by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Olympia actor, teacher and writer Keith Eisner has won an O. Henry Award. His short story “Blue Dot” was one of 20 chosen for publication in the anthology The O. Henry Prize Stories 2017, published this month. Past winners of the prestigious award — named for the late O. …
by McKenzie Murray for OLY ARTS Beginning September 29, the iconic Cat in the Hat himself will appear on the Olympia Family Theater mainstage. OFT’s fall production, based on the Dr. Seuss story, follows a curious cat who comes to wreak imaginative havoc in the home of Sally and her (unnamed) brother. A cast of …
by Kelli Samson for OLY ARTS Let Olympia Family Theater take you on a fantastic voyage during its 2017-2018 season. “All good stories take us on a journey in some way,” says artistic director Jen Ryle. Each season, OFT strives to bring us something old, something new and something original to the theater, plus something …
by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS Some musicians have managed to Zelig themselves throughout the history of rock, placing themselves alongside legends at such perfectly opportune times that it’s astonishing to consider. One person who’s justifiably ubiquitous in rock is Dave Mason. Starting with his work in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Traffic, …
by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS Were there really mob bosses in the sleepy city of Des Moines, Iowa? According to Matthew Randazzo V, a true-crime author and leading authority on American mob history, there absolutely used to be, and their stories are meant to be told. Randazzo’s readers will be delighted to learn the …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS There’ll be a special on the menu next Friday at Traditions Café: Seattle’s Hot Club Sandwich, a multilayered creation of gypsy jazz, classic jazz and international folk tunes. Founded here in Olympia at the turn of the last century, Sandwich has won rave reviews from critics and played on …
Thespian David Wright was born near Christmas in 1946. He died this week in Olympia at age 71. Wright was considered a master of the stage and worked regularly as an actor at many theaters along the West Coast. Wright began working with Harlequin Productions in 1992 in their second season, and performed on the Harlequin …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Before there were machines called computers, there were women called computers, meaning, according to Peter Shaw (Drew Doyle) in the play Silent Sky at Olympia Little Theatre, “one who computes.” Female scientists who were highly overqualified and severely underpaid were hired to do dull, routine jobs the …
by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS Many Olympians know Susan Christian as the former owner of gallery Salon Refu, rather than as a lifelong artist and painter. But truth be told, Christian has been painting for 57 years and creating art, rather than curating or managing it, is her true passion. After closing the doors …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Bicycle Noir is theater on the move. Bicycling is an integral part of the comedy by Olympia’s Bryan Willis — and it won’t be just the cast that’s on wheels. The audience will be on bikes, too, cruising the Capitol campus with stops for the action. No worries, though, …