By Adam McKinney Legend has it – and legends have everything – that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil at a Mississippi crossroad at midnight. In exchange for his soul, the devil granted him the ability of a master guitarist. Regardless of whether this event actually took place, what we know from the …
By Christian Carvajal In a surprise August move, Harlequin Productions cancelled its original play choice for October, the Chicago crime drama A Steady Rain. In an interview with Molly Gilmore for The Olympian, Harlequin’s associate artistic director, Aaron Lamb, characterized Rain as “not the story we wanted to be telling at this moment.” Instead, actor-director …
By Kameko Lashlee Every Tuesday evening on the corner of Fourth and Plum Street, a cacophony of uptempo jazz music and foot-stomping emanates from the second-floor ballroom of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Ballroom and Conference Center. This weekly shindig, broadly known as Oly Swing, is a time capsule of sorts: a revival of 1950s-style …
By Alec Clayton [quote]Arts Walk is a preview for my Olympia friends and collectors of my new collection of work. – Debra Van Tuinen[/quote] Barlow Palminteri, featured artist for Arts Walk at Art House Design, is well-known for his realistic, sharply focused paintings of interiors, often peopled by friends. The people and objects in his …
By Karen Lunde Ever bought a musician at auction? On October 20, The Olympia Peace Choir will auction off some of its finest musical talent at its gala benefit, Tune in to Fall. Guests will be able to bid on six different acts, and musicians will then perform for the winner and everyone at the …
By Lucy Volker Family-friendly comedy Corduroy opens this month at Olympia Family Theater. The original book, written and illustrated by Don Freeman in 1968, was recently adapted for the stage by Barry Kornhauser. After seeing the play’s world premiere this spring in Minneapolis at the Children’s Theater Company, artistic director Jen Ryle knew it would …
By Jonah Barrett For a vegan, dining out can be a minefield. Options are usually limited to Asian food, bland burritos and the old fallback, green salads. Downtown Olympia has an alternative for that with the recent opening of The Wayside Cafe & Deli. Jamie Vulva and Kevin Rainsberry opened their Capitol Way restaurant on …
ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS John Logan’s dramatic two-man show Red at Olympia Little Theatre is engaging, intelligent and highly intense. It is a tour de force for actors Christopher Valcho as the painter Mark Rothko and John Tuttle-Gates as his studio assistant, Ken, and for director Jim Patrick. At an hour …
ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Carol Hannum is an underappreciated local treasure. Her art has been shown in museums and galleries and is in private and public collections worldwide, including many in Lacey and Olympia, and she has taught at South Puget Sound Community College. And yet a glance at her resume …
By Karen Lunde and Billy Thomas Imagine a 20-pound rodent that looks like a weird cross between a beaver and a rat. It has enormous orange teeth and a skinny tail. It lives in swampy, tidal areas and dines mostly on aquatic plants. It procreates prolifically. You’ve got yourself a nutria, and it’s the subject …