Olympia Family Theatre, which has closed its adjacent all-ages space and reduced staff hours, is hard at work on raising the money it needs to keep the theater on solid footing going forward. Dean Shellman, chair of the non-profit theater’s board, said, “We’re carefully looking for savings opportunities that don’t change the experience for our audiences and students. OFT provides magical moments for families, and that won’t change.”
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.
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.
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 …
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.
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.
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.”
“Light Up the Night—Winter Wonders,” an Art in Storefronts exhibit produced by Olympia Artspace Alliance is on view through March 31, 2024 in the windows of The Goldberg Building on Capitol Way S in Olympia. It features artwork by students from four area schools.
Both the Studio West Dance Theatre production, opening Nov. 24, and the Ballet Northwest version, opening Dec. 8, are beloved traditions. Studio West first performed the ballet in 2009, and the venerable Ballet Northwest premiered its version in 1983. “There’s always a buzz around The Nutcracker,” said Stephanie Wood-Ennett, the co-director of Studio West. “So many people feel that their holiday is not complete without it.”
Fall is a time for rebirth, for rejuvenation, especially
when coming in the wake of a scorching dry summer
and a pandemic that refuses to go away. And the biggest, most extravagant arts event of all, Olympia’s fall Arts Walk — October 6 and 7 — our semi-annual community event celebrating all of the arts, but with an emphasis on visual arts when a majority of downtown businesses turn parts of their stores into art galleries.