8 things to do in South Sound this weekend, March 13-15
Friday & Saturday
Dinner theater
The new Open Road Productions and Pellegrino’s Event Center are offering an unusual event for South Sound: an original murder mystery called “Murder Beyond the Stars,” with music and a four-course dinner at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the event center, 5757 Littlerock Road SW, Tumwater. Tickets are $75-$85; if you plan to buy tickets at the door, please call ahead so you can request an entree. Choices are beef scaloppini, prosciutto- and mozzarella-stuffed chicken, and a stuffed Portobello mushroom. Dessert is tuxedo truffle mousse cake. For more information, call 360-515-0449 or go to pellegrinoseventcenter.com. And be sure to read Molly Gilmore’s story about the show here.
Friday & Saturday
Russian classic
Evening and weekend students at The Evergreen State College and professors Marla Elliott and Tom Rainey are tackling what many consider to be Russian writer Anton Chekhov’s finest play, “The Cherry Orchard.” Showtimes are 8 p.m. Friday (March 13) and 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday at the Experimental Theatre at Evergreen, 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW, Olympia. Admission is free, but there is a $2 charge for parking on Friday. For more information, go to facebook.com/thecherry
Friday-Sunday
Stage presence
Two local theater productions continue this weekend:
Harlequin Productions’ “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” is a semiautobiographical play about Neil Simon’s days as a television writer in the early 1950s. It’s playing at the State Theater, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia, through March 28. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $20-$32 and available online at harlequinproductions.org.
Take in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “The Skin of Our Teeth” presented by the South Puget Sound Community College theater department. The play is finishing its run this weekend at the college’s Minnaert Center for the Arts’ Black Box, 2011 Mottman Road SW, Olympia. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Friday (March 13) and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and military. Go to washingtoncenter.org for more information.
Saturday
Tasty tastes
Sample some of the best regional brews and wines at the Beer and Wine Festival at Lucky Eagle Casino, 12888 188th Ave. SW, Rochester. Admission is $20 in advance or $25 at the door, and includes a logo print beer or wine glass plus eight drink tickets. The 21-and-older-only event runs 1-5 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are available by calling 800-720-1788 or online at luckyeagle.com.
Saturday
Back in black
The AC/DC tribute vixens Hell’s Belles are known around the region for their raw power and attention to details. For their show at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Capitol Theater, they will be joined by Olympia’s C Average. Tickets are $15 general admission, $10 for Olympia Film Society members, and are available at the box office or olympiafilmsociety.org. The theater is at 206 Fifth Ave. SE, Olympia.
Saturday
Voices only
It will be all about the voices and the harmonies at the Pacific Northwest Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. The competitive event, sponsored by Masterworks Choral Ensemble, spotlights the vocal dexterity of the Northwest's top a cappella groups whose styles range from jazz to pop to doo-wop. Tickets are $10-$26; call 360-753-8586 or go to washingtoncenter.org for details.
Sunday
Classical emotions
The works of Mozart and Tchaikovsky are loaded with theatrical, even operatic, drama. The Olympia Symphony Orchestra will bring those emotions to life in their concert “Orchestral Drama” at 7 p.m. Sunday at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. Tickets are $22-$55, plus a $3 service fee, and are available at 360-753-8586 or washingtoncenter.org.
This story was originally published March 12, 2015 at 2:38 PM with the headline "8 things to do in South Sound this weekend, March 13-15."