AVENUE Q is a laugh-out-loud musical that tells the timeless story of a recent college grad named PRINCETON who moves into a shabby New York apartment all the way out on Avenue Q. There, he meets KATE (the girl next door), ROD (the Republican), TREKKIE (the internet sex-pert), LUCY THE SLUT (need we say more?), and other colorful types who help PRINCETON finally discover his purpose in life!

Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez (also The Book of Mormon) & Jeff Marx Book by Jeff Whitty (from Coos Bay!) (NOTE: Full puppet nudity — no one under 17 admitted unless accompanied by adult over 21)

Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez (also The Book of Mormon) & Jeff Marx Book by Jeff Whitty (from Coos Bay!)

June 13-29, 2013
Thursday, Friday, Saturdays @ 7:30 pm

Winner of the TONY® “TRIPLE CROWN” for BEST MUSICAL, BEST SCORE and BEST BOOK, AVENUE Q is part flesh, part felt and packed with heart.

During “pass the hat” in Act 2, all proceeds will go to the following charities:

Week 1 (June 13, 14, 15): Pride NW
Week 2 (June 20, 21, 22): Cascade AIDS “Camp KC: Kid’s Connection”
Week 3 (June 27,28,29): Lisa Schroeder’s favorite charities: Bradley Angle House, Raphael House and Sparks of Hope

We’re a sanctioned event of 2013 Pride NW

JUNE 14th OFFICIAL PRIDE KICK OFF NIGHT!

And many of the original Portland cast returns!

Jonathan Quesenberry as Brian
James Sharinghousen as Trekkie Monster, Nicky and Ricky Sarah Kim as Christmas Eve
Catherine Bridge as Lucy the Slut and Bad Idea Bear

And introducing
Elizabeth Fritsch as Kate Monster
Matthew Brown as Princeton
Jeremy Garfinkel as Rod the “Republican” and Bad Idea Bear Salim Sanchez as Gary Coleman

Come celebrate the month of June in a big way at The Sanctuary @ Sandy Plaza – 1785 NE Sandy Blvd Portland OR
with triangle productions!

Tickets are now on sale:
Call: 503-239-5919 or click: www.tripro.org

Don’t miss the musical that beat out WICKED for the Best Musical of 2006!

We’d like to help him spread the word about the theatre and the show so please take a look at their information & get your butts to this new theatre!

Serendipity Players happily brings the offbeat comedy “Fuddy Meers,” by David Lindsay-Abaire to the stage this June.

A raucous comedy featuring the amnesiac Claire, her high strung husband Richard, and a mysterious savior with a limp, a lisp, and “plans.” Add in Claire’s take charge mother, her rebellious son, a foul mouthed puppet and a nervous cop and it’s no wonder Claire is confused.

“I’ve wanted to do this play for a long time,” reports artistic director Tony Broom. “Fuddy was on our short list before we ever opened the doors. I saw it several years ago and it’s even funnier than I remembered. It’s also been great reuniting with actors I’ve worked with before and welcoming some talented new people to the company.” This play is not for everyone as it contains raw language and humorous references to substance use.

Performances
Opening night is May 31 at 8:00 PM. The production run includes performances at 8PM on June 1, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, with Sunday matinee performances at 2:00 PM on June 9, 16, and 23. Thursday, June 6th at 8PM is a “Pay What You Will” performance. All performances take place at The Serendipity Playhouse, 500 Washington St, Vancouver, WA

Tickets
Tickets are $15 general admission and may be purchased online at www.serendipityplayers.org, or reservations can be made by calling 360-834-3588. Tickets are also available at the door. Doors open 30 minutes before the performance.

About the Play and Cast
“Fuddy Meers” is a contemporary comedy in two acts. “Fuddy Meers” features Alicia Marie Turvin, Tory Mitchell, Mac Alexander, Brian Reed, Jan Rosenthal, Gary Romans and Cecelia Harper. “Fuddy Meers” is directed by Tony Broom and Joni Moore.

Serendipity Players is a non-equity, semi-professional theater company.

What modern burlesque is far surpasses the snide stereotypes of a few and brings into the light (and with a whole lotta glitter!) an oft-marginalized segment of society and culture, and that that is the real, self-empowered woman performer. There is no better place in America today to dip one’s toe (or dollar bill) into the wild, wanton and at times wacky world of the modern burlesque revival than Portland, with few venues better suited for hosting a show of this kind than Dante’s on Burnside downtown, and arguably, few producers and presenters better able to deliver the glammy goods than Miss Alex Kennedy and her Theatre of Burlesque.

Kennedy is the producer/promoter of Dante’s regular monthly (every third Sunday) burlesque show, with a cadre of regular performers that each bring their own energy and creativity to the stage under her (usually themed) umbrella. On May 19th, the stage became the setting for a dream-scape of erotic and exotic wonder (and glitter, don’t forget the @#$%ing glitter!) with the close of their current season, “In Dreams I Walk with You”. Featuring William Batty (Wanderlust Circus) as master of ceremony / straight-man, as well as Kennedy’s guide through her sensual (and mildly twisted) subconscious, Kennedy tours the Land of Nod to visit vignettes by local burlesque charmers Zora Von Pavonine, Madison Moon (Orchestra L’Pow), Sofia Flash, Dee Dee Pepper, Claire Voltaire (The Fringe Benefits), Infamous Nina Nightshade (Burlesque Hall of Fame), and finally Miss Kennedy herself. To say that they inspired a few dreams of their own is likely an understatement.

The Dante’s crowd was a mix of their regulars, burlesque-o-philes, fellow glitter performers and promoters (I was able to visit briefly with Rose City School of Burlesque Executive Director and shimmy-queen herself, Zora Phoenix, and chatted with a few other of Portland’s finest performers, including the luscious Mona DePlume). The crowd was receptive, encouraging and engaged as every manner of stage move and shimmy was trotted out before them. Every performer provided their own unique take on the dream (and nightmare) theme, as well as a wonderful sampling of moves from the classic burlesque catalog of teases and glimpses, through modern ballet foot-positions, and a few yoga asnas right up to wicked, modern kick, stomp and grind, with many points of interest in-between.

In the end, raunch was at a minimum, creativity was abundant, humor playfully obvious, energy at a boil, and a good time was had by both the crowd as well as the presenters and performers. Miss Kennedy and her fellow burlesque dreamers did indeed deliver on what they promised: a tour through the dark corners and brilliant landscapes of the dream world, complete with beauty, fantasy, and, of course, glitter. Don’t forget the glitter…

Alex next to the Metro Arts Kids Camp

I am jumping up and down excited. That sounds like some lame play on the title of the musical, A Year With Frog & Toad by The Oregon Children’s Theatre, but I promise it’s completely true.

I could just kiss Sarah Gahagan, the Costume Designer for the production. Such clever costumes with so much innovation and detail….the snail shell was fashioned to look like a rolled up sleeping bag strapped to actor Eric Little’s back! He looked like a Bagby Hot Springs snail! And, in all honesty, I would wear Frog’s swimsuit as a dress. You just have to see it to know what I mean.

I’m glad to see Oregon Children’s Theatre (OCT) back in the Newmark theatre; they really seem to be at home there and own that space best. OCT truly masters using the entire stage and it’s height to their advantage. The sound this time was pretty spot on as well; understandably, sometimes it takes a bit more tweaking with live singing and music over speakers, but they were stellar today.

As usual, all of the actors were incredible. Seven actors total and seventeen characters – an astonishing fete. Of course, both Frog and Toad deliver the belly laughs! Hannah Lauren Wilson is only 14 years old, and she makes the cutest squirrel I’ve ever seen and makes me want to learn the Charleston. Seriously, I haven’t seen a more comedically successful Charleston since It’s A Wonderful Life. The other squirrel, Gracie Jacobson, an eighth grader (!!!) and Hannah have such chemistry, they alone could carry a side production. Rebecca Teran has me mesmerized with how she projects the subtle movements of a bird when she’s a bird, and a turtle when she’s a turtle and has the skill and focus to not mix them up. Of course, back to Sarah Gahagan, the costumes were such great personifications of the animals in the books, I can see how staying in character might have been eased a bit.

Speaking of the books, I am embarrassed to admit I did not know of this series before the press release, however my children knew of them. Alex was so excited to see the production; he kept telling me how funny it was going to be – and he was right. I was laughing so hard, I was in tears multiple times. We were so engrossed, my kids and I kept looking at each other during the show with that, “did you see how funny that was?” look, that I almost forgot to observe the audience. This audience seemed to be on the young side, with strong adult attendance as well with the main floor and balconies full. They were laughing, chatting (“why is Toad in a girl’s swimsuit” was heard behind me) and utterly engrossed with goings on. We were all packed in and laughing together.

I love that – the more packed the theatre, the better the show. If you knew me, you’d be shocked I said that because I’m so very NOT a ‘crowds’ person, but the electric excitement of the children and the contagious flow into the adults makes everyone giddy and happy. I never leave in a bad mood regardless of how I went in and today was an exceptional example of that thrill.

Having worked in rail in a previous life, I want to point out that one of the sponsors this time around is Union Pacific. UP, I am dang proud of you for sponsoring this production. I had to do a double-take and check the program to see I heard that right. I love seeing the Oregonian, Knowledge Universe and many of the other sponsors we’ve come to love and expect to see on there, but hearing someone new and out of the usual group – that is what I want out of the Portland I was born and raised in. Go UP! Spread the word – get more involved out there. There’s a lot of brand and workplace pride for those companies that sponsor such great talent.

So go…and get there early enough to enjoy the crafts! We were running late this time and missed the crafts, but Hazel got in line for autographs as usual afterwards – which she just LOVES doing. She told me, “I get so quiet when I get up there.” Aw, such good, healthy heroes for her to have! I got the shot of Alex next to the Metro Arts Kids Camp sign while we were waiting as a reminder to me (and you!) to look up that camp option when we got home!

“ I WANNA ROCK” DREW AND COMPANY (DOMINIQUE SCOTT AND COMPANY)
Photo credit: Kate Egan

FIVE-TIME TONY AWARD® NOMINATED
SMASH-HIT MUSICAL! ROCK OF AGES WILL ROCK PORTLAND!

U.S. Bank Broadway Across American Portland is pleased to announce ROCK OF AGES opening May 28 at Keller Auditorium. In 1987 on the Sunset Strip, a small-town girl met a big-city dreamer – and in L.A.’s most legendary rock club, they fell in love to the greatest songs of the ‘80’s. It’s ROCK OF AGES, a hilarious, feel-good love story told through the hit songs of iconic rockers Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Whitesnake, and many more. This 5 time Tony nominated musical is rockin’ its way across the USA. Don’t miss this awesomely good time about dreaming big, playing loud and partying on!

ROCK OF AGES is a worldwide phenomenon with a smash hit production in London, and still rockin’ on Broadway, featuring 28 classic rock tunes including “Don’t Stop Believin’”, “We Built This City”, “The Final Countdown”, “Wanted Dead or Alive”, “Here I Go Again”, “Harden My Heart”, “Can’t Fight this Feeling”, “Renegade” and “I Want To Know What Love Is”.

ROCK OF AGES is directed by Tony Award Nominee Kristin Hanggi (Bare, Pussycat Dolls on the Sunset Strip) and choreographed by Kelly Devine (Jersey Boys – Associate Choreographer). With a book by Chris D’Arienzo (writer and director of the film Barry Munday), original arrangements by David Gibbs (Counting Crows, Film: That Thing You Do) and the Music Supervision, Arrangements & Orchestrations by Ethan Popp (Tarzan; Europe: We Will Rock You, Mamma Mia).

ROCK OF AGES features set design by Beowulf Boritt (Spelling Bee, LoveMusik), costume design by Tony Nominee Gregory Gale (Cyrano, The Wedding Singer), lighting design by Jason Lyons (The Threepenny Opera), sound design by Craig Cassidy (Phantom, Mamma Mia), and projection design is by Zachary Borovay (A Catered Affair).

ROCK OF AGES is produced by PHOENIX ENTERTAINMENT.

