‘I came to get down!
I came to get down!
So get out your seats and jump around!
Jump around!’
— House of Pain

White Bird, our local purveyor & sponsor of all things awe-inspiring in dance world-wide, made no exception to the high-expectations we have for their productions last Thursday, May 10th, at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, with their final offering of this season, the French/Brazilian “hip-hop” dance troupe, Compagnie Käfig. In fact, it would seem that White Bird saved one of its best and most exuberant for last — a performance to leave you awe-struck at the dancing skill and also put a very happy smile on your face.

Compagnie Käfig, led by artistic director and choreographer, Mourad Merzouki, consists of eleven male dancers — and part of the sheer exuberance here is a celebration of the utter machismo in the dance. But far from aggression, these dancers express a performance of sheer joy, in everything from hip-hop head spins to hand over foot flips.

Their first act piece, Correria (English: Run), uses this group of young males energy and bodies as well tuned machines superbly, employing much of that seemingly aggressive interplay between males, as if gearing for a fight, like the type of interplay animals do in play, test & train each other, back and forth. The opening comes up on a row of young men lying on their backs bicycle pedaling in the air, to the sound of an old, clacking film projector. Two more enter, running around group on the floor. Eventually the entire group gathers midstage, with occasional dancers running across stage as if it were a street scene. The very male interplay culminates with pairings, dancers catching others on stage and moving them around while maintaining a fight hold on them, twirling and flipping them around, even upside down in front of them. One gets the feeling of a group street fight, but in a definitively sparring, playful, exuberant fashion. This fight-sparring, in pairs and in the group, eventually morphs and culminates into one dancer running in place mimicking slow-motion, with four more in front of him mirroring his movement. The sound of the clacking film projector returns and we see projected behind the same dancer running in slow-motion, only with artifact trails of his legs on film, a very unique and mesmerizing effective of minimalist movement. As the music and running movement speeds up and the projection lifts out of sight, the music changes to a combination of intoxicating latin rhythms and opera arias. The group takes on a very prideful rooster demeanor here, alternating ballet moves with beat-box hip-hop. Hockey sticks are even employed by the group in a walking motion between their own legs, at times in dance, other times in a crab-walk. This builds to a tango rhythm in music and dance to a musical stop, until all leave save one left on stage his hands in a bird in flight position. Correria is a spirited movement piece of masculine energy and rascally fun.

The second act piece, AGWA, a homophone for agua or water, is a vivacious and sometimes impish exploration by the ensemble of the differing relationships with this precious substance that sustains our very life on the planet. It starts with stacks of plastic cups across the stage in even columns and rows, one row containing the precious water, and a couple of the dancers moving in and out them, including one eventually doing end-over-end flips through the rows, astoundingly without touching one cup, as a rhythm of latin drums moves the action. To the sound of rushing wind, the whole company plays with these rows of cups, including the one with water, crawling down the columns in line in slow, undulating movements. To a building, infectious drum beat, the cups are stacked, pour water up each successive row, until just one row with the dancers is left in a rectangle of light at the front. One dancer comes on in hilariously out-of-place plastic rain gear, exaggerating extending out the pouring his water into the cup. Others join in the same sort of rain gear, what is now a swaying rain dance. Much play is had in the dance with these water carriers and water protection, including five carrying on the stacked cups and moving them in wave-like accordion and snake motions. The movement builds through a guitar and accordion tango that speeds up into a feverish Russian cossack dance. It ends in a collapse with cups exploding all over the stage and dancers collapsing. All is re-gathered, however, to the single front line of cups, until a single dancer remains, taking the final cup, toasting and drinking: thirst, quenched.

Both AS’N’s musical soundscape arrangements and Merzouki’s work with this ensemble exemplify a masculine play and pure joy in a myriad of colorful expressions. This was even evident in the many encores of bows at the end, with Merzouki taking pictures on-stage of his dancers like a proud father, even posing them with the cheering audience as a backdrop; and the dancers taking bouquets handed to them a flinging them out gratefully to audience members. We all share in art presented with such grateful jubilance. A performance like this makes us look forward to whatever White Bird may have in store for us next season.

For those who couldn’t make it, here’s just a taste of this fantastic dance company from a YouTube video —

Administrative Note: There is one sour note I have about this evening at the Schnitzer that had nothing to do with this marvelous performance. It was the handling of tickets and will calls at just the one front entrance, and not the usual box office window at the front under the marquee, but inside. The set-up used caused two huge bottle-necks at the front entrance, one where you went inside to retrieve your ticket, then had to go back out again to queue in line to enter. This massive Cluster-F at the entrance caused a full 15 minute delay in starting the show to make sure everyone got in, not to mention a situation at the Schnitzer front enterance that would not have made any fire marshall very happy. Even I was caught up in it — and I arrived a half-hour early to collect my tickets. I have been to many sold-out shows at the Schnitz, including the Symphony, Storm Large, Lenny Kravitz and Dr. Maya Angelou, and I never experienced such a poorly handled ticketing and door process by staff. Whether White Bird’s staff at the Will Call table, PCPA/Schnitzer staff, or just general bad planning, this really needs to be looked at by theatre staff, both for safety and also not to stress your audience out so much before the show.

White Bird presents Compagnie Käfig at PCPA’s Arlene Schnitzer Auditorium. Artistic Director/Choreographer: Mourad Merzouki, with collaboration of the dancers. Dancers: Diego Alves Do Santos (Dieguinho), Leonardo Alves Moreira (Leo), Cleiton Luiz Caetano De Oliveira, Aguinaldo De Oliveira Lopes (Anjo), Cristian Faxola Franco (Faxola), Geovane Fidelis Da Conceição, Diego Gonçalves Do Nascimento Leitão (White), Aldair Junior Machado Nogueira (Al Franciss), Wanderlino Martins Neves (Sorriso), Jose Amilton Rodrigues Junior (Ze), Alexsandro Soares Campanha Da Silva (Pitt). Musical Arrangements by AS’N. Lighting Design by Yoann Tivoli, Stage Design by Mourad Merzouki and Benjamin Lebreton, Costume Design by Delphine Capossela (Correria) and Angèle Mignot (Agwa), Video in Correria by Charles Carcopino. Played Wednesday, May 9th, 2012, 7:30 pm at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets are $25.00 – $60.00, available in person at the PCPA Box Office (1111 SW Broadway at Main St; open Monday – Satirday, 10 am – 5 pm), by phone at 1-800-380-3516, or online through White Bird’s Web Site.

‘Where there is no vision, the people perish…’
— Proverbs 29:18

It’s hard approaching most well-worn legends and myths — stories so old they have burned themselves into our collective social consciousness even before we are born. A college professor once drove into me the difference between plain fairy tale and myth: fairy tales are where ordinary common folk like you and I encounter the magical and fantastical, but rarely the god-realm, or those underlying forces which truly shape our lives; myths are about heroes, above the throng, chosen by the gods to fulfill a path of destiny. Movie successes such as Jackson‘s grand visualization of Tolkien‘s The Lord of the Rings, as well as dark modernizations of fairy tales on television, such as the Portland-based Grimm or Once Upon A Time, might indicate a collective desire to find how these tales translate to us in our modern world of cultural and economic disparity; albeit, they try and do this by having the tales meet us on our terms, not the other way around. It would appear the time is very ripe, say, as a poison apple, where our culture appears to be looking back to stories planted deep in our psyche for modern guidance and meaning.

So what meaning do these ancient heroes, gods and monsters have for us in our modern world — and not just the happy-go-lucky, hip, creative class urbane folk (or not so happy, as the case may be), but all strata of our society? Perhaps myths on fate might ring especially true to those whose socio-economic level leaves them often downtrodden and often invisible in our population, those feeling constantly stuck in no-win scenarios.

And what better myth or legend than that of Oedipus, the ultimate strutting, prideful hero thinking he can outdo his own fate, only to be brought low by it? In fact, a character so twisted he even had his own psychological complex named after him. And no theatre company could perhaps handle this better than our own local Miracle Theatre Group/Teatro Milagro, with their current offering of the playwright Luis Alfaro‘s “Oedipus El Rey.” With Alfaro’s magnificent dramaturgy, under the experienced and emotionally charged direction of classicist Elizabeth Huffman, Oedipus is updated to the California penal system and barrio, where this wounded warrior has this street name of “patas malas,” and has the pride to think he can rise above this culture’s beliefs in gods, oracles and omens to become an ese kingpin, and even a god himself, determining his own fate through gangland culture.

Alfaro’s wordplay pulls off the agile coup of having the challenge, the swagger, the humor and the grittiness of Latino urban culture, while still maintaining the myth and poetry of style. The Chorus, or Coro here, are Oedpius’ fellow inmates at California’s North Kern State Prison. Instead of Greek columns, stark prison cells and walls. They direct us from the beginning and throughout to ask, particularly internally for ourselves, why tell the story of this man? What does the story of this cholo inmate have to say about us? This Coro observes and relates his journey to their own prison longings. Marco Garcia Ballaré’s Laius carries the aggression and fuming rage of an elder gang leader who’s never seen the inside of an anger management group, desperately trying hold on to his gang’s territory and power while alternating passion with abuse on Jocasta (Miracle Theatre Group’s Artistic Director Olga Sanchez). When the “cash-only” oracle tells him of the fate of him and Jocasta’s child — that he will grow to kill him and take his mother as his lover — Laius attempts to cheat fate by wounding the baby’s feet and then having Tiresius (a scarily mystic José E. González) take the baby out and kill it. Though no stranger to carrying out gang violence, this act is beyond even Tiresius, and he escapes taking the child as his own. And our fated mythic journey rolls underway.

Oedipus, wonderfully played with the right amount of Latino strut, daring pride and smoldering intensity by Nick Ortega, is resigned to his abandoned life and growing teen-age anger, landing him in a life of prison. His foot injury he takes on to make him seem to walk with even more of a pridefully defiant stride. He is looked after there by Tiresius, now blind after committing several crimes also to look after his ward, and raise him hopefully with some wisdom, spending days in the prison library, the “REL” section, for religion. Indeed, Oedipus has his own spiritual visions — first with totem owl deities relating to his fate, later wrestling with barrio elders who transfigure into Luchca Libre enactors of the gods’ will, as he wrestles with them for his kingdom and godhood. But Oedpius has his own take on this spirituality, the pantheon of gods in prison represented by the differing faiths, catholic gods, jewish gods, christian gods, muslim gods — people can believe whatever they want, but he will make his own choices once out, and rise to god himself. Is this unique self-determination, or arrogance dooming him to carry out his destiny? The answer would seem fated as his first act after parole is killing an angry fellow cholo road rage stranger who threatens him, not knowing it is his father, Laius.

Sanchez’s Jocasta shows the brilliant palette of a mature artist at its finest — both the heights of this Sureña’s passion and longing as well as the subtlety of her street gang wisdom are well played. Her mourning for Laius is real, but so is the longing left in her by the hole left by her lost son, and it is realized, without over-stating, that this is what Oedipus should fill for her on his return, and does, only in the most deviant way due to their intervening experiences. The passion that develops between her and Oedipus upon his return is not easily won with her guard up, but Oedipus slowly wins her over with his plain pragmatism and unyielding ambition. He does not mock her culture or beliefs, but simply states he sees the gods as, “a stick people use to beat themselves.” Their scenes together, especially the sexual ones, would some of the most steamy and sensual on stage in a while, were it not for the creepy knowledge the audience and Coro share of who they actually are to each other. Equally impressive is Osvaldo “Ozzie” González’s Creon, Jocasta’s brother, who, as Laius number two and former inmate comrade of Oedpius, feels that he should be moved into position now as gang leader. The obviously rivalry between Creon and Oedipus as the relationship between him and Jocasta goes from heated passion to her new appointee as gang leader throws more gasoline on this house on fire.

The call of this Coro begs us to ask the questions to ourselves and apply to this culture — was all this completely fated? Where could any of them turned from this fate? At the crossroads, meeting his rageful father? Before? At what point does Oedipus’ self-determination transgress into sheer arrogance that contributes to his own downfall and blinding, a symbol of how this arrogance blinded him to other choices? Are all people in these communities fated to gang, crime and endless violence existence, or is there hope for other choices? Can there be such hope, ever, without an ultimate sacrifice we hold in symbolism by those who have gone before?

When a production leaves you asking these questions within and without, you know you’ve struck gold. I know we’re barely to the mid-point of the year, but I’m calling it: for poetic writing, passionate direction and an taught, amazing acting ensemble, this is the production to beat. In addressing a culture that could teeter either towards redemption or throwing itself further into flames of violence, this piece stands as a true classic.

While at the Miracle Theatre Group, do be sure to also check out the tattoo and graffitti inspired art by Chazaq Pinto, who also designed the art card/poster for the show. Some examples of his work are below (click on thumbnails to enlarge).

Extra Note:

There will be an America Sign Language interpretation of the performance of Oedipus El Rey available at the matinee on Sunday, May 13, 2012.

- and -

This Play will be part of the Oregon Humanities Conversation Project Series — Miracle Theatre Group will be presenting free conversation forums immediately following each of the three Sunday matinees, sponsored by Oregon Humanities.

• Sunday, May 13: “The Lure of Gangs”
• Sunday, May 20: “A Gangster’s Destiny”

For more details about this series of forums, contact marketing@milagro.org or call 503-236-7253.

Miracle Theatre/Teatro Milagro presents Oedipus El Rey, Written by Luis Alfaro, Directed by Elizabeth Huffman. Costumes also by Elizabeth Huffman, Scenic Design by José E. González, Lighting Design by Kristeen Willis Crosser, Sound Design & additional Composition by Sharath Patel, Fight Choreography by Kristen Mun, Tattoo Art by David Hermosillo and Jason Sipe, Art Cards and Lobby Art by Chazaq Pinto. Featuring Nick Ortega, Olga Sanchez, Marco Garcia Ballaré, Osvaldo “Ozzie” González, Anthony Green, Rick Huddle, and Enrique E. Andrade. Runs May 3rd – 26th, 2012, Thursdays through Sundays: Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Miracle Theatre Group/Teatro Milagro is located at 525 SE Stark Street, Portland, Oregon 97214. Tickets will be $15 – $29; discounts for students, seniors, groups of 15+ and advance purchases. Tickets can be purchased from the Miracle Theatre Group/Teatro Milagro Web Site or by calling (503) 236-7253.

‘I see nobody on the road,’ said Alice.
‘I only wish I had such eyes,’ the King remarked in a fretful tone. ‘To be able to see Nobody! And at the distance too! Why, it’s as much as I can do to see real people, by this light!’
— Lewis Carroll, ‘Through The Looking Glass’

There’s a lot to recommend this production to theatre goers — it won two Tony’s in 2009 for its score, it won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and has Portland’s delightful Susannah Mars (of Mars On Life) in the lead role. Most of all, it deals frankly with a risky subject: a seemingly quintessential suburban American family unit’s struggle with a family member with multiple diagnoses of mental illness, and how far each family member goes down the rabbit hole of this very real affliction; and, as if that weren’t challenge enough, it does it in a musical, no less, without (mostly) every coming off glossy-slick, coy or too easy with its subject matter. That alone is quite the feat to endorse it (and probably what nabbed it that coveted Pulitzer).

There are some some quibbles I had with the material itself — technically, it’s more of an operetta than a musical (nearly everything, save a few brief, telling moments, is sung). Is it truly a rock musical? Eh… the bass, drums and guitar rock a bit, but it is more standard Broadway musical-sounding faire with some fuzz pedal than what the Rolling Stone quote would have you believe. Some devices in the play are a bit derivative. And a needlessly mawkish staging of the finale almost jarred me out of the good will of emotive realism (though sung) that had built up until that point. Almost.

