Banked Track Roller Derby: June 29, Comcast Arena at Everett. 866-332-8499 or www.comcastarena everett.com.

FACE TO FACE: June 30, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

VICTORIA JUSTICE: July 3, Marymoor Park, Redmond. 888-929-7849 or www.marymoor concerts.com.

ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK MAYHEM FESTIVAL: Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Mastodon, Amon Amarth, Machine Head, Children of Bodom, Behemoth and more: July 3, White River Amphitheatre, Auburn. 800-7453000 or www.livenation.com.

SAY ANYTHING: July 5, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.show boxonline.com.

JAMBASE LIVE FESTIVAL: Robert Plant, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Slightly Stoopid, Michael Franti and more: July 5-6, Gorge Amphitheatre, George. 800-745-3000 or www.livenation. com.

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

E14 - Thursday, May 9, 2013

GET INVOLVED ART RESOURCES FOR ARTISTS: ARTIST TRUST AT LARGE: 5 to 6:30 p.m. today, La Conner Civic Garden Club, 622 S. Second St., La Conner. Jean Behnke will discuss how Washington artists of all disciplines can utilize Artist Trust’s resources, grants, career training and tips, exhibition and performance opportunities to make the next (or first) step in their arts career. Free. For information, email jbehnke@rockisland.com.

CALL FOR ARTISTS: The Anacortes Arts Commission seeks boating-themed artwork in all mediums for the “On The Water” art show, set for June 1-2, at the Depot Art & Community Center, 611 R Ave., Anacortes. For information, contact Karla Locke at 360-588-6968 or email kklocke1@ mac.com.

ART CLASSES INTRO TO ILLUSTRATION ART CLASSES: Burlington Parks and Recreation is offering a series of art classes for ages 7 to 12. Instructor Max Elam will introduce young artists to a variety of styles and art mediums. Each four-session class costs $45. Supplies are included. To register, call 360-755-9649.

Basic Cartooning: 4 to 6 p.m.

Tuesdays, June 4-25. $40.

AUDITIONS BRASS CHOIR: The Basically Brass Choir seeks trumpet and trombone players to join a group of about 12 musicians, playing a variety of styles. Rehearsals are the first and third Mondays in Burlington, with regular performances.

Contact David Soiseth at 360-7570351 or dsois@comcast.net.

sharing a book. For information or ing Mini Kickers Soccer for ages 3-5 on Friday mornings, through to register, call 360-399-6447.

May 31, at Skagit River Park in Burlington. Mini Kickers teaches MUSIC basic soccer skills while developWWU SUMMER CHORAL ARTS ing strength, balance, coordination, SYMPOSIUM: Western Washinglistening skills and teamwork. $99, ton University’s College of Fine includes jersey, shorts, soccer ball and Performing Arts, in partnerand player evaluation. Register at ship with the Bellingham Festival www.minikickersoccer.com. of Music, will host a Choral Arts Symposium for music educators, GOLF TOURNAMENT: The 26th choral directors, voice conductors annual James M. Ford Golf Clasand students on July 13-21 on the sic will begin with a shotgun start WWU campus in Bellingham. at noon Friday, May 10, at Avalon Participants will spend nine Golf Links in Burlington. Registradays of intense study and pertion starts at 10 a.m. $130 per golfformance featuring Verdi’s “Te er, $500 for a foursome. Includes Deum” with orchestra and “A the use of a golf cart, lunch and Summer Night of Love in Old refreshments throughout the day.

Vienna,” an overview of choral Golfers will be treated to a dinmusic of Schubert and Brahms ner and awards ceremony at the with piano. The week will culmiend of the day. Proceeds benefit nate with two performances at the Skagit Valley College Foundation Bellingham Festival of Music on programs, scholarships and other July 19 and 21. assistance.

