Musical Theatre | Workshop Production

Minus Dan Productions presents

 

Ribbons of War

Based on music by Jay Purdy and The Extraordinaires

Adapted for the stage by Andrew Fridae

Directed by Josh Gulotta

Music Direction by Andrew Fridae

 

Venue:  Shaking the Tree Studio | 1407 SE Stark St, Portland OR 97214

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 25, 26, Feb 1, 2 @ 7:30pm;

Jan 27, Feb 3 @ 2:30pm

 

Tickets:  $10 | www.boxofficetickets.com or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

Adventure! Romance! Sea Monsters! Ribbons of War tells the story of the young pilot Annelies who abandons her island home to marry a great sea captain and join the crew of the Good Ship Valiant. With fantastic songs by the band The Extraordinaires, Ribbons of War is a camp-filled joyride for the whole family!

 

 

 

Musical Theatre | Staged Reading

David Poulshock Productions presents

 

Rain! The Musical  

by Richard Moore and Monte Merrick

Music & Lyrics by Richard Moore

Libretto by Monte Merrick

 

Venue: ** VENUE CHANGE! TIME CHANGE! Correct info below. **

 

ETHOS/IFCC (Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center) | 5340 N Interstate Ave, Portland OR 97217

 

Festival Dates: Feb 1, 2 @ 7:30pm; Feb 3 @ 3pm  

 

Tickets: $10 in advance; $15 at the door | www.boxofficetickets.com or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

There once was a rock band born to the City of Roses. When the band made music, rain would fall, and lo, the city was green and full of color. Then the lead singer deserted his hometown compatriots to follow his own rising star in far-off lands called Big Apple and Tinsel Town. The band disbanded, the rain stopped, and the city once known for its roses dried up and became merely, “The City That Works.” Now, many years later, its native son has come home only to find the globally warmed desolation he left in his wake. Rain! The Musical is the story of a one-hit-wonder rocker who returns home to Portland to woo back the lover he jilted and the city he abandoned – only to discover that it hasn’t rained in 274 days. Not a drop. When he finds himself asking, “What’s the point of Portland without the rain?” all hell breaks loose. With libretto by screenwriter Monte Merrick (Memphis Bell, 8 Seconds, The Miracle Worker) and music and lyrics by Portland’s own Richard Moore, Rain! The Musical is a fine tribute to Portland and “Portland-ness.”

 

Musical Theatre | Premiere

Live On Stage presents

 

4 X 4 = 8 Musicals 

by Diane Englert, Mont Chris Hubbard, Aubrey Jessen , Eric Nordin, Sam Gregory, Valory J. Lawrence, Kurt Misar, John Vergin, Mark LaPierre, Cameron McFee & Amber Kiara Mitchell

Directed by Marci Crowson & Diane Englert

Music Director/Conductor: Darcy White

Music Direction: Jen Raynak

 

Venue:  Brunish Theatre at PCPA | 1111 SW Broadway St, Portland OR  97205

Festival Dates:  Jan 24, 25, 26 @ 7:30 pm

 

Full Run Dates:  Jan 18 – 26

 

Tickets:  $28.25 | www.liveonstage.us or 503.875.1149

 

Forget what you know about big, splashy musicals…at least for one night cause we’ve shrunk them down to fit on a 4’ X 4’ stage! Back again after last year’s sold-out run, 4X4=8 Musicals features eight original 10-minute musicals presented on a dinky 4’ X 4’ stage.  These minuscule-musicals feature some of Portland’s finest writers and composers as well as many of your favorite musical theatre performers. All shows are accompanied by a live band and will prove that more is less!

 

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

 

Hail!

by Sally Sunbear

 

Venue: Hipbone Studios

 

Festival Date:  1 PM, Sunday February 3rd

 

Tickets: $15 at the door, $10 for students and seniors. Festival passes accepted.

 

Come bring a date for this early Valentine treat that explores the nature of love in this romantic musical farce by Sally Sun Bear..

