Fun events and things to do this week in Thurston County
Sept. 27
Say it with art
The Gallery at South Puget Sound Community College wraps up its Art Faculty and Staff Exhibition on Friday with a reception including artist talks and a chance to make a piece of your own. The show includes sculptures, photographs, paintings and drawings by Sean Barnes, Joe Batt, Liza Brenner, Colleen Gallagher, Nicole Gugliotti, Lisa Mellinger, Dan Meuse, Edgar Smith, Jane Stone and Bruce Thompson. The exhibition opens at noon at The Gallery, 2011 Mottman Road SW, Olympia, with the reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Batt will speak at 5 and Gugliotti at 5:30, and Gugliotti — whose works on view include a grouping called “Things That Shouldn’t Need To Be Said” — will have a limited supply of ceramic buttons to which gallery visitors can add their own phrases that shouldn’t need to be said. Find out more at 360-596-5527 or spscc.edu/gallery.
Sept. 27 to Oct. 20
Funny fairytale fantasy
Imagination transports young Ruby to a magical fairyland in “The Delicious Revenge of Princess Rubyslippers,” opening Friday at Olympia Family Theater. The 90-minute comedy, directed by Pug Bujeaud and starring Amanda Stevens as Mum (it’s a British play), the Fairy Godmother and other denizens of the magic realm, happens at 7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 20 at the theater, 612 Fourth Ave E., Olympia. Tickets are $15-$20; for the Oct. 3 performance, pay what you can. Get details at 360-570-1638 or olyft.org.
Sept. 27
Whole lotta Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin, like drummer John Bonham, may have climbed the stairway to heaven — the three surviving members of the legendary quartet last reunited in 2007 — but Led Zepagain has kept the tunes thundering since 1989. The Los Angeles-based tribute act, playing Friday in Olympia, has earned praise from Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, according to the Zepagain website. “It’s amazing how much you sound like us,” Page told the band after he attended a 2004 concert. “I can tell you guys really love our music.” Judge for yourself at 7:30 p.m. at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. Tickets are $45. Get tickets and details at 360-753-8586 or washingtoncenter.org.
Sept. 27
Get Germanic
Senior Services for South Sound’s popular bingo nights aren’t just about bingo or just for seniors. They pull in crowds of younger folks — 21 and older only — with themed costume contests, a full bar and humorous hosting by Olympia theatrical wonder Elizabeth Lord. Friday in Lacey, the theme is Oktoberfest. For those planning to dress the part, dirndls and lederhosen would seem the obvious choice, but dressing up as a beer stein would also work. (After all, winners are chosen by audience applause.) Games begin at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6, at the Lacey Senior Center, 6757 Pacific Ave SE, Lacey. Tickets are $20, including a game pack, and all proceeds benefit Senior Services for South Sound. Get all the details (and make reservations for tables of 6-8 people) at 360-407-3967.
Sept. 28
Go fish
Salmon are on the menu in more ways than one at Saturday’s Nisqually Watershed Festival. You can eat them, learn about them and make a T-shirt printed with one. (You can bring your own shirt or buy one there.) You also can see one being dissected, if that won’t spoil your appetite. The 30th annual festival also features music, storytelling, walking tours, information about raptors and wolves and insects, a chance to see an eagle’s nest and much more. The free festival happens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, 100 Brown Farm Road, Olympia. Festival parking is at River Ridge High School, 350 River Ridge Drive, Lacey; a free shuttle will run between the school and the refuge. Read more about it at nisquallyriver.org.
Oct. 1
Not (quite) too late to see Los Lobos
Los Lobos brings its Grammy-winning mix of rock, blues, traditional Mexican music and more to Olympia on Tuesday night, and there are a handful of seats remaining. The band — most famed for its chart-topping 1987 cover of Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” — is scheduled to take the stage at 7:30 p.m. at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. Tickets are $35-$99. Get them, and learn more, at 360-753-8586 or washingtoncenter.org.
Oct. 1
She’s ‘Ready’
Singer-songwriter-guitarist Molly Tuttle, playing Tuesday in Olympia, began her career with a bang. The bluegrass-and-beyond Tuttle — whose debut album, “When You’re Ready,” dropped in the spring — has been breaking barriers and receiving raves with her guitar-heroine chops and introspective lyrics. She was Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2018 Americana Music Awards and was the first woman to be nominated as the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Guitarist of the Year, an award she won in both 2017 and 2018. Tuttle grew up with bluegrass, as did her opening act, Olympia’s Sassafras Sisters — sisters Annie Davis, 14, a student at Nova Middle School, Ellie Davis, 16, a student at Olympia High, plus Ruby Neatherlin, 15, also at Olympia High. The music is set to begin at 8 p.m. at the Capitol Theater, 206 Fifth Ave. SE, Olympia. Tickets are $17-$25. Get the scoop at 360-754-6670 or olympiafilmsociety.org.
Oct. 3
‘Women’s’ day
Harlequin Productions continues its focus on the female with Clare Booth Luce’s 1936 “The Women,” opening Thursday. The classic comedy of manners, with a cast of 15 women, focuses on the lives of wealthy socialites and showcases a vast array of lavish costumes, many authentically vintage. In a press release for the show, director Erin Murray of Seattle says the show will “bring Fashion Week to Thurston County.” (Surely Olympia isn’t that many decades behind the times?) Performances happen at 8 p.m. Oct. 3-5, 9-12, 17-19 and 24-26 and 2 p.m. Oct. 6, 13 and 20 at the State Theater, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia., plus a pay-what-you-can performance at 8 p.m. Oct. 9. Tickets for regular performances are $35, $32 for seniors and military, $20 for students and youth. 360-786-0151, harlequinproductions.org