Participants can earn three Contact Anne Clark at 360-416graduate credits or 40 clock hours. 7821, email anne.clark@skagit.edu Formal admission to Western or visit skagit.edu/foundation and is not required. 360-650-3308, click on the James M. Ford Classic ExtendedEd@wwu.edu or www. link. wwu.edu/choralarts.

RUN FOR BOSTON: Join Skagit PIANO MASTER CLASS: Italian Runners for a group run to benefit pianist Alessio Bax will conduct the Boston Marathon bombing a free master class from 10 a.m. victims at 6 p.m. Monday, May to noon Friday, May 10, in the 13, at Skagit Running Company, Western Washington University 702 S. First St., Mount Vernon.

Performing Arts Center Concert Choose a run from 3 to 6 miles Hall, on the WWU campus in at various paces or a 2-mile walk.

Bellingham. 360-650-3130 or www. Stay for postrun refreshments. $10 wwu.edu/sanfordhill. suggested donation. All proceeds will go to The One Fund Boston to benefit the Boston Marathon ON STAGE FREE ADULT ACTING CLASSES: bombing victims and their families.

360-982-2934.

Anacortes Community Theatre

will present a series of acting classes for adults from 10 a.m. to noon the third Saturday each month at 918 M Ave., Anacortes.

Classes will include scripted scenes and a variety of acting games, with BOATING a different topic each month: May BOATING SAFELY: The Coast 18: stage presence; June 15: perforGuard Auxiliary will offer the mance. Each class will be indepenclass, “About Boating Safely,” from dent, so you don’t have to commit 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 11, to every session. 360-293-4373 or at the Anacortes Senior Center, www.acttheatre.com.

1701 22nd St., Anacortes. Participants will learn how to enjoy safe RECREATION boating and obtain a Washington YOUTH SOCCER: Burlington Boater Education Card. $30, includes textbook. $45 for couples Parks and Recreation is offer-

WOMEN ON WHEELS: Women interested in cycling are invited to gather for a short ride at 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 15, at Gretchens, 509 S. First St., Mount Vernon. The ride will be followed at 6:30 p.m. by tapas, wine and an exchange of ideas to encourage ongoing women’s cycling. All levels of interest and ability are welcome. 360-3363801.

TRAIL TALES: Friends of Skagit Beaches will lead a series of informative walks along the Tommy Thompson Trail in Anacortes. For

information, visit www.skagit beaches.org.

Next up: Anacortes Mill History: 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 11, starting at 34th Street. Trail Tales docents will lead a short walk along the Tommy Thompson Trail and talk about wood-processing mills, the foundation of Anacortes’ early economic development. Learn about the environmental damage in their wake and the cleanup in progress.

Native and Introduced Plants: 10 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 15, starting at Fidalgo RV Park, 4701 Fidalgo Bay Road. Learn about plant identification and interesting facts about plant biology. Some plants are native, others were introduced by Coast Salish people and Europeans.

THEATER THEATER CLASSES: Anacortes Community Theatre’s Class Act School for the Performing Arts is enrolling kids from preschool through 12th grade for classes on acting and theater arts. Classes are held at ACT, 918 M Ave., Anacortes. 360-293-6829 or www.act theatre.com/classact.

WORKSHOPS WRITING WORKSHOP: The Skagit Valley Writers League will present “The Power Of Language,” with Judith Kirscht, from 1 to 3 p.m. today at Washington Federal, 300 E. Fairhaven Ave., Burlington.

This interactive workshop will help you get to the point — use the right word and bring power into your writing. Free. 360-391-2042 or www.skagitwriters.org.

MOSAIC GARDEN ART: with Sue Roberts, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, May 11-12, at Harmony Fields, 7465 Thomas Road, Bow. Students will make a unique, colorful mosaic garden piece by covering premade forms with pottery shards, mirror, toys, trinkets and found objects. Students are encouraged to bring their own special mementos or found objects to use in their mosaic. Open to all levels of experience. $95 plus $15 materials fee. 360-9418196 or www.hfproduce.com.