But these are small quibbles and not reasons to avoid this production. Quite the contrary — Mars and the other cast members’ artistry, under John Kretzu’s skillful direction in a hard piece to pull off, make this not just a highly engrossing evening of theater and music, but one that can be truly cathartic for both those who know the trauma of mental illness, and for the friends and family feeling entrapped by the on-going condition also. And throughout our world, who has not been touched in some way by this and wouldn’t find it necessary to at least to witness a public voice of this affliction? Just about everyone, as far as I know.

The story centers on the Goodwin family, and in particular, their mother, Diana (Mars). The play opens on her, in a twisted sort of appropriateness to launch the energy of the musical, in one of her more manic episodes. [Warning: SPOILER on plot, but it's revealed mid-way through the first act, with much more to delved into after that.] She has on-going bi-polar condition, as well as some probable schizophrenia, seeing and carrying on conversations with what she pictures would now be her rebellious yet charming, James-Dean-esque 17-old-son (John Debkowski), who died at eight months old. Her husband Dan (William Wadhams, an interesting draw due to having been the leader of 80s euro-pop band, Animotion) has become a staid, frozen man that typifies co-dependence — an immovable rock clawing to hold on to the semblance of family life, while trying to find anything to finally “fix” his wife, staying out of duty to her. Their over-achieving daughter, Natalie (well-played for teen-age angst by Meghan McCandless), has probably inherited some of the more positive aspects of her mother’s intelligence, but is already worn at 15 from putting up with the multitude of episodes her mother has put the family through. She begins a budding relationship with a more relaxed, slacker school mate, Henry (sweetly done by Todd Tschida), more as an escape valve from the pressures of her family than anything else. Meanwhile her mother makes another descent, flushing meds down the drain (“We have the happiest septic tank on the block!”), and is in and out of various doctor’s care (all played by the versatile and solid Jared Q. Miller).

What endorses this musical in its difficult subject matter is how authentic the moments might ring true for anyone who has experienced this in a family member or friend, despite the fact that everyone is singing — or, perhaps, this can be taken as a device also, how Mars’ Diana might perceive the proceedings from her madness. The elation of Diana in her manic phases, followed by disheartening crashes. Her daughter’s eventual rebellion, far beyond what even Henry expected, inadvertently paralleling the medication and wild side of her mother. The denial of a family member holding the very key to what needs to come out to begin healing. The very real tendency of patients like these to over-sexualize authority figures like doctors to avoid having their coping mechanisms dealt with — done in a very hilarious turn played by Miller, going in and out of being a more sane psychiatrist to the “scary rock star” who very much turns Diana on. Even the newer uses, with controversial success, of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) are dealt with, and the severe memory loss and painstaking rebuilding of relationships that goes along with it. Here, McCandless’ Natalie shines, slowly reigniting her mother’s synapses by recalling the events wholly, including the embarrassment and pain involved, versus her father’s simple “happy memory” pictures. And that even in the midst of these brief sparks of recovery, all can be lost in relapse — no easy cures ever, here. Perhaps the most telling moments are where the music utterly stops and there are brief, if painful and hard-wrought, moments of clarity. Diana staggering towards signing the release on treatment that may damage her, but might also release her finally from her mental prison; Diana allowing her daughter to come to her, slowly, making the choice for herself to reconnect. It is commanding theatre that knows its loudest and most powerful statement in a musical can be made in silence.

Mars’s performance is a stand-out here — not surprising given her status as a Northwest theatre and music star. But she shows amazing restraint vocally, not belting out in bel canto when the strained voice of a mother with long-term mental difficulties is better suited. This makes the few times when her voice and performance can shine even more powerful and resonant, and gives great depth to the character. Wadhams services mostly well as Dan, the husband in desperate, stoic denial, but perhaps a bit too much so — though he has a touching scene of facing what he has avoided for so long with Debowski, and picking up the pieces of what is left with his daughter, there were a few other places in the evening where we could have caught glimpses of the cracks in his emotional armor, trying so hard to hold everything together, rather than falling back to seeming all in control, which can come off as wooden.

As mentioned, there are elements of this work that come off as derivative. The device of the mysterious son haunting Diana’s fevered mind is very close to Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Also, the finale, the way it is written and staged, tries to infuse hope too hard in a situation that was already given a more authentic coda of the characters sorting out each of their lives, finally coming to terms with the reality of the situation. This finale, where a more gentle tone poem might have done, builds unnecessarily to an overblown ending, like the end of Bernstein’s Candide, Larson’s Rent, or worse, the parody of Rent found in the raunchy puppet comedy film, Team America: World Police.

But aside from that, this evening had much to mine from emotional depths and this cast was well able to bring forth its dark and complex treasure. Given the subject, thinking one would leave in a “feel-good” mood would be silly — more like a “feel resolved and purged” musical, knowing the hard work continues each day. And maybe that’s more in keeping with reality, and sanity.

Special Note: The Multnomah County Chapter of NAMI, The National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a table with information in the lobby at each performance, providing support, information and hope for those dealing with mental illness and their friends and family. On the performances on May 9 – 13, if you purchase tickets then and say “NAMI” at the box office, $5 goes to NAMI. Great information and a good cause.

Artists’ Repertory Theater presents Next To Normal. Book & Lyrics by Brian Yorkey, Music composed by Tom Kitt, Directed by John Kretzu, Musical Direction by Eric Little. Featuring: Susannah Mars, William Wadhams, John Debkowski, Meghan McCandless, Todd Tschida and Jared Q. Miller. Musicians: Conductor/Keyboards – Eric Little, Bass – Sean Vinson, Percussion – Ben Wasson, Guitar – Eric Toner, Cello – Dale Tolliver. Scenic Design by Jeff Seats, Lighting Design by Jeff Forbes, Sound Design by Rodolfo Ortega, Costume Design by Nancy Hills. Performance runs April 24th – June 3rd, Wednesday through Sunday at 7:30 pm, Sunday Matinee at 2:00 pm; Artists’ Repertory Theatre, Alder Stage, 1515 S.W. Morrison Street, Portland, Oregon, 97205. Tickets available at Artists’ Rep. Web Site, e-mailing Artists’ Rep. at boxoffice@artistsrep.org, or calling the box office at (503) 241-1278.

Please don’t get me wrong — this production has excellent choreography and dancing from artists at the top of their form. If what you want to see is simply beautiful dance, you would most certainly find it here. However my feeling is most dance should in some way tell a story or, at the very least, connect to its audience with emotive images if it’s doing its job correctly. Again, that is true for two-thirds of this program, but not in the first act. A shame, given the music from composer Stravinsky was always on the cutting edge of its genre and definitely conjured images just listening to it.

This first act of Chromatic Quartet, from Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto, in four movements, uses the set piece George Balanchine choreographed in 1972. This is fine if all you want to see is absolutely beautiful dancers executing traditional dance movement to Stravinsky’s music. The piece, for all its flawless dance, feels a bit stilted and more like a museum piece given all that’s happened in dance the past 40 to 50 years. Every leap, grand jeté, third or fifth position, or extension of leg looks wonderful and is brilliantly executed by the dancers either in groups or pas de deux in the two middle Aria movements. But sticking to Balanchine’s dress of black and white (again, I point to the controversy over black and white as any sort of chromatic color from the link above) and having the performance be a straight, by-the-book reiteration of Ballachines very traditional classical movement for this piece comes off rather dry and does not do much to connect with or inspire the imagination of the audience. One might be left feeling, wonderful dancing by superior artists in the top of their physical and skill form, but what does this make me feel, if anything?

But don’t let this dissuade you from this show. The second and third act pieces are more where the real rainbow of colors, in subtleties of image and story, come forth in the dance to match the chromatic music.

The second act’s The Lost Dance, a new work choreographed by Matjash Mrozewski with music composed by Owen Belton, cotains darker colored hues of urbane well dressed men and women of different hued dances, in modern, soulful movement. They interact in and out of each other, often sensually and longingly, but always with the men often literally walked over as the drag their bodies across the floor by the women in the obvious ultimate power position in these modern mating rituals.

In Liturgy, a pas de deux featuring dancers Haiyan Wu and Brian Simcoe, Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon uses a spiritual, intimate and definitely colorful uniting of the two dancers to turn out Arvo Pärt‘s beautiful, sacred piece, Fratres for Violin and Piano (this reviewer happens to be a big Pärt fan, having heard the premiere his piece, Litany, premiered at the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene in 1994). This was the one piece accompanied by live music, violin and piano, and was beautifully done — starting with minimalist repetition and transitioning into long, slow notes on violin coupled with percussive large chords on the piano. The dancers, starting apart, interweave their colored forms in an expression of spiritual longing and striving that worked well in this piece.

The third act’s Labarena, gives the most eclectic and joyous expression of the evening. Val Caniparoli‘s piece, originally done by the San Francisco Ballet in 1995, is a lush mix of African village cultural songs, chanting, rhythms and music, uniquely interwoven with classical Bach pieces, in an eight-part work. The dancers reflect this expertly here, both in colorful African dress and backdrop, as well as dance that has the African cultural styles of movement intertwined with the classical ballet moves evoked by the Bach works. This becomes a beautiful expression of the spiritual ecstasy in Bachs work with the day to day ritual joy of African dance and storytelling — and it’s obvious this dance company fully expresses this joy in this work.

One could enjoy the first act of the traditional Balanchine’s choreography of Stravinsky’s piece as a piece of modern ballet tradition, but it can come off as contrived and not in keeping with the rest of an assuredly most colorful evening of movement in the other pieces. But do stick around for those pieces in the remaining acts — a feast of not oft-heard sounds and the full color palette of dance.

Oregon Ballet Theatre presents Chromatic Quartet at PCPA’s Newmark Theater. Christopher Stowell, Artistic Director; Diane Syrcle, Executive Director. Director of Production: Bill Anderson; Lighting Design: Michael Mazzola, Randall G. Chiarelli, Mark Stanely & Lisa J. Pinkham; Costume & Wardrobe: Tobi de Goede, Adam Arnold, Holly Hynes, Sandra Woodall & Pacific Northwest Ballet (Lambrena). Choreography: Stravinsky Violin Concerto – George Balanchine’s Original Choreography from 1972, The Lost Dance – Matjash Mrozewski, Liturgy – Christopher Wheeldon, Lambrena – Val Caniparoli (Repetiteur – Maiqui Mañosa). Featuring Alison Roper, Yang Zou, Grace Shibley, Brett Bauer, Candace Bouchard, Eva Burton, Martina Chavez, Ashley Dawn, Ansa Deguchi, Makino Hayashi, Kate Oderkirk, Olivia Ornelas, Thomas Baker, Michael Breedon, Adam Hartley, Jordan Kindell, Ye Li, Michael Linsmeier, Brent Slack-Wolfe, Michael Linsmeier, Lucas Threefoot, Javier Ubell, Yuka Iino, Haiyan Wu, Brian Simcoe, Xuan Cheng, Kathi Martuza, and Neil Marshall. Soloist Musicians on Liturgy: Carol Rich, piano; Margaret Bichteler, violin. Runs April 19 – 28, 2012. Tickets: $28.50 & up, available through Ticketmaster or in person at the PCPA Box Office, 1111 SW Broadway Street, Portland, Oregon, Open 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Mistaken identities, madcap humor, and some of the greatest songs of the 1940s fill this hilarious musical comedy. It’s 1945 in the South Pacific, and The Andrews Sisters are scheduled to headline the big USO show, but when a flu outbreak quarantines the girls and they fail to arrive at the big gig, three soldiers find themselves giving the performance of a lifetime! Songs include “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Slow Boat to China,” “Shoo Shoo Baby,” and “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree.” The Andrews Brothers is complete with slapstick comedy, old-fashioned romance, and nostalgic music.

Performances held at the New Stage, 12850 SW Grant Avenue, Tigard.

Performance run time is two hours.

From the Press Release:
Broadway Rose Theatre Company Presents a New ‘40s Musical
Tigard, OR – The Broadway Rose Theatre Company continues its 2012 season of Great Escapes with Roger Bean’s new ‘40s musical, The Andrews Brothers. Mistaken identities, madcap humor, and some of the greatest songs of the 1940s fill this hilarious musical comedy. The Andrews Brothers will be performed at the Broadway Rose New Stage.

Preview performance is April 19 with opening night on Friday, April 20, and performances continue through May 20, 2012. Evening performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Matinees are at 2 p.m. on Sundays, and on Saturday, April 28, May 5, 12, and 19. The New Stage is located at 12850 SW Grant Avenue in Tigard.

Tickets start at $30 for adults, with discounts available for groups and youth. For a full listing of show performances or to order tickets visit www.broadwayrose.org or call the box office at 503.620.5262.

It’s 1945 in the South Pacific, and The Andrews Sisters are scheduled to headline the big USO show. When a flu outbreak quarantines the girls and they fail to arrive at the big gig, three brothers – aided by pin-up star Peggy Jones – find themselves giving the performance of a lifetime! Songs include “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Slow Boat to China,” “Shoo Shoo Baby,” and “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree.” The Andrews Brothers is complete with slapstick comedy, old-fashioned romance, and nostalgic music.

The Broadway Rose cast of The Andrews Brothers includes James Langston Drake, Norman Wilson, Adam Davis, and Louise Stinson. The production is directed and choreographed by Dan Murphy with musical direction by Jeffrey Childs. Set and lighting design is by Chris Whitten, costume design is by Allison Dawe, prop design is by Deb Dahling, and sound design is by Cecil Averett.

Broadway Rose’s Title Sponsor is Platt Electric Supply. Broadway Rose’s 2012 season is funded in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Work for Art as well as the Oregon Arts Commission and the City of Tigard.

BROADWAY ROSE THEATRE COMPANY, a not-for-profit arts organization, has been successfully producing musical theater in Tigard since 1992 under the artistic direction of Sharon Maroney. As the only professional musical theater company in Washington County, Broadway Rose plays an important role in enriching the community’s cultural arts. Committed to increasing opportunities for Oregonians to participate in the arts and working to retain Portland’s talent pool and attract new talent to the area, Broadway Rose is resolved to keep live theater affordable and make its productions accessible to all ages and members of the community. The Broadway Rose Theatre was selected as one of the “100 Best Nonprofits to Work For in Oregon” by Oregon Business Magazine in 2009, 2010, and 2011, and it was selected as the 2009 “Business of the Year” by the Tigard Chamber of Commerce.

When I first heard that Magenta Theater planned to state Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller “The Thirty-Nine Steps” as a comedy, I asked myself a simple question: “How?”

Having seen it, my reaction changed from “How?” to “Wow!”

Directed by relative newbie Bryan Schmidt (“The 50th”), the play takes off from the very start with high energy, bold imagination, and tongue-in-cheek humor, elevating the humor as it builds suspense.

Led by the expressive character actor Matt Newport as the droll but despondent Richard Hanney, the cast unreservedly embraces the sometimes campy but always likeable characters and melodramatic storyline. Shaye Eller rotates among the play’s trio of femme fatale roles with ease and aplomb, sparkling most when adopting the earnest but comical persona of Scottish housewife Margaret.

Justin Tanner and Tony Provenzola, the two “clowns,” alternate among their radically different characters as quickly as they change costumes (or, at times, merely hats). Rather than trying to hide or ignore the confusion this causes, they embrace it with amusing but understated meta-references (barking out “Hat!”, for example, when a rapid costume change is incomplete) and over-the-top facial expressions.