May 28 – June 2, 2013
Keller Auditorium, SW 3rd & Clay

Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri. 7:30pm
Saturday 2:00pm & 7:30pm
Sunday 1:30pm & 6:30pm

Most shows have American Sign Language interpreted and Open Captioned performances. Please call the Portland Opera Box Office for more information or email us at boxoffice@portlandopera.org

FOR TICKETS:
BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com/Portland
Portland Opera Box Office: 503- 241-1802 or toll free at (866) 739-6737
PCPA Box Office: 503-946-7272
All TicketsWest locations: 800-992-8499

Visit us online at www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com/Portland

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ROCK OF AGES: visit www.rockofagesontour.com
Follow ROCK OF AGES on Facebook and Twitter

Playwrights West, a professional theatre company composed of nine acclaimed local playwrights, announces its first-ever gala benefit performance. Entitled Sparks, this performance will feature short excerpts of works by all nine member playwrights, culminating in a world premiere excerpt of Playwrights West’s upcoming 2013 season performance, Licking Batteries by Ellen Margolis. In addition to the performance, the evening will feature delicious food and wine and a silent auction.

EVENT INFORMATION
Sparks: A Benefit Performance
By the writers of Playwrights West
Directed by Playwrights West Company Member Andrew Wardenaar

Date: Monday, May 20th
Time: Cocktail Hour & Silent Auction at 6 pm. Performance at 7 pm. Post-show reception at 8:30 pm.
Venue: CoHo Theatre (2257 NW Raleigh St)
Cost: $40; tickets online or at door (cash/check only) subject to availability. Seating is limited.
Ticket Purchase Link: sparks.brownpapertickets.com

Featuring excerpts from:
• Eating in the Dark by Debbie Lamedman
• Consider the Ant by Karin Magaldi
• Licking Batteries by Ellen Margolis
• Bus Stop by Steve Patterson
• Ithaka by Andrea Stolowitz (opening May 28th at Artists Repertory Theatre)
• Jeepers by Andrew Wardenaar
• Where There Is Darkness, Light by Claire Willett
• The Chain and the Gear by Patrick Wohlmut
• Forky by Matt Zrebski

About Playwrights West
Founded in 2009, Playwrights West, a professional theatre company composed of nine Portland playwrights known for the high quality of their writing, focuses on presenting top-level productions of its members’ work as well as supporting the development of original work in Portland. The nine member playwrights are: Debbie Lamedman, Karin Magaldi, Ellen Margolis, Steve Patterson, Andrea Stolowitz, Andrew Wardenaar, Claire Willett, Patrick Wohlmut, and Matthew B. Zrebski.

Drawing upon a growing national movement of playwrights taking the reins for productions of their work, Playwrights West seeks to introduce Portland audiences to compelling, innovative theatrical experiences, while engaging in a dialogue with the Portland theatre community about the rewards of presenting vital new plays by gifted local authors. Playwrights West believes staging new work is essential to furthering Portland theatre’s continued relevance to its audiences and the region’s overall culture. New plays provide thrilling, unique evenings at the theatre, while exploring the complex dynamics of the 21st-century human condition. All originals. All premieres. All Portland.

How long does the battle continue after a soldier returns home? Artists Repertory Theatre is honored to present Andrea Stolowitz’s challenging new play, Ithaka, with extensive enrichment programming. Ithaka runs May 28 through June 30 on the Morrison Stage, 1515 SW Morrison, Portland OR 97205.

With this newly commissioned play, Oregon playwright Andrea Stolowitz examines the issues involved with coming home from war, for both soldiers and their families. Marine Captain Elaine Edwards has just returned from her latest tour in Afghanistan but this time things are different – home doesn’t feel right and nothing makes sense. After a blow-up fight with her husband propels her to skip town, she undertakes an Odyssean journey through the American landscape battling her demons, trying to find her way home.

Ithaka is “about the intensity of human connections in a war zone and at home,” says the playwright, Andrea Stolowitz. “[This is] a play for our times about war, friendships, guilt, being human and staying alive.” Stolowitz’s work draws from interviews with more than 20 veterans and their families.

“It took Homer’s Odysseus 10 years of wandering to make it to his beloved home, Ithaka, after the Trojan War,” says Director Gemma Whelan. “Lanie, a Marine Captain in Andrea Stolowitz’s Ithaka has returned home from Afghanistan, but hasn’t been able to leave the war behind; she still carries the conflict inside of her. This play is set on a large canvas against a backdrop of war, the desert, and even a hyper-coaster, but it is ultimately a very personal journey of how to begin to make peace with the past.”

In early 2011, two longtime supporters of Artists Rep approached Artistic Director Allen Nause with a proposal to commission a new script to be produced and performed at the theatre. In January 2011, Artists Rep invited playwrights from across the county to submit their ideas for the now-named Fowler/Levin Prize. Of the 14 playwrights who submitted proposals, Stolowitz’s play concept was the unanimous choice by the artistic leadership at the theatre.

Made possible thanks to the generosity and vision of commissioning donors Irving Levin and Stephanie Fowler, Stolowitz was awarded the phenomenal $25,000 Fowler/Levin Prize in the Fall of 2011. She has written and developed this timely piece as the final production of Artists Rep’s 2012/13 season.

Message from Irving Levin and Stephanie Fowler: “Our hope for Ithaka is that it enlightens general audiences, provides deep meaning to returning veterans, and that it advances the aims of Artists Rep, Andrea, and the cast and production staff…..and maybe even inspires someone else to commission a new play!”

Ithaka
Written by: Andrea Stolowitz
Directed by: Gemma Whelan
Featuring: Dana Millican, Victor Mack, Paul Angelo, Danielle Purdy, Valerie Stevens
Scenic Design by: Tal Sanders
Performance Dates: May 28-June 30
Tuesday through Sunday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2:00pm
Wednesday matinee at 11:00am on June 19
Opening Night is Friday, May 31

Venue: Artists Repertory Theatre – Morrison Stage (15th & Morrison St.)
Tickets: $25-$50
Box Office: 503.241.1278 or www.artistsrep.org

ENRICHMENT & EDUCATION: In an effort to provide a supportive experience for our patrons and to engage with military personnel and veterans groups in our community, Artists Rep has extensive outreach and educational events surrounding this production that will include the following:

· May 28: FREE preview for members of the military and their families @ 7:30pm
· May 29-June 2: two-for-one tickets with military ID or veteran’s card
· June 2: post-show discussion with members of Returning Veterans Project; after 2pm matinee
· June 8: “A Conversation Between the Lens and the Stage” Photographer Jim Lommasson and playwright Andrea Stolowitz discuss their processes for creating works based on veteran interviews; 5:30-7pm. This program was made possible in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities, a statewide nonprofit organization and an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds OH’s grant program.
· June 9: post-show discussion; after 2pm matinee
· June 15: Jim Lommasson gives a guided tour of his lobby exhibit; 6:30-7:15pm
· June 16: post-show discussion; after 2pm matinee
· June 19: post-show discussion; after 11am matinee
· June 23: Education Panel with members of Oregon Psychoanalytic Center; after 2pm matinee
· June 23: Read/Watch/Talk Book Club; after 2pm matinee; The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya

May 28-June 30: Morrison Lobby
§ Education and support materials available in the lobby, including a Study Guide, a resource list for members of the military and their families.
§ Card-writing station for our patrons to send notes to our military serving overseas, at home or are injured and in the hospital through www.amillionthanks.org.

ART INSTALLATION – JIM LOMMASSON
In conjunction with Ithaka, our lobby will feature a visceral photography and first-person writing installation by Jim Lommasson, which draws from his extensive interaction with veterans. Lommasson has created this site-specific installation specifically for Ithaka thanks to a grant from Oregon Humanities. Lommasson is a freelance photographer and writer living in Portland, Oregon. He received the Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize from The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University for his first book, Shadow Boxers: Sweat, Sacrifice & The Will To Survive In American Boxing Gyms. In 2009, Oregon State University Press published Lommasson’s Oaks Park Pentimento: Portland’s Lost and Found Carousel. He is currently working on a book and traveling exhibition about American Veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and their lives after their return from war, called Exit Wounds: Soldiers’ Stories – Life After Iraq and Afghanistan. The book will include Lommasson’s photographs, and photographs and writing by the participants. Lommasson received a 2008 Couture stipend from the New American Art Union for the Exit Wounds exhibition. He was awarded a Regional Arts and Culture Council Project Grant for What We Carried, and is a 2012 Oregon Humanities Conversation Grant Recipient for his public discussion “Life after War: Photography and Oral Histories of Coming Home.” Lommasson’s lobby installation will invite theatre patrons and the general public to explore the experiences of hundreds of veterans through photography and written narrative.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Andrea Stolowitz is a playwright living in Portland, Oregon and a proud member of Playwrights West. Her plays have been produced nationally and internationally. The LA Times calls her work “heartbreaking” and the Orange County Register characterizes her approach as a “brave refusal to sugarcoat…issues and tough decisions.”

A recipient of Artists Repertory Theatre’s $25,000 Fowler/Levin Prize, Andrea will premiere her newest work, Ithaka, at the theatre May 28 to June 30, 2013.

Her previous play Antarktikos premiered at Pittsburgh Playhouse in March, 2013 and won the Oregon Book Awards’ Angus L. Bowmer Award for Drama in April 2013. Andrea’s screenwriting work includes Jonathan’s War, a feature-length action film; the treatment for Code Name: Pelicano, which was sold to independent producers; and the upcoming web series Crackerjacks, which is currently in development.

A Walter E. Dakin Fellow at The Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Andrea has also been awarded residencies at Ledig House, Soapstone and Hedgebrook; and arts grants from North Carolina, Oregon and private foundations. A MFA playwriting alumna of UC San Diego, Andrea teaches at Willamette University and the University of Portland and has served on the theatre studies faculty at Duke University and UC San Diego. www.andreastolowitz.com

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Gemma Whelan is the founding Artistic Director of corrib theatre in Portland, and directed their inaugural production of Conor McPherson’s St. Nicholas this spring. She was the founding Artistic Director of Wilde Irish Productions in the Bay Area, where she directed Michael Mac Liammoir’s The Importance of Being Oscar (Dean Goodman Award for Direction); the U.S. Premiere of Ariel by Marina Carr, Frank McGuinness’ Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Patricia Burke Brogan’s Eclipsed and Samuel Beckett’s Endgame. Other favorites include Jane Chamber’s Last Summer at Bluefish Cove (Cable Car Nomination for Outstanding Achievement) and Eileen Atkin’s Vita and Virginia (Curve Magazine, Best Theatre of the Year Award), both at Theatre Rhinoceros; Tom Kempinski’s Duet for One (Zephyr Theatre) and Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls (Phoenix Theatre). Gemma has taught at numerous colleges and conservatories in the Bay Area, including UC Berkeley, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre and Mills College (Chair 2001-2004). She has also taught theatre and film in Singapore, and led theatre tours to Ireland and England. Since her move to Portland in 2008, she has taught at Pacific University, Portland Actors Conservatory, Portland State University, and Literary Arts (Delve), and served on the Drammy Committee for three years. She is a founding board member of Cerimon House, a sanctuary for the humanities in the Alberta Arts District. Gemma is an award-winning screenwriter and film director and had her first novel, Fiona: Stolen Child, published in October 2010. She is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society; earned a BA in English and French at Trinity College, Dublin and has graduate degrees in Theatre (University of California, Berkeley) and Film (San Francisco State University). www.gemmawhelan.com

ARTISTS REPERTORY THEATRE
Ithaka is presented with a playwriting commission from Irving Levin & Stephanie Fowler, and with play sponsor support from Charlie & Darci Swindells, Joseph T. Leimert, M.D. and The Boeing Company.

The 2012/13 Artists Repertory Theatre season is presented by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Premiere season sponsors are Ronni Lacroute/WillaKenzie Estate and The Oregonian. Season hotel sponsors are Mark Spencer Hotel and Hotel deLuxe. The 2012/13 radio sponsor is KINK.FM. Other support comes from Regional Arts & Culture Council, Work for Art, Oregon Arts Commission, Harold and Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation, Fred Fields Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, All Classical, Maletis Beverage and PosterGarden.

Now celebrating its 30th season, Artists Repertory Theatre is the longest-running professional theatre company in Portland. Artists Rep strives to challenge artists and audiences with plays of depth and vibrancy in an intimate setting. Artists Rep explores the strengths, frailties and diversity of the human condition primarily through regional premieres, commissioned works and selected classics appropriate to contemporary issues.

I do want to make it clear that Rodriguez’s production at Artists Rep. is fun, crisp, and buoyant, with an energetic, talented cast in top form and well worth seeing. The one reservation is the writing giving short shrift to the more hidden aspects of the Lunt-Fontanne relationship and that it seems a very conventional choice (though well-executed) for a director renowned for tackling with aplomb far more edgy material.

