posts that contain mini-bios of our writers
By TOM SIMPSON For the past 15 years, the Jimmy Vegas Band cover group has entertained audiences at special events and festivals. The band’s repertoire is enormous, ranging from rock hits composed by John Mellencamp and Tom Petty to country standards by Johnny Cash, from soul classics by Marvin Gaye and KC and the Sunshine …
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 …
VISUAL ART REVIEW By Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Works by man of the best area artists can be seen at the Southwest Washington Juried Exhibition at South Puget Sound Community College. Old friends and familiar names are represented, such as Susan Aurand, Melissa Barnes, Lynette Charters, Doyle Fanning, Lisa Kinoshita, Mary McCann and Jason …
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 Adam McKinney The very first track on Alex Creamer’s latest LP says it all: titled The Wallpaper Song, the lyrics immediately paint a picture of a restless artist in search of something to break her from the comfy banality of everyday life. As our narrator details time wasted staring at the wall when she …
By TOM SIMPSON Las Vegas performer Justin James comes to Lacey in Tune for a Saturday evening family-friendly performance. James combines a sharp comedic wit with the skills of a hypnotist for an enraptured performance like no other. As a national touring artist for over twenty years, James has created unique evenings for corporations, college …
By ADAM McKINNEY Washington is no slouch when it comes to quality and quantity of jazz bands, but some lack a sense of self-awareness and infectious fun. It’s a fate that can befall anyone who spends a lifetime mastering a craft. That’s not the case with Hook Me Up, a Puget Sound quartet that approaches …
By TOM SIMPSON Many music fans hear echoes of alt-rock and grunge when they listen to the musical landscape of the Pacific Northwest. However, this region has quietly begun to nurture a new generation of musicians in a hugely popular and uniquely American genre of music: country. In fact, in the last few decade, a …
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 TOM SIMPSON Since the age of five, Vikki Gasko Green has been entertaining live audiences with singing, dancing, and acting. An award winning ventriloquist and songwriter, Green provides a unique blend of magic, ventriloquism, educational songs, dramatic reading and more. Her puppet companions range from dogs to giant frogs and all the way to …