September 9, 2026 — Catch Blues by the Water and Laughs on Stage
Molly Gilmore “Arts Aficionado” #11 — September 9, 2026
Catch Blues by the Water and Laughs on Stage
— Blues benefit
— ‘Laughing’ ladies are back
— Last weekend to go ‘Barefoot’
theatre
September 2, 2026 — Music on the Porch, Crowds at the Harbor, and ‘Kiss’ in Lakewood
Molly Gilmore “Arts Aficionado” #10 — September 2, 2026
Music on the Porch, Crowds at the Harbor, and ‘Kiss’ in Lakewood
— Porches become stages
— Crowds by the water
— ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’
https://olyarts.org/arts-aficionado-week-of-september-2-2026/
Lightwire Theater’s The Adventures of Tortoise and Hare
You know how the race ended — but the story was just beginning. Lightwire Theater’s The Adventures of Tortoise and Hare: The Next Gen picks up a decade after the finish line, where Old Man Tortoise and Big Daddy Hare are now fathers navigating a world of smartphones and video games. When Tortoise Junior and …
Come From Away
COME FROM AWAY “Suddenly everything’s high. Suddenly there’s nothing in between me and the sky.” In the face of unimaginable tragedy, ordinary people chose extraordinary kindness. Come From Away tells the remarkable true story of Gander, Newfoundland, where a small town opened its doors to thousands of stranded travelers on September 11, 2001. As cultures …
She Loves Me
The original “it’s complicated.” Centerstage Presents She Loves Me! By JOE MASTEROFF, JERRY BOCK, AND SHELDON HARNICK Directed by Michelle Blackmon May 22 – June 14, 2026 Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm, and Sundays at 2:00pm FEDERAL WAY, WA—Anonymous letters and mistaken identities entwine with a gorgeous score and wonderful characters in this delightful, …
Bryan Willis’s Special Valentine’s Love Note at Harlequin
‘How Much the Heart Can Hold’ (Saturday, Feb. 14 only) is a multi-faceted celebration of love featuring scenes, poetry, quotes and even love notes penned by audience members. “It’s such a fun piece,” said Bryan Willis, who created the show with the late Linda Kalkwarf and included pieces by other local writers. “This is not a play I could have written 30 years ago. The nature of love changes as we age. We have successes and failures. … In the course of the play, we follow this couple who meet as grade-school students, and we follow them until they are in their golden years.”
Center Salon VII
Music! Art! Acting! More Music! It’s our annual celebration of local artists with Kathy Gore Fuss (painting), Jill Barnes (song & emcee), John Serembe (monologue written by Bryan Willis), Holly Reeves (cello), Christian Carvajal (travel writing), Kathleen Byrd (Olympia’s new Poet Laureate), Jami Heinricher (Design – Sherwood Press), and Jennifer Hermann (Piano). It’s a fast, …
REVIEW: Falling at Olympia Little Theatre
Falling, now playing at Olympia Little Theatre (OLT), is 70 minutes of edge-of-your-seat intensity, a roller coaster of love, fear and laughter with no intermission. If there were an intermission, the audience’s total immersion into the Martin family would be weakened; if it were any longer than 70 minutes, the actors would be physically exhausted and the audience emotionally so. As it is, the time flies by at warp speed and the audience is left depleted, yet thoroughly satisfied.
REVIEW: Fully Vaxxed at Olympia Family Theater
Fully Vaxxed at Olympia Family Theater is one of the funniest, most distinctive and important theatrical events out there. It’s a campaign that will continue and move to other towns after its run at OFT. It’s a plea and a lesson on the importance of vaccinations in the time of COVID-19. It’s a performance of three bilingual, one-act plays running two weekends at OFT, then touring the state.
UPDATED: Big Things Are Coming to Olympia Family Theater
The arrival of artistic director Lily Raabe to Olympia Family Theater (OFT) means big things for the family entertainment company in spring of 2022. Two mainstage shows open days apart, followed by the long-awaited debut of a musical mystery by Oly playwright Ted Ryle.