The Lunts (Michael Mendelson and Linda Alper) aren’t the only mid-20th century theatrical luminaries on hand here — also along is the venerable and full-bodied, both in form and emotional depth, Sydney Greenstreet (Todd Van Voris) and a very young ingenue version of theatrical institution Uta Hagen (Abby Wilde), definitely fetching, yet also deadly earnest in her expression of the craft, as only a very young actor can be. They are all there at the mid-west Ten Chimneys estate to ostensibly rehearse for their New York production of Chekhov’s The Seagull. Also on hand are Lunt’s half-siblings, pool shark Carl (Chris Harder) and Louise (the very dry & droll Sarah Lucht), and the über-Oedpial stage mother of the Lunt clan, Hattie (JoAnn Johnson). With ongoing, unresolved family issues, the Lunts documented constant performing of every moment, whether reciting lines or bantering with family, and a generous share of possible jealousies, the rehearsal is not the only place where dramatic sparks or hilarity will fly.

The cast, under Rodriguez’s able hand, is wonderful both in the period style and mannerisms of these classic characters — it evokes the clipped, staccato dialogue of the George Cukor film comedies of the same period. It can be said the best compliment one can give a director is when his production and ensemble seem to have organically hit a high stride all on their own, when you know it was a guiding influence that got them there; this is certainly the case here with Rodriguez and the cast. Mendelson as Lunt here proves his aptness for this highly theatrical and fun style as he did in Artist Rep.’s previous production of Red Herring, and Alper’s Fontanne is more than his passionate and often over-dramatic match. Mendelson and Alper share the casting luck of resembling their historical characters’ appearance, but also aptly play out their famed style from beginning to end, from their passion for rehearsing and re-rehearsing every minutiae, to dragging everyone through high emotional performing of everything — there is no such thing as a simple, banal conversation with the Lunts. Wilde’s Hagen is wonderfully restrained in comparison, and often in awe of the over-the-top pair. She is the demarcation point of the Method and her own HB Studios style of acting that was to supplant the earlier style that Lunt-Fontanne represent, hers being the more direct, grounded and authentic approach. Yet for all her dry conviction, she contains the smoldering sensuality of a young theatrical ingenue and still stands astonished at the force majeure this pair of theatre royalty represent. Van Voris’ Greenstreet is perhaps the most complex and heart-wrenching performance of the evening. Far from being the classic movie caricature, Van Voris as Greenstreet shows us the seemingly jovial personage being the willing butt of the quips by Lunt-Fontanne over his size, covering with facade of raconteur and gourmand his emotional distraught weighing on him over his own health issues and an institutionalized wife. Lucht’s Louise and Harder’s Carl initially come off as put-upon by their famous siblings, being treated by the Lunts and Hattie more as afterthought servants than family. Lucht’s bitter, under-cutting side remarks pay-off big time in a gem of a second act screaming doormat outburst; and Harder proves himself able to hold his own against Lunt in his own laconic, lay-about manner — probably because it is a more realistic way of dealing with life that Lunt is not used to. And Johnson’s Hattie is a wonderful, needling sparring partner with Alper’s Fontanne for who is the most influential womanly attention in Lunt’s life – their in-law digs at each other will leave audiences chuckling long after leaving the theatre.

The one reservation is in the writing itself: it is ironic that they are rehearsing the production of The Seagull, as it was Chekhov who is quoted as saying, “One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it.” Here, the loaded gun is the oft mentioned but never seen famous third to the Lunts, Noel Coward, or what he represents as far as the unconventional relationship that was Lunt-Fontanne. Their marriage was probably mostly sexless, with Lunt being probably Bi leaning towards Gay, or perhaps charmingly polymorphous perverse as he displays with Hagen. Fontanne was his beard, both having other private pairings in their long marriage, and their threesome with Coward (and others) is now well-know and even displayed in an idealized fashion in the play he wrote for the three of them, Design For Living. There was no denying the passion and friendship Lunt and Fontanne had for each other throughout their lifetime, particularly their fraternal shared passion for theatre craft. Here, though Coward is oft mentioned, even indicated in the studio on the property built for him, he, or any other such affair, is never seen. The one exception is Lunt meeting secretly to collect old love letters from a former male lover of his youth and Fontanne hitting the boiling point over this when she finds out. This seems contrived in the writing, a pale mention given the actual complexity of their relationship.

It is curious this was chosen as the first production for Rodriguez as the new artistic director of Artists Rep. — though certainly enjoyable and filled with classic theatrical banter, it’s more enjoyable fluff than the kind of depth or ground-breaking material that precedes his reputation. But perhaps this is just what Artists Rep. wanted — a homage to theatricality past in the form of the Lunts, all their history and the style of theatre they represent to give a fitting send-off to the old and an embracing welcome to the new. The show is certainly all the entertainment one could want in an evening of theatre and is recommended; meanwhile, we’ll keep an eye out for what Rodriguez may bring to Artists Rep. once he has full control of the reigns.

The real Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne and Noel Coward at the Ten Chimneys estate. (Photo courtesy of the Ten Chimney’s Historical Society)

Artists Repertory Theatre presents Ten Chimneys, written by Jeffrey Hatcher and directed by Dámaso Rodriguez. Featuring Michael Mendelson, Linda Alper, Abby Wilde, JoAnn Johnson, Todd Van Voris, Chris Harder and Sarah Lucht. Assistant Director: Thomas Chapman, Fight Choreography by Jonathan Cole, Scenic Design by Larry Larsen, Costumes by E.B. Brooks, Lighting Design by Kristeen Willis Crosser, Sound Design by Rodolfo Ortega, Props/Asst. Director by Rusty Tennant, Dialect Coach: Mary MacDonald-Lewis, Stage Manager: Michelle Jazuk, Production Assistants: Bailey Maxwell, Victoria Miller. Plays April 23rd through May 26th, 2013 at Artists Rep. Alder Stage, 1515 SW Morrison, Portland, Oregon. Runs Tuesdays through Sundays, 7:30 pm, with a Sunday Matinee at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $36 – $45, student tickets $20 with valid I.D. Tickets available through the Artists Rep. Web Site, by e-mailing the Box Office, or by calling the Box Office at (503) 241-1278.

The build up for the last performance of the season from the Tears of Joy Theatre (TOJT) was even bigger than I thought! We went on opening night and it was packed with excited grown-ups and children.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea turned into a one hour puppet theatre production is no easy fete. The book was published in 1870, written in French by author Jules Verne, and is quite a fantastical book which the TOJT turned into the most amazing performance.

The TOJT built up excitement by using the Vine App online and on Twitter better than anyone I’ve seen. We got to see glimpses of their amazing work as we neared the event itself! Such impressive use of social media!

The puppets are simply gorgeous! TOJT really took the opportunity of having an oceanic scene to use the full depth of the stage. The puppeteers would send the puppets out over the audience and all the way to the back of the stage so that you feel like you’re look deep into the sea.

The amount of the story and information covered in the single hour is truly impressive. The puppeteers took the time to ‘stop motion’ and explain a term or phrase, such as “leagues are about 3 miles,” some basic ratio math, and an easily understood definition of science fiction. Again, there are only 2 puppeteers on stage, running the entire performance, all of the puppets, and maintaining a level of energy only rivaled by children.

However, the children in the audience, nor the adults, weren’t doing much of anything but sitting on the edge of their seats, eyes glued to the stage. My son, age 7, was so far on the edge of his seat, I’m not sure there was any seat left under him! The performers encouraged audience participation throughout, such as:

Forsythia asked, “What is an example of science fiction?”

Pause….one member of that audience finally shakes their awe and yells, “Star Trek!”

Forsythia doesn’t skip a beat, “Right! Star Trek is the only one….”

TOJT humor never fails!

20,000 Leagues was written and performed for children and adults in the audience and exceptionally well. It is such a treat when writers and performers keep the full spectrum of the audience in mind and entertain completely.

I can’t emphasize enough, if you’ve never been to a TOJT performance, or if you’re still sitting on the fence about puppet theatre, please see this performance before the season ends. This is an experience like nothing else and truly needs to be seen to be appreciated. Go see the Vine App glimpses on the site…I don’t want to give away the story…but this is not something to be missed.

Each of the Saturday and Sunday performances has FREE puppet craft time before the show, so be sure to show up a little early and make puppet crafts! Of course, after the performance, there are puppet demonstrations, autographs and up-close puppet photo ops! My children LOVE seeing the performers after the show and getting that personal interaction.

TOJT is also having specials for next season that are too good to pass up, in addition to opening next season with one of my all-time favorite stories, The Reluctant Dragon! One of the specials is called Early Subscriber, where if you sign up by June 30, 2013, you can see ALL 4 productions for $40 a person. That is such a steal when you consider you get crafts, a top-notch performance AND after show interaction for $10 a pop. I honestly don’t even miss movie theaters….

As if that isn’t enough, get the kids out of the house this summer and into Puppet Camp!

The first work was Paul Taylor’s Brandenburgs, which premiered 25 years ago almost to the day. With music by Bach, the choreography fit the music perfectly. With male dancers prancing around in costumes that looked like they were sheep herders of sorts. The playful dancing brought in three ladies and, with these men, brought a very precise, sharp sense of movement and at most times in perfect unison. Enter the male dancer with no shirt on. He seemed to be vying for the attention of these ladies but once he got it, he became disinterested and moved on to the next one. He didn’t do much dancing and although nice to look at, I was a little unsure of what his purpose was. I liked this dance and kept looking for a bit more of the silliness with head wiggles and gestures. I really wanted to see more of the guy with no shirt dance! He looked so powerful and I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to see him exude the strength that his character was supposed to have had. While it wasn’t my favorite of the night however, I still enjoyed it.

After an intermission we returned to The Uncommitted. First performed in 2011, Paul Taylor did an excellent job at highlighting a totally different side to the dancers. In costumes that, in my opinion were a bit…ugly…we see each dancer flow together as one group and then split off so that one dancer remained in the spotlight for a short dance. The timing of this sequence at the beginning was perfect. I really loved how the dancers played with the space as some pushed the limits in allowing a toe or part of a leg to go outside of the light. When they were done, the rest of the cast rushed in, swooping and swirling until a new dancer was left in the spotlight. With movements that consisted of bent elbows and at times felt very linear, I did enjoy this one a lot. The partnering between the dancers felt very complex but almost looked like it was too easy. I guess that’s the point huh? There were complex relationships between pairs of dancers, at times they seemed to have a love/hate relationship with each other. The male dancers fighting with each other while a slow motion line of dancers in the back were also fighting. To me, this dance felt very much like art imitating life. For personal reasons, I felt connected to this piece with the relationship between the two main dancers. At times they seemed to be in love, then started pushing each other away, fighting, but embracing, walking away, yet having a spark of what would happen if there was no fighting. This dance, by far was my favorite due to the emotional connection I found within it.

After a second intermission we were treated to the thing that was teasing a full audience the whole night. Two pianos were at the base of the stage. The program listing of the characters seemed most intriguing. The girl. The private eye. The mistress. Bar dancers. I didn’t know what to expect from the famous The Rite of Spring called Le Sacre Du Printemps – translated means, “The Rehearsal”. With music by Stavinsky and arranged for two pianos, this piece was amazing. Celebrating 100 years, commentators have often described The Rite’s music in vivid terms; Paul Rosenfeld, in 1920, wrote of it “pound[ing] with the rhythm of engines, whirls and spirals like screws and fly-wheels, grinds and shrieks like laboring metal” That is a perfect description of this music that was expertly performed live by Portland musicians Jeffrey Payne and Susan DeWitt Smith. The music is confusing, complex, interesting, and at times makes your head spin. Paul Taylor fits these characters listed above seamlessly into the chaos of the music. Wearing a lot of grey and black, the dancers quick and sharp movements told a story that was at times really funny.

The final act of the night was worth so watching just based on witnessing the creativity of a master at work. Paul Taylor’s legendary breadth of work continues to amaze audiences around the world. It is extremely fitting that during this anniversary season that White Bird will be awarding Paul Taylor with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Congrats to the Paul Taylor Dance Company on all of their successes but more importantly, a huge congrats to White Bird Dance on their 15 years. I for one am truly grateful to this company for bringing in some of the most unique and interesting dance companies in the world. If you have a chance to see the Paul Taylor Dance Company, please do it quick! I’m sure they will be back in PDX soon but they really shouldn’t be missed! The final show is tonight at the Newmark. I always look forward to the next show. Speaking of which, please don’t miss out on seeing Circa – Australia’s world-acclaimed company that combines daring circus skills with precise choreographed movement and great emotional depth. They will be at the Newmark Theatre for 4 nights! 4! Starting Wednesday April 10th – Saturday April 13th. I can’t wait to see what else White Bird has in store for us in the next 15 years.

