Commission approves live entertainment permit for one-man science and music show downtown

The Palm Springs Planning Commission on Tuesday approved a conditional use permit that will allow live entertainment in a building at 441 South Palm Canyon Drive. 

The applicant, Olson Entertainment, LLC, proposed using the building for Patrick Olson’s one-man show, “The Art of Science.” The property is located in the city’s Central Business District and historically has been used by professional businesses such as banks.

Live entertainment is a permitted use in the Central Business District with a conditional use permit, and no additional building construction or expansion will be required to accommodate the live show. 

Olson previously founded a scientific publishing company, and also has a separate career in music composition. 

“At some point… I thought I want to try to combine, however unusual it is, what I know about science, what scientists who I spoke with for 20 years, and who taught me a great deal, what I’ve learned from them, and how could I combine that with music composition and possibly live performance in a way that would be compelling and unusual?” Olson said at Tuesday’s meeting. 

Olson workshopped the initial concept at a building in the 1000 block of North Palm Canyon Drive to an appreciative audience, then performed the show in Los Angeles and in an 80-show Off-Broadway production in New York.

“I really felt like what I wanted to do was take this big New York show, which we had a cast of 12 dancers and this full band, all of this stuff, and convert it into something that would be a one man show. . . and make our best effort at creating a local destination,” he explained. 

Olson described the show as a mix of himself singing, “talking about the nature of the universe and what I’ve learned from these scientists,” and interacting with characters on an LED screen.

The show will likely open to the public sometime in December or January, he said.  

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