posts that contain mini-bios of our writers
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Could Border Songs be on its way to becoming a TV show by acclaimed Canadian screenwriter Graeme Manson, the man behind the award-winning BBC series Orphan Black? It’s taken the first step. Last week, Olympia novelist Jim Lynch announced that Manson purchased an option for TV and movie rights …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS In only five short years, Olympia funksters DBST have graduated from playing downtown dive bars to share stages with the likes of Joe Doria, Monophonics, Blue Lotus, and Eldridge Gravy and the Court Supreme. This sexy sextet mixes blues, rock and funk grooves to please the most discriminating of …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS The Last Five Years, opening Aug. 18 at Harlequin Productions’ State Theater, tells the story of a relationship told from beginning to end—and from end to beginning. The Jason Robert Brown musical opens with Cathy (Katherine Strohmaier) singing about the end of her marriage. Then Jamie (Aaron Lamb) sings …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Keeping with a long-standing tradition, Music in the Park’s season ends with a live concert from The 56th Army Band. Based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the band plays many local and regional venues. Recently, for example, it appeared at Seattle’s Rock and Roll Marathon and performed a concert at …
by Jennifer Crain for OLY ARTS The Tickled Pinks, a New-York-based swing vocal trio and band, returns to Olympia as part of the Music in the Park series in Sylvester Park on August 17 at 7:00 p.m. The group, founded in 2009, performs classic tunes in the style of The Andrews Sisters, such as “Straighten …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Consider those impassioned poems about the state of the world—poems that are being not simply read but performed—that one sees all over social media. That socially conscious, brutally honest poetry is also happening in Olympia, and the still-young poetry slam here has already hit the big time. This is …
by Jonah Barrett for OLY ARTS Several parks and societies screen films throughout the summer in Olympia. Families and movie buffs are welcome. Be sure to bring a blanket. The majority of these films begin at dusk, around 10 p.m. in July and 9 p.m. in August. Screen on the Green On August Friday evenings, …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS Geoff Proehl, professor of theater arts at University of Puget Sound (UPS), has been selected by his North American theater-arts peers to receive the G. E. Lessing Award for Career Achievement. This is the most prestigious award given by the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA), an …
by Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS The Olympia Symphony celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Concert at the Capitol on July 31, 2016. This annual “Festival on the Green” takes place on the grounds of the Washington State Capitol campus, and is a decade-long tradition for the Olympia Symphony Orchestra. In an unusual move, the …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS The classic-rock band Blind Facsimile, aka Blind Fax, is Deb Rutter (vocals), Lorraine Stensager (vocals, keyboards), Tim Stensager (vocals, keyboards), Brian Ferris (guitar, backing vocals), Evan Ogden (drums) and Vince Chavez (bass). Chavez says the band “captures the heart and soul of classic rock, playing music which defined generations. …