Artists Rep is thrilled to present the West Coast premiere of Jeffrey Hatcher’s play Ten Chimneys from April 23 through May 26, 2013. This revealing comedy peers into the backstage lives of Broadway power-duo Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne and summers spent at their legendary Wisconsin estate, Ten Chimneys.

“What the Vatican is to Catholics, Ten Chimneys is to actors,” said Carol Channing, one of the Lunts’ many guests to the elaborate country home.

Love triangles and family dysfunction unfold when the rehearsal process for the 1938 Broadway production of Chekhov’s The Sea Gull becomes a true-to-life plot. Brimming with theatre lore, Jeffrey Hatcher’s new play is a heartwarming and hilarious look into the real depths of truth, loyalty and love in private lives behind the curtain.

Ten Chimneys is incoming Artistic Director Dámaso Rodriguez’s directorial debut at Artists Rep. Artistic Director Allen Nause set aside this comedic love letter to the stage for the person who would take over the reins of the theatre company.

“Hatcher’s Ten Chimneys is an extremely insightful, witty and sophisticated play filled with meta-theatrical treats. We watch actors playing famous characters who happen to be actors playing characters rehearsing a play-within-a-play with characters playing actors playing characters,” said Rodriguez at the production’s first rehearsal. “The play is a subtly self-referential hybrid of a Noel Coward light comedy, Chekhovian tragi-comedy and backstage biography that reveals much about the often-blurry line between an artist’s personal and professional life.”

Ten Chimneys
Written by: Jeffrey Hatcher
Directed by: Dámaso Rodriguez

Featuring:
Alfred Lunt – Michael Mendelson – Artists Rep Resident Artist
Lynn Fontanne – Linda Alper
Uta Hagen – Abby Wilde
Hattie Sederholm – JoAnn Johnson
Sydney Greenstreet – Todd Van Voris – Artists Rep Resident Artist
Carl Sederholm – Chris Harder
Louise Green – Sarah Lucht

Performance Dates:
April 23 – May 26
Wednesday through Sunday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2:00pm
Opening Night is Friday, April 26

Venue:
Artists Repertory Theatre – Alder Stage (16th and Morrison St.)

Tickets:
$25-$50

Box Office:
503.241.1278 or www.artistsrep.org

On the web:
Website, Facebook, Twitter

Jeffrey Hatcher, Playwright
Jeffrey Hatcher wrote the stage play Compleat Female Stage Beauty, which he later adapted into a screenplay, shortened to just Stage Beauty (2004). He is the author of Ten Chimneys, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Ella and co-author of Work Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright and Tuesdays with Morrie – all of which have been seen on Arizona Theatre Company’s stages. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was also staged at Carolina Actors Studio Theatre in Charlotte in 2011. Mr. Hatcher authored the book for the Broadway musical Never Gonna Dance. Off-Broadway, he has had several plays produced, including Three Viewings and A Picasso at Manhattan Theatre Club, Scotland Road and The Turn of the Screw at Primary Stages, Tuesdays with Morrie (with Mitch Albom) at Minetta Lane Theatre, Murder by Poe and The Turn of the Screw with The Acting Company, Neddy at The American Place Theatre and Fellow Travelers at Manhattan Punchline. His plays – among them, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Mrs. Mannerly, Murderers, Mercy of a Storm, Smash Armadale, Korczak’s Children, To Fool the Eye, The Falls, A Piece of the Rope, All the Way with LBJ, The Government Inspector and Work Song (with Eric Simonson) – have been seen at such theatres as Yale Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe, South Coast Repertory, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre, Florida Stage, The Empty Space, California Theatre Center, Madison Repertory Theatre, Illusion Theater, Denver Center Theatre Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Asolo Repertory Theatre, City Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre and dozens more in the U.S. and abroad. Mr. Hatcher wrote the screenplays for Stage Beauty, The Duchess and Casanova, as well as authoring episodes of the Peter Falk series Columbo. He is a member and/or alumnus of The Playwrights’ Center, The Dramatists Guild of America, Writers Guild of America and New Dramatists.

Dámaso Rodriguez, Director
Dámaso is Artists Rep’s incoming Artistic Director. He is a Co-Founder of Furious Theatre Company, an ensemble-driven theatre committed to daring, socially relevant new plays of visceral impact, where he served as Co-Artistic Director from 2001-2012. From 2007-2010 he served as Associate Artistic Director of the Pasadena Playhouse, where he directed main stage productions and oversaw programming for the Playhouse’s second stage, including its Hothouse New Play Development Program. His directing credits include work at the Pasadena Playhouse, Intiman Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Laguna Playhouse, A Noise Within, The Theatre@Boston Court, Odyssey Theatre, The Blank Theatre, The Road Theatre and Furious Theatre. Dámaso is a recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, the Back Stage Garland Award, the NAACP Theatre Award, and the Pasadena Arts Council’s Gold Crown Award. In 2010, Furious Theatre Company was named to LA Weekly’s list of “Best Theatres of the Decade.” In 2012, he was honored as a finalist for the Zelda Fichandler Award. He is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Recent productions: Ruth & Augustus Goetz’ The Heiress (starring Richard Chamberlain), Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes (starring Kelly McGillis) and Austin Pendleton’s Orson’s Shadow (starring Sharon Lawrence) at the Pasadena Playhouse; the reading of Steven Drukman’s The Prince of Atlantis for the Pacific Playwrights Festival at South Coast Repertory, Clifford Odets’ Paradise Lost at Intiman Theatre; Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit, Tennessee Williams’ The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, Eugene O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms, Bernard Shaw’s The Doctor’s Dilemma at A Noise Within. Furious Theatre credits include the Los Angeles premieres of Craig Wright’s Grace, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s Boom and Hunter Gatherers, Bruce Norris’ The Pain and the Itch, Yussef El Guindi’s Back of the Throat, Richard Bean’s The God Botherers, Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things, and the world premieres of Alex Jones’ Canned Peaches in Syrup and Matt Pelfrey’s An Impending Rupture of the Belly and No Good Deed, among many others. His film directing credits include the darkly comic feature Pure Shock Value, which was selected as the Centerpiece Film of the Hollywood Fringe Festival, and episodes of the web series A G.A.N.G. by screenwriter Matt Pelfrey (MTV’s Skins). More information at: www.damaso-rodriguez.com

Artists Repertory Theatre
Ten Chimneys is presented with support from John & Jan Swanson, Robert & Janet Conklin, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, Howard S. Wright Constructors and Perkins & Co.

The 2012/13 Artists Repertory Theatre season is presented by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Premiere season sponsors are Ronni Lacroute/WillaKenzie Estate and The Oregonian. Season hotel sponsors are Mark Spencer Hotel and Hotel deLuxe. The 2012/13 radio sponsor is KINK.FM. Other support comes from Regional Arts Culture Council, Work for Art, Oregon Arts Commission, Harold and Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation, All Classical, Maletis Beverage and Poster Garden.

Now celebrating its 30th season, Artists Repertory Theatre is the longest-running professional theater company in Portland. Artists Rep strives to challenge artists and audiences with plays of depth and vibrancy in an intimate setting. Artists Rep explores the strengths, frailties, and diversity of the human condition primarily through regional premieres, commissioned works and selected classics appropriate to contemporary issues.

When life and the theatre collide it is a beautiful thing, is it not?

If you aren’t familiar with the text, Arabian Nights follows the story of Scheherezade, a young woman held captive by a king driven mad after murdering his unfaithful queen and her lover, he goes on a spree of marrying and murdering the virgins of his village. Scheherezade concocts a plan to stop the king by regaling him with stories every night until dawn.

The set of the show is quite flat and simple, but the actors do wonders to fill in the empty space. Overall, it feels like a plush den where one might find a king with his courtesans. As the actors reenact the stories, you feel as if you’re in the story with them. The stories on their own will make you laugh, cry, and wail out loud with laughter again. Intermittently there’s a musical number to accompany the stories and the live performances have an earthy feel, as all the music and singing is done live and acoustic, really adding to the intimate flavor of the show.

Overall, the show is a lot of fun to watch and delivers a slightly raunchy, very funny, and definitely engrossing. Go and check it out for a great time, but leave the kids at home, it’s not terribly kid-friendly.

Arabian nights runs Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through April 28th at 7pm at Milepost 5’s black box theater. (850 NE 81st st, Portland) Friday and Saturday shows are $10, Sundays are “pay what you will”. After the Friday and Saturday shows, there will be a comedy show to follow. Come and stay for a whole night of entertainment. For tickets and more info go to www.postfivetheatre.org

Photo by Owen Carey

“One one, two two, three three … annnd eleven for you.” – Weller Martin

The repetition of dealing cards. Shuffling them around in my hands thinking my hands were too small to hold all of the cards. Squishing my face in concentration. Learning the rules and asking a million questions. I learned how to play the game of Gin from my grandma. I think it’s a grandma rule – you must teach your grandchildren card games before you pass on. Before she passed away at the age of 83 in 1996, she made sure that her only granddaughter knew how to play it. We sat at the kitchen table amongst the napkin holder, salt & peppershakers, the stack of bills, and the checkbook with the rubber band around it eating peanut butter and celery that she first taught me how to play. Watching Artist Repertory Theatre’s The Gin Game, on Friday night made me think of those moments that I hadn’t thought of in a very long time.

In the opening of the play we find an aged man playing solitaire in his pajamas and a robe sitting on a small sun porch at a retirement home or “assisted living facility”. We watch him struggle to put down any cards and as time passes, we witness him cheating. Enter a semi-frail older lady crying looking to escape the hallways of “visiting day” when the two bump into each other on the porch. They make small chit chat and then he invites her to play a game of Gin. After refreshing her memory to the rules, the game begins. The two strangers that share a roof of this rather junky porch packed with discarded items, start a friendship over a game of cards and through laughter begin to have a certain fondness for each other. Weller Martin as played by Artists Rep Artistic Director’s Allen Nause joins forces with Fonsia Dorsey as played by Artists Rep veteran Vana O’Brien and boy what a pair they are.

During the first act we learn more about their lives – why they are there at the home. We learn more about their pasts-their successes and failures. The lighthearted attitude of Fonsia always winning each hand and the increasingly frustrated Weller helped form this couple’s chemistry. As the story progresses, Weller gets more and more upset that he can’t win as there would be no way that Fonsia would be better than him. It seems as if he has a major control issue going on and is afraid of failing not just with the cards, but with life. As they make jokes – sometimes at each others expense and learn more about each other – you start to wonder where the dark cloud is going to hit. I didn’t know what to expect from the story – were they going to fall in love? Perhaps one of them would pass away?

The end of the first act and the top of the second act is where the storm hit for real. While we did see some tender moments of the two of them dancing and being playful with each other, still, in the heat of his frustration, Weller losses his temper with Fonsia more than once. The first time she was able to forgive him. The rest of the times she was not able to as much. He frightened her and his way of solving the emotional issue she had was… “Let’s play gin!”. Hardly a comfort to someone when they are trying to figure you out! She always accepted the challenge and every time, would win. With each outburst from Weller, we learn more about the truth of these peoples lives. We learn that Fonsia’s son doesn’t live far away from the nursing home and just doesn’t want to come see her. We learn that Weller is a broken man alienated from his family who had a failed business at one point and just can’t seem to win at any turn. In one last gin game where all of these dark secrets come to light, there was a bet made. Weller to leave Fonsia alone and never ask her to play gin again. In the snarkiest and heated of moments between these two, it all comes down to one final card to be placed upon the table. Fonsia’s Gin card. Of course she wins and instead of Weller going off like usual, he just slowly walks away from the porch into the nursing home. Silently. Fonsia sits in the rocking chair and says, “Oh dear”. Lights out.