Theatre | Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

 

Oh F*ck! Oh Sh*t! It’s Love! The Musical

by Sam Dinkowitz

 

Venue:  HipBone Studio | 1847 E Burnside, Portland, OR 97214

 

Festival Dates: Feb 3 @ 8pm

 

Tickets:  $10 |  www.boxofficetickets.com or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

 

Oh F*ck! Oh Sh*t! it’s Love! The Musical: A hyper-vulgar examination of relationships couched in the optimistic tone of musical theatre. Like the strange love-child of Mamet and Sondheim, this edgy piece pokes fun at everything, including itself.

 

 

 

Dance/Theatre | Premiere

Cami Curtis Performing Arts Center presents

 

Dreamscapes (formerly A Little Dream)

by Vanessa Elsner

Venue: Cami Curtis Performing Arts Center | 1932 W Burnside St, Portland OR 97209

Festival Dates: Jan 26, 27 @ 2pm; Jan 26 @ 7:30pm

Tickets: $10-$15 | www.camicurtis.com or 503.227.8649

 

Join ECLECTIC (a contemporary, tap, hip hop company) as they dance through the various places love can take us.  All of us are looking for love, but it doesn’t always lead us where we expect.  All of us have dreams.  Come and dream…

 

 

Dance | Premiere

Part of the Groovin Greenhouse at Polaris Dance Theatre

Bridge City Dance Project presents

 

Reflection

Choreographed by Clarissa Espino & Allison Folley

 

Venue: Polaris Contemporary Dance Center, 1501 SW Taylor St,

Portland OR 97205

 

Festival Date: Feb 1 @ 8pm

 

Tickets: $15 adult; $10 Senior/Student | www.polarisdance.org/fertileground

 

Bridge City Dance Project, the Pacific Northwest’s newest fusion dance company, offers Reflection with compelling choreography by Clarissa Espino & Allison Folley and original musical composition by David Glivar. Reflection intertwines modern dance with the dynamic pulsations of contemporary, hip- hop and fluidity of ballet. The choreography composition invites viewers to transform along with the dancers to explore a movement journey that soars through the highs and lows of the integral relationships that foster the inner strength of our being. Symbolic moments using movement, breath and unison portray the emotional shoulder we lean on through life while aiming to use physical connections between the dancers to highlight the strong connection that exist with our loved ones whether faced to face or miles apart.  

 

 

Dance | Premiere

Polaris Dance Theatre presents

The Groovin Greenhouse featuring

 

7pm - Bridge City Dance Project’s Reflection

 

7:30pm - SubRosa Dance Collective’s Living The Room

 

8pm - Jennifer Camp & dancers

 

Venue: Polaris Contemporary Dance Center |1501 SW Taylor St, Portland OR 97205

 

Festival Dates: Feb 2 @ 7pm

Tickets: $15 adult; $10 senior/student | www.polarisdance.org/fertileground

 

 

Bridge City Dance Project offers Reflection with compelling choreography by Clarissa Espino & Allison Folley and original musical composition by David Glivar. Reflection intertwines modern dance with the dynamic pulsations of contemporary, hip- hop and fluidity of ballet. The choreography composition invites viewers to transform along with the dancers to explore a movement journey that soars through the highs and lows of the integral relationships that foster the inner strength of our being. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Living The Room, SubRosa Dance Collective explores the emotional and physical webs woven throughout the rooms we live in. The inanimate inhabitants within these spaces – the chairs we rest and cry in the arms of, the linens we make love between, the surfaces we make messes of and sluff off layers of ourselves in and onto – have inspired SubRosa to discuss these ubiquitous relationships with these objects in the somatic rhetoric that is so unique to our dance‐voice. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jennifer Camp, an independent choreographer and Director of Dance at Pacific University presents a colorful collection of evocatively driven contemporary dance works.  Camp’s ensemble are professional Portland dancers including Tracy Carboneau and Cait Powers and select dancers from her university company, Pacific Dance Ensemble. Camp’s choreography taps into the essence of life experiences and explores the true emotional motive behind each work.  Driven by the use of beautifully, rich original movement and layered with theatrically gestural elements, her work is colored by both playfulness and sincerity, and denotes a sense of reflection. Camp’s work is always challenging and surprising.

 

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

 

Hail!

by Sally Sunbear

 

Venue: Hipbone Studios

 

Festival Date:  1 PM, Sunday February 3rd

 

Tickets: $15 at the door, $10 for students and seniors. Festival passes accepted.

 

Come bring a date for this early Valentine treat that explores the nature of love in this romantic musical farce by Sally Sun Bear..