Most Magenta productions enjoy elaborate, highly realistic, highly produced sets on their broad but shallow stage and equally careful costuming. While appreciated, the downside of those choices is a tendency for long blackouts between scenes and an attendant loss of energy.

Thirty-Nine Steps, though, employs a simple black box with simple, suggestive set pieces – and it works. First, scene changes fast, which contributes to the play’s almost dizzying pace. Second, Schmidt et al take advantage of the bare-bones suggestive simplicity of the set by ramping up the theatrical bits and never missing an elbow-in-the-ribs sight gag. The audience is allowed to play along and employ their own imaginations – and judging by the audience’s reaction the night I went, they’re up for the game.

For instance, reversible doors and windows roll about the stage on casters, providing opportunities for great physical humor. Newport’s “escape” in one case is effected by simply rotating the set piece, and in another sequence, the same door is used repeatedly to illustrate the complexity of the mansion-sized home. Provenzola’s lamppost antics nearly brought down the house. Over six dozen sound cues keep the audience engaged and believing in the make-believe reality they are creating in their heads, even as their eyes reveal only the most minimal clues about the setting.

Of course, no production is perfect. A few chase sequences are overdrawn and the breaking of the fourth wall in the final act is jarring if not outright disappointing. You might wish that they’d skipped the intermission, as the show loses a touch of its raw energy between acts. But these minor quibbles do not detract from the overall enjoyment of the show. It’s hilarious – not just a home run, but a grand slam.

I’ve seen most of Magenta’s shows since 2006 (and even been in a few), and all have been high quality, but this one far and away is the most hilarious. Maybe that’s why the show has been extended an extra weekend thru May 5. Highly recommended.

“The Thirty Nine Steps,” by Alfred Hitchcock, adapted for the stage by Patrick Barlow. Directed by Bryan Schmidt. Performances April 25-28 and May 4-5 at Magenta Theater, 606 Main St, Vancouver, WA. Tickets at www.magentatheater.com.

In venues from a Southeast Portland dance studio to a North Portland community center for people with disabilities, “We’ll talk about the ways that we can use the arts to tell our stories, engage people on our terms, honor each other’s differences and bring people together in community and solidarity,” said Sarah Doherty, a member of the festival’s organizing committee.

Hunter, founder of the Urban Jazz Dance Company, will teach a Dance Intensive early in the weeklong event, leading to creation of a dance that will be performed at the festival. The evening performances, which have been a focal point of the festival since its inception in a church basement in 2006, will spotlight dance, poetry and video artists on April 27 and 28 at Zoomtopia Art and Dance Studios in Southeast Portland.

Kathy Coleman, the festival’s artistic director, will moderate the April 20 panel discussion at Project Grow in North Portland. It will look at how artists influence individuals in ways that educate and create lasting change in the community. Panelists include Andres Guerrero of Project Grow, Nim Xuto of Colored Pencils, Mizu Desierto of Water in the Desert/The Headwaters Theater, Curtis Walker of Impetus Arts, and Rupert Kinard.

Sandra Hernandez, Ph.D., of THE-TREE Institute, will facilitate the Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop on April 22, also at Project Grow. The workshop will explore the intersections of race and disability. It also will examine white supremacy in disability communities and discuss the ways in which Disabled people are, and are not, included in social justice movements and dialogue around culture.

Coleman helped to create the Disability Art and Culture Project in 2005 to give individuals with disabilities a high-quality, semiprofessional venue in which to explore “the uniqueness of different minds and bodies.” This year’s festival brings together performers from across the Portland-metro area. William L. Alton uses poetry and stories to reduce the stigma of mental illness and disability. Nathan H.G., a ballet and Butoh dancer, will perform “Stanley,” a channeling of his late brother who had cerebral palsy. Alexis Jewel and Max McDonnell will bring a video highlighting “the many ways our hearts keep us alive.” Jewel and Tiffani King offer a dance piece about “how we are different but also strong disabled women.” Also appearing will be Inclusive Arts Vibe, Coleman’s dance company for teens and young adults with disabilities.

The Disability Art and Culture Project’s mission is to further the artistic expression of people with hidden and visible disabilities. Festival sponsors include the McKenzie River Gathering, the Regional Arts & Culture Council and the Oregon Arts Commission. To register, contact DACP at 503-238-0723; e-mail disabilityartculture@gmail.com or visit www.dacphome.org.

Festival details:
Panel Discussion: The Power of Art to Cultivate Social Change: April 20, 7-9 p.m., Project Grow, 2156 N. Williams Ave. Cost: $5-$10 sliding scale.

Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop: The Intersection of Race and Disability: April 22, 6:30-9:30 p.m., Project Grow, 2156 N. Williams Ave.
Cost: $5-$10 sliding scale.
Festival Performances: April 27 & 28, 7 to 9 p.m., Zoomtopia Art and Dance Studios, 810 S.E. Belmont St. Cost: $10 (same show each night).

Contact Sarah Doherty, the festival accessibility coordinator, at sarah.lynn.doherty@gmail.com or 609-775-8001 to let us know how we can make these events accessible for you.

Artists’ Repertory Theater attempts to get the dialogue going further here with this staged reading of Brian Shnipper’s assembled collection heartfelt short set pieces (some more sketches, really), written by eight different playwrights, Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays. Being that the production is partnered with and also benefits Basic Rights Oregon — the organization most like to mount a challenge on the ballot against Measure 36 — it’s easy to tell where its heart lies even before seeing the various pieces in the production. This doesn’t mean, however, you’re not in for a fun and, occasionally, earnestly expressed evening on navigating the state of living under our nation’s state-by-state, oft confusing and ever subject to change on a whim gay marriage or civil union laws.

The play is a staged reading, meaning actors reading off script to each other from music stands, with Stage Manager Caitlin Weisensee reading stage directions. However, far from putting the off the audience or seeming unpolished, the able cast I saw on Thursday evening gave forth not only good performances for the most part, but this staging allows the audience to engage in a type of radio-play style “theater of the mind” — one finds oneself filling in the various blanks of the skeletal presentation with ones own mind as to setting, costume, further stage movements all given forth from the deeply felt expression by the actors on stage. And 14 different actors are rotated in and out of the seven performing roles on any given night, so it has the edgy excitement of being a different show most every night.

As for the various pieces —

Jordan Harrison‘s The Revision has two men re-doing their vows to take the heteronormal tinge off it, and also reflecting the reality of their current situation using, “lawful civil union or domestic partnership,” for “lawfully wedded,” and instead of, “in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer,” there is inserted verbiage, regarding that gay couples still have problems with hospitals letting them be the decision maker in spousal sickness or in inheriting estates, about their each individual “health care providers” and “financial portfolios.” Nice for those who can afford that. And while the mounting alternative verbiage is funny, it also tends to dip a bit into the problematic sound of political polemic more than dialogue.

Wendy Macleod‘s This Flight Tonight, has a lesbian couple in airport we are dealing with wedding night jitters and one partner’s seeming fear of flying. The real agenda is the partner’s desire to have been married in their own state, rather than flying to a state where same-sex marriage has been legalized, and be at home amongst their own friends and family. It takes the stronger of the two partners to grab the reins and read the riot act about why this needs to be done, ultimately revealing the loving care they have for each other. This was nice, but it might have been better with direction for the stronger partner to be played as just that — someone more well put-together than the casual demeanor the reading gave it.

Ubiquitous Hollywood, Broadway & Print author Paul Rudnick‘s The Gay Agenda, has a midwestern housewife supporter of Focus On The Family (and a dozen or more other such anti-same-sex-marriage groups) going on about how she loves her gay neighbors, but simply can’t abide gay marriage or their “agenda,” as whenever she is over visiting them, what can only be described as an extremely camp, high bitch-queen voice assaults her with insults — the only thing is, as she spins further out of the control, it becomes apparent she is the only one hearing the voice. This was deftly played in her mounting hysteria, but also skillfully pointed up the underlying fears motivating this cultural divide.

This divide and the major problem with trying to put a “happy face,” on the civil rights disagreement was best handled in On Facebook by Obie and Pulitzer Prize playwright Doug Wright, a piece allegedly taken from an actual group Facebook posting after same-sex marriage was voted down in a state (names were changed to protect innocent or deluded, depending on your point of view). Here the quintessential form of the argument is delivered best — one can’t give forth a syrupy, “I disagree with you but still hope we can be friends — Smiley Face!,” on-line or elsewhere, while denying a group what they consider to be their basic civil rights. The full ensemble played the Facebook dialogue well here and had the most fun with the piece — particularly seeing live people giving a thumbs up to retorts back at those who deny them equal rights with, “THREE PEOPLE LIKE THIS!”

Neil Labute‘s Strange Fruit, like the Billie Holliday Song, carries a hard, painful message, as seemingly two men recount the very real and graphic history of themselves as a gay couple, and flying to California to marry for the brief period gay marriage was legalized there, only to find this is actually a monologue being remembered by the widowed partner left after his love had been killed in a gay-bashing incident shortly after their union — one of the more moving pieces that evening.

Famed Humorist Mo Gaffney‘s A Traditional Wedding stuck many of the railings about wanting marriage while trying desperately to avoid all heteronormal traditional trappings, as one “broom” (both bride and groom, as they wish it) longs for the traditional walk down the aisle, the other, after having been rejected by her family at 15, wants an in-your-face, rebellious stance, in keeping with her own personality. What makes it lovely is their willingness to go along with each desires, and still be married, and each teaching the other about family healing in their own way. One “broom“ does get to wear white. The other? Solid black.

Perhaps the best of the entire evening was David Bodin’s wonderful performance of the summation of a loving couple together for decades, giving the eulogy for his recently passed partner in a Jewish Temple in Moisés Kaufman‘s London Mosquitoes. This could have been any couple — gay or straight — which is really the point, the love and life built, not who is loving whom. Bodin gives a stellar monologue, of two men, one ever hopeful, the other a scientist convinced that humanity has ceased to evolve (citing Richard Nixon as the most obvious evidence), yet still making a wonderful life together.

Rudnick’s second piece, My Husband, gleefully sliced and diced even the liberal, intellectual elite supporting gay marriage, as an overly-supportive liberal professor mother of a high-school teacher gay son laments he hasn’t found a man to marry yet in their recently legalized same-sex marriage state — “I don’t have a boyfriend!” The Mother: “Is that my fault?” Ah, Jewish and Parental guilt remain culturally normative no matter who marries whom.

The final piece, Pablo & Andrew at the Altar of Words by Jose Rivera had the cast acting as supportive Greek Chorus, chiming in to two men’s vows — nice, but also tended to stress a stiltedly presented political view, though the sentiment of, “Why would you not want there to be more love in the world?” is certainly the strongest point from the heart to be made.

My one qualm with the whole production is it being an conspicuous evening of preaching to the already converted, perhaps necessary as Basic Rights Oregon seeks support for a ballot measure to finally bring down the damage caused by 2004′s Measure 36. But an opportunity is perhaps lost here to seek to win more hearts and minds from the middle over, lost in a certainty of “aren’t we so right?” (or left, as the case may be) rhetoric. While I would agree the basic issue here is denying people the basic same civil rights enjoyed by all, only Wright’s On Facebook and Kaufman’s London Mosquitoes succeed in attempting broach the divide by saying: only when you see a beloved family member or friend so much in love and yet denied the right to affirm that love, may you join with us.

One extra special note: the evening ends in the lobby with free wedding cake being doled out to the audience. Well, any evening that ends with, “And hey, there was cake!,” earns big bonus points with me, as it seemed to with the crowd, especially when catered by local baker Pastry Girl, the owner of which, as it would appropriately turn out, is the spouse of co-Director Mulligan.

Artists’ Repertory Theater Presents a Staged Reading of Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays; Directed by Jon Kretzu & Stephanie Mulligan. Conceived by Brian Shnipper, with pieces written by : Jordan Harrison, Wendy Macleod, Paul Rudnick, Doug Wright, Neil Labute, Mo Gaffney, Moisés Kaufman, and Jose Rivera. Featuring (different cast each performance) John Steinkamp, Dave Bodin, Luisa Sermol, Sarah Lucht, Raissa Fleming, Mark Schwahn, John Debkowski, Jared Miller, John San Nicolas, Torrey Cornwell, Laura Widener, Emily Beleele, Sharonlee McLean and Trisha Todd. Stage Manager: Caitlin Weisensee. Performances April 6th – 21st, Thursday through Saturday, at Artists’ Repertory Theater Morrison Stage, 1515 SW Morrison, Portland, Oregon, 97205, (503) 241-1278. Performances at 7:30 pm, Tickets $25, Students $15. Tickets at the Artists’ Repertory Theater Web Site, or by calling (503) 241-1278, or e-mailing boxoffice@artistsrep.org.

From White Bird’s Press Release:

WHITE BIRD CONCLUDES ITS 14TH SEASON ON MAY 9

WITH EUROPE’S MOST ACCLAIMED HIP-HOP COMPANY, COMPAGNIE KÄFIG, FEATURING 11 EXPLOSIVE MALE DANCERS FROM RIO DE JANIERO.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND CHOREOGRAPHER MOURAD MERZOUKI HAS CREATED TWO SPELLBINDING WORKS TO SHOWCASE THE YOUNG BRAZILIAN MEN’S ACROBATIC SKILLS AND VIRTUOSITY.

Who: COMPAGNIE KÄFIG CCN Créteil et Val du Marne

Presented by: White Bird

When: Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 7:30 pm

Where: Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, Portland

Sponsors: Darci H. Swindells and The Oregonian

Tickets: $26-$64 available at www.whitebird.org and at PCPA Box (ZERO ticket fees). Also available at

1-800-380-3516 (additional fees will apply).

For the latest information, please visit www.whitebird.org

“The best hip-hop show of the past 10 years.” FigaroScope (Paris)

White Bird is excited to conclude its 14th season of contemporary dance with the West Coast debut of Europe’s most acclaimed hip-hop company, Compagnie Käfig CCN Créteil et Val de Marne, based at the National Choreographic Center in Créteil et Val de Marne outside Paris. Artistic Director and Choreographer Mourad Merzouki is widely recognized as one of the world’s most gifted choreographers who has fused hip-hop with other disciplines (martial arts, music, visual art) to create work that has excited audiences and critics around the world. White Bird is proud to host the US premiere of two of Merzouki’s most celebrated works, Agwa and Correria, performed by 11 explosive Brazilian male dancers, originating from the favelas (shanty towns) of Rio de Janeiro. When Agwa premiered in Lyon in 2008, Les Echos (Lyon) declared, “Merzouki-style hip hop is on intimate terms with grace, and the Lyon audience is still trembling from the impact.”

An encounter between Mourad Merzouki and 11 young dancers from Rio de Janeiro at the Lyon Dance Biennial in 2006 is the inspiration behind this unique performance. The young dancers’ individual stories about their lives in the favelas and how they were determined to make something of themselves moved Mourad to create two heart-stopping works that showcase the young Brazilian’s astonishing acrobatic skills and dazzling virtuosity. According to Merzouki, “This language – hip-hop – is movement that comes from the streets, from poor neighborhoods, where there is a primordial rage to speak out, to give expression to furious energy, to the fierce desire to live. It is a voluntary act that matures over time, absorbing different schools of thought. Nourished by disparate elements, it becomes not only art but a commitment – to dispense with clichés and conventional thinking and to dismiss bromides about hip-hop as a social movement, in order to establish this language as an art in its own right.”

The first piece on the program for the 11 male dancers, CORRERIA (2010) (“running”) plunges us into a frantic, hectic race just like the one that governs our daily lives, featuring bodies, movement and a show that takes your breath. The second piece AGWA (2008) uses countless cups of water to celebrate what is both a vital component of our bodies and a precious natural resource to be preserved, used with care and as a symbol of renewal. The dancers’ ability to dance through and around these cups is truly astounding. Both pieces bring together complex movement inspired by hip-hop, capoeira, samba, electronic music, and bossa nova to create a dance experience filled with amazing acrobatics, crackling energy, and invention.

