Five Actors, Five Plays at RTR

Well it appears that my time with Readers Theatre Repertory has come to a close for now. Last night was the final show of their season and they will not begin again until September after I will be away a graduate school.
I really enjoyed what they chose to do with their final show, though. They did five short plays in under an hour with five different actors. The shorts were quick but powerful. They were just long enough that you could get a taste of them and then move onto something else. The woman sitting next to me joked that they were just like eating candy. Out of the five my favorites were The Sniper and Daniel on a Thursday. Really good show to all involved, and thank you for sharing this eighth season of RTR!

The Last Show You'll Ever See

"A Woman. A Trombone. Apocalypse."
I could not describe Sarah Liane Foster's one-woman show better myself. The show is presented by The Nomadic Theatre Company which works on physical theatrical forms such as clown, mask, puppetry, dance, acrobatics, etc., and let me tell you, it was hilarious! Sarah Liane Foster plays her uncomfortable, goofy character, Petroleum Jane as she attempts to get through performing a trombone concert without stopping too often to warn the audience about Apocalypse, the perils of pushing buttons, time stopping, and a plethera of other wild and terrifying explorations of thought while remembering to inform us of the closest available exits and affective safty procedures.
I totally loved the show, it was truly a blast! Plus, it's at Curious Comedy, and a cocktail with live theatre is a fabulous idea.

Frost/Nixon at PCS

There's no doubt Portland is into politics. The biggest audience I've seen at a non-musical, non-opening performance at Portland Center Stage (PCS) was last night at Frost/Nixon, and everyone was really digging the show.
Written by Peter Morgan and directed by Rose Riordan, Frost/Nixon is the story of a series of interviews with former president Richard Nixon a few years after his resignation, conducted by British journalist David Frost. No, I have not seen the new movie, so I cannot compare the two, but I did find the play a really fascinating time.
Incorporating multimedia into their set designs seems to have been a theme this season at PCS , or at least it certainly happened in R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe and in Apollo. In Frost/Nixon the multiple screen background showing a number of different images really worked for me. It not only helped set mood and location, but it provided images from the time period and also gave the audience an understanding of the intimate nature the camera brought to the interviews with Nixon.
A memorable performance was given by Bill Christ as Richard Nixon. I found myself feeling truly sorry for the former president character at the end of the show. He appeared to me, a man in a world of media he could not quite understand or fit in with. A world that reduced his achievements down to his regret for his illegal involvement in Watergate. I thought the show was moving and impacting. The ensemble was wonderful. Congratulations to all.
Unfortunately, I saw the play rather late in it's run, and this is it's last weekend, so hurry over!

Freakshow

Last night a friend invited me to go see Theatre Vertigo's production of Freakshow at Theatre! Theater!
Having gone in not entirely sure what to expect, we were still a little perplexed after an hour and a half of starring at Torso Girl. The play's tale of breaking ties to this place of nightmare and security, the freak-show, brings the audience a glimpse of the sad day to day life of traveling freaks at the turn of the century in a time when economic burdens are growing heavier and side-show acts aren't selling as well as they used to. Among other characters, Theatre Vertigo gives the audience four delicious freaks; the girl with no arms or legs, the dog-faced woman, the pinhead, and aqua boy, the human salamander. The physicality and make-up of each character was alarmingly realistic and quite intriguing.
It was certainly one freaky evening, and I would recommend it to anyone with a taste for the bizarre. Freakshow is playing through May 16th, so if you can check it out you should!

Some Stills from Marat/Sade

The Barber of Seville: an Electric Opera

Alright, so my last four posts have been about things happening at University of Portland! So what! It may be the last things I get to write about good old U.P.
Anyway, this time I have something truly incredible to share. A massive group of students from both the theatre and music departments (and elsewhere) have put together the first to acts of The Barber of Seville as an electric opera. I saw it on Sunday and was absolutely blown away! Now I like opera anyway, but an opera where the clarinet is played by a hammered organ, the violins and violas are played by guitars with string tone, the oboe is played by a guitar with the engaged wah pedal stepped out, etc. etc., it gets a little crazy! Not to mention how cool it is that all the characters look like they've stepped out of punk band/glam rock music videos.
Bobby Ray, a senior who played Figaro, took this project on as his baby this year, and I hope he is proud, because it was an enormous undertaking that turned out remarkably well! Steven Quirk as Count Almaviva and Danielle Larson as Rosina were great. Danielle can hit high notes like you wouldn't believe! Connor Bond was hilarious as Doctor Bartolo, especially in is Ozzy Osbourne get-up. My favorite song, though, belonged to Brittney Harris who played Bona Basilia. Something about her aria, "La Calunnia," just sounded amazing with rock music backing her up! Not to mention, she totally has the hottest costume!
Also, congratulations to the budding young theatres that my fellow students are getting off their feet. Two student project theatres were involved in this production; Portland Organic Theatre, and the Electric Opera Company. Incredible work, you guys! I'm so proud!
At any rate, I totally recommend checking it out if you are near the U.P. campus on Thursday. It's only a minimum of a dollar donation to get in, and believe me it will be a dollar well spent. The show begins at 7:30 on Thursday and runs about an hour and a half in the Mago Hunt Theatre.

Sorry, I've Been Busy

So Marat/Sade ended and I thought I would finally have a minute to breathe. Oh no, I was wrong. I've had to work on an amazing amount of academic theatre projects in the last week.
Tuesday and Thursday my Commedia Dell'Arte class was doing final performances. As Commedia is mainly a pedestrian art, we were trying our hand at street theatre around campus. We put on masks and trooped around doing small Commedia skits at popular campus hang outs. In my performance I played Arlecchino with one classmate playing Capitano and one playing Dottore. Our skit involved a pumpkin pie, it was very funny.
Wednesday evening I was in a musical revue for my musical theatre class. I had a duet as well as a solo from The Magic Show, and I had a fairly substantial solo in one of our group numbers as Dolly in "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" from Hello Dolly. So that was fun.
Wednesday and Thursday night I participated in this awesome project. The University of Portland finally has a new play festival that they hope to make an annual thing. Five plays were read both nights. Some were staged while others were choral readings. I was in a play by my friend William Steele called Wheat and Grapes, in which I played a pregnant seventeen year old considering an abortion. Though I thought all the young playwrights did well, I was particularly proud of my buddy Conor Eifler. Eifler is a young playwright who although he's only finishing his sophomore year in college has enjoyed such successes as having his shows read and Visions and Voices at Portland Center Stage and at the JAW; a Playwrights Festival also at Portland Center Stage. His show at University of was a full length one act, and it was hilarious! Way to go!
Finally, on Friday night it was time to do our annual Performing and Fine Arts Banquet. This is kind of the departments farewell to the seniors. It was very fun and very emotional. I recieved the Outstanding Achievment Award for On-stage work.
So that's why I haven't written much. I promise I'll be back out seeing plays soon!