The Transfused rock opera was performed at the Capitol Theater for 8 packed shows, July 8-16, 2000.
The Transfused was written by Nomy Lamm and The Need (Rachel Carns and Radio Sloan), with story support from Freddie Havens (aka "Freddie Fagula") and Emily Stern, who were respectively the director and production manager. Ed Varga moved to Olympia from Minneapolis to work as a sound engineer for the show, and Nikki McClure designed the elaborate sets. Auditions and open calls resulted in a cast and crew of over 100 people from the Olympia music and arts community and beyond, with key actors and crew members moving from Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Athens, GA. Actors included Nomy Lamm and Emily Stern, Rosalinda Noriega, Molly Robertson, Beth Stinson, Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn, Anna Huff, Kanako Wynkoop, Andras Jones, and many more, with live musical accompaniment by The Need with Donna Dresch and Scott Seckington. After the final show, over 200 cast and audience members jubilantly marched out of the theater and into the center of Lakefair, with the intention of setting the "powerstation" prop featured at the end of the show, and singing triumphantly. The group was immediately accosted by Olympia Police, who correctly identified the metal poles as a tripod, and confiscated it, declaring to Olympian reporters that they had thwarted an "anti-Capitalist protest." Proceeds from the show went to multiple organizations, including Stonewall Youth and the Olympia Free Bus. The Transfused explored themes of queerness, gender diversity, disability, addiction, environmental destruction, corporate corruption, and resistance in ways that resonate even more today than when it was written.