Born in Lyon in 1973, Mourad Merzouki began practicing martial arts and circus arts as early as a seven-year-old. At the age of 15, he encountered hip-hop culture for the first time and through it, he discovered dance. He quickly decided to develop this form of street art while also experimenting with other choreographic styles, particularly with Maryse Delente, Jean-François Duroure and Josef Nadj. The wealth of his experiences fed his desire to direct artistic projects, blending hip-hop with other disciplines. In 1989 he, along with a group of dancers, created his first company Accrorap. In 1994 the company performed Athina during Lyon’s Biennial Dance Festival; it was a triumph that brought street dance to the stage.

In order to develop his own artistic style and sensitivity, Merzouki established his own company, Käfig, in 1996 and named it after his first acclaimed work. Käfig means “cage” in Arabic and German and was intended to indicate the choreographer’s receptivity and openness and his refusal to become locked into a single style. In January 2006, Compagnie Käfig began a period of residence at Espace Albert Camus in Bron. The theatre became the venue of the Karavel Festival, created in 2007 under the leadership of Mourad Merzouki. The festival invites some 10 different hip-hop companies and other initiatives to the city. In parallel, Mourad Merzouki spearheaded the inception of a new center for choreographic creation and development: Pôle Pik opened its doors in Bron in 2009.

In June 2009, Mourad Merzouki was appointed director of the Centre Chorégraphique National de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne. He continues to develop his projects there, with an accent on openness to the world. In 16 years, the choreographer has created 17 shows and his company gives on average 120 performances per year around the world.

Compagnie Käfig is the inspiration of White Bird’s 12th Outreach Project with Portland Public Schools. A multi-disciplinary curriculum called “Hip-Hop In Different Cultures,” created by a group of PPS teachers is now being taught to students in grades 6-12. The Project will culminate with a free performance for 2700 students and teachers by Compagnie Käfig on May 2, 11am, at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

White Bird’s 14th season (2011-2012) is supported by the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Work for Art, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, The Collins Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Oregon Arts Commission, The Jaffe Foundation, Autzen Foundation, Herbert A. Templeton Foundation, Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust, Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), Starseed Foundation, Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation and Lloyd and Marlene Ankeny Foundation.

CityofAngels-1: (left to right) Lauri Jones and Kurt Raimer in City of Angels at Lakewood Theatre Company in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Performances: May 4 - June 10, 2012. Photo by Lake Oswego Photographers.

Lakewood Theatre Company concludes its 2011-2012 season with the award-winning musical, City of Angels Worlds collide side by side as a writer tries to adapt his book for a Hollywood screenplay, and his fictional private eye tries to solve a crime in the story within the story.

From the Press Release:

“She had the kind of face a man could hang a dream on, a body that made Venus De Milo look all thumbs, and only the floor kept her legs from going on forever.”

With these words a gumshoe detective sets the mood for the evening to come in City of Angels, the final show in the 2011-12 season at Lakewood Theatre Company.

With stage direction by Wade Willis and musical direction by Alan D. Lytle, City of Angels, a deliciously funny spoof of 1940s film noir and hard-boiled detective fiction, opens Friday, May 4 and continues through Sunday, June 10, 2012. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 PM, Sundays at 7:00 PM (May 6, 13 and 20), and Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM (May13, 27 and June 3 and 10). The show sponsor is The Richard & Janet Geary Foundation.

The theatre is located at Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S. State St. in Lake Oswego. Ticket prices are $32/adults and $29/seniors. Other discounts are available for students and groups. For additional information and tickets, call the Lakewood Box Office at (503) 635-3901 or order online at www.lakewood-center.org.

The story: In a black-and-white world of shadows and streetlights, hardboiled detective Stone (Isaac Lamb) is framed for murder. This is the story line mystery novelist Stine (Kurt Raimer) is adapting into a screenplay but Buddy Fiddler (Don Burns), an egotistical producer-director, constantly demands rewrites. Affecting both men are the women in their lives – Oolie (Pam Mahon) Stone’s secretary and Gabby (Lauri Jones) Stine’s put-upon wife. The stress overwhelms Stine and the fictional Stone steps out of the “reel” world to confront the author. Featuring a jazz score by late Broadway composer Cy Coleman, the musical weaves together the two plots into one, while showcasing two distinct musical scores.

City of Angels features a book written by Larry Gelbart, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by David Zippel. It was the winner of 6 Tony Awards (including best musical), 12 Drama Desk Awards (including Outstanding Musical), the 1990 Edgar Award for Best Play and 5 Olivier Awards (including Best New Musical).
Others in the cast include Chrissy Kelly-Pettit, Benjamin Farmer, Sydney Weir, Jeremy Sloan, Bobby Jackson, Ecaterina Lynn, Catherine Bridge, Thomas Slater, Seth Renne, Carl Coughlan, David Loftus, Richard Cashin and Brian Young.

Lakewood’s production of City of Angels is directed by Drammy Award winner Wade Willis and musical direction is by Drammy Award winner Alan D. Lytle. Associate music director is Mont Chris Hubbard, the stage manager is Michael DeMaio and the assistant stage manager is Felix Kelsey. Scenic design is by Chris Whitten, costume design is by Patricia J. Rohrbach, lighting design is by Phil McBeth, sound design is by Bombastic Sound and videography is by Mark Daniels. Wig design for the production is by Jane Holmes, choreography is by Erin Shannon, technical director is Kurt Herman, properties are by Felix Kelsey and the producer is Kay Vega.

THE FACTS IN BRIEF:

What?
Lakewood Theatre Company concludes its 2011-2012 season with the award-winning musical, City of Angels Worlds collide side by side as a writer tries to adapt his book for a Hollywood screenplay, and his fictional private eye tries to solve a crime in the story within the story.

A deliciously funny and jazzy spoof of 1940s film noir and hard-boiled detective fiction, City of Angels follows Stine (Kurt Raimer), a Hollywood scriptwriter and the movie he’s writing, a double story that plays out in parallel stories on stage. One portrays the battle of Stine, a mild-mannered writer struggling to prevent his screenplay-in-progress from being mutilated by a tyrannical producer. The other depicts the unfolding of the screenplay itself, in which Stine’s alter ego, the detective Stone (Isaac Lamb), sidles through a Hollywood netherworld of vicious thugs and femmes fatales. Sets and costumes help keep the two worlds separate. Stone’s world is stylistically set in film noir with tones of black, grey and white. In contrast, Stine’s world is set in Technicolor. Coleman’s score is a melange of jazz and bebop patter styles, movie-type scoring, radio crooning, and parodies of standard songs.

Where?
LAKEWOOD THEATRE COMPANY
Headlee Mainstage: A 220-seat stage at Lakewood Center for the Arts. This new hall provides excellent sightlines with no one further than 30 feet from the front of the stage.
Location: 368 S. State Street, Lake Oswego, OR 97034

When?
Runs: May 4 – June 10, 2012
Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 PM, Sundays at 7:00 PM (May 6, 13 and 20), and Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM (May13, 27 and June 3 and 10). The show sponsor is The Richard & Janet Geary Foundation.

Ticket Reservations:
503-635-3901 or on line at www.lakewood-center.org

Tickets:
$32/Adults, $29/Senior and discounts for students and groups.

LAKEWOOD THEATRE COMPANY WEBSITE:
www.lakewood-center.org
___________________________________

About Lakewood Theatre Company

59 Years of Live Theatre: Founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1952, Lakewood Theatre Company is a professional theatre dedicated to the study and presentation of drama in all its forms; the training and development of actors; and the creation, maintenance and operation of a theatre in which to present plays and other forms of entertainment. Lakewood Theatre Company is the oldest continually operated, not-for-profit theatre company in the Portland Metropolitan area. It annually provides more than 400 theatre artists the opportunity to learn and display their craft and attracts more than 40,000 people to its shows.

- 59th Season -
Productions in the 2011-12 season are underwritten, in part, by:
The Regional Arts & Culture Council and the Work for Art Program
The Oregon Arts Commission
The National Endowment for the Arts

_____________________________________________________

CityofAngels-2: (left to right) Isaac Lamb and Pam Mahon in City of Angels at Lakewood Theatre Company in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Performances: May 4 - June 10, 2012. Photo by Lake Oswego Photographers.

History and Supplemental Notes – City of Angels

City of Angels opened on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre on December 11, 1989 and closed on January 19, 1992 after 878 performances and 24 previews. Michael Blakemore directed with sets designed by Robin Wagner and costumes by Florence Klotz. The production featured Gregg Edelman, James Naughton, René Auberjonois, Randy Graff, Dee Hoty and Kay McClelland.

Composer Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity, Barnum) drew on his jazz background to create the first full-blown jazz score for the Broadway stage. It is, he said, his most personal score in a theatrical songwriting career that spanned three decades. “To put it brazenly, I wanted to do something that I think I’m uniquely qualified to do in the theater, which is to present real jazz as opposed to pastiche or the kind of choreographed jazz I’ve written for other shows. By real jazz I mean music whose rhythmic phrases you can’t describe but when you’re snapping fingers to it, you say, ‘This swings.’” Coleman’s score is a melange of jazz and bebop patter styles, movie-type scoring, radio crooning, and parodies of standard songs.

Coleman’s score is paired with some of the best double-talk and witty dialogue ever to hit the stage. The musical features a book by Larry Gelbart of M*A*S*H fame and lyrics by David Zippel. “City of Angels is an accumulation of having worked in motion pictures and television all of my life,” stated Gelbart. “Two things triggered this play – growing up in the ’30s and ’40s with a love of movies and knowing something about how movies get written and rewritten – and the travails of screenwriters in the motion-picture industry. I was able to marry the two experiences.”

Frank Rich of The New York Times declared “This is an evening in which even a throwaway wisecrack spreads laughter like wildfire through the house, until finally the roars from the balcony merge with those from the orchestra and the pandemonium takes on a life of its own. Only the fear of missing the next gag quiets the audience down. To make matters sweeter, the jokes sometimes subside just long enough to permit a show-stopping song or performance or two to make their own ruckus at center stage.”

Awards:
… 6 Tony Awards for Musical, Book, Score, Set Design, Actor and Featured Actress.
… 9 Drama Desk Awards for Musical, Book, Score, Set Design, Actor and Featured Actress.
… 3 Outer Critics Circle Awards for Broadway Musical; Director; and Set, Costume and Lighting Design.
… The New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical.

About the Creative Team:

CY COLEMAN (Music) (June 14, 1929 – November 18, 2004) Best known for his numerous Broadway triumphs, Coleman also enjoyed success in motion pictures, recordings, TV and on the concert stage. His many honors include three Tony Awards, three Emmys, two Grammys, election to the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, as well as its Johnny Mercer Award, and The ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers Award for Lifetime Achievement in the American Musical Theater. New York-born Coleman was a child prodigy who gave piano recitals at Steinway, Town and Carnegie Halls between the ages of six and nine. Before beginning his fabled Broadway career, he led a jazz trio, which made many recordings and was a much-in-demand club attraction. Once he turned his attention to songwriting, he scored big with such timeless standards as “Witchcraft” and “The Best Is Yet to Come.” Coleman’s winning streak as a Broadway composer began with Wildcat in 1960, which included “Hey Look Me Over.” Next was Little Me, which featured “Real Live Girl” and “I’ve Got Your Number.” His collaboration with lyricist Dorothy Fields resulted in Sweet Charity, which introduced “Big Spender” and “If My Friends Could See Me Now.” The 1970s saw three more classic Broadway musicals, all Tony-winners: Seesaw, I Love My Wife, and On the Twentieth Century. In 1980, Coleman served as producer as well as composer for the smash, Barnum. And the 1990s brought more Coleman musicals to Broadway: City of Angels, The Will Rogers Follies, The Life, Exactly Like You and a new production of Little Me. His film scores include Father Goose, The Art of Love, Garbo Talks and Family Business. In addition, he wrote Shirley MacLaine’s memorable television specials, If My Friends Could See Me Now and Gypsy in My Soul.

LARRY GELBART (Book) is a Chicago-born writer and producer who has achieved success for his work in radio, television, film and theater. Stage: Plays: My LA (1950), A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum (1962), Sly Fox (1976), and Mastergate (1989); Musicals: The Conquering Hero (1960), One, Two, Three, Four, Five (1988), and City of Angels (1989; which won Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical and Best Musical). Radio: The Eddie Cantor Show, The Maxwell House Coffee Time with Danny Thomas, Duffy’s Tavern, Command Performance, Jack Carter, The Jack Paar Show, The Joan Davis Show and The Bob Hope Show. Television: The All-Star Revue, The Red Buttons Show, Honestly, Celeste, The Patrice Munsel Show, Caesar’s Hour and The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, The Danny Kaye Show, The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine, M*A*S*H, Barbara Streisand… and Other Musical Instruments, Roll Out!, Karen, Barbarians at the Gate. Film: The Notorious Landlady, The Thrill of It All, The Wrong Box (co-written with Burt Shevelove), Not With My Wife, You Don’t, The Chastity Belt, A Fine Pair, Oh, God, Neighbors, Tootsie, Blame It on Rio.

DAVID ZIPPEL (Lyrics) Theatre: Lysistrata: Sex and the City State; City of Angels; The Goodbye Girl; A…My Name Is Alice; Diamonds; Just So; numerous songs for Barbara Cook including original songs for her shows Barbara Cook, A Concert For the Theatre and It’s Better With A Band and The Woman in White with Andrew Lloyd Weber. Film: Disney’s feature film Hercules; Disney’s Mulan; the theme song for Frankie and Johnny; end title for The Wedding Planner; The Swan Princess. Recording: “Go the Distance” from Hercules, Michael Bolton; “Reflection,” Christine Aguilera; “We’re a Miracle,” Christine Aguilera from Pokemon: The First Movie; “True To Your Heart,” Stevie Wonder and 98š; “Shooting Star” from Hercules, Boyzone. Awards: Olivier award, Evening Standard award, Tony award, New York Drama Critics’ Circle award and Drama Desk award for City of Angels; Outer Critics’ Circle award nomination for lyrics for The Goodbye Girl; Oscar nominations for lyrics on Disney’s Hercules and Mulan; Golden Globe award nominations for lyrics for Hercules, Mulan and The Swan Princess. A graduate of Harvard Law School, David Zippel is delighted not to practice law.

From Trisha:
Whether you are a painter, writer, crafty or just curious about the world around you, a blog can be the perfect platform to launch your creative career to new heights. This 2 hour workshop is a hands on, practical guide to creating and maintaining a blog to showcase your creative projects. The course will walk you through the basic steps of creating a free WordPress blog that fits your style and aesthetic, and then show you how to use your blog to deepen your own creative practice and expand the pool of people who are passionate about what you do. The course will move beyond the basics of blogging to focus on the tough stuff-how to create (and keep creating) the right kinds of content to help you attract and expand the community of people who are as passionate about your work as you are. We’ll discuss writing style guidelines, copywright and photography issues and how to effectively position and promote your blog for maximum readership and sales potential.

CLICK DATE TO REGISTER!
Saturday May 12th from 2-4pm
OR
Sunday May 6th from 12-2pm
Cost: $30

So imagine how much dark fun and what might happen if this was updated to the modern Barrio culture of East L.A. and given some cholo cockiness. That’s just what Miracle Theatre/Teatro Milagro will be dishing out, with humor and style, in its production of Oedipus El Rey.

