Photos
This weekend, the society celebrates those milestones with — what else? — films and music.
“The theater was built for vaudeville,” said theater manager Audrey Henley. “It was built during the silent film era, so music has always had a place at Capitol Theater.
“We haven’t changed the use of the theater since day one. It’s always had music and it’s always had movies.”
Saturday is the centerpiece of the celebration, a party and variety show hosted by Lord Franzannian (Elizabeth Lord) and Hattie Hotpants (Lauren O’Neill).
With aerial acrobatics by Tallhouse Arts Consortium, burlesque by members of Tush, and live music by Seattle’s The Vaudevillians and Olympia’s Scuff and Al, the event is for ages 18 and older — and not just because of the burlesque.
“Scuff and Al are going to do some dirty songs, things that might make people blush,” Henley said.
Of The Vaudevillians, she said: “They are a really wacky duo. They basically say that they were once frozen in time and someone took the music that they wrote and turned it into these disgusting pop songs. They came back to life, and they are here to perform the songs as they were originally intended to be performed.
“There might be some Britney Spears in there, but it will be Britney Spears a la 1920s.”
“Trust me, you haven’t lived until you’ve heard the original ragtime versions of ‘Piece of My Heart’ and ‘Bad Romance,’” Scott Rice wrote in a review of the duo in the Seattle Gay News.
The event also will include showings of the silent short films “Never Weaken” with Harold Lloyd and “Cops” with Buster Keaton, both on 35-millimeter film.
“I’ve never seen a Harold Lloyd film on the big screen,” Henley said, “but I’m really excited about that. When people think of a silent film star, they think of Charlie Chaplin, but I think this guy is funnier than Charlie Chaplin.”
Friday night’s celebration is both free and family friendly, with animation and a silent auction of art to be featured in the “Capitol Theater Coloring Book,” set to be released Dec. 10 at Duck the Malls, the society’s holiday arts and crafts fair.
The pieces depict everything from people watching movies and bands performing on stage to chandeliers and the theater’s carpet pattern.
And the coloring book will include stories taken from the society’s Community Memories Project, a booth in which audience members and volunteers can make audio recordings of their experiences over the past 30 years.
This weekend is ripe for celebration not only because it’s Arts Walk, but because both OFS and the theater itself opened in October.
“The grand opening of the theater was Oct. 7 (1924), I believe,” Henley said, adding that it’s hard to pin down exact dates. “It was open by the 7th.”
As it happens, Henley has an anniversary this month, too: She began working at the theater Oct. 5, 2005.
“October is definitely a magic month for us,” she said.
OFS ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
What: The Olympia Film Society hosts a two-day anniversary celebration of 30 years of independent film and 87 years of the historic Capitol Theater.
Where: Capitol Theater, 206 Fifth Ave. S.E., Olympia.
More information: 360-754-5378 or olympiafilmsociety.org.
VARIETY SHOW, ANNIVERSARY PARTY
What: Burlesque, aerial acrobatics, live music and silent films are among the treats at the celebration for ages 18 and older (with beer and wine in the mezzanine for ages 21 and older).
When: 9 p.m. Saturday, doors open at 8 p.m.
Tickets: $10 and up at brownpapertickets.com, Rainy Day Records and the box office the night of the show.
