CULTUREPHILE: PORTLAND ARTS

Three Veils opens POWfest

Posted by: Anne Adams on Mar 03, 2011 at 02:00AM 0 Comments

Three Veils, a tale about Middle Eastern women’s journeys of personal discovery, will be the flagship feature at POWfest, the Portland Oregon Women’s Film Festival. The five-day event kicks off next Wednesday at the Hollywood Theatre, with a packed program of shorts showcases, workshops, and panel discussions designed to inspire female filmmakers.

Check the POWfest Schedule for details. For more about Portland arts events, visit PoMo’s Arts & Entertainment Calendar, stream content with an RSS feed, or sign up for our weekly On The Town Newsletter!

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Tags: Film, Gay-Friendly, festival, women

Sulu at PSU

The Japanese American Citizens League welcomes Star Trek veteran and civil-rights champion George Takei to the PSU campus this Sunday.

Posted by: Anne Adams on Feb 19, 2011 at 08:00AM 0 Comments

This weekend, it looks like local Trekkies, as well as civil rights advocates, have something to beam about: a visit from the one and only George Takei. Thought we’d pass this item along from the JACL pressroom.

On February 20, the Portland chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) will present “Fighting for Civil Rights: The Japanese American and LGBT Experience” with special guest George Takei. This program will be held on the Portland State University campus in Hoffman Hall between 1-3pm. Following Mr. Takei’s address there will be a panel discussion with Marty Davis, editor of Just Out and Jessica Lee from Basic Rights Oregon.

Every year, Portland JACL takes time out to remember the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and to bring light to contemporary issues affecting human civil liberties. This event has been funded in part by Neighbors West Northwest, which promotes direct participation in grassroots democracy by supporting community efforts at the neighborhood level.

Best known for his role as Mr. Sulu in Star Trek, actor George Takei’s acting career spans more than five decades. He and his family spent five years during World War II incarcerated in American concentration camps in Rohwer, Arkansas, and Tule Lake, California. Mr. Takei is chairman emeritus of the Japanese American National Museum; chairman of the council of governors of East West Players, the nation’s foremost Asian Pacific American theater; and a member of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender political organization.

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Tags: Gay-Friendly, Lecture, preview, star trek

Review: Thief River

It’s a tough row to hoe, but Profile Theatre carries off this theatrically challenging country love story.

Posted by: Anne Adams on Feb 03, 2011 at 02:00PM 0 Comments

Gil and Ray, then and now.

Gil and Ray are the main characters. They’re in love. They’re gay. All right so far? Okay.

Now, the story spans about 50 years, from when they’re 18 to when they’re 70-something. So, the couple is played by three pairs of actors—one young, one middle-aged, and one elderly. Six actors. Still with me? Okay.

So the couple, Gil and Ray, are not the only characters in the play. A few minor characters are smattered throughout the action: a dangerous vagrant, a young gay lover, a grandfather, a neighbor, a stranger, and a grandson. Hey, actually…that’s six. Six minor characters, played by…drumroll…the same six actors who play the leads.

“Is that weird?” you ask.
Yes, it’s weird. And the weirdest part is that it works.

Last night, on a cunningly tilted stage made of blanched barn-wood and drifts of dried leaves, Profile Theatre pulled off a preview of the Pulitzer-winning Lee Blessing love story, with seemingly perfect tech. Performances, meanwhile, ranged between competent and excellent, and the determining factor was believability. To be fair, this production stacks each actor with a compound burden:

To establish a motivation (the typical acting challenge)
To differentiate his two characters, and
In most instances, to convince the audience that he’s a country boy.

The old guys (Tobias Andersen and Shelly Lipkin) held down the country attitude best—and especially in their minor character roles. Angry old man Anson, and moderate old codger Perry, wore their country clothes and a farm-worn physicality with convincing cred. Andy Lee-Hillstrom‘s bit part as stuttering small-town teen Jody also seemed like the real deal—while his lead character, 18-year-old Gil, seemed a lot more “Matthew Broderick” than you’d expect—either from the character, or from an actor whose résumé puts him in Idaho and Salem for most of his career. While it was easy to like Hillstrom’s Gil, it was hard to detect even a hint of hayseed. Jason Maniccia was the most dichotomous performer, portraying a great Gil, but at the time of this preview performance, utterly unconvincing in his secondary role as a murderous hobo. Meanwhile, Jack Morrison was the most consistent: his guileless, “all-American” portrayal of a young Ray was equally as believable and sympathetic, as his charismatically queeny minor character, Kit. The best chemistry happened when Maniccia and Morrison shared the stage as Gil and Kit.

Despite the script’s playing fast and loose with chronology and character-swaps, these six actors held the drama together admirably, and the production should only get stronger as the cast wood-sheds for opening weekend. The play is currently shaping up to be at least a “should-see,” with the potential to winnow into a “must.”

Thief River runs Feb 4-27. For more upcoming arts events, visit PoMo’s Arts & Entertainment Calendar, stream content with our RSS feed or sign up for our weekly On The Town Newsletter!

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Tags: Theater, Review, Gay-Friendly

BAR THEATER DOUBLE FEATURE:
Beach Battle & Vamp Romp

Someday Lounge raises the bar for campy summer pub plays.

Posted by: Anne Adams on Aug 30, 2010 at 12:00PM 0 Comments

You know it’s hard out here for a vamp!
Alba dances around the fringes, hungry for blood and love.

