Find holiday laughs, holiday music and holiday dance around Olympia this weekend
Visions of Sugar Plums
Of course we are referring to “The Nutcracker.” The Ballet Northwest version of the Tchaikovsky ballet, South Sound’s longest-running, opens Friday, Dec. 13. In its 40th year, the production boasts scenery by Jill Carter and a pair of guest dancers: Lucas Matzkin, an advanced student at the American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in New York, will dance the part of the Cavalier, and Ballet Northwest alum Natalie Allenton, who dances with Seattle’s Spectrum Dance Theatre, shares the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy with Grace Collins, 16 and a junior at Olympia High School. Corin Meek, 15 and a sophomore at Centralia High School, and Ivy Nakauye, 13 and in eighth grade at Meeker Middle School in Tacoma, will dance Clara, and longtime Ballet Northwest company dancer Bian Anvari will play the Nutcracker Prince. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 13-14, plus Dec. 20-21 and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 14-15, plus Dec. 21-22 at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. S.E., Olympia. Tickets are $18-$39.
It’s Miller time
Olympia’s own Sam Miller, a big guy who’s on the way to being a big name in the comedy world, is home for the holidays. Miller’s self-deprecating comedy stylings cover topics from his past drug addiction to jokes about parenting. (One of his two children, his bio says, “is on purpose.”) He’s headlining a Christmas comedy show Friday, Dec. 13, at the Capitol Theater, 206 Fifth Ave. SE, Olympia. Travis Sherer is hosting the show, which also features Javann Jones. The comedy begins at 8 p.m.; doors open at 7. Tickets are $17-$30.
‘Sounds of Winter’
America’s First Corps Band, a 40-piece ensemble that plays jazz, classical, pop and rock, will salute “The Sounds of Winter” with a free concert Monday, Dec. 16, in Olympia. The band, based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, will play tunes by composers from Tchaikovsky to Stevie Wonder at the concert, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Minnaert Center for the Arts at South Puget Sound Community College, 2011 Mottman Road SW, Olympia.
Freelance writer Molly Gilmore talks with DJ Kevin the Brit about what’s happening around town on KGY-FM’s “Oly in a Can,” airing at 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Fridays.