From the Press Release:
With Chicano swagger and sly sense of humor, Luis Alfaro transports Sophocles’ tragedy to the mean streets of East L.A. Here Oedipus does hard time for ripping off a Costco, Jocasta splashes on the Jean Naté while glued to “All My Children” and the oracle takes cash only. But the word on the street is not good and the passion Oedipus has for one woman will violate our most sacred law.

Oedipus el Rey is certainly written for an English-speaking audience. But as a Chicano adaptation of the Greek classic, the play is peppered with Spanish words and phrases. The seamless combination of Spanish and English is an important part of the South Central LA culture that provides the backdrop for the play.

Oedipus El Rey has been the winner of the Glickman Playwright Award and playwright Luis Alfaro Nominated for Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.

Previously produced in a rolling world premiere by Magic Theatre, San Francisco, CA, The Theatre @ Boston Court, Pasadena, CA, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Washington, DC, as part of the National New Play Network’s Continued Life program, Miracle Theatre Group/Teatro Milagro will be giving Oedipus El Rey its Northwest Premiere, directed by Elizabeth Huffman, who has much experience directing the Greek Tragedies and Myths.

And here’s what critics have said about previous productions of Oedipus El Rey —

‘Riveting!’ — The Washington Post

‘A spellbinding dance of pain and eroticism…refreshingly light touch to very familiar material’ — Los Angeles Times

‘Tender eroticism… cut through with the chill of tragic inevitability’ — San Francisco Chronicle

Audience Note: This play, which is presented in English with some Spanish, contains strong language and adult situations.

Oedipus El Rey will play at Miracle Theatre Group/Teatro Milagro from May 3rd through the 26, 2012, with a preview Thursday, May 3, 7:30 p.m. and the Opening Night Celebration on Friday, May 4, 8 p.m., with complimentary reception catered by Montage Restaurant. Showtimes will be Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Miracle Theatre Group/Teatro Milagro is located at 525 SE Stark Street, Portland, Oregon 97214. Tickets will be $15 – $29; discounts for students, seniors, groups of 15+ and advance purchases. Tickets can be purchased from the Miracle Theatre Group/Teatro Milagro Web Site or by calling (503) 236-7253.

But wait! There’s more —

There will be an America Sign Language interpretation of the performance of Oedipus El Rey available at the matinee on Sunday, May 13, 2012.

- and -

This Play will be part of the Oregon Humanities Conversation Project Series — Miracle Theatre Group will be presenting free conversation forums immediately following each of the three Sunday matinees, sponsored by Oregon Humanities.

• Sunday, May 6: “Exploring the Myth of Fate”
• Sunday, May 13: “The Lure of Gangs”
• Sunday, May 20: “A Gangster’s Destiny”

For more details about this series of forums, contact marketing@milagro.org or call 503-236-7253.

Performances are:

U.S.S.Improvise; The Next Generation
April 21st & 28th , May 5th , 12th, 19th & 26th 8pm

Funhouse Lounge, 2432 SE 11th Ave. , Portland, OR 97214

ALL SHOWS ARE “PAY WHAT YOU WANT”

——————————————-

This is TV Unscriptables style! UTV and audience favorite.

PORTLAND – UTV The Unscriptables spoof your favorite TV shows. With the help of the audience we create 6 TV shows and commercials, with sound effects we flip thru the channels seeing 4 minutes of each show. The audience then decides which show the want to see the rest of and The Unscriptables finish that episode. A fast paced merge of short form and long form improv.

Performances are:

UTV – April 21st & 28th , May 5th , 12th, 19th & 26th 10pm

Funhouse Lounge, 2432 SE 11th Ave. , Portland, OR, 97214

ALL UNSCRIPTABLES SHOWS ARE “PAY WHAT YOU WANT”

The Unscriptables are back and better than ever. Our main shows are improvised full length plays and that is why we call ourselves an unscripted theatre company. Our goal is to produce quality work that is affordable and fun. Our upcoming season includes Ave PDX – A Portland based spoof of “Ave Q”, Steam Punk Mysteries – A Victorian era with a modern twist sets the stage for our detectives. School of Sorcery – about a school of wizards, we are excited to create magic on the stage and many more.

Dance photos by Christopher Peddecord

Northwest Dance Project SUMMER SPLENDORS Shows Await You
Step into the beautiful studio to see Portland’s international-award-winning contemporary dance company unveil new works from Sarah Slipper, Tracey Durbin, Gregory Dolbashian and Kate Wallich.

Only 70 seats – Don’t delay – These shows sell out!
TICKETS HERE

SUMMER SPLENDORS
June 8 – 17

From the Press Release: Celebrate the arrival of summer and see Northwest Dance Project perform before we jet off to London for our special 2012 Cultural Olympiad performances.

This intimate show features four world premieres from acclaimed choreographers Sarah Slipper, Artistic Director of Northwest Dance Project, Portland dance fixture Tracey Durbin, Gregory Dolbashian of New York and winner of our 2011 Pretty Creatives international choreographic competition, and Kate Wallich, an inventive, rising choreographer based in Seattle.

Only 70 seats per show to ensure an intimate performance experience.

TICKETS
Friday / June 8 / 7:30 PM
Saturday / June 9 / 7:30 PM
Sunday / June 10 / 4 PM
Thursday / June 14 / 7:30 PM
Friday / June 15 / 7:30 PM
Saturday / June 16 / 7:30 PM
Sunday / June 17 / 4 PM

Northwest Dance Project Studio + Performance Center
833 N Shaver Street (at Mississippi Ave.) Portland OR 97227

CHOREOGRAPHER INFO HERE

FROM THE PRESS RELEASE:

So what is it that defines “crazy” anyway? Called a groundbreaking, powerhouse rock musical, Next to Normal, is a heart-swelling, acutely searing dissection of a mother’s mental illness and her suburban family trying to hold it all together. A brave, powerfully emotional musical takes on new territory, with the musical format and taking on serious issues, with mix of raw energy and grace.

Next to Normal was nominated for 11 and won three 2009 Tony Awards. It also garnered the elusive Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2010. The show was a runaway, smash hit on Broadway, boasted successful international tour and was work shopped twice at the Village Theatre outside Seattle, but Artists Rep. is thrilled to offer Portland audiences Next to Normal’s Northwest regional theatre premiere.

“It’s a rooted, deep exploration of pain, sorrow and love with no easy out or Hollywood ending, but ultimately it is a hopeful story,” said Director Jon Kretzu at the production’s First Rehearsal. “I knew when we decided to do this show that Susannah Mars [Editor's Note: The Mars of 2010's “Mars On Life” production.] had to play this part,” Kretzu continues, “her voice, her heart, she’s best when she takes risks and I can’t wait to be on the tightrope with her and all the actors who will need to go way off the cliff and skirt the abyss.”

Joining Mars (Diana) will be William Wadhams (seasoned rocker of the ‘80s band Animotion) as her husband, Dan.

And here’s what some of the press have said —

‘Like all good musicals, it breaks your heart without crushing your hope,’ says reviewer Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times.

‘Rock is alive and rolling like thunder in Next To Normal. The best musical of the season by a mile.’ — Rolling Stone

Performance Dates will be April 24 – June 3, Wednesday through Sunday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2pm, as well as a Wednesday matinee on May 16 at 11am. The Opening Night will be Friday, April 27, and the first “Pay What You Can” preview will be April 24, presented by U.S. Bancorp Foundation. Tickets are $25-$50; Students $20. Artists Repertory Theatre – Alder Stage (16th and Alder Street), Portland, Oregon. For ticket reservations, call the Artists’ Rep. Box Office at 503.241.1278 or through their web site.

Many of us in some way or another have been bitten by the performing art bug, be it through dance, acting, directing, being a stagehand, singing, or even as an audience member that enjoys a good performance. I’m sure if you asked anyone passionate about it, they would tell you it’s in their blood. It happens at different times in people’s lives. You could say I was bitten at the age of 3 when my mother enrolled me for dance classes in a local dance studio. I went to the same studio until I was on my way to college and it didn’t stop there. It’s truly in my blood. Being a performer, a stagehand, a reviewer, a writer. I love all aspects of performing arts and it’s always been my hope to pass on my passion to my kids someday and at least show them to appreciate the art.

Born just a few weeks ago, enter my son Jack.

I first found out I was pregnant while working wardrobe for Mary Poppins last year. Terrified, excited, nervous and giddy, I made it a mission that I was going to keep doing what I love to do and now that I had someone to share it with, make it really really count. I’ve often wanted to keep a list of all the performances that my newborn son Jack has accompanied me to. It probably wouldn’t be that hard. Even though the stagehand work has been scarce, I took it upon myself to start this blog in hopes of not only sharing Portland’s awesome performing art scene with you, but also with someone that will grow up to have an appreciation for it. As soon as I was able to feel him, I tried keeping track of what he was responding to in the movements he would make. He was a fan of pretty much everything especially the first few minutes of just about everything we went to see.

As you can imagine, life is a lot different for me. As a single mom I haven’t been able to make it out to see any shows and probably won’t for a while. I am slowly trying to join the land of the living and will make a better effort to get all of the press releases posted and gather a few more people to help me in reviewing shows. My sincerest thanks to Faddah Wolf who has been a huge asset to this blog with his reviews and his patience in me sending him everywhere for a while. Like myself, he does this for free because he loves it. Thank you Faddah.

If you or anyone you know would like to review any shows, please have them send me an email: sabrinamillerpdx@gmail.com. I would love to have a great group of random people & personalities to help contribute to shows around the Portland area (or even Vancouver & outlining areas too).

Thank you for your patience in this transition in my life, I promise to do what I can to make sure you have the best reviews & previews in Portland.

~ Sabrina

Ultimately, the conundrum, even for Portland Community College hopefuls, boils down to this: you need a social security number to register, let alone get any aid. And the processes towards a green card and social security number are rife with bureaucracy and endless waiting. It is a hornet’s nest, no matter which way you approach it.

Stepping into this rather unpleasant fray, as only they can and as well they should, is Miracle Theater Group with their latest offering, Jardín de Sueños, where the dreams here are both these yearnings for a better life by the young and the rich tapestry of cultural stories from Central America that long to be expressed with their tentative foothold in this new culture. Director Nelda Reyes handles this expertly, with her background in traditional storytelling, and her cast benefits from this folklore savvy that contains equal amounts of humor and the bittersweet.

There are elements of this production that might seem a bit off-putting at first to a broader audience: the entire production is in Spanish, but there are English translation super-titles projected over the stage, so following along is not a problem for those rusty in their español. There is also some very highly stylized, traditional theater mask work done by Reyes with her cast that can seem strange to modern audiences, until you begin to feel how well they allow the performers to embody the archetypes they are playing — here a struggling, Latino family in Portland. Audiences should not shy away, but instead embrace these forms, because both the language and the styles help to immerse all in the folks tales that are being spun around them.

The family here are all wearing masks showing worn lines of cares and fear, and the characters border on purposeful stereotypes on how they may seem to a culture not ready to accept them. Cristina (Siumara Samayoa), the studious daughter, is withdrawn and pained to the point of depressive narcolepsy over not being able to continue to pursue her dreams of betterment at college due to the lack of green card and social security number. Her young brother (Juan Antonio Martínez) is obsessed with smart phones and a smart mouth, trying hard to fit in with his probable vato gangland acquaintances. Her sister Lucia (Gabriela Dipascuale) is obsessed with her prom and spending a lot of money the family doesn’t have on clothing, the party and a Hummer limo. The father (Mario López Garcia) bashes his head of misunderstanding against modern technology in the family laptop, frustrated and ill-equipped to cope with his modern offspring in this modern land and her mother (Rosa Cristolbal) is treated as no more than a beast of burden for the needs of the rest of the family.

Unable to express her frustrated desires to this family caught up in stereotypical views, Cristina drifts off to a dream land, where her mysterious and at times dangerous spirit guide El Jaguar (the very good & deeply centered Pablo Saldana) and the Spirit of her Dream Garden (Carlosalexis Cruz) lead her through several allegories mirroring the hard work it takes for desires to be expressed fully in their culture. A young logger in the person of Cristina’s brother would hack at the roots of his source culture, the way the gangs would have him abandon his traditional culture in favor of them. A haughty Incan Sun Princess is at first like Cristina’s sister in her self-obsessed fatuousness, but when she falls for a shepherd she had spurned in the person of El Jaguar, Cristina sees in her for the first time the deep wells of authentic love. Indeed, the Princess is so willing to be at one with her love, she pays the ultimate price from her angry Sun God father as she and the shepherd are united forever as two mute stones. In the story of armadillo, Cristina recognizes the dreams of her father and ancestors, who wants only to have a pleasing song but is mocked by song birds for his garish sound attempts. His request is realized much later, when after death, his body is made into a beautiful string mandolin. And in a story of the ugly bird who must hide her beautiful song and her desire to share it, Cristina sees the oppression her mother and countless other women like herself have endured in their culture until their talent is unearthed.

Reyes and her cast handle all this in the dream logic masterfully — the mask work, the legends and story characters, easily taking on the different roles for their emotional core without being superficial. Waking from her dream walkabout, Samayoa’s Cristina is released from her mask by El Jaguar, able to express her desire to her family, and perhaps because of it, finally able to remove her family’s stereotypical masks and deal with them authentically, as she is no longer viewing them through her own masked role. While some remedies are explored for Cristina to pursue her dreams, there are no easy answers. It is left for this family, this community, and all of us to answer — what are the remedies for those who are part of our U.S. cultural fabric now, whether we are willing to acknowledge the truth of that or not? Do we allow a suiciding of a culture as it follows no-win pursuits into quick fixes in crime and self-destruction? Do we choke off roots or give them nothing but a dry, stony landscape where they can find no sustenance? Or do we welcome this rich, vibrant tradition of stories and culture to express itself and become the part of the North American culture to which it has already contributed so much? Drink from the wonderfully rich stream of cultural dreams and aspirations that is Jardín de Sueños and experience the visions for yourself. At the premiere performance there were entire families with young children paying rapt attention in the audience — good to see this storytelling heritage passed and taking root in the next generation.

Audiences would do well to arrive a bit early for the production and enjoy the wonderful art by Gene Flores adorning the theater for this production — it is an audience treat to allow his visual dreams to take a foothold in your hearts and minds.

Miracle Theatre Group/Teatro Milagro presents Jardín de Sueños (Garden of Dreams). Written by Sofia May-Cuxim, based on text by Pablo Jimenez and Teatro Español, Directed by Nelda Reyes. Scenic Design by Sarah Lydecker, Costume Design by Valerie Ditchfied, Mask Design by Kate Phoenix, Lighting Design by Kristeen Crosser, and Sound Design by Gerardo Calderón. Featuring Siumara Samayoa, Rosa Cristobal, Mario López, Gabriela Dipascuale, Juan Antonio Martínez, Pablo Saldana, and CarlosAlexis Cruz. Poster Art and other art pieces in lobby by Gene Flores. Production runs March 22nd through April 14th, 2012, Milagro Teatre, 525 S.E. Stark Street, Portland, Oregon, 97214. Tickets $15 – $29, with discounts for students, seniors, groups of 15+ and advance purchases. Tickets can be purchased from the Miracle Theatre Web Site or (503) 236-7253.

