posts about shows at Harlequin Productions
by Kelli Samson for OLY ARTS With her jazzy voice, inflamed red hair and that mischievous twinkle in her eye, Harlequin Productions’s resident secret weapon has for years been none other than actor Maggie Ferguson-Wagstaffe. She’s currently gracing Harlequin’s State Theater stage as both Miss Erikson and Lady Saltburn in Present Laughter. She describes this …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Nöel Coward’s 1940s-period romance Present Laughter is as funny today as it was when Coward himself played the lead character, a character he admitted was a spoof on himself. It’s now playing at Harlequin Productions in Olympia, with Aaron Lamb in the role Coward originated, directed by …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Prepare to laugh when Harlequin Productions stages the Noel Coward comedy Present Laughter — with “Present” pronounced as the adjective, not the verb. Written in 1939 and first staged in 1942, this classic farce is about the successful, self-obsessed actor Garry Essendine as he confronts a midlife crisis while …
Linda and Scot Whitney, respectively the artistic director and managing artistic director of Harlequin Productions, announced that company’s upcoming season at their annual Eclectica! benefit on April 1. “You will note,” says Linda Whitney, “that rain appears to be theme. Rain cools, cleanses, restores, depresses, compresses, challenges and can even delight.” It sounds like it’s …
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 …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS It’s a shame that more than half the seats were empty at Harlequin Productions’s opening-night performance of The Understudy by Theresa Rebeck. Potential audience members who could’ve been in those seats don’t know they missed the funniest comedy to grace South Sound stages this season. The Understudy …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS The world of theater production is as diverse as its international cast and crew, but certain commonalities do exist. The stage manager, for example, is the most undervalued, overworked member of almost any crew. Actors tend to date actors, so it doesn’t take long before a town’s theater community …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS At long last Rachel Corrie has come home to Olympia in the theatrical form of My Name is Rachel Corrie at Harlequin Productions. This is Olympia’s first-ever locally produced performance of the play, which is based on the life and writings of the Olympia native. Written completely …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS Even now, 13 years after her death at age 23, few names are more controversial in Thurston County than that of Olympia activist Rachel Corrie. Corrie died in a Gaza combat zone under the tread of an Israeli bulldozer. The driver of that vehicle insisted he never saw her. …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Forget the boughs of holly. Harlequin Productions greets the holidays with a liberal application of Stardust. The Stardust Christmas Enchantment, opening Nov. 25, is the company’s 21st original musical set at Manhattan’s Stardust Club. Enchantment takes place in 1960, setting the stage for such songs as The Drifters’ “This …