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Thursday, May 9, 2013 - E15

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Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

E16 - Thursday, May 9, 2013

MOVIES

Carey Mulligan and Leonardo DiCaprio star in “The Great Gatsby.”

Warner Bros. Pictures via MCT

DiCaprio’s Gatsby outshines Luhrmann’s movie

By ROGER MOORE McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Jazzy, fizzy and often quite fun, Baz Luhrmann’s “Pretty Good Gatsby” takes F. Scott Fizgerald’s Great American Novel out for a sometimes dazzling, always irreverent spin.

The gauzy picture-postcard 3-D production design and superb leading players breathe life into the Jazz Age novel. But the “Moulin Rouge!” director’s barely contained determination to Australianize, if not outright bastardize, “The Great Gatsby” is constantly at war with a book and a cast that scream “classic.” And Luhrmann isn’t having that.

Gatbsy’s orgiastic parties are set to hip hop music. A clumsy sanitarium-set framing device gives Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) a tad too much Fitzgerald autobiography and too little Nick, the shrewd but passive observer. And some of the supporting player choices take you right out of the movie. Seriously,

the brawny, bigoted Tom Buchanan an understandable, if not remotely HHH sympathetic, guardian of his polo Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, playing “ruling class.”

Carey Mulligan, Tobey MaguAnd Leonardo DiCaprio brings ire, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher depth, neediness and focus to Jay Running time: 2:23 Gatsby, who has copied the man MPAA rating: PG-13 for ners, affectations and dress of some violent images, sexual content, smoking, partying America’s not-noble nobility, all and brief language in pursuit of his feminine ideal — Daisy.

Photographed right, there’s a what Luhrmann and “colorblind Wellesian larger-than-life aura casting” do to the “gambler” and gangster Meyer Wolfsheim is so far about DiCaprio, and Luhrmann removed from Jewish caricature or introduces him as the character in a grand moment that includes stereotype as to be laughable. confetti, fireworks and Gershwin’s But Maguire is close to perfect as Nick, the struggling bond sales- “Rhapsody in Blue” — a tune man, would-be writer and teller of composed two years after this film the tale of his neighbor, the myste- is set (1922), but close enough to rious, “richer than God” Jay Gats- be perfect. by, and of inbred aristocracy that Nick rents a rundown bungalow Nick’s cousin, Daisy, was born into next door to Gatsby’s Disneylandand married into. Carey Mulligan sized mansion. He finds himself makes for a cannier Daisy than the the go-between in the mysterious hapless ditz Mia Farrow turned her millionaire’s obsession, a way for into back when Robert Redford Gatsby to see the woman he loved played Gatsby in 1974. Joel Edgbut who lived totally outside of his erton (“Animal Kingdom”) makes income years before. All that’s he

‘THE GREAT GATSBY’

earned, all that he’s made of himself in Prohibition-era America, he did for her.

Daisy’s unhappily married to a bullying philanderer. Tom Buchanan and Nick may have gone to Yale together, and Daisy may be Nick’s cousin. But with her pal, the rich sportswoman Jordan Baker (Elizabeth Debicki, whose athletic pursuits seem limited to catwalks), Nick conspires to get Gatsby in a room alone with Daisy.

Which isn’t where the trouble starts, but where the tale takes its fateful turn toward the fatal.

Tom cheats with Myrtle (Isla Fisher) and uses Nick just as Gatsby would — as a “beard,” an alibi and co-conspirator. Poor Nick is trapped in a daze of booze and sex, mannered courtship and “appearances.”

Luhrmann stages stunningly choreographed parties which suggest a high-class rave with an unlimited budget set to a furious hip hop beat. Long shots are painterly fantasy landscapes, the hazy

bright-colored impressionism of memory. Manhattan is a garishly colorized sea of neon and noise.

But this movie hangs utterly on performance, and DiCaprio’s Gatsby is mesmerizing. His studied use of the term “old sport,” awkward attempts at poses and occasional lapses — dropping the Jay Gatsby facade — are exactly right, even if they go beyond the novel’s dense texture of mystery.