[Translation for Spanish speakers —]

Continuando con el viacrucis con la cabeza enterrada hacia otra elección federal, y cuando digo que con la cabeza enterrada, me refiero a que cualquiera enterraría la cabeza hasta Noviembre para huir de toda esa propaganda extremista y asesina que trae consigo este acto político. Otro continuo argumento derechista en la elección es el tema de la inmigración, lo cual me parece un poco extraño, considerando que hemos alcanzado un mínimo histórico en el número de inmigrantes ilegales que cruzan nuestra frontera. Una preocupación continua lo constituyen los hijos de inmigrantes indocumentados que han vivido, asistido a la escuela, e inclusive trabajado aquí por la mayoría de sus vidas, sólo para estar constantemente bajo la amenaza de que sean despojados de todo por lo que han trabajado y, junto con sus familias, deportados. El DREAM Act parece haberse derrumbado y atorado (y posiblemente el problema con el DREAM Act es que si quieres que algo pase en el Congreso, no deberías de llamarlo “El Acto de Sueño”). Muchos han decidido enfrentarse y compartir sus historias, a pesar del peligro que representaría el ser expuesto. Así mismo, mientras que algunos estados se arraigan en reacciones violentas, otros inesperados sectores han ofrecido su ayuda.

Al final, el problema, aún para aspirantes a ingresar al Portland Community College, se centra en lo siguiente: todos necesitamos un número de seguro social para ser registrados, o para obtener cualquier ayuda. Y el proceso para obtener una Green Card y un número de seguro social está corrompido por la burocracia y la eterna espera. No importa de qué lado se confronte, es un verdadero avispero.

Abordando este desagradable ataque, como sólo ellos saben y deben hacerlo, está el grupo de teatro Milagro con su última presentación, “Jardín de Sueños”; dónde los sueños aquí son ambos, el anhelo por una vida mejor para el joven, así como el rico tapiz de historias culturales de América Central que esperaban ser expresadas, con su provisional apoyo, en esta nueva cultura. La Directora, Nelda Reyes, maneja esta temática con la experiencia que sólo su origen narrador tradicional puede ofrecer, y su elenco se beneficia de este folclore más experimentado que es tanto humoroso como agridulce.

Existen elementos en esta producción que podrían verse un poco desagradables al principio, para audiencias más generales. Toda la producción es en español, pero con traducción al inglés en la forma de subtítulos proyectados sobre el escenario, así que no resulta difícil de entender para aquéllos atrasados en su español. Además, en la presentación se puede apreciar una colección de máscaras tradicionales elaboradas por Reyes, que podrían parecer, en principio, un poco extrañas para audiencias más contemporáneas; hasta que empiezas a sentir cómo éstas ayudan a los actores a personificar los arquetipos que están representando (en este caso, una tenaz familia latina en Portland). La audiencia no debería de huir de estas personificaciones, sino todo lo contrario, acogerlas; debido a que tanto el lenguaje como los estilos los ayudan a inmiscuirse en estos cuentos tradicionales que los envuelven.

Toda la familia se encuentra usando máscaras que muestran líneas de preocupación y miedo, y los caracteres representan estereotipos intencionales, tal como son vistos en una cultura que no está aún lista para aceptarlos. Cristina (Siumara Samayoa), la hija estudiosa, es aislada y lastimada al punto de depresión narcoléptica, debido a que no va a poder realizar sus sueños de superación en el colegio, ya que no posee una green card ni un número de seguro social. Su hermano menor (Juan Antonio Martínez) se encuentra obsesionado con los “smart phones” y una “boca audaz”, tratando con esfuerzos de encajar con sus, probablemente pandilleras, amistades. Su hermana Lucía (Gabriela Dipascuale) se encuentra obsesionada con su “prom” y gasta raudales de dinero, que la familia no tiene, en atuendos, en la fiesta y en una limusina Hummer. El padre (Mario López Garcia) se golpea la cabeza tratando de entender la tecnología moderna de la laptop familiar, frustrado y mal equipado para lidiar con su descendencia modernizada en esta tierra innovadora, mientras que su madre (Rosa Cristolbal) es tratada no más que como una bestia de carga para satisfacer las necesidades del resto de la familia.

Incapaz de expresar sus deseos frustrados hacia esta familia atrapada en apariencias estereotípicas, Cristina se deja llevar a una tierra de sueños, donde su espíritu misterioso y, a veces, peligroso, El Jaguar (representado por el magnífico y profundamente centrado Pablo Saldana) y el espíritu de su Jardín de Sueño (Carlosalexis Cruz) la dirigen a través de varias alegorías, reflejando el duro trabajo que representa el expresar completamente sus deseos en su cultura particular. Un leñador joven, en la persona del hermano de Cristina, atacaría a las raíces de los orígenes de su cultura, de la misma manera que los gánsteres lo harían abandonar su cultura en su favor. Una Princesa del Sol Inca, altanera al principio, parece ser la hermana de Cristina, en su obsesionada apariencia; pero cuando se enamora de un pastor que ella ha rechazado antes, en la persona de El Jaguar, Cristina ve en ella, por primera vez, el pozo profundo del amor auténtico. En efecto, la Princesa está tan incitada a ser uno con su amor, que paga las últimas consecuencias con su molesto padre, el Dios Sol, cuando ella y el pastor se unen para siempre, transformados en dos piedras mudas. En la historia del armadillo, Cristina reconoce los sueños de su padre y ancestros, quienes desean solamente que posea un canto placentero pero que, al mismo tiempo, es insultada por pájaros cantores durante sus ensayos de sonidos chillones. Su deseo es realizado más tarde cuando, después de su muerte, su cuerpo es convertido en una hermosa mandolina de cuerdas. Y, al igual que en la historia del pájaro feo que tiene que esconder su maravillosa voz, así como su deseo de compartirla, Cristina ve la opresión que su madre, y otras muchas mujeres como ella, han tenido que soportar en su cultura, hasta que su talento es descubierto.

Reyes y su elenco manejan toda la lógica de los sueños de manera maestra, tanto el trabajo de las máscaras, como la representación de los caracteres de las leyendas y las historias; representando fácilmente sus diferentes papeles con vívida emoción y sin pasar a la superficialidad. Al despertar de su sueño, Cristina es liberada de su máscara por El Jaguar y, decidida a expresar su deseo a su familia, y quizá justamente debido a éste, logra liberarlos a todos de sus máscaras estereotípicas para tratarlos de manera auténtica, debido a que ya no los está viendo más a través de su propio papel que le otorgaba su propia máscara. Mientras que algunos remedios son explorados por Cristina con el propósito de alcanzar sus sueños, no existen aquí respuestas sencillas. Se le deja a la familia, a la comunidad, y a todos nosotros la tarea de responder a estas preguntas. ¿Cuál es la solución para todos aquéllos que forman parte de nuestro bagaje cultural en los EUA? ¿Estamos dispuestos a reconocer esta verdad o no? ¿Vamos a permitir que una cultura se suicide al optar por soluciones rápidas como el crimen y la autodestrucción, que no les llevan a ninguna solución? ¿Vamos a arrancar sus raíces o darles nada más que un territorio seco y pedregoso donde puedan encontrar su sustento? ¿O vamos a recibir esta rica y vibrante tradición de leyendas y cultura para ayudarlos a expresarse y formar parte de la cultura Norteamericana, a la cual ya han contribuido bastante? Ven a beber del arroyo maravillosamente abundante de sueños culturales y aspiraciones que es “Jardín de Sueños” y experimenta estas visiones por ti mismo. En la función de estreno asistieron familias enteras con niños pequeños que prestaban absorta atención, es maravilloso ver que esta herencia de historias y cuentos es transmitida a futuras generaciones.

Es recomendable que el público llegue un poco más temprano de lo normal para que pueda tener tiempo de admirar el maravilloso arte de Gene Flores, que se encontrará adornando el teatro durante la presentación de esta producción; es un placer para la audiencia el dejar que estos sueños visuales dejen una huella en sus corazones y almas.

[Spanish Language translation courtesy of Luisa Appleman]

The action involves Tabor’s eponymous character clearing out his office at a dance company after they have, like many other non-profit arts programs, lost funding and moved on. Downstairs, he sees (but contrary to what the plot synopsis originally indicated, hardly interacts with) the youth members of the “Dancing Wheels” troupe and their families. The opening number, “Already Morning,” shows the three parents, Kathleen (Chrissy Kelly-Pettit), Issac (Shuhe Hawkins – also, it would seem, quite the talented horn player) and Laura (Lisamarie Harrison), their daily task of preparing for the day with a wheelchair bound offspring and the self-doubts, control issues, and lack of their own lives they re-experience each time. This moment was beautiful and there should have been a lot more of this throughout the play — the self-doubt questioning of who these people are if not caretakers for a disabled child, and the children’s yearning for their own independence in a world that is harsh and not welcoming to their needs.

Alas, this was quickly left behind, and we’re on to Tabor in his last day at the office. Tabor’s narration is affable enough, but his over realistic, almost NPR Radio host style clashes with the acting styles director Diane Englert has going on around him, which are mostly stagey musical performances. While Tabor’s “Recognition” might happen for him when he begins to notice these other lives, we never really see these moments in his character besides him talking about them, nor how they effect him, nor any interaction with any of those involved with “Dancing Wheels” — save Cherie Price’s Janine, a humorous substitute dance teacher role channeling a bit of Kristin Chenoweth. More importantly, we don’t see even the beginnings of the possible next steps he or any of these other characters might take once this “Recognition” happens.

The children in the wheelchairs are fun, but the writing for them tends to repeat the same point of yearning for independence without any variation, which can wear on an audience even when they are sympathetic to their plight. The buoyant Laura Elizabeth Mathans is probably best at this as Carolyn, the daughter of one-time dancer and now definitely helicopter parent material on the way to being “Mama Rose,” Harrison’s Laura, but the writing sinks Mathans in an inescapable rut. Lydia Fecker’s Seca has a fun, lovely time in “Yes Ma’am” with father Issac, showing his doting upon her. Perhaps the best voice and number, closer to an emotional core than anything else here, was Kelly-Pettit’s performance of “Little Things,” showing the same need to over-control every aspect of her daughter’s frail life also gives her an ability to see wonder in the smallest of things. However, these are lost in a production that does have dance, yes, and dance with wheelchairs, but that is relatively limited compared to the sheer number of dancers on stage. This was especially true in what was supposed to be the finalé, “You are…” celebrating these family members in their ordinary lives as the “angels” for those they care for. Done with a veritable horde of angel dancers crowding the stage, it pushed the border from celebration into the over sentimental.

For adult audiences savvy to lives of those like Christy Brown and Portland’s very own guttural cartoonist saint, Callahan, it’s hard watching a production like this that lacks it’s own sense of self-irony. There are possibilities in Recognition, but weaknesses in the book and structure as it stands remind us that while fighting cynicism when facing life’s most difficult hands dealt is a worthy goal, doing it without the depth of what one’s own real self-doubts are and how they are overcome without platitude, doesn’t connect to anyone.

Stage One Productions’ Recognition, at PSU’s Lincoln Hall. Book, Music and Lyrics by Christopher Tabor, Directed by Diane Englert, Choreographed by Christopher and Lynn Brennan Tabor, Additional Choreography by Kieraq’mil Brinkley & Kara Girod, Orchestra Conducted by Samantha Tabor, Scenic Design by Tal Sanders, Lighting Design by Gene Dent, Costume Design by Virginia Belt. Featuring: Christopher Tabor, Lisamarie Harrison, Laura Elizabeth Mathans, Cherie Price, Shuhe Hawkins, Lydia Fecker, Chrissy Kelly-Pettit, Rose Saltveit, Peter Burdett, Michelle Girard; Dancing Wheels Dancers: Kiersi Coleman, Kara Girod Schuster, Peter Burdett, Kieraq’mil Brinkley, and Aidan Burns. Performances – Friday, March 23, 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, March 24, 2:00p.m. & 7:00 p.m.; Sunday, March 25 at 2:00 p.m. & 6:00 p.m. Ticket: $32 general admission, $27 students & seniors (over 65), group discount on 8 or more – $24. PSU Ticket office: (503) 725-3307 or online at Ticketmaster.com. In-person sales are available Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the PSU box office located at 1620 SW Park Ave. in Portland.

• On Monday, March 19 at 6:30pm in their Morrison Theatre, they will offer Iraqi Artists on Race, in partnership with Pacific Northwest College of Art’s MA Program in Critical Theory and Creative Research. Five female Iraqi artists—writers, directors, actors. Join a discussion on race, performance, writing, and gender equality with these bold, fresh voices from the Middle East; including a discussion of Mamet’s play, Race, and how their perspective on the show is shaped by their culture, gender, performance experience, and any language barriers. This event is free and open to the public.
• Sunday, March 25 @ 6pm in their Alder Lobby there will be Forum: Race, Society, and the Law, in partnership with the August Wilson Red Door Project. The discussion will be on how racial issues affect our society and the Portland community. The panel will be moderated by August Wilson Red Door Project co-founder Lesli Mones and include the Honorable Donald Letourneau, Lewis & Clark Law School professor John Parry, ACLU of Oregon board member Fred Neal, Executive Director of the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation Sharon Gary-Smith, and The Skanner news editor Lisa Loving. This event is free and open to the public.
• On Monday, March 26 at 7 pm in the Morrison Theatre will be Deconstructing RACE: A Discussion with Walidah Imarisha, in conjunction with the August Wilson Red Door Project. Writer/artist/lecturer Walidah Imarisha will lead the discussion exploring the historical and current political landscapes that help shape the themes of the show. Walidah Imarisha taught in Portland State University’s Black studies department, where she created classes about the history of the Black Panther Party, race and the history of prisons, Hurricane Katrina, and hip hop as literature. She has facilitated writing workshops for schools, community centers, youth detention facilities, and women’s prisons. Imarisha was a founding editor of AWOL, a national political hip hop magazine and toured as part of the poetry duo Good Sista/Bad Sista. She has been featured on several hip hop CDs and filmed and codirected Finding Common Ground in New Orleans, a documentary about Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath. This event is free and open to the public.
• Online Talkback: Red Door Project hosts a blog for discussion about Race. The August Wilson Red Door Project is a community programming partner for Race. This organization’s mission is to be a social change agent, using the arts as a catalyst for creating a lasting, positive change in the racial ecology of Portland by partnering with arts organizations and venues around Portland to promote high-quality art, theatre, and musical events that showcase the works of people of color. Another key commitment is to offer professionally facilitated community conversations to provide Portlanders with opportunities for transformational dialogue about issues of race. The Red Door Project also offers a blog for online discussions about plays and arts events that involve the topics of color and race in Portland. This is the Race talkback page on the Red Door Project’s website.
• On going: Group Art Installation in the Morrison Lobby for Race. As part of an ongoing effort to bring play-driven visual art work to the Morrison Lobby, a special installation for Race was curated by Open Door Gallery’s Bobby Fouther. This group show features the works of over a dozen local African American artists, with more than 30 pieces, on the theme of race.

For more information about these events contact Torrie McDonald, Education Outreach Coordinator, at tmcdonald@artistsrep.org or by calling 503-241-9807 ext. 103, or checking out this page on Artists’ Repertory Theater’s website.

Taking as a theme the current great unknown in astrophysics, dark matter, through masterful movement Kidd Pivot’s Choreographer Crystal Pite uses her dancers to express this sometimes playfully, sometimes with the true “dark” side of these concealed forces that are said to effect all of the universe around us; always raising the question in the piece, who is controlled, and by what? And I do mean uses the dancers — all on stage seem moving inexplicably, amazingly and oft in a bodily unison by some unseen, unstoppable force.

