Mermaids, ‘Madness’ and Minions among entertainment offerings this weekend

Molly Gilmore
·2 min read

Meet mermaids

While we cannot verify that mermaids actually exist, some reasonable facsimiles of the mythical woman-fish hybrid — including one who performs in a tank and another who, improbably, dances with fire — will be part of the festivities at the International Mermaid Museum’s third Mermaid Festival, from noon to 5 p.m. April 1-9. The free festival at the Westport Winery Garden Resort, 1 South Arbor Road, Aberdeen, celebrates the sea with performances, crafts and educational presentations. Festival-goers also can check out the museum from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Also hanging out on the grounds will be unicorns and Bigfoot. (Again, you’ll have to decide if they really exist.)

‘Madness’ continues

Harlequin Productions has extended its run of “Building Madness,” Washington playwright Kate Danley’s 2016 take on a 1930s screwball comedy. The play, now running through Sunday, April 2, is about a tiny architecture firm that lands a deal to build a home for retired police officers and hires the mob to do the construction. It centers the plot on the female characters: daffy-yet-savvy secretary Trixie (Emma Brown Baker), take-charge mob boss Ruby (Angela DiMarco) and well-heeled socialite Gwen (Helen Harvester), each dressed for her own brand of success in costumes by Melanie Ransom. The show goes on at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 31 and Saturday, April 1 plus 2 p.m. Sunday, April 2 at the State Theater, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia. Tickets are $28-$43.

An architecture firm gets involved with the mob in Harlequin Productions’ ”Building Madness,” with Emma Brown Baker and Nathan Rice.
An architecture firm gets involved with the mob in Harlequin Productions’ ”Building Madness,” with Emma Brown Baker and Nathan Rice.

Slapstick on screen

Silent-film icon Buster Keaton is in the spotlight Sunday, April 2, when The Washington Center for the Performing Arts’ silent movie series screens “The Balloonatic,” “The Love Nest” and “Our Hospitality.” Seattle organist Dennis James will provide the soundtrack for Keaton’s antics. The screening begins at 2 p.m. Sunday at the center, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. Tickets are $21 and $26. Also screening Sunday: “Minions 2: The Rise of Gru” at the Olympia Film Society’s Capitol Theater, 206 Fifth Ave. SE, Olympia. The “Minions” prequel — in which the yellow fellows help Gru get his start as a super-villain — is the film society’s latest Kids Club film. Kids 12 and younger are admitted free; otherwise, tickets are $12, $9 for film society members.

Buster Keaton’s “The Balloonatic,” co-starring Phyllis Haver, is one of the short silent films screening Sunday, April 2 in Olympia.
Buster Keaton’s “The Balloonatic,” co-starring Phyllis Haver, is one of the short silent films screening Sunday, April 2 in Olympia.

Freelance writer Molly Gilmore is back on the beat. She talks about what’s happening in Olympia and beyond with 95.3 KGY-FM’s Michael Stein from 3 to 4 p.m. Fridays.