The beating heart of the book, its aspirational “Great Expectations” ethos — coveting wealth to recreate an imagined past and idealized future — shines through in this performance. The emptiness of those pursuits — money, partying, marrying for status — seems more modern than ever.

But it is DiCaprio’s lovelorn, hopeful, grasping and nostalgic Gatsby that stands out, a man who earns Nick’s finest compliment, one of the greatest lines in all of literature: “They’re a rotten crowd.

You’re worth the whole damn bunch of them put together.”

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

Thursday, May 9, 2013 - E17

MOVIES MINI-REVIEWS Compiled from news services.

Ratings are one to four stars.

“At Any Price” — The gifted director Ramin Bahrani is working on an “American Gothic” canvas with a half-dozen recognizable actors and some big-picture themes about the plight of the 21st-century farmer, as told through the perspective of a Willy Loman-esque character and his dysfunctional family. It’s beautifully photographed and solidly acted, but it’s all over the place. With Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron, Red West.

Drama, R, 105 minutes. HH “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” — To say “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” is a video game for the big screen is to insult a number of video games that are far more creative, challenging and better-looking. The first installment of this series, “The Rise of Cobra” (2009), at least had a sense of its own absurdity, but the sequel is a heavyhanded, explosion-riddled, ear-piercing disaster with an insanely stupid plot and an endless stream of mostly generic fight sequences that straddle the PG-13 line. Action, PG-13, 110 minutes. H1⁄2 “Iron Man 3” — Robert Downey Jr. is plain great in this film. Filled with breathtakingly brilliant special effects, bolstered by excellent supporting performances from a half-dozen other top-tier actors, crackling with sharp humor and working as a story that stands alone while often acknowledging the larger Marvel(ous) universe, “Iron Man 3” is one of the best entries in this modern golden age of superhero movies. Working from a smart if sometimes meandering script, director Shane Black takes us on a 3-D thrill ride in which a LOT of stuff is blown up, and the skies are filled with superheroes, supervillains and humans falling to their seemingly certain deaths. Superhero action, PG-13, 130 minutes. HHH1⁄2 “Oblivion” — An extremely well-crafted, at times engrossing but ultimately standard-issue futuristic epic with some big ideas and spiritual touches separated by some very loud and explosive chase scenes, high-powered gun battles and even some good old-fashioned hand-to-hand combat involving Tom Cruise. It’s the sci-fi movie equivalent of a pretty darn good cover band. You’re not getting the real deal, but you’re getting a medley of hits performed by some talented artists who clearly have great affection for the original material. Sci-fi action, PG-13, 126 minutes. HHH “Olympus Has Fallen” — Bystanders and tourists, soldiers, cops and Secret Service agents fall by the score in a movie about the unthinkable — a terrorist ground assault on Washington, D.C. For all the bursts of blood, the gunplay and execution-style head-shots that punctuate scores of deaths, it’s hard to see “Olympus Has Fallen” (that’s Secret Service code) as much more than another movie manifestation of a first-person shooter video game. Action, R, 113 minutes. HH “Oz the Great and Powerful” — Like “The Phantom Menace” trilogy, “Oz the Great and Powerful” precedes a beloved classic on the fictional timeline, but makes full use of modern-day technology, which means everything’s grander and more spectacular. Director Sam Raimi and his army of special-effects wizards have created a visually stunning film that makes good use of 3-D, at least in the first hour or so. The film finally breaks free of its beautiful but artificial trappings and becomes a

AT AREA THEATERS ANACORTES CINEMAS May 10-16 The Great Gatsby (PG-13): Friday-Saturday: 12:40, 3:35, 6:30, 8:00, 9:25. SundayThursday: 12:40, 3:35, 6:30, 8:00 Iron Man 3 (PG-13): Friday-Saturday: 12:50, 3:45, 6:40, 9:20; Sunday-Thursday: 12:50, 3:45, 6:40 Oblivion (PG-13): Friday-Wednesday: 1:00, 3:55 360-293-6620 BLUE FOX DRIVE-IN Oak Harbor 360-675-5667 CONCRETE THEATRE May 10-12 Oblivion (PG-13): Friday: 7:30 p.m.; Saturday: 5 and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday: 4 p.m.

