Summerfest 2024

Booths

Family Portrait Booth

1:00-6:00 p.m., William H. Graham Sr. Actors' Hall 
Ready to freshen up your photos for Fall? This is the perfect opportunity to grab professional portraits for you and your loved ones. Virtual sign-ups and walk-in appointments are available. First come, first served!

Click here to book your portrait session at Summerfest!

Dr. Ceylon Mitchell II founded “M3 | Music Media & Marketing” as a musician helping other musicians leverage digital media for brand storytelling. Today, Ceylon supports creatives, arts organizations, and beyond with personalized multimedia production and digital marketing consulting as the co-founder, chief executive officer, and principal consultant of M3 | Mitchell Media & Marketing, LLC. Tailored services include photography, videography, web design, and digital marketing.

Company Website: m3mitchellmedia.com/portfolio

Artist & Vendor Marketplace

1:00-6:00 p.m., Omi’s Pavilion
From crafters of hand-made cards, to painters, to sowers of seed, local vendors are gathering at Olney Theatre to sell their wares! Come out and support local!

Outdoor Games

1:00–6:00 p.m., Omi’s Pavilion 
Jenga, sidewalk chalk, cornhole, lawn games, and more will be set out for all to enjoy.

Friends of the Library Book Sale

1:00–6:00 p.m., Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab Lobby
Looking for your next great read on a budget? Montgomery County Friends of the Library are bringing hundreds of books for all ages to Summerfest. Feel free to browse and purchase used books for your summer reading.

Costumes and Props Sale

1:00-6:00 p.m., Costume Shop Lawn (by rear parking lot)
Looking for a one-of-a-kind piece? Then stop by our costume and props sale right outside of our costume shop for a chance to purchase clothes, furniture or other unique pieces that have been handled by actors and featured on stage at Olney Theatre Center! (Olney Theatre is NOT responsible for delivering or transporting purchases.)

Merch & Memberships Sale

1:00-6:00 p.m., Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab Lobby
Want to show your love of Olney Theatre Center? Grab discounted t-shirts and other merchandise from our 22-23 season! Or, become a member and receive access to our full season as well as community events.

Activities

Puppetry Workshop With Jerid!

2:00-3:00 p.m., Mulitz-Gudelsky Lab Theatre
Jerid Fox, our new Director of Production, comes to us from California with a myriad of special skills including being a Henson & Disney trained puppeteer! He performed in Disney Playhouse Live, puppeteering characters from Bear in the Big Blue House such as Treelo, Pip & Pop, Tutter and more. He has created and built puppets for many shows like Little Shop Of Horrors, Charlotte's Web, and Avenue Q, renting those show puppets to a variety of theatres, and training casts on the fundamentals of puppeteering in workshops and one on one consultations. Stop by the lab to learn the basics of puppeteering with Jerid and try your hand at a whole new art! 

Meet Our Community Partners

3:00-3:30 p.m., Omi’s Pavilion 
Olney Theatre Center has begun a Community Partners Program, and we are thrilled to welcome our partner A Wider Circle to SummerFest. We’ll announce them at 3:00, but feel free to stop by their table any time 1:00 to 6:00 p.m.! Come learn more about the amazing work they do.

Princess Meet and Greet

4:00-5:00 p.m., Mulitz-Gudelsky Lab Theatre
Join Olney Theatre Center as we prepare for our Winter production of Disney’s Frozen! Enjoy an opportunity to meet some of your favorite Princesses right here in Olney!

Campus Tour

5:30-6:30 p.m., Roberts Mainstage Lobby
Take a guided tour around our campus and get a look at what we do and a closer look of our spaces and work that happens behind-the-scenes to produce a show. Led by a member of the Olney Theatre Center staff. Line begins at 5:00 pm in the Roberts Mainstage Lobby.

Music and Dance

Irish Dancing

1:00-2:00 p.m., Root Family Stage
In Irish, Céad Mile Fáilte means ‘one hundred thousand welcomes’! The Culkin School of Irish Dance will take you into the world of Irish dancing, music, and culture with a mix of performance and audience participation.

