By Tom Simpson The Washington Center for the Performing Arts’ 2018-2019 season is already a success. The first show of the new season of national touring acts – Stephen Stills & Judy Collins – sold out in August in two weeks flat. Next up are a variety of recognized names in entertainment, from Shoshana Bean …
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 …
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 …
by Tom Simpson On August 16, Harlequin Productions opens the musical Ruthless! – The Stage Mother of all Musicals. Ruthless! is a unique all female musical. The story spoofs the genre of classic Broadway musicals that feature an ambitious young female lead, embodied by well-known shows like Annie, Gypsy and Mame, as well as movies that embody this genre, like All About …
By JONAH BARRETT for OLY ARTS Get dressed up and get fancy for the third-annual Center Stage Awards and Gala at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts this July. “This year’s gala will have a Midsummer Night’s Dream feel,” said executive director Jill Barnes. “Think fairies, fireflies and outdoor gardens.” The gala is …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Animal Fire Theatre’s The Winter’s Tale is the way Shakespeare in the Park should be done. The outdoor setting is a clearing surrounded by sky-high evergreens, and on the perfect summer’s evening when I attended, even the mosquitoes cooperated by going somewhere else. Despite a peculiarity, which …
By Melissa Avril Harris Olympia’s oldest live theater continues its tradition of offering diverse, theatrical experiences that appeal to both actors and patrons. Its 79th season offers what artistic director Kendra Malm describes as a “balance between drama and comedy, new and classic, and conventional and off-beat.” Play suggestions are submitted by a group of …
By MOLLY GILMORE Creative Theatre Experience is a summer program for young people, yet its season offers a chance to see mature work by local, theatrical powerhouses. This summer, the program presents Footloose, based on the Kevin Bacon film about a teen who moves to a town where dancing is forbidden; Crush, an alien-invasion rom-com …
by JONAH BARRETT All the park’s a stage, but remember to bring bug spray. Animal Fire Theatre returns for its eighth summer production, The Winter’s Tale. Hipster thespians know it as one of the bard’s more obscure plays, memorable mostly for the greatest stage direction there ever was: “Exit, pursued by a bear.” Detailing a …