360-941-0403 CASCADE MALL THEATRES Burlington For listings: 888-AMC-4FUN (888-2624386).

OAK HARBOR CINEMAS May 10-16 The Great Gatsby (PG-13): Friday-Saturday: 12:45, 3:40, 6:35, 9:30; Sunday-Thursday: 12:45, 3:40, 6:35 Iron Man 3 (PG-13): Friday-Saturday: 12:55, 3:50, 6:45, 8:00, 9:25; SundayThursday: 12:55, 3:50, 6:45, 8:00 Oblivion (PG-13): Friday-Wednesday: 1:05, 4:00 360-279-2226 STANWOOD CINEMAS May 10-16 The Great Gatsby (PG-13): 12:45, 3:40, 6:30, 8:00, 9:20 Iron Man 3 (PG-13): 12:55, 3:50, 6:40, 8:10, 9:30 The Big Wedding (R): 12:25, 3:30 Pain & Gain (R): 1:05, 4:00 Oblivion (PG-13): 1:15, 4:10, 6:50, 9:25 360-629-0514 story with heart in the final act. Fantasy adventure, PG, 130 minutes. HH1⁄2 “Pain & Gain” — The mostly true story of three idiot bodybuilders who went on a steroidsfueled, tragicomic crime spree in South Florida in the 1990s, directed by Michael Bay with hardR, turn-your-head-away violence. Even though the film does mine laughs from real-life tragedy, it refuses to glamorize these meatheads. Kudos to Bay and his screenwriters for making sure we’re laughing at them, not with them. Action comedy, R, 130 minutes. HHH “The Big Wedding” — Formulaic comedy ensues when an adopted son asks his divorced parents to pretend they’re still together because his biological mother believes divorce is an unforgivable sin. But it feels as if all the guests at “The Big Wedding” are wearing ID tags telling us their one plot point. For such a lighthearted ensemble romp, “The Big Wedding” easily earns its R rating, what with a nude scene and raunchy dialogue that gets pretty nasty at times.

Comedy, R, 90 minutes. HH

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

E18 - Thursday, May 9, 2013

OUT & ABOUT ART SEDRO-WOOLLEY ART WALK: Check out a variety of artwork by amateur artists through May 15 at businesses along Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley. You’ll find photography, fiber art, watercolor, acrylic painting, woodcarving, glass art and more. For information, call Elizabeth at 360-588-4384.

IN THE ART BAR: Artwork by Angelica Guillen and Cecilia Concepcion Alvarez is on display through May in the Lincoln Theatre Art Bar, 712 S. First St., Mount Vernon.

360-336-8955 or www.lin colntheatre.org.

JURIED ART EXHIBIT: The annual Skagit Valley College Juried Art Exhibit is on display through May 23 in the SVC Art Gallery, located in the Gary Knutzen Cardinal Center on SVC’s Mount Vernon campus. The exhibit features student art in a variety of mediums including painting, drawing, photography, ceramics and mixed media.

Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. 360-416-7812.

“DAZED OR CONFUSED: RETRO ART SHOW”: Local artists celebrate the ’60s and ’70s during May at Starbucks, 18th and Commercial, and at The Apothecary Spa at The Majestic Inn, 419 Commercial Ave. www.anacortesartscommis sion.com.

Mann photographs, Bob Metke glass, Carole Cunningham and Debbie Aldrich jewelry and work by other gallery artists.

Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 360-293-3577 or www.annemartinmccool. com.

