The House Continues to Fall!

Just saw Fall of the House episode 2 of season 5! I am always delighted to see a full house of people for this show. It's so cool to see theatre supported! An unsung hero I don't think I mentioned last week was Matt Hopkins who plays Andrew and did a really great job. I can't wait to see what our housemates get themselves into in the coming weeks, and of course The Pied Cow Coffeehouse afterword with friends is always wonderful!

Finally Saw Crazy Enough

I have been trying to see this play for forever. The first time Luke and I had to change our ticket because we realized we had a trip to the beach planned for that day. So we changed the date to June 5th. That would've been great, except that I got this job working backstage A Little Night Music and that show opened on June 5th. Gritting my teeth, I gave that ticket away. Not one to give up on a show that everyone in town is talking about and one that I have waited to see all year, I stood in a surprisingly lengthy stand-by line last night at 6:30 (an hour before the show). I had just bet Luke a burrito and a sweet tamale that I would not get into the play that night when a woman came by offering a single ticket for that evening's performance for twenty bucks. I jumped on it and ended up sitting in the second row center, an awesome seat for this type of piece. Of course I now have a burrito and sweet tamale on my conscience.
As for the show, can I just say, Storm Large, I love you. That was awesome. And let me tell you, a crude, raw, hilarious, touching one-woman show about being a troubled rock-star is just what I needed after so many nights in a row of A Little Night Music. I was so jazzed by the play that the bike ride back up to North Portland did not even phase me. Maybe that's because I was blaring the Crazy Enough soundtrack on my ipod the whole way.
Truly, the show was great. The music was fantastic. There are some brilliant original tracks, and Storm's beautiful cover of the Pixies "Where is my Mind" absolutely gave me chills. It was inspiring to see Storm open her life so much onstage. She's very brave to be able to tackle personal family issues, mental illness, promiscuous sex, and drug addiction among other things in a room full of strangers night after night, but rest assured I'm convinced that everyone there loved her for it. She is entertaining, inspiring, and totally cool, no doubt.
Speaking of the Drammy's Crazy Enough earned Storm the 'Musical Actress in a lead role' Award--congratulations, and she and James Beaton took home one of the 'Original Music' awards. Crazy Enough was recently extended through July 26th. So please go see it at Portland Center Stage (PCS).

Hey, I Saw That! (2008-2009 Drammy Awards)

The Drammy Awards are put on annually by the Portland Civic Theatre Guild. They recognize certain shows and individuals for their outstanding work in Portland theatre over the past year. This year some shows that I saw and wrote about here on Heather Goes to the Theatre were recognized. Two of the 'Actor in a Lead Role' awards went to Bill Geisslinger and Denis Arndt for their work in Artists Repertory Theatre's (ART) The Seafarer, and one of the 'Actress in a Lead Role' went to Sharonlee Mclean (one of my favorite local actors) for her role in CoHo Productions' The Receptionist. One of the 'Lighting Design' awards went to Daniel Ordower for Portland Center Stage's (PCS) How To Disappear Completely and Never Be Found. A 'Music Direction' award went to Rick Lewis for PCS's production of Guys and Dolls. PCS took home both scenic design awards for Chris Rousseau's How to Dissapear Completely and Never Be Found and Nancy Keystone's Apollo. Jen Raynack also recieved the 'Sound Design' award for How to Dissapear Completely and Never Be Found, and Ebbe Roe Smith took home one of the 'Actor in a Supporting Role' awards for his work in the same play. A PCS production was also recognized in the 'Actress in a Supporting Role' awards as one was given to Lisa Renee Pitts for her work in Doubt. Finally, congradulations to Megan Murphy, Cameron McFee and Mead Hunter who recieved PATA spotlight awards.

Fall of the House Season Five

Sunday evening, after finishing up backstage on A Little Night Music I headed over to the lovely Belmont with a group of friends. After a few drinks and selections from the happy hour menu at the Blue Monk we went across the street to Theater! Theatre! and purchased season passes to the fifth season of Fall of the House by Action Adventure Theatre. Maybe you remember me just raving about their fourth season in February. I think Fall of the House is one of the coolest theatre ideas I have ever seen. It's a live ongoing drama with a new episode each week for four weeks.
Their opening episode was great! It was totally hilarious, surprising, and heartbreaking! I loved it. This week I was especially impressed with Aubrey Jessen's work as Julie.
Don't be daunted by the several seasons, or even missing an episode, I promise you'll still be able to follow the story. If you're at all interested I hope you try to make it next weekend to season five episode two. This show is such a wonderful Portland thing to do. It's so much fun!

A Little Night Music...Every Night

For the last month I have been virtually chained to a sewing machine creating some of the most complicated and gorgeous dresses I've ever seen. I've been working for the Mock's Crest production of A Little Night Music which opened yesterday. Throughout June I'll be a dresser backstage attempting to get these lovely creations onstage flawlessly.
The show itself is rather bitter/sweet. It features Margie Boulé as Desiree Armfeld.

Three Sisters at ART

Theatre savvy Americans always laugh when someone says that Chekhov intended his plays to be comedies. Maybe in Russia they are funny, but here in our vastly different culture, Chekhov always turns out downright tragic. I recently saw Three Sisters at Artists Repertory Theatre (ART), and I was pleased that while, yes, the play does turn out downright tragic, it found the irony through the gloom and in places was even humorous. I can definitely say that watching all these characters go around and around in their monotonous lives and never doing anything to eleviate their suffering, boredom, and general dissatisfaction with everything really made me want to get out and live.
I liked the show a lot, and I thought that most of the actors had really stellar performances. Marjorie Tatum played Natasha and she was just as evil as I hoped she'd be. As soon as she would come onstage I would just cringe. Todd Van Voris, who I've seen in several shows about town now, as always did a wonderful job. Patrick Dizney, who has seen more of my work than I've seen of his, was quite impressive. Making a very attractive miliatry man, it was easy to see how his Vershinin could have been a "lovesick major" in his younger years. Of course, the three sisters themselves (Luisa Sermol as Masha, Andrea Frankle as Olga, and Amaya Villazan as Irina) did very well.

So Excited for Actor School!

I've been sharing this video with a lot of people! Just in case you want to see what my graduate program is like you should check it out! I am so excited to begin in Fall!!!

Ohio University Theatre Video