Theatre | Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

 

Intertwinings

plays by Debbie Lamedman, Kate Belden & Brad Bolchunos

 

Venue: The Armory Mezzanine | 128 NW 11th Ave, Portland OR 97209

 

Festival Date: Jan 26 @ Noon

 

Tickets: Free

 

A short fuse can lead to explosive theatrical excitement or a scintillating simmer. A case in point is Intertwinings, three short works presented by PDX Playwrights: Just Add Love by Debbie Lamedman, Think About It by Kate Belden and a sample from Umbrella for Three, a trio of bold, tightly packed plays by Brad Bolchunos. The complete set of Umbrella for Three will be presented Saturday, Feb 2 @ 7pm at Hipbone Studio.

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

The Pulp Stage presents

 

Pulp Diction IV: The Pulp Sampler

Directed by Joel Patrick Durham & Sarah Peters

 

Venue:  The Brody Theater |16 NW Broadway, Portland OR 97209

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 26 & Feb 2 @ 10:30pm

 

Tickets: $15*| thepulpstage.weebly.com or 1-800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Polish off your Saturday night with beer, food and fiction. The Pulp Stage serves up a savory Sampler of six 10-minute plays: Vampires, witches, ghosts, aliens and more, all wrapped in classy, thought-provoking storytelling. Selected from over 90 entries, these pulp treats include the work of Sam Alper, Liz Argall, Alex Dremann, C.J. Ehrlich, Robin Pond and Sydney Somerfield.

* Receive $5 cash back + chocolate with post-show survey

 

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

 

March 

by Kate Belden

 

Venue: HipBone Studio | 1847 E. Burnside, Portland OR 97214

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 27 @ 1pm

 

Tickets:  $10 | www.boxofficetickets.com  or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

“She lacked the pressure valve. In this one connection, this one tiny spot, due to a genetic deformation, she didn’t have one. So the blood? Tore the connection and hemorrhaged into her brain. This is not good.” Margery Dawson is a neuroanatomist, with a PhD in how the brain works. But hers isn’t. Hers is having a stroke. And though she’s too busy to have one, and certainly too busy for history, family, or a relationship, all of them are happening. Right here, right now. “But, Margery know that you are amazing. In every immeasurable sense of the word. You, as the universe, are unquantifiable. Because you are the universe, my Margery, all of us are.” Described as fugue for three voices, March is a play that looks at an experience as the brain does. Seemingly disjointed but ultimately deeply connected to what’s really happening to the person inside. March was accepted as Moscow Art Theatre Too's highlighted workshop production last summer. Playwright Kate Belden spent time working with the director and actors, culminating with a reading and talkback with the audience. With notes taken, and lessons learned, this is another forward step for a play about stepping forward and making a shift.

 

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

 

Lying in Judgment and The Exes

by Gary Corbin

 

Venue:  HipBone Studio | 1847 E. Burnside, Portland OR 97214

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 27 @ 3pm

 

Tickets:  $10 | www.boxofficetickets.com  or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

Lying in Judgment: Peter Robertson serves on the jury of a murder trial—the murder that he committed! … Or did he? As the jurors debate the evidence, an increasingly desperate Peter lets things slip that only the killer should know. But even he doesn’t know all of the key facts. The Exes: Two divorced couples crisscross their romantic paths and hook up with each others’ exes without realizing it – until it’s too late, and wedding bells are about to chime.

 

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

Asae Dean Productions presents

 

Helen

by Asae Dean

Directed by Asae Dean

 

Venue:  The Headwaters | 55 NE Farragut St. # 9, Portland OR 97211

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 27 & Feb 3 @ 4pm

 

Tickets:  $5 | www.artful.ly/store/events/531

 

What does it mean to be the daughter of a rape? How much power does beauty really bestow? Was Paris pious or psychotic? Over the centuries, poets and playwrights have promoted Helen to a demi-goddess for her beauty and demoted her to the rank of whore for her liaison with Paris. Helen presents the love triangle that led to the Trojan War as far more than one woman’s fall from grace, using the story instead to examine the legacy of rape, the beauty myth, religious ecstasy, desire and ambition. Helen is a new play in blank verse and a companion piece to a full production of Cressida, Dean’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Troilus & Cressida, also playing at The Headwaters. Check out www.asaedirects.com for details. 

