KIDS AND THE ARTS

  • Olympia Family Theater:18 Years Young and Still Growing
    by James O’Barr — The recent announcement of the Olympia Family Theater’s 18th season came with an additional proud flourish: The Olympia City Council has awarded OFT two years of funding as one of its Inspire Olympia creative non-profits. The 2024-2025 performance schedule, together with the additional financial support of Inspire Olympia funding, finds the new year at OFT full of high promise, starting with The House at Pooh Corner.
  • MOSAIC: Tacoma’s Arts and Culture Festival Celebrates a Multifaceted South Sound Community
    MOSAIC: Tacoma’s Arts and Culture Festival at Tacoma’s Wright Park on July 27 and 28 is a weekend of multicultural music, dance, art, crafts, and cuisine, with an evening movie in the park and a Kids Zone and sprayground. The festival will see a visit from the Mobile Teaching Kitchen, which will provide a preview of culinary courses available through Metro Parks Tacoma.
  • Shadow Spins Sci-fi Fable
    String and Or So It Would Seam: A Giant Puppet Voyage Into the Hidden Universe runs through July 21 in Olympia’s Decatur Woods Park and then tours the Northwest till Sept. 1. You really do want to make time for this confection, packed with visual puns and silly walks. String and Shadow’s worlds of fantasy and fable aim to pluck at the strings of universal wonder, innocence, and joy.
  • LoveOly SummerFest 2024
    By John Longenbaugh This is on page 8-9 of OLY ARTS Summer 2024 print edition. Ah, summer. The time of year when what you want isn’t just one good thing, but a bunch of them sort of bumping into each other in an exciting fashion. Take the words “Love,” “Oly,” “Summer” and “Festival”— four fine …

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  • Review: Wonderful Wizard of Oz at Olympia Family Theater
    The Wonderful Wizard of Oz at Olympia Family Theater comprises both young and not-so-young actors, smoothly stirred into a well-tuned ensemble; part of the fun of watching it is the speed and energy with which the story is rolled out, almost like street theater, or commedia, or circus.
  • South Sound Reading Foundation Benefit Brings Ethan’s Smile
    The South Sound Reading Foundation will host its annual benefit breakfast fundraiser, “Readers are Leaders,” at the Lacey Community Center on Thursday, April 11. Keynote speaker Stacy Chapin’s son Ethan is one of the four University of Idaho students murdered in Moscow, Idaho on the night of November 13, 2022.
  • Barney Carey Gets His Wings at Olympia Family Theater
    Olympia Family Theater’s executive director Mark Alford who plays Barney’s dad in “Barney Carey Gets His Wings” said, “The show is hilarious, but it doesn’t sacrifice any heart. At its core [it] is a discussion of self-identity and self-expression.”
  • The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical to Premiere at the Olympia Family Theater
    The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical is full of rock-tinged tunes and is based on the popular book, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Featuring a multigenerational cast, Olympia Family Theater’s production of The Lightning Thief [October 6 – 29] is set to be a show that dazzles the stage with singing, dancing, action and adventure.
  • Lacey in Tune with Heart By Heart
    Lacey Parks brings its popular Friday night “Lacey in Tune” concerts, kids programs, and movie nights downtown to Huntamer Park, kicking off on July 14 with Heart By Heart, the Seattle-based Heart-tribute rock band.
  • Fools Travel in a Dream World
    “Comedy and tragedy are just a second apart from each other,” said String and Shadow’s Donald Palardy III, who’s playing one of the fools. “We want people to come and to laugh. That is the goal. It’s like Looney Tunes. Looney Tunes is for kids, but there’s a lot of adult humor, sometimes peeking out of the surface and sometimes just under the surface.”
  • Winners of the 2023 Washington Center Arts Awards
    Comedian Gabriel Rutledge and Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia founders Greg and Krina Allison are winners of The Washington Center for the Arts’ annual arts awards, and will be honored on June 29.
  • Plays Like Picture Books Come to Life
    “Our shows are colorful and fun and bright and quick,” said Juice Box’s Kate Ayers, who writes and directs the shows. They’re like picture books come to life, and kids are invited to join the action. Next up is “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” opening June 15.
  • A Closer Look at Some of the Olympia Nonprofits Participating in Spring Arts Walk
    Through participation in the spring Arts Walk, many Olympia nonprofits are opening their doors for attendees to explore unique exhibitions, displays and interactive activities.
  • Review: The Girl Who Swallowed a Cactus
    Olympia Family Theater’s excellent production of “The Girl Who Swallowed a Cactus” is exquisitely designed with consistently engaging work by the ensemble of 12 adult and kid actors. This is the story of a group of kids who discover an all-important connection and value to the natural world is a compelling tale for all ages.
  • SOGO Winter Concert at the Washington Center
    The Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia’s Conservatory Orchestra, with Music Director Cameron May conducting his most advanced musicians, will give the first-ever performance of Olympia composer James DeHart’s “Children’s Concert Overture.” The orchestra will bring the festivities to a close, with clarinetist Alessandro Martinez, a senior at Olympia High School, performing.
  • Celebrating Creative Theatre Experience and Kathy Dorgan
    After forty years of productions, and with the upcoming retirement of longtime Artistic Creative Theatre Experience Director Kathy Dorgan, the board of directors invites the community to celebrate at the Anniversary Gala on Saturday, March 11. Students, parents, alumni, supporters, and the business sponsors will join to reminisce on the past collaborations, performances, and creative moments, all while looking forward to the next 40 years and beyond.
  • Salish Sea Art Sparkles in the Goldberg Building
    “Winter—Under the Salish Sea,” a project of Olympia Artspace Alliance in partnership with Art in Olympia Storefronts, Artists on Board, and through other collaborations and the City of Olympia, will brighten our winter days as we slowly swim toward the bright sun of spring and summer and will remain in place in downtown Olympia’s Goldberg Building windows through January and February. https://olyarts.org/2023/01/06/salish-sea-art-sparkles-in-the-goldberg-building/
  • Nyx and the Long Night Opens at Olympia Family Theatre
    An original winter folk myth from Olympia Family Theater. Everything changed the day they dropped the sun. Now, the world has been dark for a very long time – an endless winter solstice. Perhaps a young woman named Nyx will be the answer. Part girl, part tree, and raised under the light of the stars, her magic and courage might just save the world.
  • Revels and the Queen of the Americas
    Expect miracles, at least those of the theatrical kind, at The Midwinter Revels in Tacoma’s Rialto Theater this holiday season.
  • Review: Dragons Love Tacos at Olympia Family Theater
    Dragons Love Tacos at Olympia Family Theater is a whimsical and fiery play suitable for all ages based on the popular children’s book.
  • Halloween at Harlequin
    You are about to spend an evening with Edgar Allan Poe in a play by Olympia playwright Bryan Willis, plus a reading of a new short story by Olympia’s own Jim Lynch in a one-night-only Halloween celebration at Harlequin.
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