The Culkin School began Irish dance instruction in April of 1997 at Glen Echo Park and we are still there, going strong with regular classes for children, adults and our summer programs. We also teach on Saturdays in Rockville, Md., at Rockville Presbyterian Church. Today you will see examples of soft and hard shoe steps done to Reels, Jigs and Hornpipes. Clap along and enjoy the intricate movements and rhythms that the dancers perform.

Weldon: Stories from the Piano!

1:00-2:00 p.m., Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab
In his thirty years at Olney Theatre, Director of Sales Weldon Brown has wowed us many times over with his sweet voice and savvy piano fingers. Join Weldon and a guest artist for some sensational music and riveting stories.

CenterStage

2:00-3:00 p.m., Root Family Stage

CenterStage Academy for The Arts is Co- Founded by Shawn and Sherion Cosby as a training facility for youth and adults who desire to work professionally in the entertainment industry. The Choreographer/Artistic Director is Shawn M. Cosby, SAG/AFTRA/Dancer/Actress. The Drama Director is 42-year veteran Educator and Master Teacher Sherion Cosby, and the Vocal Director is Mrs. Juliet Lowery. CSAA is the home to the acclaimed Showbiz Next Generation and Showbiz Kids companies who are a select group of dancers, actors, and singers from the metropolitan DC area. The company’s repertoire consists of Vocal Performance, Contemporary, Modern, Ballet, Hip Hop, Acting for TV/Film, and Musical Theatre.

Just In Time Percussive Dancers

3:00-4:00 p.m., Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab
Just In Time Percussive Dancers is dedicated to preserving, performing and teaching traditional folk dance percussive stepping. We specialize in American styles of Appalachian clogging and early vaudeville hoofing, as well as English, Irish, and Canadian step dance.  We want to bring our joy in these traditional dances to modern audiences. We love to involve our audience as well, and happily get kids and adults up to do a bit of foot music with us. Our live musicians keep the beat and inspire you to dance!

DJ Swavey

3:00-4:00 p.m., Root Family Stage
Cutting edge, innovative and intuitive at every spin of the wheel, DJ Swavey can hold your attention on the dance floor with his seamless transitions, Afrobeats, and unique ability to blend multiple music genres.

Instagram: @SwaveyDontSleep

Trajectory Dance Project
with guests from Montgomery College Dance Company

4:00-5:00 p.m., Root Family Stage
Trajectory Dance Project is a Baltimore modern dance ensemble directed by choreographer Alice Howes. The work focuses on the human condition: concepts of community and isolation, our relationship to the natural world, and the joy of personal connection. Although completely contemporary, the work harkens back to the early days of modern dance when profound human expressivity was paramount. Trajectory is joined by the Montgomery College Dance Company, an ensemble directed by faculty member Alice Howes and made up of current dance students. The company performs on the Rockville campus in the fall and spring semesters and at various events throughout the year. In addition to contemporary modern, jazz and ballet works, the company performs diverse cultural dance pieces choreographed by guest artists. Recently the company has performed works based in Classical Indian Dance, Chinese Traditional Dance, Ukrainian Folk Ballet and Hip Hop.

New Wave Singers 

5:00 - 6:00 p.m. Root Family Stage
We are an LGBTQ+ chorus that: represents the diversity of our community, challenges ourselves to ever-greater artistic expression, creates an atmosphere of acceptance and support, performs for a wide variety of audiences, and has a commitment to our community. New Wave Singers has achieved recognition as a quality chorus, combining the power of music with an engaging message, and performs music that celebrates all of humanity in its infinite variations. Through songs of hope, diversity, inclusion, and humor, we celebrate all of humanity in its infinite variations and challenge our communities to embrace equality, harmony, and understanding.

Food and Drinks

Lone Oak Farm Brewing Co.

1:00-7:00 p.m., Omi’s Pavilion 
Nothing like a cold drink on a hot summer day from our friends at Lone Oak Farm Brewery Co—whether it’s a beer, a hard seltzer, or hard soda.

Food Trucks

1:00–7:00 p.m., Omi’s Pavilion 

Enjoy frozen treats from Kona Ice, sweet and savory crepes from Holy Crepes, Thai Food from Fiesta Asia!