 

 *CANCELLED*

Theatre | Staged Reading

CoHo Productions presents

 

Winners of CoHo’s 2012 NEWxNW Student Playwriting Competition

 

Exit 27

By Aleks Merilo

 

Directed by Debbie Lamedman

 

Venue:  CoHo Theatre | 2257 NW Raleigh Street, Portland OR 97210

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 27 @ 6:30pm; Feb 2 @ 1pm

 

Tickets:  $10 advance; $12 door | www.cohoproductions.org or 503.220.2646

 

Based on real events, Exit 27 is set in the isolated desert near Colorado City, a town on the Utah-Arizona border and the cradle of Fundamentalist Mormonism. Colorado City is an extreme polygamist society where a man’s status is determined by the number of his wives and an on-going surplus of young men in the community threatens this power structure. In recent years, the religious leaders of Colorado City have arbitrarily exiled hundreds of teens to fend for themselves in the outlying desert, thereby creating a population known as “The Lost Boys of Utah”.

 

 

The Candlestick Maker

by Emily Golden

 

Directed by Debbie Lamedman

 

Venue:  CoHo Theatre | 2257 NW Raleigh Street, Portland OR 97210

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 27 @ 4:30pm; Feb 2 @ 11am

 

Tickets:  $10 advance; $12 door | www.cohoproductions.org or 503.220.2646

 

 

The Candlestick Maker is a story about trust, memory and, above all, greed. Forty years after the tremendous worldwide success of her only novel, Mrs. Mills sets out to write a second. She tells the story of Alice, a former student with whom her life was irrevocably bound. As Alice struggles to come to terms with her mother’s new boyfriend and Mrs. Mills with her disintegrating health, they turn to one another for support.

 

 

CoHo Production's NEWxNW Student Playwriting Competition is open to all high school and college students, particularly those who write plays.  The submitted entries are evaluated, and winnowed down to a single winner and runner-up.  The winner gets two staged readings during Fertile Ground. This is the first year of this student competition. The 2011 adult winner, A Noble Failure by Sue Mach, was selected as one of the mainstage full productions for the 2012-13 season by Third Rail Repertory Theatre, and is an event in Fertile Ground 2013.

 

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

 

Ladies Room and Where Are We Going?

by Susan Faust

 

Fortune Cookies 

by Donna Barrow-Green

 

Oh, Heritage Tree!

by Heather Thiel

 

Venue:  HipBone Studio | 1847 E. Burnside, Portland OR 97214

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 27 @ 6pm

 

Tickets:  $10 | www.boxofficetickets.com  or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

Ladies Room:  The neverending line for a stall in a public ladies room at a performing arts center is peopled by a motley group of women. Mindless chatter, insinuation, even yelling takes place, but amidst it all, one woman stands alone, living her own personal crisis. Will anyone take notice? Does anyone care? Intermission is almost over.

 

Where Are We Going?: A man and woman meet in a room with nothing but a single rope dangling from the ceiling. Why are they there, where are they going, and finally, will they go together?

 

Fortune Cookies: Gretchen and Alexander work together. They don’t know that they are in love with each other. Well, they do know that they are in love with each but not exactly. Gretchen tries to fix Alexander up with a girl on Craigslist; but then Alexander hints at his feelings one night after drinking a bit too much. Thank goodness Gretchen can rely on the wisdom of fortune cookies to guide her through this one-act romantic comedy.

 

Oh, Heritage Tree!:- Betsy Keller's sister has died while trekking in Nepal. She’s left Betsy her SE Portland home and her adolescent daughter, Cat. The house is beautiful and the neighborhood has a strong community vibe, but what’s all this about her pregnancy being foretold and the odd vortex created by the Heritage Tree in her yard? And, what has happened to Betsy’s cherished fainting couch? No! It was not meant to be in a “free” pile! Join Betsy as she tries to carve out a new life for herself and Cat despite runaway urban goats, an uber-lactating neighbor, and a Shamanic healer/housewife, who may or may not have a claim to the Heritage Tree in her front yard.

