Weekend brings comedy with a corpse, ABBA tribute — and Ratapalooza
‘Dead Man’s Cell Phone’
Two strangers meet in a café at the start of Olympia Little Theatre’s “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” opening Friday, Sept. 12. The twist in Sarah Ruhl’s 2007 comedy is that one of them, Gordon (Isaac Garfian), has died, as Jean (Keadrin Cain) discovers when she approaches to find out why he isn’t answering his incessantly ringing phone. She answers (and answers, and answers) and becomes more and more deeply involved in his now-ended life, at one point visiting a church to pray for him. “I only knew him for a short time,” she says, “but I think that I loved him, in a way.” “Cell Phone,” written when the phone in question flipped open, won a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play. Performances for the Olympia Little Theatre production are at 7:25 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 12-13, plus Sept. 19-20 and Sept. 25-27; and 1:55 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14, plus Sept. 21 and 28 at the theater, 1925 Miller Ave. NE, Olympia. Tickets are $10-$16.
Abra Cadabra returns
The catchily-named ABBA tribute band, last in Olympia in September 2024, will be back in town on Sunday, Sept. 14. The Vancouver, Canada-based band has been celebrating the preternaturally poppy music of the palindromically named Swedish quartet for more than 20 years, playing the group’s biggest hits in a concert that features big dance numbers and authentic period costumes. (The ’70s were over a long time ago.) The performance is at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. Tickets are $57-$77.
Rats — really
Ratapalooza, happening Sunday, Sept. 14, in Lacey, is a gathering of rats and those who love them. Which begs the question: Do these rodents really have that many fans? Turns out, the rodents being feted at the event — which features rat judging, vendors, crafts and more — are pet rats, aka fancy rats, bred for temperament as well as appearance. And part of the purpose of the event, presented by RatsPacNW Rat Fanciers Club, is to teach the uninitiated about these intelligent and social animals. It happens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Thurston County Fairgrounds Event Center, 3054 Carpenter Road SE. Admission is $15, $10 for members, with children 5 and younger admitted free. Only registered rats are permitted to attend, and the registration deadline has passed.
Freelance writer Molly Gilmore coined the phrases “preternaturally poppy” and “palindromically named” when Abra Cadabra last visited, and she was so delighted by them that she had to use them again. She talks with DJ Kevin the Brit about what’s happening around town on KGY-FM’s “Oly in a Can,” airing at 2 p.m. Fridays.