Go Go…
If you haven’t popped into a local theater this month, you’ve been missing shows that have audiences buzzing – and this weekend is the last chance to check them out. There are only two performances left for Harlequin Productions’ “Hundred Days,” a concert-style piece that rocks while tackling big themes and big emotions. Locals who know the theater rave about the show, which features musical theater favorite Amy Shephard and rocker Denim Protégé of Denim and the Deep Pockets. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, May 25-27, at the State Theater, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia. Tickets cost between $35 and $50.
Also finishing their runs:
• Theater Artists Olympia “The Half-Life of Marie Curie”, which tells the story of the Nobel Prize winner’s friendship with fellow scientist Hertha Ayrton. Olympia actor Kim Holm described the show as “hauntingly beautiful”. The remaining performances will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, May 26 and 27 and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 28 at the OlyTheater, near the Capital Mall cinema, 625 Black Lake Blvd., Olympia. Tickets are $20.
• Olympia Family Theatre’s original musical adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, which adds catchy tunes and facts about climate change to the familiar story. It’s on stage at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, May 26 and 27, and at 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, May 27 and 28, at the theater, 612 Fourth Ave. E, Olympia. Tickets cost between $5 and $35, with a limited number of free tickets available at the door. The show is recommended for ages 5 and up, and masks are required during Sunday performances.
Paige Doyle (left) and Heather Christopher star in Theater Artists Olympia’s ‘The Half-Life of Marie Curie’, which closes on Sunday, May 28.
Do you have disco fever?
For those with fond memories of John Travolta’s white-suited dance floor lap, Saturday, May 27 is your chance to revisit “Night Fever” and other era classics: tribute band Bee Gees Gold is “Stayin’ Alive” featuring a show focused on the look and sound of big-haired brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. The band will play at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets cost between $30.15 and $69.
The story continues
Bee Gees Gold, a tribute number focusing on hits from the 1960s and 1970s by the Gibb brothers, will perform on Saturday May 27 at Olympia.
Relax with jazz
Pianist/composer/singer David Lee Joyner and trumpeter/composer Jared Hall and his quartet headline the Washington Center for the Performing Arts’ Black Box Jazz on Friday, May 26. The cabaret-style concert begins at 8 p.m. in the Black Room of the Center Box Theater, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. Tickets cost between $32 and $39.
“Sunday in the Park”
Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Sunday in the Park with George” premieres Friday, May 26 at South Puget Sound Community College. Pointillist painter George Seurat’s best-known work, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” inspired the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical. The cast of the SPSCC Theater Collective production includes familiar local actors as well as students. Performances are at 7.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays May 26-27 and June 2-3 and at 2pm on Sundays May 28 and June 4 at the college’s Minnaert Center for the Arts, 2011 Mottman Road SW, Olympia. Admission is by donation ($15 suggested) and is free for students, staff, and faculty.
Freelance writer Molly Gilmore talks about what’s happening at Olympia and beyond with Michael Stein of 95.3 KGY-FM from 3-4 p.m. Friday.