 

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

Jewish Theatre Collaborative presents

 

Taster’s Choice

Adapted & Directed by Sacha Reich

 

Festival Dates:  January 28, 29, 30 @ 7:30pm

 

Venues:

Jan 28 - Mittleman Jewish Community Center | 6651 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland OR 97219

Jan 29 - Arena Stage of Theatre! Theater! | 3430 SE Belmont, Portland OR 97214

Jan 30 - Someday Lounge | 125 NW 5th Ave, Portland OR 97209

 

Tickets: $10 | www.jewishtheatrecollaborative.org or 503.512.0582

 

Calling all book lovers! Sample a taste of three remarkable books via staged readings that invite you to new worlds and adventures, introduce you to exciting authors and leave you hungry for more.  Sculpted by the imaginative hands of JTC, stories leap from the page to the stage.  JTC distinguishes itself in its adaptation of narrative material and captivating staged readings – most recently entertaining audiences with Grace Paley and Etgar Keret and last year’s Fertile Ground production of Café Baghdad was no exception.  Come to Taster's Choice and discover your next book club recommendation!

 

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

Action/Adventure Theatre presents

More Actiony, More Adventurey: A Reading Series

 

Dirty Water 
by Devon Wade Granmo

 

Loaded for Bear 
by Gregory Heaton

 

Troll 2: The Musical 
by Jade Harris, Jillian Snow Harris & Drew Laughery

 

Directed by Devon Wade Granmo & Greg Heaton

 

Venue:  Action/Adventure Theater | 1050 SE Clinton St, Portland OR 97202

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 28, 29 @ 8pm

 

Tickets:  $10| reservations@actionadventure.org

 

Action/Adventure is pleased to share with Portland, and the world, staged readings of a palmful of new works generated by company members Devon Wade Granmo and Gregory Heaton, and Action/Adventure allies Jade Harris, Jillian Snow Harris and Drew Laughery. Devon Wade Granmo’s Dirty Water is a comedy about sex, drugs and rural bed-and-breakfasts run by aging hippies. Greg Heaton’s Loaded For Bear is an ensemble piece about sex, love and conservative politics. And Jade Harris, Jillian Snow Harris and Drew Laughery have created a hilariously awesome musical adaptation of the hilariously bad cult classic movie, Troll 2.

 

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

The Pulp Stage presents

 

Pulp Diction IV: Love/Hate Potion No. 9

by Sonya Sobieski

Directed by Jonathan Owicki

 

Venue: The Brody Theater | 16 NW Broadway, Portland OR 97209

 

Festival Date: Jan 30 @ 7pm

 

Tickets: $15*| thepulpstage.weebly.com or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

Recipe for Love/Hate Potion No. 9:

-3 cups Obsession (Self-Obsession or Fixation)

-1 tbsp Witchcraft

-1 lb Memory, shredded (a la “Memento” or “21 Grahams”)

Combine the first two ingredients in a relationship between a pair of young women who’ve met in college, become friends, then spiraled into a supernatural cat-and-mouse game over several years. Stir in Shredded Memory and bring everything to a boil. Season with Comedy and Horror to taste. Serve with a cold beverage (the Brody Theater has a full bar) and enjoy! NOTE: This potion only keeps for one night.

 

* Receive $5 cash back + chocolate with post-show survey

 

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

The Pulp Stage presents

 

Pulp Diction IV: Personal

by Brian Kettler

Directed by Matt Haynes

 

Venue: The Brody Theater | 16 NW Broadway, Portland OR 97209

 

Festival Date: Jan 31 @ 7pm

 

Tickets: $15*| thepulpstage.weebly.com or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

The unsettling near-future mystery from JAW West 2011 is reborn in this 2013 workshop staging, featuring a new script with an all-new ending! Personal centers around the disappearance of Alice Cain, teen superstarlet of the world’s most addictive TV series. In a group home for disturbed fans, the questions never cease: Did Alice run away? Did she kill herself? Did someone make good on all those grisly death threats? And what is it about her show that – literally – drives its viewers crazy?

