Arts DEVOté

REPRESENT Big ups to Chico State Theatre Arts students Katie Francis and Allison Rich for being selected to compete in a regional competition for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Feb. 12-17 at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah.

The two were selected for the competition based on their performance in Urinetown, the Musical last semester. The whole cast gets to perform a scene from the musical, while Francis and Rich compete for the $500 Irene Ryan Scholarship (you may remember Ryan as Granny from Beverly Hillbillies —vittles!) and the right to go on to perform at the national festival in Washington, D.C., in April.

After a quick perusal of past scholarship winners, A.D. found that none other than local acting legend Brad Moniz (he played Toowey in Sudden Death alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme, who stabbed him in the neck with a turkey bone) had won the award in 1985.

See Francis’ and Rich’s chops for yourself. Both are starring in the current Blue Room production of Uncle Jack through Jan. 28.

SAY PROPER While we’re throwing around props for locals doin’ good outside the Nor Cal cocoon, give it up for sculptor Dan Corbin. We’ve talked in the past about how Corbin’s appendage-damaged works are ending up the homes of the rich and the famous—from Wolfgang Puck to Sir Elton—and the December edition of Architectural Digest features a picture of one of Corbin’s pieces in a room inside Trump Tower in New York City (one floor below the Donald’s penthouse). Ooh la la.

AND ONE FOR MY HOMIES This may be a little shocking to you gentle readers, but your sprightly Arts DEVOté is not a spring chicken anymore. He is in fact old enough to be mere months away from his 20-year high school reunion (Go C.V. Falcons!).

So, it’s with a nostalgic heart that A.D. has been Google-stalking names from the past. There haven’t been any salacious discoveries yet, but A.D. did reconnect with the two best buds with whom he did his best growin’ up (dude, we were in our first band together—Household Morgan!!!), and whom he hasn’t seen in two years.

Bud one, Kevin Williams, is kickin’ butt in Davis as a history teacher, with his wife Stacey and their two daughters. And bud two, Scott Lawrimore, is tearing up the arts scene in Seattle with his new, hot gallery, the Lawrimore Project (www.lawrimoreproject.com).

The Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger has even put Lawrimore on its “genius shortlist” for the year, and all A.D. has to say about that is, there are some archival pictures in his garage of an old friend in floral-print Bermuda shorts that screams “short bus” a lot louder than “short list.” Just sayin’.

WEEKLY DEVOTIONS

• Chico Poetree Slam: The slam is back at the 1078 Gallery, 7 p.m. Thurs., Jan. 25, for a two-round open slam. Cost: $5. This week’s featured performers are Denver poets Andrea Gibson and Katie Wirsing.

• Snow Goose Festival: “Uptown-Downtown” wildlife group art exhibit opening and feast at Avenue 9 Gallery and the 24-Hour Drive-By Gallery. Take a trolley back and fourth between the two venues during the reception, Fri., Jan. 26, 5:30-8:30 p.m., and enjoy hors d’oeuvres catered by Marianne Brenner. Cost: $15/adult; $10/youth.

• Two Wools (they totally should’ve called it Wooldridge vs. Wooldridge), a duo show featuring mom-and-son artists Susan Wooldridge (collage boxes, journals) and Dan Wooldridge (collages, paintings, photos) is up at the Humanities Gallery at Chico State. Artists’ talk followed by a reception, Thurs., Jan. 25, 4:30-7 p.m.