Hotel RL Olympia sets the stage for local performers
There’s a new stage in town offering free entertainment and information several nights a week.
It’s The Living Stage at Hotel RL Olympia, referred to by most as the Red Lion.
The stage, in the hotel’s lobby, began hosting events in July and this month offers music, poetry, storytelling and talks about wedding planning and how to make a living in the arts.
“There is definitely a buzz around town,” said Tammy Meyers, director of entertainment for Red Lion Hotels Corp. “Having a performer onstage when guests and neighbors walk into the lobby definitely captures their attention.”
The Olympia stage is part of a chainwide initiative that began in 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland.
The idea is to make the hotel a destination for people in the community, a Red Lion spokeswoman said. The hotel chain is also aiming to spark conversations among community members and hotel guests.
Many of the talks are reminiscent of something you might see at a TED (Technology Entertainment Design) event, and like those, The Living Stage talks and performances are available to stream online.
The events are shown on the hotel chain’s in-house television network, so people in RL Hotels across the country have had the chance to listen to Olympia storyteller Rebecca Hom and hear about the SideWalk program, a local nonprofit that finds homes for people living on the streets.
Hom has performed at the hotel several times, inviting family and friends to join her in the lobby. Her next performance, Jan. 13, is on the theme “Light in the Dark.”
“It’s a nice little stage,” she said. “And there’s a nice restaurant and bar.”
Also coming up this month are poetry readings by students from Tumwater High School and a performance by Olympia’s Mazigazi Band.
Use of the stage is free. Meyers encourages anyone interested in performing to contact her through rllivingstage.com.
The goal is to “dive into what is happening in the community and help bring attention to it,” she said.
The Living Stage
What: Hotel RL Olympia is hosting free entertainment several nights a week on the lobby stage. Videos of the performances show on the hotel’s in-house television network, WRLTV, and are available online.
Where: Hotel RL Olympia, 2300 Evergreen Park Drive SW, Olympia.
Tickets: Free.
Upcoming events: redlion.com/living-stage.
For potential performers: rllivingstage.com.
Watch: See videos filmed at RL Olympia and other Hotel RL locations at bit.ly/2hRPKeT.
Performances
7 p.m. Monday: Poetry reading by Tumwater High School students.
7 p.m. Tuesday: Paula Lowe of South Sound Wedding & Event magazine.
7 p.m. Thursday: Magician Jeff Evans.
7 p.m. Jan. 13: Storyteller Rebecca Hom.
8 p.m. Jan. 14: African music by Mazigazi Band.
8 p.m. Jan. 19: Singer-songwriter Tommy G and artist Beth Heart.
2 p.m. Jan. 23: Nathan Barnes, curator of The Gallery at the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts, South Puget Sound Community College.
7 p.m. Jan. 25: Ryan Hembree of Skip Rock Distillery.
7 p.m. Jan. 26: Playwright Bryan Willis speaking on “Art & Obsession: Five Secrets to Making a Living in the Arts.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 8:32 AM with the headline "Hotel RL Olympia sets the stage for local performers."