I sat there for a moment in the brief darkness saying to myself what!? What just happened? That’s it? It’s over? But but but…NO! I want to know what happens now! I paused for a moment and realized that I knew what was going to happen. Weller would go back to his normal grumpy, codgery self, wearing his bathrobe, talking to no one, losing a bit more of himself, feeling lonely, trying to cheat the rest of his way through life. Fonsia would realize that she was the one that brought this man from wearing this slippers to wearing his best shoes and caring about himself as well as others even if he has a crappy way of showing it. It was sad. Sadder than either of them passing away or falling in love.

One thing I loved about this show was the costume choices. We witness how both characters go from feeling tattered, torn and lonely with frumpy clothes to more lively color choices that helps to put a spring back into their step. The set was fantastic resembling a sun porch with almost every discarded item you might find in an old folks home. There was even an old toilet seat among the thrown out items. How appropriate the play was set in this atmosphere. I really loved this show and I loved the venue even more being a first time visitor of Artists Rep. I like the classiness and intimacy of the theatre space. There wouldn’t be a bad seat in the house.

I highly recommend going to see this production if you are wanting to see some of the very best actors in town. I can’t say enough good things about Allen Nause and Vana O’Brien. Director JoAnn Johnson did an amazing job in the staging and letting these actors form these characters into people that we immediately cared about. I am very much looking forward to exploring the rest of the season and even more excited for the 2013/14 season!

SWING TIME VARIETY SHOW
an evening of dance, music, and comedy
with Variety Acts set to the music of Pink Lady and The John Bennett Jazz Band

ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Sunday, April 7th 2013

We invite you to join Portland’s Finest Variety Entertainers as they perform to the live soundtrack of Pink Lady and The John Bennett Jazz Band. Tickets available here:
http://public.ticketbiscuit.com/AlbertaRoseTheatre/Ticketing/157652

Thrill to the Vaudevillian virtuosity of:

VARIETY ACTS
Russell Bruner – King of Swing & Burlesque
Curtis Carlyle – World Class Juggler
Brittany Walsh – Hand Balancing Contortionist
Sugar Kane – Balboa & Blues Dancer
Edie En Garde – Burlesque Peeler
Rachael & Noelle – Charleston Dance Duo
Neil E Dee – Sideshow Circus Entertainer
Paulina Munoz – Aerialista

LIVE MUSIC BY

PINK LADY AND THE JOHN BENNETT JAZZ BAND
John Bennett– Rag Time Piano
Pink Lady – Cabaret Chanteuse
Steve Boden – Archtop Guitar & Vocals
Wayne Travillion –Brass & Vocals
Will Amend – Double Bass
Joe Haegele – Drums

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!
Special Appearance by
Portland Rhythm Shakers – All Lady Dance Group!

Alberta Rose Theatre
3000 NE Alberta St.
Portland, OR 97211

5:30 Doors Open
6:00 Show Starts

$12 in Advance
$16 at the Door
$25 VIP (Comes with preferred seating & Champagne)

Underage Patrons allowed only when accompanied by a parent or guardian

Portland Center Stage’s production of Bruce Norris’ incendiary comedy, Clybourne Park, begins preview performances on Saturday, April 6, opens on Friday, April 12 and runs Tuesday through Sunday through May 5, 2013. Tickets start at $39, with discounts available for students and those under 25. Rush tickets are $20.

A white community in 1950s Chicago splinters over the black family about to move in. Fast forward to our present day, the same house represents very different demographics, and neighborhood values and tensions. Decades apart, hilarious and horrifying neighbors pitch a battle over territory and legacy that forces us to consider how far our ideas about race have evolved—or not. “Bruce Norris puts a bunch of stuff into the room that we are uncomfortable with, and then we get to laugh about it,” says director Chris Coleman. “It’s incendiary, but hysterical.”

Clybourne Park won the 2012 Tony Award, the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and the 2011 Olivier Award for Best New Play.

Show times are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with 2 p.m. matinees on Sundays and select Saturdays, and matinees at noon on Thursdays. See the show calendar at www.pcs.org/clybourne for the complete performance schedule. Tickets can be purchased online at www.pcs.org, by phone at 503.445.3700 or by visiting the box office located at 128 NW Eleventh Avenue.

Perspectives Discussion Series
Portland Center Stage will present a series of 20-minute, post-show discussions following every weekend matinee performance of Clybourne Park. Hear and share personal reactions and thoughts inspired by the social issues, historical context, and themes found in the play; filtered through the perspectives of community leaders, historians, activists and academics well-versed on the topics of gentrification, race relations and more. Speakers will have read the plays, visited rehearsal, attended the productions, and will be ready to share their thoughts on how these plays connect directly to our community.

• April 14 – Professor Lisa K. Bates, PSU School of Urban Planning, Race and Housing lecturer & Felicia Tripp, Deputy Director, Portland Housing Center
• April 20 – Reverend Dr. W.G. Hardy, Highland Christian Center
• April 21 – Donna Maxey, Director & Founder of Race Talks
• April 27 – Diane Hess, Ed. Director Fair Housing Council & Ed Washington, PSU Community Liason for Diversity
• April 28 – Dr. Candace Young, Oregon Psychoanalytic Center
• April 30 – Architectural Heritage Center and the Historic Preservation League of Oregon (speakers tbd)
• May 4 – Professor Lisa K. Bates, PSU School of Urban Planning, Race and Housing lecturer
• May 5 – Jesse Beason, Executive Director of Proud Ground and Karen Gibson, PSU Urban Planning Professor

In addition to the discussions above, an audience question and answer session will be moderated by a PCS staff member following every performance of  Clybourne Park.

The Clybourne Park cast is comprised of returning PCS favorites and several new faces to PCS audiences. Last seen as Anna in Anna Karenina and Imogen in Shakespeare’s Amazing Cymbeline, Kelley Curran will play Betsy and Lindsey. Brianna Horne, last seen as Laurey in PCS’s 2011 Oklahoma!, will play Francine and Lena. Andy Lee Hillstrom, recently seen in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, will play Jim, Tom and Kenneth. Sharonlee McLean, last seen in The Imaginary Invalid and in her Drammy-winning performance as The Receptionist, will play Bev and Kathy. Newcomers to PCS include Sal Viscuso as Russ and Dan, Gavin Hoffman as Karl and Steve, and Kevin R. Free as Albert and Kevin.

Clybourne Park is directed by PCS Artistic Director Chris Coleman. The iconic house on Clybourne Street is brought to the stage by Scenic Designer Michael Olich and Lighting Designer Eric Southern. Costumes are designed by Jeff Cone. Sound Designer Casi Pacilio and Stage Manager Jeremy Eisen round out the creative team.

Additional support for this production is provided by Berry Wealth Strategies, Stoel Rives LLC, NW Natural, Mary & Don Blair, Marcy & Richard Schwartz, Ann & Mark Edlen, Evie Crowell and Ronnie LaCroute/Willakenzie Estate. Portland Center Stage’s 2012/2013 season is funded in part by Umpqua Bank, our lead corporate champion; the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Work for Art; the Oregon Arts Commission; the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation; The Oregonian, and Tim & Mary Boyle. The Mark Spencer Hotel is the official hotel partner for Portland Center Stage.

Portland Center Stage inspires our community by bringing stories to life in unexpected ways. Established in 1988 as a branch of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, PCS became an independent theater in 1994 and has been under the leadership of Artistic Director Chris Coleman since May 2000. The company presents a blend of classic, contemporary and original productions in a conscious effort to appeal to the eclectic palate of theatergoers in Portland. PCS also offers a variety of education and outreach programs for curious minds from six to 106, including discussions, classes, workshops and partnerships with organizations throughout the Portland metro area.

THE GERDING THEATER AT THE ARMORY houses a 599-seat Main Stage and the 200-seat black box Ellyn Bye Studio. It was the first building on the National Register of Historic Places, and the first performing arts venue, to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification. The Gerding Theater at the Armory opened to the public on October 1, 2006. The capital campaign to fund the renovation of this hub for community artistic activity continues.

• HUNTINGTON POST: “More than just the premier voiceover talent in Hollywood today, Ratner writes with subtlety and texture worthy of a literary fiction master…”
• LA WEEKLY: “High-caliber storyteller…”
• Eight-time winner: The Moth Story Slams
• Best of Hollywood Fringe Festival 2012

VOICES IN MY HEAD: A LIFE—a Best of Hollywood Fringe Solo Show, traces the strange path that led Ratner to become the disembodied voice of a generation. This tragicomic true story tells how a middle-class orphan, liberated by a crystal radio set, discovers the shadowy world of voiceovers through a series of rude awakenings to the perplexing power of electronic imagery in a media-mad nation.
Friday, April 19, 2PM, Elsie Stuhr Center, 5550 SW Hall Blvd., Beaverton, OR 97005

BOBBYWOOD delves into the mystery of what happened to I Love Lucy’s “Bobby the Bellboy.” Actor Bob Jellison was Bill Ratner’s uncle. Watched by tens of millions of fans, Bobby staggered into Lucy and Ricky Ricardo’s hotel suite with luggage, roses, and priceless dialogue. But after thirteen episodes Bobby disappeared. Come along on the search for “Bobby the Bellboy” and experience his hopes, dreams, and hallucinations.
Friday, April 19, 7PM, Cedar Mill Community Library, 12505 NW Cornell Road,
Portland, OR 97229

GLENCOE GOYISHE WEDDING follows Bill Ratner’s immigrant ancestors from their south-side Chicago cigar store to the waspy north shore suburb of Glencoe, IL, for the unlikeliest of weddings.
Saturday, April 20, 7PM, Garden Home Community Library, 7475 SW Oleson Road, Portland, OR 97223

http://www.wccls.org/festival/billratner

Bill Ratner’s stories are featured on National Public Radio (Strangers, The Business, Good Food.) He is the voice of movie trailers (The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Will Ferrell’s The Campaign, MegaMind, etc.,) Smithsonian Channel, Discovery, History, the voice of “Donnel Udina” in Mass Effect 1, 2 & 3, and “Flint” on G.I. Joe, Robot Chicken, and Family Guy.

MARCH 28 – 30 / 2013 / 7:30 PM

NEWMARK THEATRE (PCPA)
1111 SW BROADWAY (AT MAIN ST.)
PORTLAND OR 97205

BEST TICKETS HERE

World Premiere – Sarah Slipper
World Premiere – Patrick Delcroix
Chi – Wen Wei Wang

Tickets also at PCPA box office + TicketsWest

One of “the season’s 25 most exciting shows” – Portland Monthly

We break the dreary and dark days of winter with a show that’s hot hot hot. Sarah Slipper, founding Artistic Director of Northwest Dance Project and Portland’s most acclaimed and gifted choreographer unveils her latest creation for our dynamic dancers that she knows better than anyone. French Knight (really!) and assistant to the legendary Jirí Kylián, Patrick Delcroix, returns for his third premiere on the company who adore him. Patrick’s previous works for Northwest Dance Project have been described as “mesmerizing…gave the dancers the kind of space-eating, tempo-shifting movement — from fast, aggressive unison to lyrical duets that makes this company such a pleasure to watch.” Finally, we are thrilled to bring back Wen Wei Wang’s precise and otherworldly full company piece, Chi, which was reviewed as “the highlight of the show…a small feast of images.” With choreographers who know and work with the company so well and our dancers that can and will do anything, this is a show not to be missed.

A middle-aged playwright, Sam, has recently lost his lifelong partner, Jesse. In the post funeral days of Jesse’s death, Sam returns to finish a script which holds the chemistry and alchemy of their life together. From behind the typewriter, Sam embarks on a dizzying journey where the lines between what’s real and the world of the theatre begin to merge–an enchanted place where he is able to relive his bond with Jesse. Layers upon layers of fiction bury the two men in a cloud of poignant memories cut with honest truth. With the miraculous visitation of his dead cat, Noodles, Sam gets one last chance to face the truth of his grief and to move beyond his sorrow-induced seductive dream-world. What does the face of death look like?

A theatrical kaleidoscope, Anything But Brilliant uses song, poetry and experimental staging to tell the story of love between two men in life, in death and in letting go.

Anything But Brilliant – a love story
Written by: Bobby Ryan
Directed by: Bobby Ryan & Matt Pavik
Featuring: Jane Fellows, Tyler Ryan, Bobby Ryan
Performance Dates: March 30- April 20
Thursday through Saturday @ 7:30pm
Monday, April 8 @ 7:30
Free Preview March 29
Free Opening Night March 30
April 13 Benefit Show for Basic Rights Oregon
‘Pay What You Can’ every Thursday
Venue: Profile Theatre at Theatre! Theater!
3430 SE Belmont Ave, Portland, OR 97214
Tickets: $15
Advance Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/332783

EVENTS
In the works are “Know Now!” post show discussions with diverse professionals from the Portland community come together to discuss the themes of the play. Scheduled discussions on April 6 and 13.

