Adam McKinney

posts by Adam McKinney

Critic’s Corner: Best Visual and Performing Arts of 2024

Many of the South Sound’s best theater and visual arts critics write for OLY ARTS. We asked six of them to highlight some of their favorite visual and performance art shows from 2024, and we congratulate and celebrate the Olympia and Tacoma-area artists selected. Due to the limitation we put on the critics of no more than two or three shows, we are aware of and acknowledge that many great shows and artists were not picked. We are lucky to live in such a vibrant creative community.

Tacoma Light Trail Lends Brightness to Winter Doldrums

Tacoma Light Trail, December 31 through January 12, brings much-needed illumination to the dark winter streets of Tacoma. The Light Trail will line the streets of Tacoma with light art installations, and the entire free event will be blessed by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. Food trucks will be on hand to make this a perfect family-friendly way to ring in the new year.

It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Lakewood Playhouse

In this rendition of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Lakewood Playhouse there’s an added meta structure where the actors we see on stage are playing actors in the ‘40s, who are then playing the characters we know from It’s a Wonderful Life. “You’re an audience within an audience in the play within a play, which I think some people will be surprised by,” says director Brittany D. Henderson.

Fall/Winter 2024 Print Edition

Oly Arts Walk * Bucoda Spook-Tacular * Anna Schlecht * Tacoma Film Festival * Enterlope * Eileen Bochsler * OFT & More! You can read our 31st print edition here. It is hot off the press and distributed free in the area plus available online!

Tacoma Film Festival

by Adam McKinney — Every time fall rolls around, cinephiles in the South Sound perk up their ears and await the arrival of the Tacoma Film Festival. This time around TFF has shortened things to just a four-day-weekend, running October 10-13; while there will be fewer movies than a week would provide, this shorter period of time will be absolutely crammed with entertainment, both at the Grand Cinema and at the Blue Mouse Theater.

Tacoma Lighted Boat Parade

by Adam McKinney — Every year the Tacoma Lighted Boat Parade brings around a seafaring procession of decked-out vessels on the Thea Foss Waterway. Unlike bombastic waterfront events such as Independence Day celebrations, the Tacoma Lighted Boat Parade errs on the side of enchantment, with the chilled quiet of the night being peppered with music drifting through the air and occasional honks from the boats passing by. It’s a hypnotic event, as boats make their way from Point Defiance docks down to the Dock Street Marina.

OLY ARTS Summer 2024 Print Edition

You can read the articles that are in OLY ARTS Summer 2024 Print Edition from links on this page, and you can read and download the PDF version linked in the website’s sidebar.

Love is the Magic of Capital Lakefair 2024

By Adam McKinney This is on page 20-25 of OLY ARTS Summer 2024 print edition. If Olympia has a reputation, it mainly consists of its vibe: a desire to highlight and explore left field and underground arts, and an individualist spirit that hovers somewhere in the range of hippie ideals and anarchist energy. Like Austin …

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OLY ARTS Spring 2024 Print Edition

You can read the articles that are in OLY ARTS Spring 2024 Print Edition from links on this page and you can read and download the PDF version linked in the website’s sidebar.

Tacoma Spring Theatre Preview

Tacoma Spring Theatre Preview – by Adam McKinney
By now, we’ve become used to the bounty of quality offerings that local theaters in South Puget Sound routinely churn out. No matter where you may find yourself, you’re constantly reminded of just how much talent is bound to be lurking in the woodwork. So, just as a taste from up north, here are some theatrical Spring gems to look out for in the Tacoma area.

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