Arts

Alaskan returns from New York to direct opera double-header

The director of Anchorage Opera's twin bill of "I Pagliacci" and "Sister Angelica" is also the director of a hit musical that's been filling houses in New York for the past two years. When's the last time that kind of heavy-hitter did a show in this town?

Comic lights brighten Dark Nights

A baritone who yearns to be a soprano. A wannabe prima donna who can't get past being a mere drama queen. A riding crop-snapping dominatrix who claims to have discovered Richard Strauss's setting of "I Love Little Pussy."

ART BEAT

Jazz giants stand up for bullied kids

Concerts for good causes are not news, but the upcoming jazz program headlined by Jeff Golub and Rick Braun caught our attention for several reasons.

Blog: Art Snob

REVIEW

Choreography pushes boundaries in UAA dance show

Two complex and contrasting pieces bookend the showcase of new work presented by the University of Alaska Anchorage Dance Ensemble this month.

Award-winning poet Kane will read from work today

Back from picking up a $50,000 Whiting Writers' Award and launching her first book at an event in New York, poet Joan Kane will read from her work starting at 5:30 p.m. today at the Alaska Native Arts Foundation gallery.

Inupiaq poet wins prestigious national writing award

Fairbanks woman competes on 'Survivor Philippines'

Amanda Coolley spent a good part of her summer on an island in the South Pacific, but it was no vacation for the 25-year-old Fairbanksan.

Video: Shorts from "Survivor Philippines"

SIOUX SHOWCASE

Top Plains Indian dancers 'Come to the Center'

In an ironic bi-lingual pun, the title of the evening-length performance that the Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre will present in Anchorage is the same as the instructions for what you need to do in order to see the show.

ART BEAT

Michelangelo drawings on display in Seattle

While in Washington state on family business last week, I swung into the Seattle Art Museum to see something exceedingly rare: real drawings by Michelangelo.

Two Freds, one show

Blog: Art Snob

Two Freds, one show

Closer to home, at the "Virtual Subsistence" show at MTS Gallery, I did a double-take on finding the name of Fred Anderson on two very different displays.

Peninsula artist carves 319-pound pumpkin

If Charlie Brown's pal Linus is looking for the great pumpkin, he should try the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center. A donated 319-pound pumpkin was turned into a giant gourd sculpture by Joy Falls, a sculpture, ceramics and 3-D art instructor from Kenai Peninsula College.

Inupiaq poet wins prestigious national writing award

An Inupiaq mom from Anchorage has picked up one of America's most prestigious literary awards. Poet Joan Kane, 32, was among 10 writers to receive a $50,000 Whiting Writers' Award on Wednesday in New York City.

Author Stabenow's Kate Shugak may be headed for television

That gutsy, savvy, Aleut private investigator Kate Shugak and her not-so-little dog, Mutt, are closer than ever to sleuthing their way off the pages of the Dana Stabenow mystery novels and onto television screens.

REVIEW

Percussion piece highlights Symphony's season opener

The Anchorage Symphony Orchestra opened its season with a concert that included only the third American performance of a curious work for percussion and orchestra.

Blog: Art Snob

Authentic 'Frankenstein' leads list of Halloween events

Mary Shelley's best known novel, "Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus," is as misunderstood as the oft-caricatured monster it portrays, says Adam Lincoln.

More dark arts this Halloween

Photos: Theater of Youth 'Frankenstein' production

More dark arts this Halloween

Events for children and adults that befit the season.

ART BEAT

Want to see lots of wolves? Just head to Palmer

A juried exhibit at Madd Matters Gallery sufficiently roused our curiosity to make the drive to Palmer recently. The theme of the show is wolves. Many of the pieces on display -- which range from watercolors to bronze statues -- were naturalistic portraits but a few percolated with imagination.

Blog: Art Snob

Producer looking for Inuit actors

Andrew MacLean, whose short film "Sikumi" ("On the Ice") has won awards at the Sundance Film Festival and elsewhere, is holding auditions in Anchorage for an expanded version of the movie. Prior acting experience is not needed.

Tweet the Dane Cook show

Got tickets to comedian Dane Cook's show tonight at the Sullivan? If you're on Twitter we want to hear from you. Just put #akdanecook in your tweets to get them included in a live feed on the adn.com homepage.

REVIEW

Vocals at the heart of Refugees' Americana sound

You can't call the three women who performed at Sydney Laurence Theatre on Saturday night a novice act. They have about a century of major league professional work among them.

Blog: Art Snob

Tlingit civil rights pioneer celebrated in film

Twenty-one years ago, Alaska created a new state holiday to celebrate civil rights, Elizabeth Peratrovich Day.

Options to follow Alaska Federation of Natives convention

Video: Trailer for the PBS special

Web site: Alaska Civil Rights organization

ALASKA MASTERS

Willy Topkok aims for the 'spectacular� with his sewing

It's not common for Inupiaq men to sew, or at least to let anyone know about it. But those who do frequently create some of the finest skin work in Alaska.

More Alaska masters