Born in Seattle, U.S.A. in 1952. Attended Whitman College, majoring in mathematics; the University of Washington in mathematics, art history and studio art; University of California, Berkeley. Studied art history with Rainer Crone, painting with Jacob Lawrence and Michael Spafford, sumi-e with George Tsutakawa, Chinese brush with Hsai Chen. Wrote on art for Vanguard, ArtExpress, High Performance, ArtWeek, Bellevue Journal-American, Seattle Voice. Seattle Arts Commission Special Task Force for media, and Special Task Force for educational Institutions in the late 70s. Taught art history, color theory, life painting, and design at Seattle Central Community College for 5 years before leaving Seattle in 1984. Current studio is in Ventura, California, north of Los Angeles.
Website URL: http://erikreel.com/
Tuesday, 06 December 2016 19:49
Review:Jason Furlani’s Family Trees at the Elite
Review-
The Elite Theatre of Oxnard presents the world premier of Jason Furlani’s Family Trees, a rambling, good-natured comedy set in Schenectady, New York. With a set that feels just like my late aunt’s house in Schenectady; solid, heartfelt acting, and a very funny script, the play is a great choice for the holidays, full of a warmth and good-will that will have everyone leaving the theatre with a smile.
Photo Credit: Joe Orrego
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Monday, 17 October 2016 05:06
Review: Arthur Miller’s All My Sons
ReviewArthur Miller’s All My Sons
Big credit goes to the Elite Theatre for bringing in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, one of the great classics of post-War American theatre. The play is multi-layered, dynamic, timeless, and superbly written. A must-see for all theatre fans.
Allen Gardner and Jim Seerden. Elite Theater Co Oxnard, CA
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Saturday, 24 September 2016 23:24
Review: Night Alive at SPTC
Review-
The Santa Paula Theatre Center is currently showing an outstanding production of The Night Alive, a wonderfully written, recent [2013] play by Conor McPherson, undoubtedly one of the best playwrights of our time. This is an excellent production of a great play, by one of our greatest playwrights. Don’t miss it.
(l) Cecil Sutton and (r)Ron Feltner in Conor McPherson’s The Night Aliveat the Santa Paula Theater Center, downtown Santa Paula, through 2 October, 2016.
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Saturday, 23 July 2016 19:03
Review: This Isn’t Kansas, Is it?
Review- Flying H Theatre company brings us Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s The Totalitarians, a dark and a bit daffy comedy about a political campaign gone awry, just in time for the current political season.
The sad thing is that it may be the last play produced by the Flying H Theatre, which announced that it would be closing its doors after The Totalitarians runs. This is a serious loss for theatre in the 805 as there is no other theatre here like it.
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Friday, 15 July 2016 09:04
Review - Open Meeting Closed at the Elite
Last weekend to see thisReview-
The Elite Theatre Company’s Tom Eubanks has wisely brought fellow playwright, Michael Perlmutter’s new play Open Meeting Closed to their South Stage for what is turning out to be a banner year for the Elite’s South Stage. Perlmutter also directs.
Perlmutter has been quite active acting in the local theatre scene this year as well with appearances at the Santa Paula Theater, Flying H, and Ojai, but this play makes clear that Perlmutter is, after all, a fine writer and playwright.
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Monday, 27 June 2016 09:46
Museum of Ventura County Seriously Mishandles Asian Pacific Exhibition
Tiger Huang, a long-time artist of considerable standing in the Ventura arts community presented a very special and significant installation piece at the Museum of Ventura County in conjunction with its “I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story” this last weekend [18-19 June]. It was a beautiful installation, including a well-done, mesmerizing sound-scape.
Trouble is, and this is just the beginning of the trouble, Tiger’s name and the piece itself are not mentioned anywhere in the Museum’s website or write-up of the exhibition. This is not to mention that though it was a major piece, and certainly time-consuming to produce and install, it was only up for 48 hours. The piece is one of the most significant installation pieces any artist has ever done in Ventura, yet, by the time Thursday rolls around, as far as the Museum goes, it might as well not have existed at all.
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Tuesday, 21 June 2016 09:19
Agnes Martin
Agnes Martin at LACMA
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is hosting a not-to-miss exhibition through 11 September 2016 surveying the painting of one of the late 20th century’s best artists, Agnes Martin [1912-2004]. Martin is one of those painters you have to see live; no reproduction can mimic the experience of seeing the work in person.
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Wednesday, 15 June 2016 07:09
Review - Oh, How Lovely Do Angels Fall
Review- Noël Coward’s Fallen Angels delivers at The Ensemble Theatre
A hilariously witty script, superb cast, first-rate production and direction, who could ask for more? A reviewer of its 1925 premier complained that the only thing wrong with Fallen Angels is the final curtain. Ditto for the Ensemble Theatre of Santa Barbara’s current production of the Noël Coward classic.
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Friday, 10 June 2016 21:01
Review: What Kind of Sticks?
Review-The Fantasticks at Camarillo Skyway Playhouse
Because of its allegorical nature and the relative abstraction of its set The Fantasticks, the longest running musical in history, permits a huge range of production possibilities, so it is fun to see what the next production will come up with. Michael McGraw has now brought his version of the classic to the Camarillo Skyway Playhouse, running through 10 July 2016.
Katy Jarvis and Parker Harris
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Tuesday, 24 May 2016 22:36
A World Down the Street
Editorial
People have asked about our policy or criteria for reviewing theatre at Society805.com. I’d like to take a moment to talk about what I am trying to do here at the Society805.com arts and theatre department.
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