“THE RAVENS OF MAE: WHIMSICAL RAVENS SHARE THE WISDOM OF MAE WEST”: The show of new artwork by Windwalker Taibi continues through June 6 at Raven Rocks Gallery, 765 Wonn Award-winning magician Road, Greenbank. The newest additions to Taibi’s Elliott Hofferth will present a 90-minute Las “Ravens in Love” series feature witty quotes from Vegas-style magic show at 7 p.m. Friday, May 10, Mae West. The show also includes a selection of at Brodniak Hall, 1600 20th St., Anacortes. The artwork by other gallery Anacortes High School artists. For information, freshman has trained with including gallery hours and Las Vegas entertainer and directions, call 360-222magician Jeff McBride and 0102 or visit www.raven placed second for stage rocksgallery.com.

MAGICIAN TO PERFORM

performance at the 2012 Northwest Magic Jamboree. Advance tickets are available for $5 at Boxes and Bears, 907 Commercial Ave., and Read Me A Story, 1005 Ninth St., both in Anacortes. $7 at the door. 360-293-2166.

photographs by poet Jane Alynn, oils by Anne Belov and acrylics by Cynthia Richardson. Gallery hours are 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Monday through Saturday.

360-293-6938 or www.scott milo.com.

GALLERY ARTISTS: Anne Martin McCool Gal“STEVE HILL: PASlery will feature a variety TELS”: A show of new of artwork by gallery artpastels by Lopez Island ists through May 31 at 711 artist Steve Hill continues Commercial Ave., Anathrough June 4 at Scott cortes. The show includes Milo Gallery, 420 Commer- paintings and prints by cial Ave., Anacortes. Also Anne Martin McCool, showing are color photoTracy Powell sculpture, graphs by Randy Dana, Jane Hyde baskets, George a collaborative theme of Way and Art Learmonth oils by Dederick Ward and hand-turned wood, Bryce

ANNIVERSARY ART SHOW: Rob Schouten Gallery celebrates its fifth anniversary with a show of new work by sculptor Dan Freeman and painter Angèle Woolery, continuing through June 3, at 765 Wonn Road, Greenbank.

Freeman combines wood, metal and stone to create sculptures for both indoor and outdoor display, including a number of kinetic sculptures. Woolery will exhibit her oil landscapes and pastel flowers. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, Tuesday by appointment. 360-222-3070 or www.robschoutengallery .com.

In her second solo show at the gallery, Molesworth brings together shards and fragments of objects and landscape — encountered as she works, travels and explores — to tell the story of her home in the Samish Valley. 360-766-6230 or www.smithandvallee.com.

BITE-SIZED ART: Contemporary American artist Dick Matthies will show a special sampler of bitesized works opening at 6 p.m. Friday, May 10, at the Firelight Bistro, 10007 270th St. NW, Stanwood.

Matthies’ works, mostly done in watercolor and acrylics, are rich, layered, playful and elegant. Unable to paint in recent years, Matthies continues to make art from his stockpile of paintings by cutting and framing small paintings selected from larger pieces.

Free admission. Wine tasting with small bites, $15.

360-629-7575.

WATERCOLORS ON DISPLAY: Watercolor paintings

by Ginny Ternsten are on display through May at United General Hospital, 2000 Hospital Drive, Sedro-Woolley. Ternsten is a member of Skagit Artists Together.

NOT JUST NATURE ART: New work by Todd J. Horton and Peregrine O’Gormley continues through May 19 at Gallery Cygnus, 109 Commercial Ave., La Conner. Not just nature artists, Horton and O’Gormley think deeply about their subjects and their human relationship to the rest of the world.

Horton practices a kind of SOLO ART SHOW: “Frag- “catch and release” form of painting, daring to nearly ments of Place,” a show destroy what he has so of new artwork by Kris perfectly rendered in paint.

Ekstrand Molesworth, continues through May 26 O’Gormley’s work involves at Smith & Vallee Gallery, a study of the life and times of his subject, often delving 5742 Gilkey Ave., Edison.

into deeper issues of wellbeing that touch our own.

Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday, or by appointment.

360-708-4787 or www.gal lerycygnus.com.

gram’s first two “pop-up” art projects at 511 S. First St. and 602 S. First St., downtown Mount Vernon.

Julia Haack’s large-scale sculptural works, like the installation at 511 S. First St., start as remnants of wood lath salvaged from “JACK AND JILL AND HAPPINESS HILL”: The demolition sites across the show of graphic illustraNorthwest. She paints and tions by David Ward for arranges the pieces into Hal Pullin’s new book on bright, colorful, celebratory relationships continues by pieces. Her installation will appointment until May 11 remain on display through at Ululate Gallery, 924 S. May 24.

11th St., Mount Vernon.

Celeste Cooning’s 360-336-3882 or www.ulu installation, “Heaven and late.org.

Earth,” at 602 S. First St., serves up a three-dimenART GLASS: “CLEARLY sional environment created ART: THE BEAUTY OF out of cut-paper panels.

GLASS”: The show contin- Her storefront display will ues through July 7 at the continue through May 31.

Whatcom Museum’s Light- www.storefrontsmount catcher Building, 250 Flora vernon.com.

St., Bellingham. “Clearly Art” presents a broad FESTIVALS spectrum of forms and MULTICULTURAL FEST: applications of studio glass, Skagit Valley College will from the traditional to the host “Celebrate the World! radical, including works by A Multicultural Family Sonja Blomdahl, Kyohei Festival” from 12:30 to 5 Fujita, Dale Chihuly, Ellen p.m. Sunday, May 19, at Ziegler and many others.

McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. ColThe museum is open from lege Way, Mount Vernon. noon to 5 p.m. WednesEnjoy arts and crafts, enterday through Sunday, with tainment, food, a children’s extended hours until 8 p.m. village and more from Thursdays and early open- around the world at this ing at 10 a.m. Saturdays. free family-friendly event. $10, $8 student/senior/ For information, contact military, $4.50 ages 4 and Anita Ordonez at 360younger, free for members. 416-7786 or email anita.

360-778-8930 or www.what ordonez@skagit.edu. commuseum.org.

SPRING SHOWCASE: The Jansen Art Center Spring Showcase is on display through June 27 at the center, 321 Front St., Lynden. The exhibit features artwork in a variety of mediums including paintings, tile art, wood carvings, jewelry, ceramics and photography; much of it is for sale.

STOREFRONTS MOUNT VERNON: View the Storefronts Mount Vernon pro-

LECTURES AND TALKS AIDS ORPHANS, ISSUES & OPPORTUNITIES IN KENYA: Rachelle Strawther-Okumu will speak about AIDS orphans and other issues and opportunities facing Kenya today from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 10, at Christ Episcopal Parish Hall, 1216 Seventh St., Anacortes.

Recently returned from Kisumu, a Kenyan municipality on Lake Victoria,

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

Thursday, May 9, 2013 - E19

OUT & ABOUT Rachelle will speak about the Luo tribe (the tribe of President Barack Obama’s father’s family), AIDS issues, Nongovernmental Organization effectiveness and the potential for smallbusiness prospects to combat poverty in Kenya. For information, contact Micael Raphael at 360-421-5689 or visit www.dungaproject.org.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN ANACORTES: Take a virtual tour of historic Anacortes structures and their multiple uses and locations at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, May 15, at the Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes.

Anacortes Museum educator Bret Lunsford will present a slideshow of then-and-now photographs showing familiar buildings and residences in their original form. See buildings that have been preserved and restored, appearances that have been drastically altered, structures that have been moved from where they were built, and buildings that are now only pictures and memories.

The slideshow will spotlight the latest addition to the Anacortes House History Program: the Eliza Blackinton Wilson House at 1801 Ninth St. See photos of the house and hear from the Kerschbaums on the details of researching their historic home.

