Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
With the Christmas season in full swing, the local community-based arts and entertainment group Standing Room Only (SRO) Theater plans to spread some seasonal joy with four showings of its “Cranberry Saucy Holiday Review” at Farrelli’s Pizza in Yelm.
The showings of SRO Theater’s “Cranberry Saucy Holiday Review” are set for 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5, Saturday, Dec. 6, Friday, Dec. 12, and Saturday, Dec. 13. Farrelli’s Pizza can be located at 813 W. Yelm Ave.
Steve Harshfield, SRO Theater president, told the Nisqually Valley News on Wednesday, Nov. 26, that tickets for the “Cranberry Saucy Holiday Review” can be purchased online in advance of the show at www.srotheater.org.
“The Cranberry Saucy Holiday Review will be a mashup of musicals, comedies and other acts. We’re calling it a holiday review because it’s going to be a variety show,” Harshfield said. “It’s a little different from what we’ve done in years before. It’s not a scripted program. It’s not your typical holiday show, whereas in the past, we’ve done things like ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ or ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ We wanted to do something a little different this year.”
Harshfield noted that about a dozen different local actors will be featured in the four showings of SRO Theater’s “Cranberry Saucy Holiday Review.” He added that while you might recognize some of the actors included in the Christmas-themed event, there are several new actors who are excited to perform for the local community.
Additionally, Harshfield and SRO Theater are equally grateful for the partnership it’s had with Farrelli’s Pizza in Yelm throughout the last several years.
“These events were actually at the request of Farrelli’s. They’ve been so happy with our murder mysteries these last few years, and they wanted to start thinking of something different to do for Christmas. They invited us to come up with an idea and see what we wanted to do with it,” Harshfield said. “Farrelli’s has been a great community partner of ours. We’ve helped them build business, and they’ve helped us build audiences. It’s definitely a nice synergy between the two of us.”
As the four showings of SRO Theater’s “Cranberry Saucy Holiday Review” are ongoing, the organization will shift gears and host auditions for a “female version” of “The Odd Couple,” according to Harshfield. These will occur on Saturday, Dec. 7, and Sunday, Dec. 8. More information about auditions can be found on the organization’s Facebook page.
“Right between the first weekend and second weekend of our holiday review, we’re going to be holding auditions for The Odd Couple,” Harshfield said. “If you’re familiar with the old show, with Tony Randall and Jack Clubman that was on television for many years, it’s based on a Neil Simon play called The Odd Couple. You have a very buttoned up, very together kind-of-guy, and he has a roommate who isn’t so buttoned-up. The play shows the trials and tribulations of their roommate relationship.”
Harshfield added that eight actors in total will be cast for The Odd Couple, including six women and two men. The play will also be performed across three weekends in February, the organization’s president said.
“2026 is definitely shaping up to be a big year,” Harshfield said. “We’re going to have a lot of things that the community has come to expect from us, and we’re going to try to add some real bona fide plays and shows to the docket this year. Our first real attempt at that will be with The Odd Couple.”
Along with the goals of presenting more “bona fide” plays and shows in 2026, Harshfield and SRO Theater are also hoping that the new year brings a new home.
“We’re still working on trying to find a venue, a permanent venue or home,” Harshfield said. “We did move into an office storage space right around the corner from Yelm City Hall. It has made a huge difference. It gives us a space to have our meetings, keep storage, host auditions and rehearsals, and it also gives us some shop space. It’s been very nice to have. It was rough not having a home of our own, and it’s nice to have a place to kind of call home while we’re still in a transition between what was the Triad and what the future is. We definitely want to have an arts and culture event center in Yelm.”
Harshfield added that SRO Theater is “working its butt off” trying to figure out what an arts and culture event center in Yelm would look like, along with different methods of funding the project. He said the local theater group is also pursuing potential partnerships with the City of Yelm, Thurston County, Washington state, the Nisqually Indian Tribe and private investors for the potential project.
“We’ve definitely gained some steam over the last couple years. There’s a separate non-profit that I’m involved with called Prairie Night’s Dream, whose main intent is to buy, manage and maintain a performing arts center, a multi-purpose center,” Harshfield said. “We want it to have arts, culture and events so we could have a space for birthday parties, graduation parties, weddings. We’d love to create a film festival in town.”
