by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS In an indie music culture which, in the past decade or so, favors stripped-down bands that offer no-frills music and disaffected live shows, Molly Raney’s Poppet project is thrilling in its efforts to craft a performance that truly leaves an impression. That the music stands on its own is …
by Jonah Barrett for OLY ARTS As the seasons change from green to orange, Old Growth Poetry Collective continues to bring poetry events to Olympia. The collective’s weekly poetry show, “Olympia People’s Mic,” takes place every Thursday evening at Ben Moore’s Restaurant. Every first and third Thursday event will take the form of Olympia’s only …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS Actors Frank Kohel and Micheal O’Hara are household names in Tacoma theatrical circles. They’ve already performed two-man musical The Story of My Life at two Gritty City venues, and now Olympia Little Theatre (OLT) audiences get a chance to enjoy the show. Kohel cast O’Hara, whom he’d known for …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Olympia Family Theater’s “Let’s Play Daytime Shows” are interactive shows for young children, performed on the first Monday, Wednesday and Friday of every month. All shows this season are adapted and directed by Kate Ayers. They’re performed by local actors and are generally about 30 minutes long. “We have …
by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS Making the transition from singer-songwriter to a full band can be a challenge for some. For Olivia Rose, the decision to put down her acoustic guitar and form the full-band version of her solo Oh, Rose project was one made out of necessity. “It really started, I guess, because …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Two decades after he last directed The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Scot Whitney of Harlequin Productions is at it again. This show, featuring costumes and sets that call to mind the art of Maxfield Parrish, runs through Oct. 16. He has a new take on the early Shakespearean comedy …
by Kelli Samson for OLY ARTS Opening the 2016-2017 season at Olympia Family Theater (OFT) is Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!” Parents and young children will undoubtedly be familiar with Piggie and Gerald, the starring duo in author, illustrator and Caldecott Medal-winner Mo Willems’ easy-reader series. Stephanie Claire is the musical director. …
As OLY ARTS reported in August, Theater Artists Olympia (TAO) is in dire need of monetary donations to help launch its 2016-2017 season and maintain the scrappy troupe’s home, the Midnight Sun Performance Space. TAO has created a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds toward a desired nest egg of $30,000. The group has also announced …
by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS Seeing stand-up comedy live can be exhilarating. Even if the comedian is a seasoned performer, it’s never a given that a show will go smoothly; this uncertainty goes double for showcases featuring newer comics. Comedy without a net lends an electricity to the air that’s hard to find in …
Anna Badkhen writes about people in extremis, exposing the world’s iniquities by honoring the lives these iniquities most affect. Her investigation into what it means to live in the Global South has yielded five books of lyrical nonfiction, most recently Walking With Abel: Journeys With the Nomads of the African Savannah, a book about transience …