Center. Limited seating; doors open at 6 p.m. There is no admission charge, but donations are requested to benefit the MBVRC and the Skagit Valley College Veterans Club. www.mbvrc. wordpress.com.

JAZZ AT THE LIBRARY

The David Arteaga Quartet will perform from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday, May 12, at the Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes. The quartet features David Arteaga, tenor sax; Alexei Tsiganov, piano; Tchavdar Natchev-Peno, bass; and Renato Malavasion, drums. Free.

Free. 360-293-1910, ext.

21, or library.cityofana cortes.org.

VOLCANO PRESENTATION: Volcanologist Dave Tucker will discuss Mount Baker’s eruption history, potential hazards and more at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 16, at the Phillip Tarro Theatre, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. Tucker is the director of the Mount Baker Volcano Research

SKAGIT TOPIC: HENRY KLEIN: 60 YEARS OF DESIGN: 6 p.m. Thursday, May 16, Skagit County Historical Museum, 501 S. Fourth St., La Conner.

Join David Hall and Loyal Larson as they reminisce about the designs and life of Henry Klein. Free with museum admission. $5 adults, $4 seniors and ages 6 to 12, $10 families, free for members and ages 5 and younger. 360-466-3365 or www.skagitcounty.net/ museum.

MUSIC IN CONCERT: The Shelter Bay Chorus will present “Say It With a Song” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 17, and 2 p.m. Saturday, May 18, at the Shelter Bay Clubhouse in La Conner. Donations accepted at the door.

360-466-3805.

PLAYS DUAL LANGUAGE MUSICAL: LaVenture Middle School will perform Disney’s “Aladdin” in English and Spanish at 7 p.m.

Thursday and Friday, May 16-17, and at 2 and 7 p.m.

AUDITIONS! PAN the musical — the classic story for a new generation. Join the adventures of Peter Pan, Hook, Wendy and the Lost Boys in Neverland.

AUDITIONS MAY 28-29 at the Lincoln Theatre Director: Joe Bowen • Music Director: Conrad Askland

Many roles for adults and children ages 5-60+

VISIT: WWW.PANMUSICAL.COM FOR MORE INFO!

Saturday, May 18, at 1200 LaVenture Road, Mount Vernon. $5. Tickets are available at the door half an hour before each performance. 360-428-6116.

of Western Washington University’s annual Japan Week Celebration, Western’s Asia University in America Program will present “Japan Night” from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, May 9, in the Viking Union MORE FUN multipurpose room on the NONPROFIT FAIR: The WWU campus in BellingSkagit Community Founham. The event will feature dation will host the Skagit Japanese-themed booths Day of Giving from 4 to and activities including a 8 p.m. today at St. Joseph tea ceremony, sushi-rolling, Center, 215 N. 15th St., origami, card games and Mount Vernon. The family- Japanese calligraphy. Free. friendly event is intended For information, contact to spread awareness of professor Michiko Yusa local nonprofits and the at 360-650-4851 or email benefits they provide. The Michiko.yusa@wwu.edu. free event includes youth activities and crafts, eduMODEL TRAIN DISPLAY: cational booths, live music, The Whatcom-Skagit food and beverages. Seven Model Railroad Club will nonprofit partners will host an open house from receive up to $15,000 in 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, matching funds. 360-419May 11, at 1469 Silver Run 3181 or www.skagitcf.org.

Lane, Alger. The club operates large, permanent HOJAPAN NIGHT: As part and N-scale model railroad

layouts. Admission is by donation to help continue building the layouts. www. whatcomskagitmrc.org.

TRAWLER FEST: The annual event for cruising enthusiasts will take place Thursday through Sunday, May 16-19, at Cap Sante Boat Haven, Anacortes.

Check out more than 40 boats on the water, daily seminars and activities, and more than 30 exhibitors showcasing a variety of boating products, services and accessories. $15 daily. Seminars, evening programs and pre-Fest “Trawler University” classes require additional fees. 888-487-2953 or www. trawlerfest.com.

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