hipsters in the opera.

i’m ashamed to say that i have never been to the opera before seeing philip glass’s orphee last week. the opera just always seemed out of reach, so i never looked into it. when i saw that the portland opera was going to be doing one of glass’s operas, i decided it was time. and thankfully i knew who to ask to accompany me, the only other person i know that likes philip glass, morgan’s brother don. don also got us some great seats for a really good price. now the opera doesn’t seem so out of reach anymore.

this is what philip glass’s website says about orphee.

Based on Cocteau’s fascinating retelling of the Orpheus myth, Orphée, the first opera of Philip Glass’ Cocteau Trilogy, is an extended parable on the life of an artist, a poet harassed and misunderstood by peers. His success leads to the ridicule by fellow poets, ending in a creatively crippling isolation. With a renewed apprehension of his own mortality, Orphee regains his emotional strength, enabling him to ignore the trials of ordinary life, freeing him to be a poet. The poets Orphee and Cegeste, Euridice, and a mysterious Princess interact within the worlds of the living and the dead, existing in that mysterious realm that separates the two worlds. Love triumphs and thus returns Orphee and Euridice to mortal life, with no remaining consciousness of their unusual time spent between “the worlds”. The Princess has violated the laws of life and death one time too many and is banished into oblivion.

the music was pure philip glass, small repetitive tonal circles culminating in beautiful glissades mixed with delicate percussion, and intricately subtle piano work. the libretto for the opera was lifted right from cocteau’s screenplay. since i don’t have a lot of experience with opera i can’t really critique the performances.  i do think that this was far from traditional opera, it seemed more like performance art. every movement and motion of the cast was choreographed, people popped in and out of the stage saying cryptic messages, and endless interpretations of the symbolism are probable. the set was also one of the characters, with two sides a mirror images. the use of mirrors and mirror imagery was the most striking part of the production, they were the portal between the worlds. watching orphee was reminiscent of watching movies of the french new wave. orphee grabs the audiences attention and doesn’t let go. i was moved by the performance, but over a week later i’m still not sure how, i still need more time with it.

pills, especially downers.

i’ve been waiting to see this play. after august: osage county opened i read the review of it in the new york times. so i’ll just let that review speak for the play. go here read it now, then come back.  while the cast was completely different for the production i saw, they were still spectacular. they created such an air of tense apprehension and controlled it beautifully. the production was incredible, i cannot recommend this play more.

chest bumps, for real…

in a different post i said musicals couldn’t be all bad. i was wrong.

jane a theater company put on a production of sondheim’s company. it was terrible, just terrible. they were all oversinging when not being drowned out by the orchestra. they were all overacting on a terribly designed stage with horrible lighting. we walked out at intermission. that is all.

a night out with the…

after the amazing success of suburban death of a salesman, we decided to try out bingo the musical at the broadway rose theater in tigard. the papers all gave it good reviews, and it was a musical so it couldn’t be all bad. plus look at that picture, how could that picture lead us to a bad time. i decided that my favorite one was the red one, because she looks like the slutty one. did i mention that it was interactive?  oh yes we, played bingo. did you know there is more than one kind?

again we were surprised by a brand new theater and a well acted production. the story was simple involving a group of friends trapped in a bingo hall during a vicious rain storm, possibly in florida. the songs weren’t the most creative ever, but they were a lot of fun. stangely one of the best songs was a song from a fictional musical version of one flew over the cuckoo’s nest. while the show wasn’t spectacular it was amazing fun.

salesman from brooklyn.

to see death of a salesman leslie and i took a trip out to the venetian theater and bistro in hillsboro. we went thinking it was going to be dinner theater, based on the name and the website. we were misled. the venetian is actually a nice looking restaurant with a great new theater behind it. the bag and baggage production company were the troupe putting on death of a salesman. we were a bit worried about this, we were in the suburbs after all, but it was amazing. the acting was first class, all the mains truly embodied their characters. we were torn apart by a couple of the monologues.  the staging was simple and creative, which were enhanced by the clever use of spotlights. we walked out believers in suburban theater.

goodbye twelve.

leslie is soon moving to laos, so before she goes we have been on an unspoken mission to see as much theater as we can. that brought us to stumptown stages production of a chorus line at jefferson high school. this was regional theater at it’s finest,  awkward acting, misstepped choreography, and some out of tune singing. what saved this production was their heart, they all really loved doing it, and were having a ball. there were a couple of stars, but what we’ll remember the most is the camel toe. we had a blast at this show.

lil coalhouse.

a musical always opens the portland center stage’s season, this year it’s ragtime. set in 1906 ragtime tells the story of three families in new york; one waspy from new rochelle, one black from harlem, and the last are immigrants from poland. their lives intertwine in abstract ways which profoundly effect them.

