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U.S. Expat Embraces Central Alberta’s Arts and Culture Scene
Designing gothic sets and period costumes for a recent vampire play fell well within Lacey Oleson-Rinehart’s wheelhouse.
The multi-talented Seattle native actually managed to pull off a theatrical triple threat in October by also directing Central Alberta Theatre’s production of Dracula: Mina’s Quest.
The Red Deer-based designer explained she learned everything you need to run a theatre while studying at Western Washington University. From contract law (for hiring people) to hands-on technical skills— Oleson-Rinehart said all aspects of working both on-stage and behind the scenes were part of the curriculum.
Over the last two decades, she’s put her diverse talents to work on stage productions and indie films in Vancouver, B.C. — and in China, where she lived for eight years. Oleson-Rinehart recalled following a friend to the far East in 2008, after a TV series she was working in Los Angeles went into hiatus. With few English speakers in Shanghai and Nanjing. China, she focused on learning Chinese — and become conversational in two years. “It’s challenging to speak it. But it’s a tonal language, much like singing,” recalled Oleson-Rinehart, who had stretched her crooning chops in musicals staged around Washington State early in her career.
Although she really enjoyed working with Shanghai Repertory Theatre and on other projects, Oleson-Rinehart saw the writing on the wall once Donald Trump became U.S. president in 2016.
Trump’s anti-Chinese rhetoric would lead to Americans being expelled from China. And Oleson-Rinehart said she decided to pre-empt this by relocating to Vancouver B.C. to once again work in the North American film industry.
Although she contributed to all sorts of different projects, she’s mainly been drawn to stories with complex, philosophical themes that can spark after-show conversations.
“I like small-scale indie films that are female or child-centred, and that have LGBTQ-inclusive stories,” Oleson-Rinehart reflected. Among dozens of films she’s worked on are the psychological horror flick The Beehive, action movie American Badger and the sci-fi rom-com 115 — which was recently picked as the best experimental film award at a Swedish film festival.
Oleson-Rinehart said she feels lucky to have reached a level in her career where she can now decide which projects she wants to work on. As it happens, theatre has been more of a focus since she moved to Central Alberta three years ago.
This big life change came about after she married a film industry worker who originally hails from Delburne. The couple opted to be closer to his parents once they had their daughter, who’s now four.
Oleson-Rinehart admitted she didn’t know what to expect before arriving in Red Deer. But she was pleasantly surprised by the strength of the local arts community.
“You have some extremely talented, creative people here, and it’s been fun getting to know them.”
Besides working on Prime Stock Theatre’s Bard on Bower Shakespearean plays last summer, Oleson-Rinehart has been involved with several Central Alberta Theatre and Red Deer Players productions.
Oleson-Rinehart is also a swing dance enthusiast who, with her husband, attends Red Deer Aces dances at the Scott Block whenever they can.
Actors Sarain Soonias and Elisa Collard as Dracula and Mina Murray in October 2024.