April 6
- Michael McCormick – Meditation Instructor and Queer Dharma Group Teacher at the Portland Shambhala Center. Retired from career in conflict resolution and public dialogue. Writer of memoir and essays on social and spiritual themes.
- Ute Luppertz of Pet’s Point of View who is a healing and animal hospice worker.

April 13
- This show is a benefit for Basic Rights Oregon. All ticket sales donated. Open to the public.
- Basic Rights Oregon, the directors and the cast discuss Oregon United for Marriage working to win the marriage equality ballot measure in November 2014.

COMPANY INFORMATION
Over the past eight years, Lights Up! Productions has become known for performance art that engages minds and moves hearts.

Lights Up! is committed to bringing challenging social issues to the stage through unique artistic vision and exacting stagecraft. Past topics include social diversity, homosexuality, assisted suicide, child abuse among many others.

At the heart of Lights Up! are partners in life and work, Bobby and Tyler Ryan. Their personal and professional mission is to address and advance issues concerning diversity through original theatre, film and mixed media; to bridge gaps between the technical and artistic crews by encouraging a sense of community; and to stimulate audiences intellectually and passionately through entertainment.

Anything But Brilliant is made possible by generous support of Ronni Lacroute, Leonard & Susan Magazine, Corey Brunish, Fractured Atlas, Puffin Foundation, WillaKenzie Estates, Portland Actors Conservatory and Regional Arts and Culture Council. Partners include Basic Rights Oregon and Q Center. Beer sponsor is Ninkasi Brewing Company.

Artists Rep will present The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn, starring Allen Nause and Vana O’Brien, directed by JoAnn Johnson. This two-person, two-act play is a 1978 Pulitzer Prize winner and garnered multiple Tony Award nominations both with its original 1977 production and the Broadway revival in 1997. The Gin Game runs March 26 through April 28 on the Morrison Stage.

When life deals you a bad hand, do you give up the game? It’s Visitor Day at the ‘home for the aged,’ and Weller is playing a solitary game of cards on the sunporch when a tearful Fonsia, troubled by her new environs, seeks a private moment. Weller invites her to a cheerful game of gin rummy to pass the time but as the days and conversations pass, the game becomes more than either of them anticipate. Through laughter, tears, frustration and fear, the truth of their lives is dealt. In this tragi-comedy, the upper hand is shuffled between two souls who play their lives out to each other over a well-worn score pad.

The production will feature veteran Artists Rep actors Allen Nause and Vana O’Brien. O’Brien is part of the theatre’s Resident Acting Company and was one of the founding artists of Artists Rep, it was she who suggested Nause for the role of Artistic Director in 1988. Surprisingly, Nause and O’Brien have never appeared on Artists Rep’s stage together. The Gin Game offers these actors and our audiences the exciting opportunity to perform alongside each other in a play they’ve both always yearned to do.

Focused on two characters and their journeys through life, Johnson said The Gin Game really
explores what it means to grow old and deal with age, health and financial limitations. “It’s a funny show with dark and tragic undertones,” she said at the production’s first rehearsal. “It’s jampacked with the evocative things that happen throughout a person’s long life.” “At the heart of this play are these characters and how they continue to choose to play the game,” said Allen Nause. “The game is a metaphor for the chances you take throughout life. How do you play the hand you are dealt, at any age and in any circumstance? There is always choice.”

The Gin Game
Written by: D.L. Coburn
Directed by: JoAnn Johnson
Featuring: Vana O’Brien, Allen Nause
Scenic Design by: Jeff Seats
Performance Dates: March 26 – April 28
Tuesday through Sunday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2:00pm
Wednesday matinee at 11:00am on March 6
Opening Night is Friday, March 29
Venue: Artists Repertory Theatre – Morrison Stage (15th and Morrison St.)
Tickets: $25-$50
Box Office: 503.241.1278 or www.artistsrep.org
On the web: Website, Facebook, Twitter

Allen Nause (Weller) has been Artists Repertory Theatre’s Artistic Director since 1988. He has performed in many plays at Artists Rep including: Frankie and Johnny in the Claire De Lune, Breaking The Code, Art, The Drawer Boy, Death Of A Salesman, Blackbird, Vanya and most recently No Man’s Land. Allen has appeared in many other Northwest theatres including: Portland Center Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Empty Space, A.C.T. Seattle and the Intiman Theatre. Allen joined Artists Rep as the company’s first Artistic Director in 1989 and has directed many of its most popular productions. He directed Our Town with Mahesh Dattani in Bangalore, India and led two international tours to Africa and the Near and Middle East, representing American regional theater for U.S.I.A. Arts America. In 2000, Allen traveled to Vietnam and co-directed a bilingual, bicultural production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and a Vietnamese production of A Glass Menagerie as part of the Vietnam/America Theater Exchange. In May 2007 he directed All My Sons with the Palestinian National Theater in Jerusalem. Allen directed The Odd Couple for LUSH Theatre in Islamabad, Pakistan in the summer of 2012 as a U.S. Cultural Envoy through the Pakistan National Council for the Arts.

Vana O’Brien (Fonsia) has been involved with Artists Rep since 1981 when she and a small group of fellow theatre artists started the new company in the Portland YWCA. Since that time, she has worked on several different Portland stages and seen Artists Rep grow to its current size and wellrespected status. Favorite Artists Rep roles include Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All For You, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Top Girls, Mound Builders, Country Girl, Park Your Car in Harvard Yard, Artificial Jungle, The Laramie Project, A Perfect Ganesh and Superior Donuts. In other Portland theatres, some memorable roles for Vana are in Greek, Faith Healer, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Seagull, Noises Off and particularly the play she and her daughter Eleanor performed together at CoHo Theatre, Collected Stories. Vana joined Artists Rep’s Southeast Asia Arts America tours in 1991 and 1994 performing in Driving Miss Daisy, The World of Carl Sandburg, Three Tall Women and scenes from American comedies. She is a member of Artists Rep‘s Resident Acting Company.

JoAnn Johnson (Director) is a professional actor, director and choreographer based in Portland. For Artists Rep, she has previously directed Ballerina, Birdsend, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Vanya and Blackbird. She has appeared onstage at Artists Rep as Vivian Bearing in Wit, Flora in Humble Boy, Leo in Indiscretions, Agnes in A Delicate Balance, Mrs. Rafi in The Sea, Margaret Civil in A Perfect Ganesh and Alice in Retreat From Moscow. Other acting credits include Sister Aloysius in Doubt and Kate Keller in All My Sons (Arkansas Repertory Theatre); Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Mrs. Stavrogin in The Devils (Portland Center Stage); Leni Riefenstahl in Leni (Insight Out Theatre Collective); Sarah Bernhardt in Memoir and Anna in Boston Marriage (Coho Productions); Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest and Judith Bliss in Hay Fever (Tacoma Actors Guild); Meg in The Birthday Party, Nancy in Seascape and Aunt Sally in Fifth of July (Profile Theatre). Other theatres include The Old Globe, The Empty Space, Pioneer
Theatre, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Sacramento Theatre Company, San Jose Repertory Theatre
and many seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Directing projects include Masterpieces and boom (Theatre Vertigo); Richard II (Northwest Classical Theatre Company); Vita and Virginia (triangle productions!); Watbanaland (Portland Actors Conservatory); A Christmas Carol (Assistant Director, Portland Center Stage); Macbeth (Quintessence Language and Imagination Theatre); Big Love (University of Portland) and The Detective’s Wife (Hellfire Productions). For Artists Rep, JoAnn toured to Asia, Africa and the Middle East in the role of A in Three Tall Women and also served as a cultural specialist, teaching at the Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka, Bangladesh. JoAnn was educated at Wells College and the University of Oregon and has a BA in English and a MA in Rhetoric.

This play replaces the originally planned production of The Invisible Hand by Ayad Akhtar. The Invisible Hand will be presented next year as part of Artists Rep’s 2013/14 season. Artistic Director Allen Nause strongly believes this play should be an international collaboration that includes Pakistani artists. Nause served as a U.S. Cultural Envoy last summer through the Pakistan National Council for the Arts when he directed Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple for LUSH Theatre in Islamabad, so his ties to the artistic community there are strong. After working with the State Department for some time, it recently became clear that the extensive process required for establishing work visas in this type of exchange didn’t match the theatre’s timeline. Nause and incoming Artistic Director Dámaso Rodriguez agree that presenting this production next season will allow enough time to process international exchange documents.

Artists Repertory Theatre
The Gin Game is presented with support from CFM Strategic Communications, Charlotte Rubin and Hugh & Mair Lewis Schwartz. The 2012/13 Artists Repertory Theatre season is presented by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Premiere season sponsors are Ronni Lacroute/WillaKenzie Estate and The Oregonian. Season hotel sponsors are Mark Spencer Hotel and Hotel deLuxe. The 2012/13 radio sponsor is KINK.FM. Other support comes from Regional Arts Culture Council, Work for Art, Oregon Arts Commission, Harold and Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation, Fred Fields Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, All Classical, Maletis Beverage and PosterGarden.

Now celebrating its 30th season, Artists Repertory Theatre is the longest-running professional theater company in Portland. Artists Rep strives to challenge artists and audiences with plays of depth and vibrancy in an intimate setting. Artists Rep explores the strengths, frailties, and diversity of the human condition primarily through regional premieres, commissioned works and selected classics appropriate to contemporary issues.

Who: CIRCA
Presented by: White Bird
When: Wednesday-Saturday, April 10-13, 2013, 7:30 pm
Where: Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway
Sponsors: Mary Meyer 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

“Jaw-dropping athleticism, an abundance of stamina, and genuine bravery.” The Argus (UK)

Photos by Justin Nicholas

White Bird is delighted to present the Portland debut of CIRCA, from Brisbane, Australia, for four performances on April 10-13 at the 880-seat Newmark Theatre. This world-acclaimed company is a uniquely bold new vision of contemporary circus—a blending of bodies, light, sound and dazzling circus skills. Under the artistic leadership of Yaron Lifschitz, CIRCA is a place where acrobatics and movement meld into a seamless whole– a celebration of the expressive possibilities of the human body at its extremes. Using minimal props, the 7-member company have been hailed for their “astonishing physical mastery” by The New York Times as well as “knee-tremblingly sexy, beautiful and moving” by The Guardian (UK).

The company will perform their celebrated work CIRCA, after which the company is named. Within 75 intense minutes, the performers move from highly connected acrobatic and tumbling sequences, through fast-paced intricate scenes through to the hauntingly beautiful closing scenes. This is all embodied within CIRCA’S signature style – combining poetic physical beauty, extraordinary circus skills and an immersive use of sound, light and projection.

In the Bishop University (Canada) campus paper, Evan Pynes concisely describes the power and magnetism of CIRCA performances. “What makes CIRCA’s performances so interesting, other than the daring nature of their stunts, is the different mix of elements found within the routines. Not just flips, twists and turns, but the delicate and precise movements which at other times just pour out raw power and emotional expression reaching out to the crowd and sharing those feelings with us. One of the many aspects CIRCA is acclaimed for it its ability to blend contemporary dance with advanced acrobatics, also mixing in a little humor at times to lighten things up. The show has the ability to make you sit on the edge of your seat waiting to see what will happen next.”

Since 2006 CIRCA has toured to 24 countries across five continents. Critics have raved about its shows calling the work “stunning…exquisite… heart-stopping” and “electrically charged”. CIRCA Artistic Director Yaron Lifschitz is a graduate of the University of New South Wales, University of Queensland and National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) where he was the youngest director ever accepted into its prestigious graduate director’s course. Since graduating, Yaron has directed over 60 productions including large-scale events, opera, theatre, physical theatre and circus. His work has been seen in twenty-four countries, across five continents by over 500 000 people. He was founding Artistic Director of the Australian Museum’s Theatre Unit, Head Tutor in Directing at Australian Theatre for Young People and has been a regular guest tutor in directing at NIDA since 1995. He is currently Artistic Director and CEO of CIRCA. With CIRCA, Yaron has created works such as by the light of stars that are no longer…,CIRCA, Wunderkammer, How Like an Angel, “S” and, most recently, Beyond and Opus, which will both world premiere later in 2013. His recent works have been reviewed as being “stunning”, “exquisite” and “the standard to which all other circuses can aspire”.

