by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS The Olympia theater scene is no stranger to the idea of a performer who can seamlessly transition from actress to director to playwright without skipping a beat. One such performer is local actor, director and playwright Kate Ayers, who has over 20 years of experience in the world of …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS South Puget Sound Community College and the Lacey-Mińsk Mazowiecki Sister City Association are hosting an evening of music by Frédéric Chopin, featuring the two local winners of the Chopin Competition held March 20-23. The winners are students from southwest Washington. Highlighting the concert will be a solo performance by …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Just two days after the inauguration of Donald Trump, Pug Bujeaud knew it was time for 1984. She’s directing Theater Artists Olympia’s production of George Orwell’s dystopian classic, opening March 24. “1984 is a story of what happens when people in power have too much power,” she said in …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Ebb and Flow is the story of an immigrant family and an immigrant oyster. The documentary follows longtime oysterman Jerry Yamashita of Seattle and his father, Masahide Yamashita, who emigrated from Japan to the United States in 1902 at age 19. Masahide was instrumental in bringing to the Northwest …
VISUAL ARTS REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Once again Susan Christian is showing her painted stick constructions at her own gallery, Salon Refu. The paintings are assemblages of various kinds of sticks, mostly lathe, which she puts together in rectangular shapes and paints as if they were stretched canvases. The last time I …
by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS With so much crossover of entertainment, fashion and pop culture in today’s society, it’s almost impossible to make music that fits into a single genre. The Donny MCaslin band, also known as “David Bowie’s last band,” makes no apologies for not even trying to do that. Comprised of saxophonist …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS The Capital Food & Wine Festival is an annual 501(c)(3) fundraiser for Saint Martin’s University. Al Eckroth, director of the first and second installments, describes it as “a huge annual block party, where neighbors and friends unite in a spirit of community.” He says the festival “began in 1989 …
WEEKEND PREVIEW is your weekly guide to events in Thurston County. This week, Olympia has enough musical performances to keep you entertained from morning till night! And don’t worry, we’ve got the inside scoop on all the concerts and theater productions around town, so you don’t have to worry about a thing. Just sit back and …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Running a theater company requires a large package of talents—artistic sensibilities, intelligence, management and people skills and enthusiasm. Meet Linda and Scot Whitney, founders and managers of Harlequin Productions, the celebrated local company that’s produced more than 170 shows since 1991. Linda directs, writes and designs sets. Scot directs …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS March 21 is the 332nd birthday of composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and Olympia organist Curt Sather will spend the day—the whole day—celebrating. Sather, the music director at St. John’s Episcopal Church, will play all of the composer’s organ works—nearly 300—in a 24-hour marathon performance he’s calling Bach Around the …