Billy Thomas 
In addition to the varied schedules of theater offered by professional, semi-professional, collegiate and community troupes, the South Sound offers students and other audience members show after show of engaging drama from high school companies. Often, teen performers share the boards with more experienced actors under the guidance of skilled, passionate educators. The following offerings …
By LUCIA VOLKER The upcoming season is the 66th for Olympia Symphony Orchestra. Last year, the focus was on grand, celebratory symphonies. “The season after a big anniversary year is always tough, when the hoopla is over and bunting taken down,” says music director and conductor Huw Edwards, “but these are great years to really …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS The subtitle “the stage mother of all musicals” only begins to hint at what this campy musical is all about. It is a parody on just about everything, from Gypsy and Mame to The Bad Seed and all About Eve, and most of the female actors belt …
By ADAM McKINNEY En Canto, a seven-piece, Brazilian-dance band, is infused with an undercurrent of unbridled joy. This is a band that creates music solely for the purpose of making audiences happy, getting people out on the dance floor and leaving them with a dizzy afterglow. Breaking with tradition in the Brazilian music world, En …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Musical theater has returned to Olympia with the staging of Legally Blonde by the capital city’s new theater company Broadway Olympia Productions, performing this weekend only in the historic Capitol Theatre. I attended the first full rehearsal three days before opening night. I won’t criticize technical aspects …
By CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL “I did not know that there were other performers like me,” says burlesque artist Perlita Picante, “of my Latin background. … It turns out there a lot of people in that category.” Other Latina, South Sound performers include TUSH! Burlesque founder Frida Fondle, Rock Candy Burlesque’s Vanessa the Witch and Valerie Veils …
ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Olympia’s Art House Designs is not your typical art gallery. They seldom have regularly scheduled shows. Rather, it is more like an art fair or a funhouse of contemporary art with prints, paintings, ceramics, and sculpture by more than 30 artists, including such popular local artists as …
By ADAM McKINNEY If there’s any wonder why cover bands have played a consistent part in nightlife scenes over the years, one needn’t look any further than the 1960s and ’70s. The sheer wealth of outstanding music to come out of those decades is truly staggering, which explains why it’s that era so often mined …
By TOM SIMPSON If you are under age 15, and you like to rock, Lacey in Tune and Timberland Regional Library’s Summer Reading program has you covered. The Not-Its, a Northwest “Kindie Rock” quintet, is composed of Sub Pop alumni and radical musicians who create kid-friendly harmonies infused with punk sensibility and rocking beats. Are …
By TOM SIMPSON Danny Vernon is well known to Olympia and Lacey audiences for his fascinating recreation of Elvis Presley’s passion, style and tunes. He performs music from across Presley’s career, including the young, hillbilly Elvis of the 1950s, the sleek movie-star Elvis of the 1960s and the dissolute, glam Elvis of the 1970s. Performing …