the cast was perfect, they’ve got some great voices. the musical numbers are obviously scaled back, but still have ton of life. of course there is ragtime, but jazz and marches also influence the score. and what a score it is, rooted in classic musical (think carousel or showboat) it has elements of steven soundheim and philip glass, just enough to give it a modern sound. the staging, using only three sets of iron gates and a couple of chairs, was inventive. the huge presence of the gates helps with serious overtones of the story. it was a fantastic night at the theater.

i have to thank portland center stage for having those last-minute rush tickets. my theater going friend leslie and i have seen the majority of the productions at pcs over the last two years, not once have we been let down.

i want your paws in my mouth.

leslie and i took advantage of portland center stage’s free play readings (and super chilly AC) that were part of jaw: a playwrights festival.

we went to see (concerning strange devices from the distant west) by naomi iizuka. four actors and one narrator sat in chairs on the stage, they presented three stories taking place about ten to twenty years a apart. all somehow connected to a picture, circa 1885, of a shirtless japanese boy holding a box containing a cicada. it was a slow drama that unfolded in a delicate manner. the story was intricate and well plotted. when fully staged i think it will be more engaging, in the reading it came off a little confusing. since it was four actors playing three roles each, and the non-linear storytelling that naomi iizuka is known for, we kept losing track of the characters. i think keeping it at four actors is a good choice, it’s the costumes and sets that will help. when fully staged, it should be fascinating.

the other reading we saw was kimberly rosenstock’s 99 ways to fuck a swan. interestingly this was a non-linear collection connecting around a painting, except this was a comedy, and a very successful one. four stories, spanning more than 3000 years, weave in an out of each other while focusing on michelangelo’s “leda and the swan”, and it’s affect on the happiness and and loves of the group involved. this play was hilarious, some of the funniest parts involved possible human/feline intercourse. it was in not way crude or smutty, trust me. some of the jokes did seem a little ‘played for laughs’, they could be fixed though. and unlike the other play, it should be staged the way pcs did. they did a fantastic job, using eight actors and three rows of folding chairs.  the minimal approach is best to balance with over sized humor.

i don’t understand how a struggling theater can put on a free week long festival, but i’m thankful they did. it was an excellent way to escape from sauna portland has become over the last week.

he likes my corn.

grey gardens is a great production for portland center stage to close out the season with. based on the 1975 documentary by the maysles brothers about a pair of eccentric, distant relatives of jacqueline bouvier kennedy onassis. bordering on exploitation, the documentary showcases big edie and little edie bouvier beale as they live in their run down east hampton manor house, practically penniless. seems like odd fodder for a musical, but it works on a lot of points. it also misses a few.

the first act, set in 1941, is a fictional telling of little edie’s engagement to joe kennedy jr falling apart thanks to big edie’s intervention. the first act is used to establish how far the pair had fallen, and to show the manipulative power of big edie. the music and songs of the first act are traditional cole porter/gershwin era music, lots of brass and jazz hands. some of which are a bit derivative, but they do a good job of setting a tone and feeling for the time. unfortunately the act seems a bit short, not giving enough time for any real character development.

the second act is where grey gardens really succeeds. set in 1975 and using dialogue directly from the documentary, we get a glimpse into the world of the beales. it’s the music that really makes this act work, more in the vein of steven sondheim and a bit of philip glass. the songs and music take on a darker tone, with more prominent strings and percussion. some tin pan alley is thrown in, i believe to give it a connection to the first act.  some unusual cadence is used, and some of the songs are sung purposefully slightly out of tune. the songs are catchy and somewhat haunting, even several days later i’m still humming a couple of them. the second act is also rather short, and no plot exists at all, really it’s just a snapshot into a day of the beales.

the eccentricities of the beales was played for comic effect, something i found a little off. while their story is fascinating, i always thought it was a bit tragic, so all the people laughing at them made it seem even more so to me. kind of like a bully picking on the weird kid.

though a bit uneven, and could have used a bit more plot deveolpment, i still greatly enjoyed my visit to grey gardens.

moms on drugs, good listeners.

crazy enough has been getting great reviews and was extended three times.  i was worried that all the praise was really the result of portland being in love with a portland product. portland has a tendency to do that. storm large’s one woman show at portland center stage took me a bit by surprise, by living up to the praise.

done right a one person show is one of my favorite forms of theater; i’m in awe of someone who can stand on stage and hold a theater’s attention for hours. it is well known in portland that storm large (yes, that’s her given name) is a great performer with an incredible singing voice. in crazy enough she tells the story of her mother’s mental illness and how it affected her life. storm was at ease on stage and has the banter down, she is funny and personable. at times the more emotional dialogue would come off a little too rehearsed, she was definably more comfortable with the conversational parts. the songs, that were mainly used to express the emotion of a story, are strong and catchy. a couple of them were quite touching and sad, the one about her mother’s death had me totally choked up. a little too close to home for me right now maybe.

crazy enough is storm’s show and she shines in it.