‘Matilda’ and the culture of joy
Darleen Ortega
October 11, 2023
Portland Playhouse’s musical-theater version of the Roald Dahl children’s novel is enchanting for audiences of all ages.
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Portland Playhouse’s musical-theater version of the Roald Dahl children’s novel is enchanting for audiences of all ages.
Center Stage’s revival of the 1968 musical of youthful protest and rebellion reclaims the anger, joy, and love for a new era of cultural and political divisiveness and disarray.
The Reformers get into the Halloween spirit with a string of shows at Movie Madness inspired by ’80s slasher flicks.
A conversation with the new artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, who’s returned to the company he helped lead for 11 years and is eager to “carry it forward” again.
As the theater season shifts into high gear, Center Stage’s “Hair” marches to the beat of 1968’s drum and a host of other shows hit the stage.
Madeline Sayet’s play, at the festival in Ashland through Oct. 15, strives to reconcile whether an Indigenous person can love the most famous writer produced by a colonial power.
Broadway Rose Theatre pulls out all the stops on the sizzling revue “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” a celebration of Waller’s music and milieu.
The festival’s just-announced 2024 season suggests a return to the kind of lineup that’s excited audiences in the past. Plus: Fats Waller and the joint are jumpin’ at Broadway Rose.
As a new biography hits the book stands, Seattle theater critic Misha Berson recalls her own interactions with the late, great American playwright.
Bag & Baggage’s “Our Utopia” riffs on themes from Thornton Wilder’s classic. Plus openings, closings, and Bill Rauch’s debut with the new Perelman Center in New York.
Ten Fifteen Theater will present a world-premiere staged reading of “Bartow” next month in Astoria.
A new artistic director and a revived, walk-through “immersive installation piece” at Zidell Yards keeps the veteran devised-theater company moving forward.
The heady shuffle of “52 Pick-Up” extends its winning hand. Plus: Good news/bad news in Oregon theater, CoHo Clown Festival, a little Sondheim music, openings and closings.
Born following a ruckus about “political” symbols in local schools, the professional company — part of Yamhill County’s thriving theater scene — aims to create a safe space for minority communities.
Why everyone’s flocking to an old Victoria’s Secret to see a Beckett play. Plus: “Tina” on tour, the joys of a kids’ backyard theater camp, and a question: Must the show go on?
In a tiny Southeast Portland space, a lean and lively actors’ theater is emerging. Up next, “52 Pick-up.” Also: openings and last chances.
“The fundamentals of the economy are getting stronger, but people are still skittish” – and theater companies are suffering for it. Plus: Anonymous Theatre plays Pirate.
Financial problems stemming in part from the pandemic, an expensive construction project, lack of expected state funding and a national slump in theater attendance force a drastic step.
Broadway Rose’s production of the Rodgers + Hammerstein musical adds a light touch of depth to some scintillating singing and knockout costumes.
The Portland actress takes on the multiple challenges of Samuel Beckett’s Winnie – in an old Victoria’s Secret at the Lloyd Center mall.
With fresh productions opening of The Scottish Play and the lost-slipper musical, we’re one leg off a tantalizing theatrical trifecta.
In Corvallis, the traditional summer Bard in the Quad opens outdoors with Shakespeare’s sharp-witted “Much Ado About Nothing” – and a slightly altered location.
Director Katrina Godderz calls Kate Hamill’s adaptation a “wink-wink, nudge-nudge” take on the romantic comedy.
New faces in key places, final chapter for the lamented Book-It Rep, a little Jeeves and Wilde, and some Wagner at the opera keep the summer unsettled but hopping.
As Bag & Baggage performs “Red Velvet,” his first directing show as the theater’s artistic director, the Omaha and New York transplant creates a tight bond with his new home town.
“The Skin of Our Teeth” opens next week at the 94-year-old community theater, which is adding new voices to its repertoire.
The former Artists Rep artistic leader is the new artistic director of Seattle’s much larger flagship theater, and JAW keeps faith with the theatrical tradition of the new.
Henry VIII’s wives take the stage in Portland in the musical “Six”; Bag&Baggage’s “Red Velvet,” Box of Clowns, stinky cheese, Shakespeare in Elgin, time out for kids’ shows, more.
“Rent,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Twelfth Night” and “The Three Musketeers” provide distinctive takes on classical and contemporary theater.
Apalategui’s “Downward Facing,” the show that just kept growing, takes its next big step in Fuse Theatre’s Atelier Festival.
CoHo’s clowns tie a twister by the tail. Plus: a jukebox musical at Lakewood, a sketch comedy festival, Astoria’s “performathon,” seasons’ greetings, throwing the dice on “Six.”
Life is a cabaret: Poison Waters and a bevy of drag stars dress up, feel their Pride, light the lights, and put on a show.
The troubled festival calls on a favored prince to be its new artistic director. Plus: A new Josie Seid play, 76 trombones in Eugene, last call for gothic cabaret, and more.
Clackamas Rep brings the ancients romping into the present. Plus: Broadway Rose’s “Dreamcoat,” new leader at Artists Rep, farewell to Book-It Rep and Sheldon Harnick, more.
From the Cocteau Twins to the Cure, a splashy cabaret celebrates goth culture with playful spookiness. Plus: Last call for some good shows, a shutdown in L.A.
Portland Center Stage Actor Treasure Lunan and Associate Artistic Director Chip Miller discuss gender in theater.
A little razzle-dazzle from “Shazam!,” PlayWrite’s 24-hour play fest, circus for Cutie, Cheryl Strayed in Astoria, Bill Rauch’s big adventure, last chance for a fistful of good shows.
Review: Portland Center Stage’s fresh take on Shakespeare’s comedy is a nimble, playful, genderfluid, and not at all didactic delight.
Profile’s “How to Make an American Son” tells a generational family tale. Plus: Duffy Epstein & friends head for “California,” openings, closings.
Tom Stoppard’s Tony-nominated family tale “Leopoldstadt” steps deftly through trauma and time and the toll of the Holocaust.
Lee Blessing life-and-death drama, Shakespeare’s Puck & the gang, “Full Monty,” and last chance for the fine “Mary Jane” and “True Story.”
Ernie Lijoi’s new musical, about the day the nuclear bomb DOESN’T drop, takes the spotlight at Fuse’s OUTwright Festival.
The premiere of a fresh Kabuki adaptation of a 1685 Japanese puppet play is Laurence Kominz’ swan song. Plus “Afropolitical Movement,” openings, closings.
As the Tony Awards approach, Misha Berson takes a long deep look at the shows that are getting Broadway back on its feet.
Endurance, warmth and strength in Amy Herzog’s play; clawing the walls at Shaking the Tree; the casting controversy; is “who wrote Shakespeare” the wrong question?
Oregon Children’s Theatre’s “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” spins a visually sumptuous fantasy from Chinese folklore.
Premieres from E.M. Lewis and Carol Triffle top the theater week. Plus: Trying to break down the breakdown at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
The artistic director of the embattled Oregon Shakespeare Festival departs as the company is in the midst of an emergency fund drive to keep its season going.
At Profile, a gathering of contemporary voices. Plus: Clowning around at Milagro, Corrib’s gritty solo show, last days for “Come From Away,” Portland Playhouse’s new season and more.
Actor Luisa Sermol and novelist Rene Denfeld sit down for a chat about drama, stories, sexism, making the invisible seen, and working together on the play “Myra’s Story.”
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