Stage Review - Lavender Melodrama (Olympic Theatre Arts)
Stage Review - Lavender Melodrama
Presented By: Olympic Theatre Arts - Sequim, WA
Show Run: July 11 - July 27, 2025
Date Reviewed: Sunday, July 13, 2025 (Opening Weekend)
Run Time: 2 Hours (including a 15-minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
Few of those “from away” as they might be known, realize how important lavender is to Dungeness Valley in Washington, and the town of Sequim, in particular. Every third weekend in July, the small town of Sequim, known also for its moderate climate rain shadow and as a popular destination for retirees looking to escape the bustle of Seattle or its immediate suburbs, celebrates all things related to versatile and fragrant shrub through live music, farm tours, demonstrations, and food during its Lavender Festival. For the past three years, Olympic Theatre Arts has presented its Lavender Melodrama, a raucous, entertaining, and fun play that celebrates, while also lampooning, the town and its favorite shrub, scheduled to coincide with the annual festival. This year, the melodrama is back in a production titled Lavender Legacies, a play that takes aim at the people and the plant, the climate and the culture, and does so with smartly written dialogue from writer David Herbelin and catchy and fun songs written by David and Ken Young. The play runs through July 27 on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays along with added shows on Thursdays, including July 24. Lavender Legacies is directed by David and is the perfect accompaniment for the Lavender Festival. Audiences will come away from the show laughing, talking about the play’s fun and exaggerated characters, humming the show’s catchy melodies, and learning about Sequim, lavender, and their shared history.
It’s time to choose a new mayor of Sequim, and the process is simple. The current mayor slides the garter off of his leg and throws it behind him, whomever catches it becomes his replacement. “What??”, you say? Yes, that’s how they choose a new mayor, but in this case the mayor’s name is Mr. Mayor, so even though someone else gets “elected”, the townsfolk agree that it would be difficult to have two people in town addressed as “Mr. Mayor”, so they decide to revert the post back to the incumbent. Running the town on a platform of “creating opportunities for citation workers” by implementing more rules, he’s largely bought into the status quo, but what he doesn’t count on is the town’s mortician, Douglas Graves, who wants to consolidate power on to himself so that he can create a sustainable system of recycling his customers. Meanwhile, The mayor’s daughter, Rebecca Kay and citizen Loddon Blue are the quite the item, though Loddon doesn’t quite have the confidence to do what is needed to take their relationship to another, more permanent, level. And speaking of relationships, Graves is also smitten, but with Little Lottie, a woman with a checkered past but wants nothing to do with him. Think of Lavender Legacies in the same way you’d picture an old radio play, with over-dramatized dialogue, jokes that range from those that simply lampoon the town to those chock full of spicy innuendo, characters filling familiar roles like the hero (Loddon Blue), the damsel (Rebecca Kay), the villain (Douglas Graves), and the “lady in red” (Little Lottie), and a musical accompaniment that is reminiscent of the silent movie era. As the show progresses and Graves’ plan begins to take shape, it’ll be up to the unlikely hero to save the day, and the damsel. The play is also interactive, as Little Lottie explains to the audience, when they see her, they should all yell “Hubba Hubba”, the damsel is to be met with a sigh from the audience, the hero a cheer, and the villain an emphatic boo. Not that the audience needs anything to have it brought into the story, the comedy, action, and music are more than sufficient, participating in the drama makes an already fun show even more so. Add to all of this the piano musical accompaniment from Three Fingers Young (Ken Young) and Lavender Legacies feels like something that was ripped from vaudeville and brought into the 21st Century in a fresh and modern way.
Lavender Legacies isn’t just fun for the audience, it seems also to be fun for the cast. The group that performs this show takes itself just about as seriously as the show does Sequim, its population of retirees, and lavender itself, which is to say not much at all. There were a few times during last Sunday’s matinee when certain cast members couldn’t help themselves and laughed at their own jokes. Honestly, I can’t blame them. There’s a lot of humor built into the dialogue of course, but the actors all bring their own elements in accompaniment, whether its in the delivery of the dialogue, or even more so their ability to perform the physical aspects of the comedy. This cast of 8 is extremely funny, and it starts with Little Lottie, that “Lady in Red”, played here by Joodie Klinke. Joodie is the first character that the audience meets, and she’s the one who sets the ground rules, the cheers for the hero, boos for the villain, and the Hubba Hubbas for her. The Mayor is played by Matt Forrest, the hero Loddon Blue by Mario Arruda, Nikki Forrest plays Rebecca Kay, the damsel, and Kyle Bartholick is the villain and local mortician Douglas Graves. It’s this character, as despicable that he is, that is the funniest in the show, and between his alliterative delivery and Kyle’s leaning in to the character’s personality, it’s a wholly entertaining turn. And together, as an ensemble, they’re also excellent, their energy is contagious, and their vocal ability, which may be the most under-appreciated aspect of their performances, is top notch. The cast is rounded out by David Herbelin and Rebecca Maberry, each of whom play any number of ancillary characters in the story, including a hilarious portrayal by David of John Wayne.
Design-wise, Lavender Legacies is probably the simplest of the shows that they’ve put on stage this season, but the set pieces designed by Nick DiPietro add another comedic element to the story. The set is complimented by projections from Jim Bradrick, Rebecca Orozco manages the sound and light design, and Carol Willis designed the costumes. Carol’s work is nice here, and her costume for Little Lottie is a standout.
A trip to Sequim is a nice day out on any weekend. The town’s weather is always temperate, it lacks the rain that the PNW is known for as a result of its rain shadow, and its personality is extremely welcoming. But if you’re the kind of person who needs a reason to visit a spot, well, July is the perfect month to go, and the third weekend of the month and its annual Lavender Festival is the reason. And when you go to Sequim to see the fields of violet, visit the farms that harvest the shrub that cools, soothes, and subdues, Olympic Theatre Arts is a venue that has to be on your list. Its annual Lavender Melodrama is on stage now and I can’t think of a better accoutrement to the festival than Lavender Legacies, a funny, satirical, and wholly entertaining production that combines comedy, education, and music to lampoon the town and its favorite shrub. The play is a wonderful way to learn about the history of the town, its personality, and its relationship with lavender. And in a time when many theatres have closed their doors for the season, it’s nice to see that there’s something on stage worth making the trip to see.
This year’s edition of the Lavender Melodrama presented by Olympic Theatre Arts, runs on stage through July 27. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://www.olympictheatrearts.org/.
Photo credit: Mark Klinke