The seven gifted CIRCA performers include:
Nathan Boyle –After terrorizing his parents at a young age with handstands and cartwheels, his parents saw his passion for performing and acrobatics and enrolled him in gymnastics. His passion for acrobatics took him to sports acrobatics where he represented and won titles for New South Wales at many national championships. After accepting his position at The National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) Nathan specialized in cloud swing, adagio, bungee trapeze and teeterboard. Nathan joined CIRCA as a full time ensemble member in 2011.

Jessica Connell–Formerly a member of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus specializing in hula-hoops and aerials, Jessica spent five years performing around Australia in a variety of productions. In 2011 Jessica joined CIRCA.

Daniel ‘Crispy’ Crisp was born and raised on the Gold Coast. Crispy is a graduate of the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) in Melbourne, where he completed his final year on scholarship at the prestigious Circus University. Some of Crispy’s specialties include aerial straps, hoop diving, Chinese pole, teeterboard, platform, springboard and high diving. Crispy joined the CIRCA ensemble in 2010.

Robbie Curtis started off his circus career in the Flying Fruit Fly Circus. During his high school years he also performed with Opera Australia as a dancer, juggler and acrobat. After completing high school he moved to New Zealand to train in contemporary and classical dance at the New Zealand School of Dance in Wellington. Robbie has also performed with the Australian Ballet in their 50th Anniversary season Infinity in Gideon Obarzanek’s work There’s Definitely a Prince Involved. He is very excited to have joined CIRCA as a full time ensemble member in 2013.

Casey Douglas was born in Perth, Western Australia. Right from the start, he was a hyperactive child playing all the sports possible, leading him to ten years as a competitive gymnast. After completing his degree at the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) he received a grant for a training project in France where he completed further studies with seven handstand professors from around the European Federation of Professional Circus Schools (FEDEC). Casey joined the CIRCA ensemble in 2012.

Brittannie Portelli has over 10 years experience in elite sport, and so had the perfect foundations to transition into circus. After competing internationally in both aerobic gymnastics and synchronized swimming, she wanted to combine her love for physical movement with her passion for performing. She completed the three-year Bachelor Degree Program at the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) in 2010 where she specialized as an aerialist. Shortly after graduating, at the age of 20, she started working with CIRCA as a full-time ensemble member.

Kimberley Rossi grew up competing in athletics and playing representative AFL. After seeing one of CIRCA’s show’s, Kimberley joined CIRCA’s youth performance troupe CIRCA Zoo. After two years of training and performing Kimberley was given the opportunity to be the very first member of fast track, a program designed for young and aspiring performers within CIRCA. In 2011 Kimberley left CIRCA Zoo and fast track and became a full-time ensemble member of CIRCA.

Now, more than ever, it’s time to look back at the roots of these issues and maybe, in the culture and gender wars, if not call an absolute cease fire, at least let the smoke clear a bit and find some common ground between the justifiably outraged feminine and the oft befuddled masculine.

Does that mean I am suggesting nothing but dogmatic, divisive rhetoric and stultifying debate for an evening? Hello? — do you folks even read these reviews and see the type of theatre I like? Far from it, I say. Especially when we’re talking about Triangle Productions latest wonderful and surprisingly touching (ahem — yes, there are bound to be a number of puns like that involved) period piece, award-winning playwright Sarah Ruhl’s eloquent In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play).

That’s right: The Vibrator Play. And yes, like The Vagina Monologues, there is bound to be a snickering frat-boy-esque contingent over the subject matter. Yes, there are plenty of moments of sexual titillation (probably not a play for pre-teens or earlier), as well as resulting hilarity, but if you think that is all there is to this piece, you’d be woefully mistaken. Ruhl’s exemplary writing gets to the heart of the subjegation of women as the “pets” of their overly pompous men and what could possibly reconnect them — the needs and feelings they each long for in each other that the rigid social convention keeps them from expressing.

The play is set in upstate New York in the 1880s, dawn of the electric age and everyone’s very American technological hero, Thomas Edison — an early prototype to Steve Jobs both as techno-maestro, self-aggrandizing huckster and with an equally egotistical bad temper (as Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal’s on-line cartoon would remind us, compared to innovator Nikola Tesla). We get to hear misgivings and longings amongst some for the warm glow of candlelight vs. the harsh electric bulbs in a way that echoes those today who are fearful of the headlong plunge toward the Cloud Internet, smart devices and a generation raised on Xbox and streaming video.

The titular next room is in the home of Dr. and Mrs. Givings (Peter Schuyler and Jami Chatalas-Blanchard) where the Doctor administers this new, electronic “miracle” device on women prone to bouts of “hysteria” (read: too uppity — expressing real emotion beyond the Victorian expectation and being a thorn in the side of their men’s expectations). Schuyler as Dr. Givings is a wonderful study of late nineteenth century prim values and marveling at science (take note, local Steam Punks), all the while being achingly dripping with condescension as he talks to his wife as if she were a beloved house cat. There is much opportunity for we as the more modern audience to roll our eyes and laugh at what we now consider backwards values, but Ruhl’s themes also make us question if we really have advanced that far in anything besides mere rhetoric and posturing.

Dr. Givings, along with his nurse Annie (Michelle Maida) is treating Mrs. Daldry (Louise Stinson) at her husband’s (Joe Healy) request – and Healy as Mr. Daldry is a comical study in sheer male, turn-of-the-century dunderheadedness. The next room is what Mrs. Givings focuses on, rightly so, being denied by her too assured, scientific husband of any interference with his work with his patients, and suspecting too well the intimacies he performs there that are denied her in their marriage. Chatalas-Blanchard’s Mrs. Givings is also experiencing a vicious bout with postpartum depression since the birth of their first child, a condition not even conceived of back then and written off as more female hysteria. To help with her difficulties in nursing the child, they enlist the unorthodox help, for the period, of the Daldry’s Black Maid Elizabeth (Andrea White), a seemingly proper and firm rock of a woman, covering her struggles with grief and loss of faith since the death in childbirth of her son. There is also a flamboyant artist, Leo Irving (Alex Fox), undergoing the Doctor’s treatment with a laughable prostate device (“Hysteria is rare in men, but he is an artist!”), who becomes the focus of Mrs. Givings growing agitation due to the dearth of affection or connection to her husband or anyone.

Director Donald Horn (also Managing Director of Triangle Productions) guides his cast here with an excellent hand in both the affect of the period, the inherent humor in Ruhl’s writing, and more weighty moments of poignancy and gender politics. Chantalas-Blanchard’s as Mrs. Givings does an excellent transition from gracious hostess growing into real hysteria from depression and neglect, then back again in confronting the Doctor and demanding the connection denied her but so freely given to his patients. Stinson’s Mrs. Daldry flowers wonderfully, in both performance and costuming, throughout the production; both with her growing expression as her “treatments” progress from frail and nervous and fearing her initial bodily reaction to the vibrator, to daring to wish to take the device into (gasp!) her own hands. And the clandestine but budding relationship between her and Maida’s Annie is both wonderfully understated and then significantly denied in this period. White’s Elizabeth is masterful in her holding at respectful arm’s length all these crazy white folk wishing just to use her more in different ways. When she does finally peel back and reveal her grief over her infant’s death, it is soul churning. Fox’s Artist Leo is great as both a wild card, romantic player and a bit ridiculous, one of those Americans who is suddenly above it all due to a brief stint experiencing Europe.

Horn also did amazing double duty with some very well done period sets, as did Chatalas-Blanchard with the wonderful Victorian costumes — this production, in both performance and production values, is on par with the best larger theatres here in Portland.

You might come to this play for the initial “electrifying” arousal and cackles, but you will become surprised how quickly it grabs and immerses you in the gender empowerment politics of it all. Ultimately, under threat of dissolution of marriage, it is shown in Ruhl’s play that it is the men who must learn vulnerability and tenderness, stripping naked to show they carry nothing to harm, to finally connect with and be given loving touch by the women they denied it to, due constrained societal convention. You will be delighted by Triangle’s production of In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), and surprised by just where it touches you.

Triangle Productions presents In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), written by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Donald Horn. Featuring Jami Chatalas-Blanchard, Peter Schuyler, Louise Stinson, Joe Healy, Michelle Maida, Alex Fox and Andrea White. Scenic Design by Donald Horn, Lighting Design by Jeff Woods, Costume Design by Jami Chatalas-Blanchard, Sound Design by David Kiehl and Wig Design by Jane Holmes. Plays March 7th through 31st, 2013, Thursdays through Sundays at 7:30 p.m. at The Sanctuary at Sandy Plaza, 1785 NE Sandy Boulevard, Portland, Oregon, 97232. Tickets are $15 – $35, and are available through the Ticket Turtle Web Site, or by calling Triangle Productions at (503) 239-5919, or e-mailing boxoffice@tripro.org.

WHAT IS SLINGSHOT? Slingshot is a projectile of smart and innovative theatrical comedy installations designed to make you laugh your face right off your face. Each Slingshot will be different- from sketch comedy to improv to anything else that is funny- but every Slingshot promises only smart, fresh and sexy comedy. And since Slingshot only comes around once every couple of months, you won’t want to miss a single one. Check out an interview with Bad Reputation’s Shelley McLendon HERE.

Read this short and great review about the show!

NEXT SLINGSHOT

When: MARCH 29 & 30 at 8pm

What: Two nights of attractive improv comedy brought to you by some of Portland’s best improv comedians inspired by guest monologists. The monologist will tell personal stories based on an audience suggestion, and the improvisors will take it from there, making up smart and hilarious words and gestures on the spot. It’s about to get REAL, and you get to see it.

Who will be the guest monologists? Your mom. Plus other interesting dames and fellas, including LOREN HOSKINS (aka “Sharky” from Disney’s Jake and the Neverland Pirates) and JULIE SABATIER (creator and host of the public radio show and podcast Destination DIY) at the March 30th show.

CHRISTINE MCKINLEY (from The History Channel’s Decoded) joining March 29th show)!
Who will be the improvisors? Only Portland improv faves from The Liberators, The Brody Theater, and Administration.

Where: The Ellyn Bye Studio at the Gerding Theater at The Armory.

Purchase your tickets here

The set-up is interesting: three adults and life long friends, a brother and sister (Matthew Kern and Christy Bigelow) and the child of their parents’ friend and architectural partner (Spencer Conway), meet in the loft of the recently deceased patriarch to ready for the reading of the will. There is a particular landmark house designed by the parental partners, lauded even in a classic Life Magazine photo (shades of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Fallingwater house in Pennsylvania). There is much tension precipitating the reading of the will, and the fall out of what happens when expectations there are not what was expected. The second act takes us back thirty-five years to the parents themselves, played by the same actors, and how the parents came together in the midst of artistic and relationship crisis.

In the first act, we see three adults still grappling with their adulthood, living in the shadow of the works of their elders. Kerns as the brother Walker is a rather loquacious and shiftless drifter, now a squatter in his dead parents’ loft. Bigelow’s sister Nan has elder sibling control issues and is alternately exasperated and charmed by her frustrating brother, often worried to death by his long disappearances. Conway’s Pip is depicted as the quintessential puer aeternus, a charming and handsome second-rate actor who knows it and is comfortable with who he is.

In the second act, Kern is the father Ned, nervous architect who has produced the lauded house and now is facing the creative abyss of the expectations of his next piece; Bigelow is the mother Lina, a crazy sort of Tennessee Williams-esque, alcoholic, narcissistic muse to the men, breaking up with the partner to fly into the arms of Ned. Conway is Pip’s father and Ned’s partner, Theo, and we see how he also was his own puer aeternus that filtered down to his son. However, here Conway is puer aeternus facing mid-life breakdown: having been a golden boy, largely due to his partner, he is more concerned with creative failure, than losing his relationship with Lina.

Greenberg also sharply observes the generational differences between the two acts: whereas the behavior of the parents may raise some eyebrows, at least they did leave a mark, a legacy, and actually created something. The children in the first act seem unmoored, save desperately to each other, and are more parasitically living off, and oppressed under, the shadow of their parents’ inheritance, both material and emotional.

