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Critic’s Picks: Illumni Mens Choral at PLU, Harriet Tubman song at B2 gallery, Click Flick at The Grand and Metropolitan Ballet Theatre of Tacoma

Rosemary Ponnekanti — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:26:42 +0000

Illumni Mens Chorale sing basso profundo at PLU

It isn’t often you get to hear real basso profundo singing in Tacoma, but this weekend you can: the Illumni Mens Chorale will be joined by Glenn Miller to sing an evening of Russian folk, sacred and soldier songs, including Chesnokov’s Memorial Service, Kalinka and Song of the Volga Boatmen. 8 p.m. April 22. $10. Lagerquist Hall, Pacific Lutheran University, 868 Wheeler St. S., Parkland. 206-659-5894, illumnimenschorale.com

Harriet Tubman and freedom songs at B2 Gallery

Karol Brown plays a 92-year-old Harriet Tubman in “Sweet Freedom’s Jubilee,” a performance of Negro spirituals …

Critic’s Picks: Flamenco at New Frontier, the Tacoma Symphony Chorus’ “Messiah,” Click Flick at the Grand Cinema and three “Nutcrackers”

Rosemary Ponnekanti — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:59:11 +0000

Tacoma Symphony Chorus sings “Messiah”

Hear the arias and choruses of Handel’s famous oratorio, sung by the Tacoma Symphony Chorus with Tacoma Symphony accompanying, and with soloists Denise Lees, Melissa Plagemann, James Brown and Benjamin Harris. 7:30 p.m. tonight. $25. St. Charles Borromeo Church, 7112 S. 12^th St., Tacoma. 253-272-7264, www.tacomasymphony.org

Flamenco at New Frontier

The 3 Glorias: Flamenco en Vivo performs at the New Frontier tonight, featuring sultry Seattle dancer Savannah Fuentes, singer Jesus Montoya and Pedro Cortez on guitar. 9 p.m. tonight. 21 and over. $20. New Frontier Lounge, …

Two thumbs-up, two thumbs-down for the Tacoma Film Festival’s Grit City Flicks

Rosemary Ponnekanti — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:13:24 +0000

The locally made flicks at the Tacoma Film Festival – which screened yesterday, and are on again at 1:45 p.m. today – are always rather hit-or-miss. This year two out of four were definitely worth the watch, with the other two less thrilling.

One of the better two was Mick Flaaen’s “Paint,” a hyper-local documentary showing how the City of Tacoma’s imaginative policy on graffiti murals has shaped the town both aesthetically and internally. In between interviews with everyone from artists to City administrator Amy McBride, to whom goes the credit for much of the moving and shaking, are …

Critic’s Picks: TSO Chorus sing Mozart Requiem, Click Flick at the Grand, Sumi-e at Sandpiper Gallery, Tacoma Third Thursday ArtWalk

Rosemary Ponnekanti — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:50:43 +0000

TSO chorus sings Mozart’s Requiem

The Tacoma Symphony Orchestra and Chorus perform Mozart’s famous last work and memorial to the dead, the Requiem, in a resonant church setting. 7:30 p.m. tonight. $20. Christ Episcopal Church, 310 N. K St., Tacoma. 253-591-5894, www.tacomasymphony.org

Click Flick: “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”

This month’s free Click Family Flick at the Grand follows Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) as he’s pulled out of adventuring retirement to solve a scary Inca mystery involving quicksand, evil talking skulls and more. Doors open 10 a.m., screening 10:30 a.m. Free to first 100 people. The …

Critic’s Picks: Click Flick “Ghostbusters,” “Asher Lev” at TOTS, Liszt at UPS and Klee Wyk art at WSHM

Rosemary Ponnekanti — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:39:17 +0000

Click Flick: “Ghostbusters”

This month’s Click Flick at the Grand Cinema is the classic 1980s comedy “Ghostbusters” – just try not to sing along. Doors open 10 a.m., screening 10:30 a.m. Free to first 100 people. The Grand Cinema, 606 S. Fawcett Ave., Tacoma. 253-593-4474, www.grandcinema.com

“My Name is Asher Lev” theater collaboration

Lakewood Playhouse collaborates with the Broadway Center to present the Northwest premiere of “My Name is Asher Lev,” an adaptation of Chaim Potok’s novel about a young Jewish artist conflicted between tradition and self-expression. Opens 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19, then 3 p.m. and …

Free Arts Month: Tom Hanks, for free, at the Click Flick

Rosemary Ponnekanti — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 22:09:43 +0000

If you want free, you gotta plan. Today my idea was to catch the monthly Click Family Flick at the Grand Cinema – but about 100 people had the same idea as I did, and sooner. The Flick is a free kid-friendly film every third Saturday, usually something adults like as well, but it’s pretty popular, and it’s worth planning out the morning. Today’s screening was the 1988 classic “Big,” about a boy who wishes he was bigger – and has it granted, by about six years in one night.

Doors open at 10 a.m. for the 10:30 a.m. screening, …

The Grand Cinema goes retro this Christmas – and evil

Craig Sailor — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 02:04:01 +0000

Tacoma’s Grand Cinema is showing two Christmas classics this weekend and one seriously sinister Santa film.

First up is “A Christmas Story” on Saturday. Part of the Click! Family Flick series, the movie will show on two screens. Consider it a gift: it’s free. Just get there at 10 a.m. The film starts at 10:30 a.m. and might fill to capacity as last year’s showing of “The Polar Express” almost did.

If you haven’t seen the movie or the musical based on it currently showing at the Fifth Avenue Theatre here’s a synopsis: Ralphie (Peter Billingsley), a young boy growing …

Critic’s Picks: Click Flick, Persian Poetry, Russian music at Lakewold Gardens and Poet Laureate reads at the library

Rosemary Ponnekanti — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:09:20 +0000

Click Flick: “Free Willy”

The Click Family Flick at the Grand this month is the heart-wrenching orca tale, “Free Willy.” June 19, doors open 10 a.m., screening 10:30 a.m. Free, first 100 people only. The Grand Cinema, 608 S. Fawcett Ave., Tacoma. 253-572-6062, www.grandcinema.com

Persian poetry on the summer solstice

Celebrate the longest day of the year (if not the warmest) with an evening of Persian poetry, food, wine and music. A fundraiser for United for Peace Pierce County, the evening is set in a North-end rose garden, and features Rick Steves’ cinematographer Abdi Sami. 6-9 p.m. June 21. $30. …

Oscar nominated film and director to appear at Grand

Craig Sailor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:56:36 +0000

The Grand Cinema opens “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” Friday – a documentary on the publication of the Pentagon Papers. And of the directors of the recently Academy Award nominated film will be on hand to speak about it Saturday.

Rick Goldsmith, co-producer and co-director (along with Judith Ehrlich), will appear following the 4:45 p.m. and 6:50 p.m. screenings on Saturday. The nationally known documentary filmmakers’ films deal with the themes of personal risk, conscience, dissent and commitment to ideals.

Ellsberg, a former U.S. military analyst, leaked the classified account of the Vietnam …

Tacoma Film Festival ends on a high note

Craig Sailor — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:59:56 +0000

The Tacoma Film Festival wrapped up last night in a big way.

The closing night film (with a party catered by Adriatic Grill) sold out. Director David Russo, the Seattle filmmaker behind “The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle,” was on hand to answer questions after the screening.

After seeing more than one dud in the past week I went in to the theater with more than a little trepidation. I came out blown away.

“Dizzle” is one of those movies that film festivals were invented for. Too bizarre to ever see wide distribution it’s a gem …