 

* Receive $5 cash back + chocolate with post-show survey

 

 

Musical Theatre | Staged Reading

David Poulshock Productions presents

 

Rain! The Musical  

by Richard Moore and Monte Merrick

Music & Lyrics by Richard Moore

Libretto by Monte Merrick

 

Venue: ** VENUE CHANGE! TIME CHANGE! Correct info below. **

 

ETHOS/IFCC (Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center) | 5340 N Interstate Ave, Portland OR 97217

 

Festival Dates: Feb 1, 2 @ 7:30pm; Feb 3 @ 3pm  

 

Tickets: $10 in advance; $15 at the door | www.boxofficetickets.com or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

There once was a rock band born to the City of Roses. When the band made music, rain would fall, and lo, the city was green and full of color. Then the lead singer deserted his hometown compatriots to follow his own rising star in far-off lands called Big Apple and Tinsel Town. The band disbanded, the rain stopped, and the city once known for its roses dried up and became merely, “The City That Works.” Now, many years later, its native son has come home only to find the globally warmed desolation he left in his wake. Rain! The Musical is the story of a one-hit-wonder rocker who returns home to Portland to woo back the lover he jilted and the city he abandoned – only to discover that it hasn’t rained in 274 days. Not a drop. When he finds himself asking, “What’s the point of Portland without the rain?” all hell breaks loose. With libretto by screenwriter Monte Merrick (Memphis Bell, 8 Seconds, The Miracle Worker) and music and lyrics by Portland’s own Richard Moore, Rain! The Musical is a fine tribute to Portland and “Portland-ness.”

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

PlayWrite, Inc. presents

 

Word.Voice. 

Written and directed by PlayWrite graduates

 

Venue:  Ellyn Bye Studio at the Armory |128 NW 11th Ave, Portland OR 97209

 

Festival Dates:  Feb 2 @ 3pm

 

Tickets:  FREE and open to the public!

 

Word.Voice. is a showcase of one-act plays, character sketches and spoken word pieces written and directed by young writers who have graduated from PlayWrite’s intensive, multi-week workshop. These pieces dive into the heart of conflict and emotional truth, and are the culmination of many hours of hard, creative work. Now, cast with professional actors, these courageous, heartfelt works are ready for an audience. Join us in a celebration of these amazing young artists! Formed in 2003, PlayWrite, Inc. uses the power of performance in art to transform the lives of youth at the edge. Learn more at www.playwriteinc.org.

 

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

 

Night Breezes and the Ballerina 

by Heath Hyun Houghton

Directed by Emily Gregory

Choreography by Caitlin Fisher Draeger

 

Venue:  HipBone Studio | 1847 E Burnside, Portland OR 97214

 

Festival Dates: Feb 3 @ 6pm

 

Tickets:  $13 | www.boxofficetickets.org  or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

An exploration of memory through dialogue and movement.  On an autumn night, as the Santa Ana winds blow toward the coast,  a family is thrust into a an intense period of uncertainty as they wait for news of a member who has been abducted while on a research expedition. 

 

 

Theatre | Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

 

Whipping Cream and Freudian Dreams

by Kate Horn

 

Oh F*ck! Oh Sh*t! it’s Love! The Musical

by Sam Dinkowitz

 

Venue:  HipBone Studio | 1847 E Burnside, Portland, OR 97214

 

Festival Dates: Feb 3 @ 8pm

 

Tickets:  $10 |  www.boxofficetickets.com or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

Whipping Cream and Freudian Dreams: Three female baristas just want to get through the dreary afternoon thick with customers, innuendos and mechanical smiles. But nothing can prepare them for the ultimate—a Freudian psychoanalyst bent on evaluating them while they work.

 

Oh F*ck! Oh Sh*t! it’s Love! The Musical: A hyper-vulgar examination of relationships couched in the optimistic tone of musical theatre. Like the strange love-child of Mamet and Sondheim, this edgy piece pokes fun at everything, including itself.