Playwright Richard Greenberg is well known for his verbal dexterity and wit falling from his characters mouths, even in this more dramatic piece. That language in this piece is all there waiting to be tapped, but to pull off the particular feat of expressing the author’s intent, one must deliver the language as effortless human speech. Most of those on stage here grasp at, but fall far short of that ability. Director Tom Moorman allows most of his cast, especially at the beginning, to spit the dialogue out at each other rather than savor and experience it. I found it curious that the program credits separately a “speech consultant” and “dialect coach” for this production (why? the play takes place in the modern U.S., and no one appeared to be making any sort of effort at an east coast accent?) as this was the one major area that was lacking in appreciating Greenberg’s language and wit. The setting also was problematic — while I have great appreciation of doing a lot more with less on very limited, donated small theatre budgets, this was supposed to be the Manhattan loft of an architectural icon. Simple flat walls, a messy bed and a table next to a kitchenette that looked more like a run down studio apartment does nothing to set the scene for what is at stake for these characters.

The one exception in all this is Conway as both Pip and his father Theo, but perhaps not for the expected reasons. Conway is far more comfortable with both the play’s language and in portraying well the differences between the father and son characters, as well as their similarities. Conway, however, has both the blessing and the curse of being a near physical and voice double for the actor John Hamm of Mad Men (well, maybe Hamm’s younger brother). His ease and attractiveness draw you to him on stage, even at times of panic as Theo, but you wonder if it’s not the same issue Julia Roberts, Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper had at the mid-2000s revival of this play on Broadway — more charmed and fascinated by presence and excellent cheek bones than paying attention to the play.

Moorman and Defunkt would do better in a subtle piece such as this to remember basic theatre training and not only enjoy the delicacy of Greenberg’s words, but listen well to each other expressing it, also.

A side note — not much to do with the play, but certainly brought out through the plot and themes: the subject of obsession of property. New York, or now, San Francisco, loft apartment, co-op and condo spaces are a premium and the play-toys of the very rich, or nouveau riche. If our beloved Portland ever starts take on the same sort of predatory real estate stances, please someone, just shoot me. It’s just a place to live, not a notch on a social status belt.

Defunkt Theatre presents 3 Days of Rain, written by Richard Greenberg, Directed by Tom Moorman. Featuring Matthew Kern, Christy Bigelow and Spencer Conway. Set Design by Bill Tripp, Lighting Design by Cassie Skauge, Costumes by Lori Sue Hoffman, Sound Design by Jen Raynak, Props by Alana Wight, Dialect Coaching by John San Nicholas and Speech Consulting by Aubrey Jessen. Plays February 15th through March 23, 2013, Thursdays through Sundays, at Defunkt Theatre/Back Door Stage, 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, Oregon, 97215 (in back of the Common Grounds Coffee Shop). Tickets are $15 – $25, available through the Box Office Tickets Web Site or by calling Box Office Tickets at (800) 494-8497.

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND – THE BOOK OF MORMON

U.S. Bank Broadway Across America Portland has proudly brought Award-winning Broadway musicals to Portland for 18 years. Broadway lovers no longer have to travel to New York City to enjoy the biggest, the best and the most exciting shows. The 2013/2014 Season continues that history, offering a lineup of groundbreaking new musicals and classic, beloved revivals. Back by popular demand, THE BOOK OF MORMON will return for a limited engagement beginning July 8, 2014.

Kicking off the 2013/14 Season with show-stopping song and dance is CHICAGO and the delightful, Tony Award®-winning revival of Cole Porter’s ANYTHING GOES. Next is the poignant coming of age story AMERICAN IDIOT, based on Green Day’s GRAMMY Award® winning album, followed by a stunning new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s EVITA. The feel good comedy smash SISTER ACT and a truly original theatrical experience, ONCE—winner of 8 Tony Awards—rounds out the regular six show season.

The 2013/14 Season Specials also include the wildly popular BLUE MAN GROUP.

THE 2013/14 SEASON

CHICAGO Sept. 3 – 8, 2013
ANYTHING GOES Oct. 2 – 6, 2013
AMERICAN IDIOT Nov. 12 – 17, 2013
EVITA Jan. 7 – 12, 2014
SISTER ACT Apr. 1 -6, 2014
ONCE Jun. 10 – 15, 2014

SEASON SPECIALS

THE BOOK OF MORMON Jul. 8 – 20, 2014

AND THERE’S MORE …

BLUE MAN GROUP Mar. 7 – 9, 2014

2013/14 SEASON

CHICAGO
September 3 – 8, 2013

A true New York City institution, CHICAGO has everything that makes Broadway great: a universal tale of fame, fortune and all that jazz; one show-stopping-song after another; and the most astonishing dancing you’ve ever seen.

No wonder CHICAGO has been honored with 6 Tony Awards®, 2 Olivier Awards®, a Grammy® and thousands of standing ovations.

It’s also no surprise that CHICAGO has wowed audiences all around the world, from Mexico City to Moscow, from Sao Paulo to South Africa.

Whether you’re looking for your first Broadway musical, whether you’ve seen the Academy Award®-winning film and want to experience the show live on stage or whether you’ve seen it before and want to recapture the magic, CHICAGO always delivers. www.chicagothemusical.com

ANYTHING GOES
October 2 – 6, 2013

ALL ABOARD for this saucy and splendid production of Roundabout Theatre Company’s ANYTHING GOES, winner of three 2011 Tony Awards® including Best Musical Revival and Choreography! Peppering this Cole Porter first-class comedy are some of musical theater’s most memorable standards, including “I Get a Kick out of You,” “You’re the Top,” and of course, “Anything Goes.” Don’t miss what the AP exclaims as, “So DELIGHTFUL, So DELICIOUS, So DE-LOVELY!” www.AnythingGoesTheMusical.com.

Roundabout Theatre Company’s ANYTHING GOES Roundabout
Theatre Company’s ANYTHING GOES Pictured: Ryan Steer, Bobby Pestka, Rachel
York, Jeremy Benton, Kristopher Thompson-Bolden
Photo Credit: © Joan Marcus, 2012

Roundabout Theatre Company’s ANYTHING GOES Pictured:
Alex Finke, Erich Bergen and Company Photo Credit: © Joan Marcus, 2012

AMERICAN IDIOT
November 12 – 17, 2013

A critical sensation on Broadway and in London, the smash-hit musical AMERICAN IDIOT tells the story of three lifelong friends, forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of suburbia. Based on Green Day’s GRAMMY Award®-winning multi-platinum album and featuring the hits “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “21 Guns,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” “Holiday” and the blockbuster title track, AMERICAN IDIOT boldly takes the American musical where it’s never gone before. With direction by Michael Mayer (SPRING AWAKENING), choreography by Steven Hoggett (BLACK WATCH) and orchestrations and arrangements by Tom Kitt (NEXT TO NORMAL), the result is an experience Charles Isherwood of The New York Times declares “thrilling, emotionally charged, and as moving as any Broadway musical I’ve seen this year!” www.americanidiotthemusical.com
*AMERICAN IDIOT contains adult content and strong language.

Thomas Hettrick (Tunny), Alex Nee (Johnny) and Casey
O’Farrell (Will) in AMERICAN IDIOT (Photo by John Daughtry)

EVITA
January 7- 12

TIM RICE and ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’s Tony Award®-winning musical returns at last!
Eva Perón used her beauty and charisma to rise meteorically from the slums of Argentina to the presidential mansion as First Lady. Adored by her people as a champion for the poor, she became one of the most powerful women in the world — while her greed, outsized ambition and fragile health made her one of the most tragic. EVITA tells Eva’s passionate and unforgettable true story, and features some of theater’s most beautiful songs, including “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” “Another Suitcase in Another Hall” and “High Flying, Adored.” Don’t miss the stunning new production of EVITA, directed by MICHAEL GRANDAGE and choreographed by ROB ASHFORD, that Channel 4 New York calls “THE HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN!” evitaonbroadway.com

Current Broadway Production. Photo credit: Richard Termine

SISTER ACT
April 1 – 6, 2014

SISTER ACT is Broadway’s feel-amazing musical comedy smash! The New York Post calls it “RIDICULOUSLY FUN,” and audiences are jumping to their feet in total agreement! Featuring original music by 8-time Oscar® winner ALAN MENKEN (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE LITTLE MERMAID, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS), SISTER ACT tells the story of Deloris Van Cartier, a wannabe diva whose life takes a surprising turn when she witnesses a crime and the cops hide her in the last place anyone would think to look—a convent! Under the suspicious watch of Mother Superior, Deloris helps her fellow sisters find their voices as she unexpectedly rediscovers her own. A sparkling tribute to the universal power of friendship, SISTER ACT is reason to REJOICE! www.sisteractbroadway.com

Cast of Sister Act Photo Credit Joan Marcus

ONCE
June 10 – 15, 2014

Winner of eight 2012 Tony Awards® including Best Musical, ONCE is a truly original Broadway experience. Featuring an impressive ensemble of actor/musicians who play their own instruments on stage, ONCE tells the enchanting tale of a Dublin street musician who’s about to give up on his dream when a beautiful young woman takes a sudden interest in his haunting love songs. As the chemistry between them grows, his music soars to powerful new heights…but their unlikely connection turns out to be deeper and more complex than your everyday romance. Emotionally captivating and theatrically breathtaking, ONCE draws you in from the very first note and never lets go. It’s an unforgettable story about going for your dreams…not living in fear…and the power of music to connect all of us. www.oncemusical.com

Pictured: ONCE Original Broadway Company. © 2012, Joan
Marcus.

2013/14 SEASON SPECIALS

BLUE MAN GROUP
March 7 – 9, 2014

Experience the Phenomenon. BLUE MAN GROUP is best known for their wildly popular theatrical shows and concerts which combine comedy, music, and technology to produce a totally unique form of entertainment. The New York Times heralds the show as “One of the most delightful performance pieces ever staged.” E! Entertainment News exclaims, “BLUE MAN GROUP is what every live performance aspires to be.” The Baltimore Sun raves, “Blue Man Group packs a wallop. It’s a big, loud, funny, silly, visually arresting production!”

Although it is impossible to describe, people of all ages agree that BLUE MAN GROUP is an intensely exciting and wildly outrageous show that leaves the entire audience in a blissful, euphoric state. With no spoken language, BLUE MAN GROUP is perfect for people of all ages, languages, and cultures. BLUE MAN GROUP is now on the road for its first U.S. theatrical tour. This unique experience is a form of entertainment like nothing else; guaranteed to be an outing you will never forget. www.blueman.com

Back by Popular Demand
THE BOOK OF MORMON
July 8 – 20, 2014

Ben Brantley of The New York Times says, “It’s the best musical of this century.” Entertainment Weekly says it’s “The funniest musical of all time.” From South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, it’s The Book of Mormon, winner of nine Tony Awards® including Best Musical. Jon Stewart of The Daily Show calls it “A crowning achievement. So good it makes me angry.” Contains explicit language. For more information, please visit BookofMormonTheMusical.com

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Subscriptions start at $135 for a six-show package. Subscribers can renew and purchase additional tickets to any show in the season by calling 503-241-1802; or subscribe online at BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com/Portland. Renewal notices will arrive in the mail the week of February 18, 2013.

GROUP SALES INFORMATION
Extraordinary savings opportunities exist for groups of 10+ tickets. Get priority seating before single tickets go on sale to the public, and save up to 20% on select performances. For more information call 503-295-3509.

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Many people — subscribers and otherwise — recognize the importance of this series to the community and contribute their support. Member benefits include special access to tickets, special events, and a host of other benefits. For more information, call 503-417-0601.

U.S. BANK BROADWAY ACROSS AMERICA 2013/14 SEASON-AT-A-GLANCE
CHICAGO
September 3 – 8, 2013
Keller Auditorium
www.chicagothemusical.com

ANYTHING GOES
October 2 – 6, 2013
Keller Auditorium
www.AnythingGoesTheMusical.com

AMERICAN IDIOT
November 12 – 17, 2013
Keller Auditorium
www.americanidiotthemusical.com
Contains adult content and strong language

EVITA
January 7- 12
Keller Auditorium
evitaonbroadway.com

BLUE MAN GROUP**
March 7 – 9, 2014
Keller Auditorium
www.blueman.com

SISTER ACT
April 1 – 6, 2014
Keller Auditorium
www.sisteractbroadway.com

ONCE
June 10 – 15, 2014
Keller Auditorium
www.oncemusical.com

THE BOOK OF MORMON**
July 8 – 20, 2014
Keller Auditorium
BookofMormonTheMusical.com
Contains explicit language

** Season Special, not included in regular subscription