Photo – poster image for ‘The Women” courtesy Harlequin
Productions
2019-2020 season preview
By Alec Clayton
Harlequin Productions
starts its season with Clare Booth Luce’s classic comedy The Women with
a huge all-women cast directed by Erin Murray. (It’s really the last of their
2018-2019 season as their season runs later than most theaters.)
“At first blush, I wanted to dismiss the story under the
notion that women no longer live in a patriarchal world spending every moment
thinking about pleasing a man and championing his home,” Murray said, “But
those pressures are still very much alive. I don't want women to be consumed
with getting married for stability and maintaining their physical appearance, I
want women to be able to chart their own path and establish their own
definition of joy, and part of self-actualizing is accepting the struggles. The
women of The Women are smart, considerate, and capable of running the
world. While the generation depicted in this story was not permitted that
option, their insights and instincts live on in the smashing of the ceilings we
are targeting today.”
The Women is a large production
with 15 women in the cast, multiple locations and dozens of sumptuous outfits,
wigs and millinery designed by Harlequin’s longtime costume designer Darren
Mills and lavish set by Bruce Haasl.
In November and December, it’s Sherlock Holmes and the
Case of the Christmas Carol, and in January it’s the outrageous comedy Noises
Off. Beginning Feb. 26, Harlequin offers Olympia audiences a very special
treat, The Highest Tide, set in Olympia and based the bestselling novel
by local author Jim Lynch.
Olympia Little Theatre begins
its 80th season with The Consul, the Tramp & America's Sweetheart.
To commemorate the 80th birthday, there will be a celebration at the theater on
Saturday, Oct. 5 at 6:30 p.m.
Directed by Kendra Malm, The Consul, the Tramp &
America's Sweetheart is a comedy about Charlie Chaplin, who is getting
ready for his first talking picture, The Great Dictator. It’s a comedic
look at art, politics, free speech, and anti-Semitism.
Next up at OLT is Vino Veritas in October, followed
by Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pembery in December and Equivocation
in February.
Olympia Family Theater opens
its season with The Delicious revenge of Princess Rubyslippers, directed
by Pug Bujeaud, Sept. 27 to Oct. 20. Join Ruby on her hilarious adventure as
she dresses as a princess and magically disappears into a world of
make-believe. Ruby’s adventures will be followed by the classic tale The
Wind in the Willows, Nov. 29-Dec. 22 and Number the Stars, adapted
from the Newbery Award-winning book in January and February.
Finally, there’s Olympia newest, Broadway Olympia,
specializing in short-run, professional quality musicals. Broadway Olympia
founder Kyle Murphy said, “The plans (for the season) are a little bit up in
the air right now. What is official is that we are doing our first ‘Passion
Project’ this November. Lexi Barnett will direct and choreograph Songs for a
New World Nov. 1-3 and 7-10 at the State Theater. This show has been a
dream of Lexi's for a while, so we decided to make it happen.”
Later in the season, Murphy will produce a one-woman show
for Sara Geiger, which is a fully developed version of a performance she did at
the Inteman. Details will be announced later.
Harlequin Productions, State Theater, 202 4th Ave East,
Olympia,
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