Saint Martin’s Presents Urinetown, the Musical

by Tom Simpson for OLY ARTS Urinetown – the ribald and uproarious musical with the bizarre name – is coming back to Olympia. Produced by the theater department of Saint Martin’s University, Urinetown will be on stage in April for two weekends at the State Theatre, Harlequin Production’s home venue. “We look forward to sharing …

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Award-Winning Artists at SPSCC Invitational Exhibition

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS An invitational exhibition is something new and exciting for the gallery at South Puget Sound Community College. Juror Amy McBride invited 10 award-winning artists from the 2017 Southwest Washington Juried Exhibition to display their best works. A few examples from the 10 artists are very intriguing. Hart James, for …

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Center Salon To Welcome Jess Walter

by Bryan Willis for OLY ARTS Two of the Northwest’s most well-known novelists will be featured in events April 12 and 13 in Olympia. Jess Walter, the National Book Award nominee and winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, will join Olympia’s own Jim Lynch as featured literary artists at the Washington Center Salon. They’ll …

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Stephen Petronio Post-Modern Dance Master at the Washington Center

by Yvonne Joyce for OLY ARTS Stephen Petronio is a name — and dance company — well known to audiences in New York City, but less well known on the West Coast, except among dance aficionados. The post-modern New York-based choreographer and his company will make their Olympia debut next week. Described by dance critics variously …

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Olympia Peace Choir Spring Concert

by Tom Simpson for OLY ARTS The Olympia Peace Choir will hold its annual spring concert this coming Saturday. The concert has become an annual event for this choir of over 100 singers. This year, the concert will feature songs about peace and social consciousness from diverse cultures, including music by classical pianist Robert Jorgensen, …

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Harlequin Productions Apologizes for Past Missteps

New updates to the Harlequin story include a public statement from Harlequin Productions Board of Directors,  the appointment of new leadership, and the announcement of a new artistic season for 2018-2019.  by Karen Lunde and Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS In October, 2017, The New York Times published a report detailing decades of sexual harassment …

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Woman’s Club of Olympia Celebrates 135th Anniversary

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS The Woman’s Club of Olympia is holding its 135th Anniversary celebration March 24, from 6 to 9 p.m., at the Abigail Stuart House. There will be entertainment, a silent auction, hors d’oeuvres and wine. “After 135 years, the Woman’s Club of Olympia remains a forward-thinking organization while bearing in …

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The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane Comes to Olympia Family Theater

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS The story of a china doll, a rabbit, is the next offering of the ever-entertaining Olympia Family Theater. Edward Tulane is a toy rabbit made from china who was tossed away and is picked up by different people during a 20-year life journey through which he learns to love, …

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VISUAL ART REVIEW: Jean Mandeberg at Bar Francis

VISUAL ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Bar Francis is a tiny coffee shop on Franklin Street nestled between Dumpster Values and Old School Pizza. It’s a place that you could easily walk right past without knowing it is there. But if you walk right past this month you’ll miss some fascinating art. Currently …

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Director Nancy Tribush Hillman

Drop-Dead Comedy at Standing Room Only

by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS When writer Joseph Kesselring commenced work on his most famous of a dozen plays, he intended it as serious drama. Its setup may even have been inspired by grisly murders in Connecticut. Now, over 75 years later, the Broadway draft of Arsenic and Old Lace is one of America’s …

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