by Nora Kovacs for OLY ARTS Apple Tree Productions presents four exciting productions this summer, including an adult rendition of the musical Hairspray in July and youth performances of Aida in August. The company prides itself on providing students of all ages with quality afterschool and summertime instruction in drama. During the summer, students of …
WEEKEND PREVIEW is your weekly guide to events in Thurston County. This week, the theater community brings a stellar lineup of unique performances to the stage while Capital City Pride kicks off in downtown Olympia. OLY ARTS can’t wait to help you celebrate the arts in style. Click here to listen to our podcast version of …
by Nora Kovacs for OLY ARTS “Once upon a time, there was a young woman who knew exactly what she wanted out of life.” That woman is Elizabeth Lord, and thus begins her story as an Olympia-based actor, teacher, vaudeville performer and, above all, storyteller. Lord describes herself as a “professional talker” who turned her …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS Some theatrical musicals originate as great novels (Les Misérables), others (The Lion King) as beloved cinema. Some come to us by way of historical biographies (Hamilton) and some, believe it or not, are still written from scratch. But only one popular musical began as a story in the Weekly …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS The next production from Theater Artists Olympia is the product of a series of unexpected events. Last fall, the scrappy troupe announced it’d present a “season of sex,” typified by The Physician in Spite of Himself and Playhouse Creatures. Then TAO lost the rights to a few desired scripts, …
by Jonah Barrett for OLY ARTS The epistolary format (i.e., a story told through a series of letters) is usually reserved for novels, but it can sometimes spring up in other mediums, as in A.R. Gurney’s Pulitzer-Prize finalist Love Letters, coming to Olympia Little Theatre this summer. Co-directed by Toni Holm and James Patrick, the …
WEEKEND PREVIEW is your weekly guide to events in Thurston County. This week, there’s enough live music in Olympia to keep your toes tapping all night long, not to mention author readings at some of your favorite bookstores. Click here to listen to our podcast version of Weekend Preview, sponsored by Shur-Kleen Car Wash. Follow the links …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS This summer, Harlequin Productions is hoping audiences will fall in love with First Date. The musical, which premiered at Seattle’s A Contemporary Theatre in 2012 before heading to Broadway, opens June 22. The daters referred to in the title are Casey (Christie Murphy-Oldright) and Aaron (Bruce Haasl), and the …
WEEKEND PREVIEW is your weekly guide to events in Thurston County. This week promises even more folk, bluegrass and fiddling fun than the last as Olympia gears up for Steamboat Stringband Jamboree. Let’s not forget the Olympia Comics Festival, either, which promises a weekend packed with a comics expo, stage show and author signings. We …
by Kelli Samson for OLY ARTS At the start of every summer, Olympia Family Theater’s production season ends, making way for the training of future thespians. The audiences and rhythms of the past nine months change. Rehearsal schedules give way for day camps, and guests switch from theater patrons to children aged 5 to 12. …