posts about events at the Washington Center
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS “Well, it’s been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, Minnesota…” With those familiar words, listeners to A Prairie Home Companion on National Public Radio have delighted for decades to the small-town shenanigans related by master writer and storyteller Garrison Keillor. Keillor hosted the show from 1974, when it was …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Masterworks Choral Ensemble’s Outback Odyssey, set for Saturday, will include the United States premiere of “Dreams & Visions,” a 50-minute piece by Australian composer John Peterson. A 10-piece string orchestra will accompany the choir for the concert, which focuses on contemporary choral and orchestral music of Australia. Commissioned by …
by Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS An improv resurrection is happening in Olympia. One of the Puget Sound region’s leading improvisational groups, the Scatterbrains Improv Comedy Troupe, disbanded years ago after being featured at Seattle’s Bumbershoot, Olympia’s Capital City Pride, Tacoma’s First Night and leading theatrical venues all around Puget Sound. The group didn’t disband because members …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Contrary to the old saying, sometimes it’s Mother who knows best. Just ask Kevin “Kev Marcus” Sylvester, violinist for Black Violin. Sylvester and violist Wilner “Wil B” Baptiste bring their mixture of classical chops and hip-hop beats to Olympia this Tuesday. Sylvester took up violin in elementary school, and …
by Jennifer Crain for OLY ARTS On March 18, the human voice takes center stage at the Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival. This popular event brings the vocal acrobatics and stage flair of the a cappella scene to the public in a high-energy sing-off. By the end of the evening, one group will be selected …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS The ever-popular The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty is coming to The Washington Center this spring, performed by the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players. Pirates is a witty comic opera in two acts, featuring what is popularly known as “The Major General Song,” a so-called …
VISUAL ARTS REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Now showing in The Washington Center for the Performing Arts are paintings by Lois Beck, Becky Knold and Mia Schulte, three women whose paintings have a lot in common—so much so, in fact, that unless you’ve studied their paintings in detail over time you’d be hard …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS To read Sarah Vowell’s bestselling nonfiction works or hear her frequent appearances on public radio is to experience our history through the eyes of, in her own words, a “partly cloudy patriot.” Her most recent book, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, is a quirky biography of a French …
by Guy Bergstrom for OLY ARTS The international hit Stomp—which first hit the London stage in 1991 and has been playing on Broadway since 1994—is coming to Olympia in January 2017. Creators Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas go back another decade to 1981. Cresswell is a self-taught drummer who left school at 15 for music. …
by Jennifer Crain for OLY ARTS On December 3, the Masterworks Choral Ensemble’s annual Christmas concert kicks off the Yuletide season. Gary Witley, director of the community chorus since he helped found it in 1981, says listeners can expect a family friendly evening with traditional favorites, sing-alongs and tunes to make them laugh. “Every Christmas …