Submitted by Rebekah Finn for Harlequin Productions
Harlequin Productions’ 27th season of Real. Live. Theater. is shaping up to be one of the most exciting yet, and they’re inviting you to be a part of it. Unlike a subscription for a movie streaming service, a season subscription at Harlequin Productions supports local artists and businesses, and gives you the chance to come face-to-face with art in real time.
One local resident recalls how seeing a Harlequin play ignited a curiosity in him as a teenager:
Sitting in the front row, I was inches away from Hamlet as he pondered the meaning of life and death, and it sparked something in me like I had never experienced before. Live theater gets you into the mind of another person and forces you to ask questions like nothing else can.
In the 2018 season at Harlequin Productions, you can expect to get into the minds of a whole slew of characters who ponder life’s big questions in vastly different ways:
- The dog of a famous racecar driver who exemplifies loyalty, adventure, and trust;
- a transvestite in 1930s Berlin who brings joy to a war-torn world through a love of nostalgic artifacts;
- two famous 1960s New York architects, and their three grown children discovering their secrets after their deaths;
- a ruthless and talented 8-year-old actress, and the mother and agent who inspire her;
- and two Chicago cops whose careers are at stake when a split-second decision blurs the line between racism and political correctness;
….just to name a few!
In addition to the above characters, Harlequin’s 27th season also offers heaps of fun in the form of fantastic singing and dancing. The Magical, Mystical, Midsummer Musical in the summer of 2018 will feature local artist Bruce Whitney in celebration of his 30th year of theatrical composing and musical directing. And of course, a season of Olympia theater would be absolutely incomplete without a Stardust holiday show. This year’s Stardust musical starts in November and will feature a title chosen by participants in the Eclectica! season announcement party that happened on April 1, 2017 (if you weren’t there, you sure missed a fun celebration, so be sure to attend next year).
Can you see all these shows without buying a subscription? Sure you can! But you’ll save a lot of money if you sign up for the whole season. For example, general admission tickets bought one at a time can add up to over $270 per person, but subscriptions provide a 25% discount! And you can sign up for a plan of small payments over 10 months to make it even easier.
Subscribing will also give you first pick of seats, free ticket exchange and replacement (not offered to one-time ticket buyers), half-price repeat tickets, and many other benefits. But most important of all, you’ll always see the best shows you’ve never heard of and probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
Call the Box Office at 360-786-0151 or stop by at 202 4th Ave. E in downtown Olympia to subscribe, and visit www.harlequinproductions.org for more information.