The opening begins with an established, Pinnochio-like folk tale and a voice from an old radio reading Voltaire’s words from Poem on the Lisbon Disaster:

What is the verdict of the vastest mind?
Silence: the book of fate is closed to us.
Man is a stranger to his own research;
He knows not whence he comes, nor whither goes.
Tormented atoms in a bed of mud,
Devoured by death, a mockery of fate.
But thinking atoms, whose far-seeing eyes,
Guided by thought, have measured the faint stars,
Our being mingles with the infinite…

We see in flashes of time a mannequin maker assembling a miniature, and it coming to life with the aid of traditional black-suited puppeteers, taking cues from Owne Belton’s appropriately crunching, mechanized score. All these elements are stock trade, particularly in children’s theater, and the puppeteers are plainly seen (used to great effect and play throughout the piece), but it becomes awe-inspiring in the ways the puppeteers, puppet and dancer/puppetmaker all move together, in a fluid harmony, and at the same time not only seeing how the puppet and its maker are moved by the puppeteers, but how even the puppeteers react and recoil in how the physics of gravity effect their subject. The set’s look and feel by designer Jay Gower Taylor might be familiar to Portland cinephiles — they have the look of Laika’s animated film Coraline, and also the animated film 9 or the Aardman animations; one of the amazing aspects is the puppeteers’ ability to make the movements seem quite like these animated pieces, while you know you are looking at a simple marionette. The story takes a darker side of Brothers Grimm turn, as the puppet creations behaves more and more like an errant, demanding child, threatening to bring down the very walls around them, and when its creator tries to kill it with a cut-out axe, it is the puppet who kills its creator with a very real pair of scissors, thus ending both their lives.

But the story does not end there — now the black-clad puppeteers, left with nothing to manipulate, attempt to clean up the stage, even treating the puppet and puppet maker’s bodies virtually the same, as discarded props. Now they become at odds with each other, and rather hilarious fighting ensues, all of them becoming suddenly fighting ninjas (they were dressed for it, after all). A shadow play, to great effect in lighting and space in front of and behind the backlit set, evoking elements of Javanese shadow puppet theater, including taking a stencil saying “This is Fate,” echoing the words of Voltaire, and rearranging it to be, “This is Fake” — a artistic spoof worthy of Magritte. The chaos of the melee ends the act, sets are thrown down, flattening the would-be ninja-puppeteers, back curtains fall, even an overhead set of lights falls and threatens to crash to the stage, comically like some theme park disaster ride. Clearly the puppeteers were both the not-too-unseen force and benighted dark matter here.

The expanded second half starts amidst a stage of foggy smoke, even as the house lights have not gone down and audience members are finding their seat — there is now but one dark matter puppeteer left, slowly coming to life, moving in and out of vision in the use of light and fog. The rest of the company enters, having shed puppeteer costumes, and start in open dance, occasionally again to Belton’s percussive score, or the reading of Voltaire, intermittently with the last puppeteer — but the theme of being moved or controlled is not left behind. Moving around, occasionally in long silences and only through rhythmic breathing or noises by the dancers, the whole company moves in a breathtaking unison, seeming to pull each other, even as if by strings, close by or even distant, interacting and even riding each other; or, as a whole group body in jerks or fluid movement by the hidden force. At times, that force are spots acting like watch lights, pulling dancers across the stage by their beams, rather than following their movements. This is coordinated dance movement in especially complex moves with little or no rhythmic cues that can leave viewers in simple awe-struck wonder. The lone puppeteer appears in front of a gauzy backdrop, backlit by lights mimicking the glimmer of star clusters and galaxies in the black void.

Finally, the puppeteer is left alone, and begins to strip away the hood and black cat suit. It is a woman, stripping down to grey dance skivvies. Against the galaxies of light backdrop, she is seen in vulnerable recline on stage by the original puppet maker, and they intertwine in a lovers’ pas de deux, now with a more holy, symphonic chorus score. They still pull with unseen forces on each other, but now with an open willingness, a cosmic joining of the divine part of human touching and joining in the manipulation of this mysterious power, recalling hindu deities joining in divine love. Of course, to touch such divineness can only mean release from life, and as the puppet maker seems to expire, the divine puppeteer attempts to attach new unseen strings, and in final embrace we wonder if she is merely holding on to a dead love, or if he is truly reborn in her arms.

Kidd Pivot’s Dark Matters dazzles, from the depths fear of the unknown, to hilarity, to breathtaking wonder in movement, to the divine. That one show can can express all this within its enigmatic cosmic theme is a astonishment in itself and audiences are bound to be caught up in the rapture of its darkly woven tapestry of puppetry and dance.

White Bird Uncaged series presents Kidd Pivot Frankfurt RM’s Dark Matters at PCPA Newmark Theater. Created & Choreographed by Crystal Pite, Original Music composed Ownen Belton, Set Design by Jay Gower Taylor, Lighting Design by Robert Sondergaard. Dance Company: Eric Beauchesne, Peter Chu, Sandra Marín Garcia, Yannick Matthon, Jirí Pokorný, Cindy Salgado, and Jermaine Maurice Spivey. Poem on the Lisbon Disaster by Voltaire read by Christopher Gaze. March 15 – 17 at PCPA Newark Theater, Tickets $30, $20 for Seniors/Students. Tickets through PCPA Web Site, in person at the PCPA Box Office (1111 SW Broadway at Main St; open M-SA 10-5), by phone at 1-800-380-3516, or online through White Bird.

Corbin shows us that humor is not always created from the light-hearted things of life. In fact, he has shown us that humor is best created not from a tickle or a haphazard caress but from a harsh word that is in fact not cruel but true. What we know of the truth, about life, the changes we experience, and how those changes affect our view of our lost loves point inevitably to the absurdity of trying to make sense out of past events at all.

There are three acts in the play, all taking place at Robert and Beth’s old favorite restaurant. The first act is a year after the divorce, the second being five years after the divorce, and the third being ten years after the divorce. In every act, reoccurring subjects are breached such as Beth’s disapproval of Robert ordering food she does not like to eat and Robert’s snobbery over her wine choices, but there are other juicier subjects that come to the forefront of every dinner. Robert accuses Beth of marrying him for his financial security, and Beth accuses Robert of having had multiple affairs while they were married and not just his admitted affair with Daphne, whom Robert is still dating post-divorce (at least in the first act).

Amidst Robert and Beth’s quarrelling and remembrance hovers their long-time favorite server Tonya (Cecelia Harper) who waits on them but serves more as a comedic edge to their dialogue than to their needs, making disapproving expressions behind Robert’s back and giving supportive nods to Beth. In between acts, Tonya says nothing of Robert and Beth but instructs and interacts with a younger and more inexperienced server named Michelle (Amanda Herrman), who serves as a vehicle for humor but above all time progression, her first appearance being that of an apathetic, spoon-stealing beginner with blue hair, and four years later being a professional-looking and acting server, just starting college. Both Harper and Herrmann’s acting add humor and depth to the story.

In the first act, Robert’s glow from his newfound freedom shines bright while Beth’s wounds over the divorce are still fresh. She demands that he must refrain from mentioning Daphne if he wants her to stay. She wallows in self-pity, griping about Robert telling her to be realistic and she says, “Don’t follow your own dream. Wait for everything to be perfect before you start living your life. Then, after years of waiting, one day your husband will come home with a busty blonde on his arm and tell you he’s bored with you, and, realistically, it’s time to move on.” Ironically, these two actors are a married couple in real life, and it is no wonder that their inherent chemistry made their performances fiery yet precise. Susan’s performance as Beth packs a punch of comic timing and painful punctuations and JJ’s upstart, defensive tone while delivering, “That’s not at all what happened,” carries through Corbin’s message that no matter the circumstances that lead a union to break, there are always two sides to the story, two contributors.

While Beth disdains Robert’s unabashed display of happiness, Robert himself displays a bit of surprise and perhaps jealousy at her decision to go to law school. Corbin presents the complexity of a relationship that while it has changed, it is not dead; though they may not be in love anymore, they still affect each other greatly and do so unintentionally a few times and deliberately most of the time. He writes his characters so true to life that to me, they are like haunting quotes from relationships-past.

In the second act, five years after the divorce, Corbin presents an interesting shift. Robert and Beth meet for lunch this time because of Beth’s busy schedule between working full-time as a law clerk and going to law school part-time. She is late and Robert is aghast at her transformation. The once mousy and fairly-unimpressively dressed Beth now sports a fashionable pants-suit, well-groomed hair, and precisely-applied makeup. And, it is not just her appearance that has changed, it is her outward exuberance of confidence and her sharp and affective words. A joke from the first act about Robert’s judgment of Beth’s wine knowledge is challenged when she orders the “’97 Pinot Grigio.” In this act, Robert is slightly less impressive as he was in the first, fumbling for words at Beth’s well-timed retorts and her intentions to investigate his financial past and see if he owed her more money from the divorce settlement than he gave.

They discuss their love-lives, Robert having “run through” several girlfriends, all having been significantly younger, and Robert is downright hurt by the discovery that Beth is dating his former business partner Preston who is helping her with the investigation. Even though it could be seen at first that Beth is just trying to get back at Robert’s past infidelity, Corbin does well in complicating the situation even more. He does not shift the surface villainy from Robert to Beth. Rather, Corbin successfully paints a picture that many people can recognize, one of change and surprise. Beth is standing up for herself and yet she still cares about Robert. And, despite Robert’s seemingly-carefree attitude towards his love-life, he still cares about Beth. At the end of the act, they are both left hurt, not by any kind of lingering romantic feelings, but by the fact that they know they are still capable of affecting each other.

In the final act, they meet for dinner, ten years after the divorce, and Beth is more professional-looking and sounding than ever, wearing her fashionable clothes and talking incessantly on her cell phone in her efforts in working for a political campaign. Robert is more pathetic than ever, hobbling in on crutches with a broken leg, and he is dressed like an old-timer. While this act has its ripe humor such as when we discover that his injury was the result of falling off the toilet and that Beth played the field before she married Preston, (despite her disapproval of Robert playing the field), there is a true tenderness and vulnerability that emerges in this act. Robert is newly remarried to yet another young woman who is pregnant with his child and is a check-out clerk at a grocery store. And, it turns out that Robert is not only suffering from a broken leg but from being broke financially.

Despite Beth congratulating Robert for finally “growing up” at settling down with someone, it is clear that he realizes he has lost everything. Upon seeing how happy she is as a mother, he expresses regret at never having had children with her and about driving her away, although the humor in this is that he has conveniently forgotten that he in fact had the affair and left Beth. I am thrilled that Corbin chose not to have Robert make a desperate attempt to get Beth back because her character’s status at this point is written so high above his, that it would be far too absurd. However, Corbin makes Robert more sympathetic than ever in this act, as he sees that he has lost Beth forever and that she does not even want to continue their friendship. After she leaves him at the table to take a business call, our sympathy for Robert’s loss immediately turns to disapproval as he is witnessed by Tonya making a call to his ex-girlfriend Daphne, and seems to be planning to cheat on his new wife. Of course, since Corbin makes this shift in our view of him so abrupt, it creates a perfect kind of humor and a kind-of “here we go again” effect.

All in all, Corbin’s Happy Anniversary is a delight and a treat, an experience to savor the bitter-sweetness of lost love and the enjoyment of well-written and acted quips and remarks. It is a story I am sure everyone could recognize and look back on and laugh, as we know we have changed, lasted, and survived a past of heartbreak.

It is often said in show business that writers cannot expect to see their new works fully produced, and that actors and dancers have to be Hollywood- style and lottery-winner lucky to get a chance to perform. It is also an often lamented truth that people are giving less and less financial support to the arts.

In Portland however, something else is true. Uniquely talented artists are being given a chance to showcase their work in a highly original world premier musical play featuring talented performers with mixed physical abilities. And the production is being fully supported by a local businessman who wants to celebrate ordinary people who overcome life’s many obstacles to make extraordinary contributions.

Local businessman Bill Howe and his partners have invested in a new work by an award winning Portland playwright Christopher Tabor to open March 23rd at Lincoln Hall. The play explores the experiences of a recently unemployed man who encounters some unusual dancers and their parents and rediscovers his sense of purpose through getting to know them. It is a true story about hope and inspiration even during tough times.

Mr. Howe was inspired to help bring the show to fruition after hearing a few songs from it performed at a party. He felt the show gave him new insight and hope. As he describes:

“We knew just listening to the music for the first time that we were experiencing something special and unique. So often we find the cultural conversation being framed by divisiveness and disrespect, but this was something hopeful and real at the same time. It talked about ordinary people, facing extraordinary challenges and learning from each other. It was hopeful without being sappy. We all had a moment of recognizing something special was happening when we first heard the music.”

In fact, the musical is called RECOGNITION. And it is the hope of the playwright Christopher Tabor, that seeing it will allow us all to recognize new abilities and possibilities within ourselves.

Christopher was moved to write it after being laid off from the Cleveland Ballet. While struggling to pick up the pieces of his life, he met a group of dancers from the Dancing Wheels Dance Company. Believing that dance is an expression of the human spirit, the Dancing Wheels Dance Company comprises dancers we would normally think of as “disabled” along with dancers who more closely match what we think of first when we hear the word “dancer.” Getting to know these dancers and their parents had a profound impact on Christopher.

What he learned is that there is much more to their stories and to his own story than he first expected. Those rich stories inspired him to craft a new musical RECOGNITION.

Stage One’s Production of RECOGNITION is funny, gritty and respectful; and it will leave audiences ready to embrace their own miracles. Best of all it is a Portland premier featuring the work of some of Portland’s most talented and unusual artists.

The talented creative team features a 16-piece orchestra, a versatile cast of veteran actors, the voices of the Portland Symphonic Girlchoir and dancers from the Portland Youth Ballet. It also includes traditionally “abled” dancers and performers, as well as the remarkable work of dancers with unusual abilities, including performers working from wheel chairs, and one who creates breathtaking beauty through her dance, despite being a quadruple amputee.

Recognition also has plenty of “regular folk” in the cast and on the crew who find that their unique abilities and challenges might be a bit less obvious to strangers, but which still require them to call on deep reserves of strength and hope as they navigate daily life.

As Christopher Tabor, the playwright says “This is an opportunity to recognize unique abilities and perspectives in ourselves. We all have something special that we can all share if we are only given a chance.”

Portland audiences will have five chances to see RECOGNITION starting March 23rd. Performances will be Friday, March 23 at 7:00 p.m., Saturday, March 24 at 2:00p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 25 at 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Ticket prices are $32 for general admission, $27 for students and seniors (over 65).Groups of 8 or more can purchase tickets for only $24.

The public is invited to buy tickets through the PSU Ticket office at (503) 725-3307 or online at Ticketmaster.com. In-person sales are available Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to5 p.m. at the PSU box office located at 1620 SW Park Ave. in Portland.

Meet Christopher Tabor- author of Recognition

Whenever friends, particularly somewhat affluent, caucasian friends from far more urbane States of the Union come to visit in Oregon, after reviewing our cities in the Wilamette valley over a few days, from Portland to Salem to Eugne, I’m occasionally asked a rather snarky, smirking question: “Where are all your People of Color?”

Never mind the question itself implies an inherent form of smug racism in the questioner (“Yes, sorry,” I often wish to counter with dripping sarcasm, “the African Americans, Native Americans and Latinos whom I usually see most every day on TriMet, the MAX, in the store or at my yoga class must not have gotten the memo you were arriving to trot on out and wave to assure you Oregon doesn’t still enforce Racial Curfew laws.”). The issue is: it stings because there is a ring of truth to it. Though urban Portland is known for its being progressive liberal enclave, it is nevertheless a largely white, urban progressive enclave — African American and Latino cultures in North and far Eastside notwithstanding. And it’s much too easy to convince oneself of having the best diversity intentions if one is not too challenged on a daily basis with actual people from differing races. In scanning the audience for Artist Repertory Theater’s production of David Mamet’s latest play, Race, I noted only one young African American woman amongst a rather staid, older white crowd. I wondered how safe she felt expressing her own experience and reaction to the issues raised in this play, albeit raised by an affluent white male in his 60s (more on that later)?

