Ladies work the stage at Washington Center

By Molly Gilmore | For The Olympian • Published September 11, 2008

The Washington Center for the Performing Arts' fall season is kicking off with CenterFest, which this year is not a performance, but a party.

But the center has plenty of variety in store for the rest of the season -- particularly comedy, which has been a big part of recent seasons, and dance, which has not.

Even more noteworthy is the number of female artists. Of the six solo headlining performers in the season, five are women. (The lone male headliner: George Winston on April 24.)

The first, Natalie MacMaster (Oct. 4), has the distinction of being designated the season-opening performance, although she's not first on the schedule.

The Canadian fiddler, singer and dancer has helped traditional Celtic music rise to prominence.

Also next month is Lura (Oct. 23), a West African singer who blends French Afro-pop, Brazilian rhythms and earthy, traditional African music.

And in November, there's Linda Eder (Nov. 21), who won the first "Star Search" in 1987, and went on to Broadway and Carnegie Hall.

"She's a fabulous singer," said Tom Iovanne, the center's executive director.

The other women are writer and National Public Radio personality Sarah Vowell (Feb. 13) and comedian Lauren Weedman, whose "Bust" (March 18-21 in the Black Box Theater) is a one-woman show based on her experiences volunteering in a Southern California women's prison.

"I saw it in California two years ago," said Kevin Boyer, the center's marketing director. "It is hilarious. The Los Angeles Times called her a female Robin Williams."

Besides Weedman, comedy will come from the monthly Comedy in the Box, the mainstage Best of the Seattle Comedy Competition (Nov. 29), and musicals "Gilligan's Island" (March 28) and "Altar Boyz" (April 8).

Even the dance company Pilobolus (Feb. 5) is well-known for its humor. The highly acrobatic Pilobolus is definitely generating some buzz.

"It's not even Pilobolus II," said Cassie Welliver, a confirmed dance fan and director of KJM Center for the Arts at South Puget Sound Community College.

"It's the main dancers. I am so excited about them."

Boyer said, "There are three very large dance companies this year. It's been a bit of a drought the last three or four years, but things fell into place this year -- and all very different genres, which is nice."

Also in the dance lineup: American Ballet Theatre II (Nov. 1) and Mark Morris Dance Group (Dec. 5).