Billy Thomas 
By Molly Gilmore For the 10th anniversary of its The Nutcracker, Studio West Dance Theatre has added new treats and trimmings to its production of Tchaikovsky’s ballet about a young girl who receives a nutcracker for Christmas and dreams herself into a magical world of fairies and sweets. The production, opening Dec. 9, aims to …
By Molly Gilmore In Ballet Northwest’s 34th-annual The Nutcracker, sugarplums will dance, as will candies, mice, snowflakes and toy soldiers. It’s Tchaikovsky’s classic, holiday tale with an extra dash of romance: Clara, the young girl who dreams of wintry fairylands, gets a duet with a prince. Giving Clara in her toe shoes and the Nutcracker …
By Alec Clayton John Dodge, longtime columnist for The Olympian, has published a book about the most powerful windstorm ever to hit the West Coast. That book is A Deadly Storm: The 1962 Columbus Day Storm. On Oct. 12, 1962, winds in this region topped 100 miles per hour. The Naselle Radar Station in southwest Washington clocked gusts of …
By Billy Thomas This holiday season, Harlequin Productions goes back in time to present the return of The 1940s Radio Hour. First gracing the Harlequin stage 22 years ago, Radio Hour inspired the launch of the iconic and successful Stardust series. The show replaces Stardust in Harlequin’s 2018-2019 lineup. Aaron Lamb, acting artistic director for …
By Christian Carvajal Olympia Film Society’s 16th-annual Duck the Malls fundraiser benefits independent artists and crafters in the South Sound while supporting visual-arts programming at Capitol Theater. It boasts items from over 50 vendors, including makers of board games, ceramics, dolls and other toys, ironwork, lighting and musical instruments. Homemade desserts are on sale at …
By Christian Carvajal As December begins, the 41st-annual Olympia Toy Run means thousands of motorcycles roar up Pacific Avenue onto State, Capitol, Fifth and Deschutes Parkway. Toys and proceeds go to the Salvation Army Toy ’n’ Joy Shop program. All street-legal motorcycles are invited to participate, and many riders return from towns all over western …
By CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL The Olympia Downtown Association presents a cornucopia of holiday entertainment complete with parade the Sunday after every Thanksgiving. Over a thousand people are expected to attend this year’s gathering. Shops compete in “Twinkle Fest” by decorating their storefronts; shoppers win prizes by voting. The Hotel Olympian (116 Legion Way SE) hosts a …
By Christian Carvajal It’s one of our favorite yuletide scenes: The Peanuts gang twirls happily around an ice-covered pond. In The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack Skellington visits a hockey rink for vampires. Manhattan-based telefilms linger over kids and their parents skating beneath the fluttering flags of Rockefeller Center. Until this month, however, aspiring skate champions …
By Lucy Volker Legendary musicians Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt will be performing together at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts this February. “Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt are both outstanding singer-songwriters in their own right. Their lyrics and musicality is authentic and entertaining. To hear them performing together in a venue as intimate …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS “Clockwork” at Olympia Little Theatre is ridiculously funny. Written by Pat Cook and directed by Robert McConkey, with a huge cast including some of Olympia’s best, it is a hilarious marriage of Agatha Christie, Larry Shue and “Hee Haw.” The Dunwoody clan is the kind of huge …