Los Lobos: Yes, They Can!
Celebrated band Los Lobos (Spanish for “The Wolves”) is coming to Olympia for a concert that’s sure to sell out.
The Washington Center for Performing Arts
posts about events at the Washington Center
A Year of Growth for Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia
By LUCY VOLKER Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia (SOGO) provides musical education, technical training and performance opportunities for aspiring, young musicians. The group offers a variety of intensive classes and training programs for elementary, middle and high-school-aged youth. SOGO aims to prepare students for careers in classical music. Its programs focus on artistic development, ear …
A Glittering Night of Art at The Center Salon
By Alec Clayton Washington State’s Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna offered up a fitting end to a glittering night of art at the Washington Center‘s “Center Salon” on Friday, April 12. Castro Luna called her suite of poems “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” as inspired by the Tina Turner song of the same …
Rise Up’s Moving Call to Action
By Todd B. Gruel Rise Up is a tribute band with a purpose. The Seattle-based ensemble performs music from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s acclaimed Hamilton, a Broadway musical which has scored 11 Tony’s, a Grammy and even a Pulitzer. Not bad for hip-hop theater performance about one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, Alexander Hamilton. …
Local Artists Highlighted at Center Salon
By ALEC CLAYTON The Washington Center for the Performing Arts celebrates local artists of all stripes in its fourth-annual Center Salon. This year’s event will be headed by playwright Bryan Willis, OLY ARTS’ contributing editor and founder of the Northwest Playwrights Alliance. It features music, poetry, short stories and theater. “We’re looking forward to featuring Washington …
Ballet’s Romantic Comedy: Coppélia
By KAREN LUNDE Coppelia arrives at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts April 18 through 20, bringing a tale of mayhem, mischief and mistaken identities. Studio West Dance Theatre’s production follows the antics of Swanhilda and her friends as they try to discover the identity of Coppélia, a mysterious woman who’s enthralled Swanhilda’s fiancé, Franz. “Coppélia is the …
Season Finale for the “Characters” of Olympia Symphony Orchestra
By MELINDA MINTON Olympia Symphony Orchestra’s grand finale for its 66th season provides the experience of visiting characters its audience will immediately recognize. The group’s upcoming concert, Cast of Characters, subtitled “an overture in four parts,” could also refer to the players themselves, whom conductor Huw Edwards calls “a cast of characters and a microcosm of society.” The show …
Humor and Heart at The Washington Center
By KAREN LUNDE The Washington Center for the Performing Arts brings two critically acclaimed shows to the mainstage this spring, and each will deliver entertainment and humor in its own unique way. One is an updated, inclusive take on a classic comic opera, the other a surprising twist on a biblical being in the form …
Olympia Dance Festival Celebrates 10 Years
By KAREN LUNDE Each year, Ballet Northwest celebrates dance in all its forms by bringing local dance groups and guest artists together for its annual Olympia Dance Festival. The group pulled out all the stops for its 10th anniversary this year. The festival always invites a high-profile, guest artist to complement an exciting collection of …
Footwear Made Fabulous
By CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL In 1993, bankruptcy threatened Northamptonshire, England’s nearly century-old shoe factory, WJ Brookes. Steve Pateman ran the firm for his still-living father, Richard, but only 21 employees remained. Pateman received a call from the owner of Laces in Folkestone, a shoe store catering to cross-dressers and drag queens. Pateman was asked whether WJ …