In the material itself, there are all the usual Mamet verbal fireworks and massive language play, no denying he is a master at his craft. Mamet uses a standard Hollywood and television set-piece to literally make his case — that of the legal soap pot-boiler (in fact, on Broadway, the lead lawyer role was played by James Spader, famous for similar TV roles in The Practice and Boston Legal). Legal firm partners Jack (Todd Van Voris) and Henry (Reginald Andre Jackson) consider taking on a case that has just walked in their door, later finding out it was declined by another, more prestigious firm – that of a rich, powerful white man, Charles Strickland (Jim Iorio), who is accused of raping a young black woman at a hotel, with whom he claims he was having regular sexual relations. Assisting them, or perhaps not as much as they may think, is recent firm associate hire Susan (Ayanna Berkshire), whom Jack displays a certain avuncular fondness for in testing her on how they are setting up the case.

The cast in David Mamet's Race at Artists' Rep.

Mamet has thrown in all possible elements of sensationalism and topicality here to attract and titillate a Broadway audience steeped in similar recent news items — shades of Dominque Strauss-Kahn and Eliot Spitzer. In fact, maybe too much so — all this comes close to pandering, perhaps with Mamet having “gone native” in Hollywood for too long and his successes there (The Verdict, Glengarry Glen Ross, Hoffa, Wag The Dog,etc.). The question here becomes, does Mamet’s use of craft hit the mark on these issues of entrenched attitudes on racism? One comes away feeling this is important piece for all on any side of the issue to see and start discussion, which in itself is an achievement. It lacks, however, one key element to any major dramatic work — that of transformation, of change. One or more of the characters here should have their core beliefs tested and, if not changed by the end, we see how they have to further entrench and defend their stance, and what sacrifices they make to maintain it.

In Race, good issues are raised, but none the characters ever seem to be challenged with evidence to the contrary about their intractable feelings on race relations and power. From African American partner Henry’s opening challenge to Strickland, “You want me to tell you about black folk?,” where he peels off a litany of basic crap white people are known to intone about various African American figure heads, and throughout the evening thereafter, we have Mamet’s making the same case, over and over, for the same polemic, albeit in his trademark fascinating dialogue. The basic premise is that of shared cultural guilt and shame: Black and White can never say anything ever to each other about race, due to inheriting those into the culture. At best, each side senses all too clearly in the social contract of interchange the little lies said to “make nice” from one race to another and what that is really covering over.

No one is ever given even a hair’s breath of room to leap from these entrenched views — only further worse-case scenarios to cement how the already feel. Even though Tamara Fisch’s direction with her cast in this production is apt and smart, she and the cast also do nothing to give us even an inkling that other views might exist. One must consider the source — this smacks of an elder, American white male in his 60s’ view, one who knows too well the power structures from Wall Street to Broadway to the Hollywood Studio system, who has seen the many failed promises since the Civil Rights movement, and is as world weary as these lawyers with an attitude of no changing the way things are, an African American elected president or not. What it ignores, and where an opportunity is missed with a character like Berkshire’s younger Susan, is the differing attitude amongst younger generations that have come after. These young people, who in the workplace, on two recent foreign, bloody battle fields, in the shrinking multi-cultural world market and connectedness of the internets where they see first hands the revolutions of the Arab Spring, might respond with, “We just don’t think of or treat each other that way — why would we?” Also missing is an even larger issue — Strickland’s main transgression is not as much against race but in violence against women — his long affair was one paid for with a high-class prostitute that he is accused of taking to the level of rape. It begs the question, why is this play called Race and not so much Gender? — which sin is oldest and most rank in shame in the old white male power structure — that of inhumanity against fellows of different color, or all races’ subjugation and limiting of women?

The cast here at Artists’ Repertory performs serviceably under Fisch’s direction, but there are times where they seem controlled by the massive weight of Mamet phrasing and argument, not allowing it to breathe life into the humanity and quirks of their characters — the words and plot control them, not the other way around. Anything that might give some background and life to the characters seems subsumed and ignored — Jackson’s use of a cane for Henry seemed curious, as it didn’t appear the character actually needed it at all. Ultimately, this is a piece people should see for the discussion, either in reaction to or in begrudging agreement, that will ensue, but one wonders if the piece ignores a whole two generations later of different experience, who may well untie this modern Gordian Knot of race relations, where the characters here can’t even seem to find its frayed ends.

Artists’ Repertory Theater presents Race, written by David Mamet, directed by Tamara Fisch. Featuring Todd Van Voris, Reginald Andre Jackson, Jim Iorio and Ayanna Berkshire. Set Design by Jeff Seats, Lighting Design by Kristeen Willis Crosser, Sound Design by Rodolfo Ortega, and Costume Design by Elizabeth Huffman. March 6th – April 8th at Artists’ Repertory Theater, 1515 SW Morrison, Portland, Oregon, 97205, 503.241.1278, box-office@artistsrep.org. Tickets are $40, $20 for Students with valid I.D.

NOTE: ONLY ONE SATURDAY NIGHT, MARCH 10TH PERFORMANCE LEFT! TICKET INFO AT BOTTOM!

The last few days here in our otherwise lovably drippy Rose City have actually been (dare I say it and tempt adverse, stormy fate by typing it in print? – Northwest weather is a fickle mistress…) sunny and fair, albeit chilly. Enough so that otherwise seasonly cautious natives have stripped down to (gasp!) only one sweater and thermal undergarments. Balmy, for these parts, I’d say. What better way to celebrate this turn of climate than to stretch out ones limbs to the wide open sky and have a dance? Or if you don’t feel quite up to cutting loose in your own Le sacre du printemps, then you should watch those at the very height of this form, our own, local NW Dance Project and their current Spring Premieres performance. And you owe it to yourself not to miss it — this is modern choreography and dance at its finest, from a local troupe about to make its way to the London Summer Olympics.

Artistic Director Sarah Slipper and her dance troupe are certainly at their most thrilling, and emotionally moving in their communication through movement in space and sound. With three world premiere pieces in this show, the audience has much to take in a feast of motion that speaks straight to the core. Even those usually having an aversion to dance performances would find something here to grab hold of their attention and not let go.

The first piece, Conjugations, by Choreographer and Artistic Director of his own dance company, Wen Wei Wang, suggests the many groupings and pairings one might see at an urban college green, city square or park lawn filled with young people at the start of Spring. As the seasonal change breaks them open, the many groupings and pairings begin to display their opening interactions. Starting with a single woman waving her arm in the air — knocking at her future? defiantly protesting like an Occupy Movement youth? — is soon joined by the dance company in a variety of celebratory, individual movements that culminate joining and supporting the woman in her movement, and her being handed back and forth amongst them like a trusting wave. Eventually, the young woman’s conjugation is caught up in what seems like an almost violent and abusive pas de deux with a man taking her by her very head and whipping her around. Communicated only in movement, it raises questions of both those caught up in such abuse, those who perpetrate such manipulation, and also, in some of the more passionately connecting moments, those who seek out such relations for the thrilling feeling it gives them. Or perhaps this is how a youthful spring pairing emotionally whips around any of us. An epiphany moment of bright quiet above her partner’s shoulders, there is a power exchange, and now the woman rides him slowly like an animal of burden. The second conjugation of man and woman contrasts with far more amazing feats of harmonious interchange and movement, breaking into a tribal, rave-like dance of the company. It ends with a final pairing of two men — a challenge? A fight? A joining love? Can such a connection between two men ever not contain an element of competitiveness? A bright light of spring sun bathes them as they finally join at close of the piece.

Slipper’s piece, Airys, is a sharp and dramatic contrast to pulsating youth of the first. The “airs” here are ironically neither light nor casual — the black costuming, darkened stage, columnar curtains and spacing of two observing dancers are reminiscent of staging of the greek tragedies. Single dancer limbs stretch out in almost a yearning to break free from some unseen confining force. A grouping moves ritualistically forward, and the ominous sound of breath or airs that move them seem not open or light, but downright threatening. This is the open air of an apocalyptic distopia, what is left in an urban wasteland with those moving, seeking protection in concert together. With the two curtains on-stage falling, the group disposes of one like a body unknown and uncared for, while one woman sets the other down gently, like a lover. She intones a caring poem, even as group dances in counterpoint seeing, perhaps, the bright morning sun inferred, at the same time fearing what it might reveal, or that nightmares might find reality in it. A fallen member is given a grief stricken dance entwining, pulsating in grief upon the body. A final, intimately bare pas de deux amongst the falling ash ends with one lifeless, one heaving breath over the body, with fear of what life is left.

The final piece by Patrick Delcroix, Chameleon, opens up the stage after the previous catastrophic vision, to the bare back walls, ropes and lights of backstage. On the starkness of the stage, the dancers enter as a group, each with different color paint which they begin to smear on their own shirts, bodies and on each others in single, bright smearing streaks. Only one or two streaks are needed, because in dance groupings all together, or pairings off, the chameleon-like change in hues happens in their interaction with each other, the paint messily smearing into different color mixtures with each new movement together. Human interactions are never clean, often messy, but what vibrant colors in motion and changes they do produce. In three different pas de deuxs we see the very fullest these relations in movement can intertwine and take us. Finally, a dancer brings a bucket of clear water on stage, dunks her head, begins the simple cleansing after so much sweat and smear together, and kneels before a pool of light. Each dancer follows suit in their own very individual, sometimes playful way, staring warmly and gently into their own light, save one who holds off. Is this fear of the loss of all the color and mask of fleshy, earth exchange? Are those reflectively gazing into inner light involved in narcissistic navel gazing, or finding a true, unadorned self in serene inner insight?

This is dance theater with a company at the height of its ability to communicate emotions and images, yes, with their expertly trained motions through light and sound, but also from every fiber of their being, inside and out, clearer than any words that could be uttered. Go and be touched by a true spectacle.

NW Dance Project presents Spring Premiers — Scott Lewis: Executive Director, Sarah Slipper: Artistic Director. Choreography: Conjugations – Wen Wei Wang; Airys – Sarah Slipper; Chameleon – Patrick Delcroix. Dancers: Samantha Campbell, Patrick Kilbane, Elijah Labay, Lindsey Matheis, Lindsey McGill, Franco Nieto, Andrea Parson, Ching Ching Wong. Costumes by Rachelle Waldie and Lighting Design by Jeff Forbes. Plays March 9th and 10th, 2012, 8:00 pm at PCPA Newmark Theater, Tickets $27.00 – $53.00, on-line or at the PCPA Box Office.

SPECIAL NOTE: NW Dance Project will also be hosting special Gala Benefit, London Calling, on June 23rd, 2012, to celebrate their upcoming shows at the 2012 London Olympics. This will include, “…a delicious full dinner and fine wines, British songs sung by our special guest [Northwest Musical Actress and Singer] Susannah Mars. The Benefit will be at Northwest Dance Project Studio + Performance Center, 833 N Shaver Street (at Mississippi Ave.), Portland OR 97227. Tickets are $125 ($75 tax deductible) at the NW Dance Project Web Site.

To get this right out of the way: yes, this production does rely on one long (or in this case, not very long), extended (ahem, see previous paranthetical) penis joke. Or several, one for each of the men in this production for whom this cruel twist-of-fate joke is their life. Enough “small dick” jokes to keep the likes of Kevin Smith and his entire SmodCo empire sniggering and nodding along the whole night. There’s also plenty of hardcore profanity around the subject and its woes — there’s even an on-going joke about how much coin change in the “swear jar” the men have to put in to appease the priest facilitator of this group in a catholic church basement (played to great effect when one of the men pays well ahead before he even starts his sharing). If this is too much for your sensitivities, you may shy away from this production. I’m of course referring to Triangle Productions newest comedy: The Irish Curse.

But in shying away due to whatever uncomfortable embarrassment you might have, you would truly be missing out — big time. Both Martin Casella’s writing (this piece has played on Broadway) and the smart direction and performances in this local production (playing through April 1st) bring forth not only genuine laughter — yes, including humor that is not about the obvious title subject. There are also the plenty of real laughs off of what plagues the oft confused masculine gender in post-modern times, as well as some real heartfelt feeling and poignancy.

The set-up is simple and a bit obvious — instead of twelve angry men, it’s five bitterly, humorously disgruntled ones, gathered by a Priest in a support group, shaking their fist at the universe that saddled them, as full-blooded Irishmen, with “The Curse,” — they’re demographic comes in a bit undersized, as stereotypes would have us believe. Like other bottle dramas/comedies, it’s a pot-boiler of an Irish white male rage and foul-mouthed tom-foolery. But in director Donald I. Horn’s staging, smirkingly done at the Sanctuary on Sandy, which has the feel of church hall and pews, these shaggy dogs hold mass over the sacrament of their disappointments.

Jeff Gorham’s Joseph, a genteel southerner transplanted to the Big Apple as a real estate attorney, as well as Alex Fox’s Irish immigrant Keiran, did well with each of their lilting accents. In fact, my only fault in this production was the lack in other performances of real NYC grit in both voice and manner — others were just too west coast for a lower Manhattan ratty church basement.

It is Joseph’s failed marriage, largely due to his fears in his lack of physical manhood, that moved him and priest Father Kevin (Joe Healy) to start the group. Regulars Rick (James Sharinghousen), a “player” from Staten Island, with also more than a touch of the Jersey Shore in him, and Stephen (Ty Boice), a somewhat bigoted, Irish gay cop (dear lord, can a writer pile any more New Yawk movie stereotypes into one character?), round out the group and provide most of the profane earthiness, balancing out Father Kevin & Joseph. It is newcomer to the support group Keiran, and his questioning of how each member came to be there in order to feel comfortable, that begins to draw them out for more than what Joseph refers to as them usually “just bitching.” This is an over-used writer’s trick, but Fox’s Keiran has an earnest sweetness, covering a real haunting, recent fear, that makes it work. Gorham’s Joseph does well with letting loose a bit in a tour de force monologue laying blame on all wars and worldly problems to worries over penis size, and Healy as Father Kevin does well as the seemingly well put-together priest, only to reveal his own disappointments in a failed young love affair before he took his vows. Sharinghousen’s Rick and Boice’s Stephen both have the right amount swagger and braggart in their performances, though again, Rick seemed to lack the whole bridge-and-tunnel suburbs part of his character. While Rick has the look of a gay Dennis Leary, more of that type of strut with the rapid-fire mouth earlier might have paid off better during later turn around points in the plot.

These are small objections in a production that, overall, hangs together nicely and also brings out a peek at the sad underbelly of male gender issues. Donald I. Horn exercises a gentle hand with his cast, seeing where to let these professionals just do their thing together, and they do it well, often to great audience enjoyment. One thing I did notice, a lot of the laughter, especially “size-related,” came from mostly mature women in the audience — perhaps some shared, enjoyed sororal treachery over past wrongs under a masculine hand? No matter — everyone, of sizes great and small, can enjoy this production.

Triangle Productions presents The Irish Curse, Written by Martin Casella, Directed by Donald I. Horn; Featuring Joe Healy, Alex Fox, Jeff Gorham, Ty Boice, and James Sharinghousen. Plays Thursdays through Sundays, March 8th through April 1st (no show Sunday March 11th) at The Sanctuary at Sandy Plaza, 1785 S.E. Sandy Bouldevard, Portland, Oregon, 97232. Tickets $15 – $35 at Ticket Turtle Web Site, or by calling (503) 239-5919.