 

 

 

Theatre | Reading

Portland Civic Theatre Guild presents

 

The Sweatermakers

by Andrew Wardenaar

Directed by Matthew B. Zrebski

 

Venue:  The Old Church | 1422 SW 11th St, Portland OR 97201

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 29 @ 10:30am

 

Tickets:  $8 at the door

 

Continuing its monthly reading series, the Portland Civic Theatre Guild is happy to present a new play by local writer and Playwrights West member, Andrew Wardenaar. The Sweatermakers, directed by Matthew B. Zrebski, ponders the ways we humans reach for one another as tragedies fall all around us. Brin is Henry’s sister. Henry is Brin’s brother. At a workshop nestled somewhere in the corner of their small world, the two of them spend their days crafting sweaters for the recently bereaved. When Brin receives an order for a fancy cashmere, the siblings understand that somebody has lost a dear loved one. Engrossed in its making, Brin wishes to know the story of the beautiful sweater, but Henry forbids it. And so the threads that have held them close, closer than a brother and sister perhaps should be, begin to fray. Brin drifts to Shaun, a man hunted by the love he has lost. Henry seeks help from Dr. Morn, a specialist who is never at a loss. The four of them have no idea how tightly knit they really are. Or maybe one of them does. Join us at 10am for coffee before the reading.

 

 

Musical Theatre | Workshop Production

Minus Dan Productions presents

 

Ribbons of War

Based on music by Jay Purdy and The Extraordinaires

Adapted for the stage by Andrew Fridae

Directed by Josh Gulotta

Music Direction by Andrew Fridae

 

Venue:  Shaking the Tree Studio | 1407 SE Stark St, Portland OR 97214

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 25, 26, Feb 1, 2 @ 7:30pm;

Jan 27, Feb 3 @ 2:30pm

 

Tickets:  $10 | www.boxofficetickets.com or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

Adventure! Romance! Sea Monsters! Ribbons of War tells the story of the young pilot Annelies who abandons her island home to marry a great sea captain and join the crew of the Good Ship Valiant. With fantastic songs by the band The Extraordinaires, Ribbons of War is a camp-filled joyride for the whole family!

 

 

 

Comedy Theatre | Workshop Production

Curious Comedy presents

 

Ruby Rocket, Private Eye  

by Stacey Hallal

 

Venue:  Curious Comedy Theater | 5225 NE MLK Blvd, Portland OR 97211

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 25, 26 @ 9:30pm

 

Full Run Dates:  Feb 8-23

 

Tickets:  $12 in advance; $15 at the door | www.boxofficetickets.com  or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

In Ruby Rocket, Private Eye, her fourth comedic solo show, Stacey Hallal plays Ruby Rocket, an intoxicating intoxicated private eye who’ll solve any crime for the right price – no matter what danger it puts her in. A lover of drink, men and breaking all the rules, Ruby may be her own worst enemy, but in the end, she always gets her man. Except, of course, when she doesn’t. One thing for certain, Ruby Rocket is the dame to call when no one else will take your case. Trained at the famed Second City in Chicago, Hallal went on to found the Curious Comedy Theater in Portland. Bob Hicks of the Oregonian says, “Comic actress Stacey Hallal has a face that can rise like a puff pastry or fall like a mob informer with an anvil tied ‘round his feet…Her voice has the same cockeyed flexibility, and she uses both to highly amusing effect...in other words, she’s a genuine talent.” CBC’s Michelle Palansky says, “A seasoned pro…Stacey Hallal is a warm, funny performer who invites the audience to share her quirky, joyful world.” The Winnipeg Free Press’ Jill Wilson says Stacey is “an appealing blend of likable, goofy and cool.” More info at www.curiouscomedy.org.

 

 

Theatre/Literary Art | Workshop

Vanport Square Studio presents

 

True Colors: Fulfillment, Women and the Body

by Katje Wagner

Directed by Michelle Kopper Seymour

 

Venue:  Vanport Square Studio | 5229 NE MLK Blvd Suite #102, Portland OR 97211

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 26 & Feb 2 @ 4pm

 

Tickets:  $12 advance; $15 door | www.boxofficetickets.com or 503.313.5733

 

 

 

 

 

What is fulfillment in the 21st Century? How are women finding and navigating these possibilities? And where does the body – in all its complexity – fit into these journeys? Join Katje – dancer, bodyworker, therapist and student of life – struggling to complete her doctoral dissertation in psychology until she lands on the very question that turns her path around. Both personal and universal, this performance investigates seven women’s stories and illuminates a central mystery shared by us all. Through poetic enactment, movement and song, Katje unveils the creative potentials of research and shares the golden nuggets she discovered along the way.  Are you experiencing fulfillment in your own life? Find inspiration to dive into your own journey through this off-the-map performance piece. Show is approximately one hour with an invitation to stay for a post-performance discussion. Originally directed by Susan Banyas.

