posts that contain mini-bios of our writers
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS In “Playback Theatre,” the action on stage comes, not from books or scripts, but from the minds of audience members who are invited to tell their stories and see them come to life on stage. But at a Playback performance Feb. 10, books and personal stories will share the …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Rufus Wainwright has been described as Canada’s most flamboyant man of music. Beneath the flash, though, there’s plenty of substance. Wainwright, who laughingly describes himself as a “gay troubadour,” will perform for a reduced fee at the third annual “Gayla,” a benefit for Pizza Klatch, an organization that supports …
by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS It’s a sad fact that a lot of people, even those who would consider themselves passionate fans of music, still have a blind spot when it comes to classical and chamber music. Perhaps it’s possible that years of classical music concerts being big-ticket affairs have conditioned people to view …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS When they perform at The Oly Old Time Festival, Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle won’t simply play and sing. They show as much as they tell, accompanying their songs with “crankies,” rolls of fabric or paper with illustrations that move with the turn of a crank. The duo’s music—and …
by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS Seattle contemporary dance company Whim W’Him comes to the Minnaert Center for the Arts as part of the South Puget Sound Community College Artist and Lecture Series. The dance company will perform one of its newest programs, SENSATION, under artistic director Olivier Wevers. “This is our first time in …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Seattle-based Cajun band Touloulou will play for late-night dancers in the South Bay Grange on Feb. 18. The four-piece band is made up of Elena DeLisle on guitar, John Hurd on accordion, and Karen England and Steve Perry on fiddle. The festival website promises, “They’ll have you joyfully two-stepping …
by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS There’s nothing quite as Pacific Northwestern as Olympia’s teen fiddle-and-folk band The REDS. Comprised of Eros and Dante Faulk and River and Sage Scheuerell, The REDS have been playing bluegrass and old-time music together for five years. This year, they’ll open the festival at the “Thursday Night Kick-Off Dance,” …
by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS (Featured ART: Maybelle Carter by Paula McHugh) As an art form, one of music’s most admirable traits is its ability to adapt: Trends come and go, and styles emerge in a sort of call-and-response pattern. New sounds blaze trails in response to old ones, lending us revelations like the …
by Jennifer Crain for OLY ARTS Since the summer of 2015, Our Table co-chefs and owners Mike Holbein and Brad Thompson have been building their farm-to-table restaurant the same way they build their meals: from scratch. They started small, selling bar-friendly food with a local twist through a window that links their downtown space with …
by Kelli Samson for OLY ARTS Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, long-heralded as the most American of plays, graces the stage at Olympia High School this winter under the talented direction of Kathy Dorgan. Wilder’s play is simple, focusing on the citizens of a small, 1900s American town over a 12-year period. “It’s always been on …