 

 

Opera | Workshop

Part of Ripen: A Feast of New Works at Milepost 5

Scriptorium presents

 

The Witch of the Iron Wood

Music by Evan Lewis

Libretto by Claire Willett

 

Venue:  The Chapel at Milepost 5 | 850 NE 81st Ave Portland, OR 97213 (enter on NE Oregon St)

 

Festival Dates:  Jan 27, 28, 31 & Feb 1 at 7pm

Full Run Dates:  Jan 27-Feb 1

 

Tickets:  $12 at the door

 

How far would you go to set in motion the end of the world? How far would you go to stop it? Since time immemorial, Odin and his children have ruled over the kingdom of Asgard, gifted with eternal youth by the Tree of Life.  But when the Tree and its guardian fall suspiciously ill, the gods begin to grow weak as well. Desperate, they send the trickster god Loki into the shadowy Land of Giants to seek the only person powerful enough to cure a dying god – the Witch of the Iron Wood.  Once Asgard’s enemy, now their only hope of rescue, the Witch captivates Loki, though the other gods doubt her motives.  As the Tree’s strength fails and a forbidden romance takes root, Loki is forced to choose between loyalty to the gods and the love of an alluring but enigmatic woman who may be his downfall, or the only person who has ever truly understood him – or both.  Greed, ambition, love, vengeance, faith and desire become entangled in this contemporary adaptation of a little-known slice of Norse mythology.

 

 

 

Theatre | Workshop Production

PDX Playwrights presents

 

Umbrella for Three

by Brad Bolchunos

 

Good Ones

by David Wester

 

Going On

by Kristin Olson-Huddle

 

Venue:  HipBone Studio, 1847 E. Burnside, Portland OR 97214

 

Festival Dates:  Feb 2 @ 7pm

 

Tickets:  $10 | www.boxofficetickets.com  or 800-494-8497 (TIXS)

 

Dodge doldrums under Umbrella for Three, a trio of bold, tightly packed plays by Brad Bolchunos. Cranial Camaraderie: Arguments about mind over matter reach new heights for a band of psychic warriors low on coffee. Liquid Rock: A married couple struggles to restore lost connection even as their new counselor adds interference. Death Wears Fishnets: When a hard-boiled but slightly cracked private detective ruminates about death, trouble signs in triplicate. Up next, an acclaimed part of Fertile Ground 2010 as a reading on the Pulp Stage, this production sweeps the words into action with David Wester’s Good Ones: Jake relates the good jokes he got off at a recent party to his friend, Edgar. As he does so, he inadvertently unearths some of the resentments and competitive impulses between the two men. Finally, Kristin Olson-Huddle offers Going On: a solo show about the journey of grieving and overcoming grief.

Theatre | Workshop Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

 

An Island

by Jenni GreenMiller

 

Crosswords Morning

by Maggie McOmie

 

Venue:  HipBone Studio | 1847 E Burnside, Portland OR 97214

 

Festival Dates: Feb 3 @ 3pm

 

Tickets:  $10 | www.boxofficetickets.com  or 800.494.8497 (TIXS)

 

An Island: In 1949, seeking isolation from the rest of the world, Arthur and Nan Kellam purchased a 550 acre island off the coast of Maine.  Arthur, an engineer for Lockheed Martin, rumored to have built the Atomic bomb, and Nan, an economist, were conservationists before their time were dedicated to not only the preservation of their land but also privatizing an island they felt could only be appreciated by its true inhabitants. The Kellams lived on Placentia Island for nearly 40 years, essentially cut off from the rest of the world. They created a fragmented, self-made language; a personal and idiosyncratic vocabulary, which the couple developed over time. They named one another “Bear” and ‘Beum” and often went for days without talking but rather leaving notes for one another on tree bark or written in stones in the sand; an eccentric couple that became icons of change to the surrounding mainland. The play is a portrait of a devoted relationship that endured, even prospered, in isolation. Crosswords Morning: Peggy and Fred, a retired couple, together for who knows how long are as familiar with each other as a pair of old socks. They begin their morning over coffee, breakfast and the daily newspaper.  As they work the crossword puzzle, they grouse about the state of the world and gently needle one another. Post show talk-back for these readings.