Last night, Culturephile hopped into Someday Lounge for its $12 theater two-fer: Beach Blanket Beyond, and Alba The Vampire. Pleasantly shocked by the level of entertainment these two pieces provide, we suggest catching them next weekend before they close.

Beach Blanket Beyond is so beyond 60’s surfer campy, you expect someone to actually jump a shark. Ripped from the pages of Jason Squamata’s comic book; the “hunky” lead wears a soft-sculpture muscle-suit, the beachy beauties shimmy around in bright sarongs and drape themselves submissively on the males, and the players repeatedly “freeze-frame,” chime in some cheesy narration, and then resume their movements to illustrate the action. Undoubtedly an homage to the writer’s nerdiness, the cameo character is a teenaged H. P. Lovecraft, hefting a musty book of magic spells and hamming discomfort in his trunks. It’s all very self-aware and stylized and silly—and if it weren’t well executed, it would fall totally flat. Luckily, all cues, props, pauses, freezes, and fake muscles are tucked impeccably into place, for a piece that achieves every laugh it intends, and uses its minimal, low-budget setup for more than it’s worth.

Alba The Vampire, an original play by Jason Ferte, makes light of a modern Single White Vamp with a major cross to bear: the inability to interface her love life with her…erm…dietary needs. The leading lady is tasked with a stream of monologues, and she kills! She delivers a perfectly toned mix of bravado, comic timing, and nervous, urgent physicality that Culturephile hasn’t seen since Artist Rep’s Gracie & The Atom. Resultantly, this caustic comic vampire is highly humanized. You can’t help but care about her fate, and hope she’ll be able to stave her many appetites. Minor characters also hold their own, with spot-on comedy stylings, while a smattering of original music makes the play feel musical, but not quite like a musical, per se. That’s actually okay—while the singing is undistractingly competent, it’s the believable speaking and dynamic blocking that really sell this show.

Of the bar-hosted theater productions we’ve seen this summer, this double-header should take home a two-headed blue ribbon, for taking its silly material seriously, playing equally well to friends and strangers, donating a portion of proceeds to Outside In, and never missing a beat.

For a more comprehensive list of upcoming events, visit the Arts & Entertainment Calendar!

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Tags: Theater, comedy, performance, kitsch, Queer-Friendly, Gay-Friendly, vampire, comics,

Margaret Cho: Musician?

Famous comedian hits the Schnitz tonight,
promoting new comedy songs.

Posted by: Anne Adams on Aug 26, 2010 at 09:00AM 3 Comments

Hilarious Margaret Cho wants you to take her musical side. Seriously.

“Margaret Cho” is a name you know. Inarguably the most famous queer Korean-American in comedy, she’s carved her own niche among gregarious greats, with riotous impressions of her mother, self-effacing declarations of sexuality (“I’m not straight or gay—I’m slutty!”), and off-kilter stoner observations (“I wonder what it would be like to braid Chewbacca….”) There is no question that Margaret Cho can talk your ear off, and you’ll laugh your a$$ off.

But how is she at singing?

Tonight at the Schnitz, Margaret Cho will appear, no doubt slinging a few jokes, but also strapping on a guitar to shill songs from her latest project—musical album Cho Dependent, featuring cameos from the following stars:

Tegan and Sara, Tommy Chong, Ben Lee, Brendan Benson, Fiona Apple, Andrew Bird, Jon Brion, Garrison Starr, Grant Lee Phillips, Ani DiFranco, Meghan Toohey, Rachael Yamagata.

Some of those names will undoubtedly get Portland’s attention, so Culturephile asked Ms. Cho a couple quick questions about how she plans to hold it.

You’ll be in Portland tonight—a town that’s almost as famously queer as your comedy. Have you partied much here? Any local scene stories to share?

You know, I haven’t!* I’ve been here a number of times, but it was always to work. I remember being in a bagel shop at 6am, and everyone singing along to Elliott Smith. That was the best.             

That sort of thing happens here. Portland’s brimming with the musically-inclined. Will knowing that your Portland audience has tons of musicians in it, change the way you perform your songs? 

Oh, I don’t know! I play in front of musicians all the time, but mostly I sing to tracks and play a little. It depends on my voice and what’s happening. 

Does it seem easier, or harder, to play music for other musicians?
 
Well, I do it a lot since my work is mostly collaborating with people, so I’m always playing with, or in front of, great musicians.                   

Hearing  a joke more than once, is usually less welcome than hearing a song more than once. Do you think that when you combine music and comedy, you shorten the shelf-life of the songs, or lengthen the shelf-life of the jokes?

I’m hoping to extend the life of both the joke and the song. Some joke songs just rock! Like [Weird Al Yankovic’s] Amish Paradise or [Flight Of The Conchords’] The Most Beautiful Girl In The Room – I can listen to them forever. So I’m hoping to have funny songs that also rock, and rocking songs that make you laugh!

Does Cho have the chops to stack up to her musicomical idols, and honor Cho Dependent’s A-list roster? You decide:

*Portland, you have your orders: Party tonight with Margaret Cho.

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Tags: comedy, music, Live, Interview, Queer-Friendly, Gay-Friendly, album

New all-ages brunchtime drag revue!

Coffee, Eggs, Wigs and Legs!

Posted by: Anne Adams on Aug 09, 2010 at 12:00PM 1 Comments

Chaos In A Container wants to drag you out of bed for Sunday brunch.

You go into Sunday brunch with certain expectations. Coffee. Omelettes. Perhaps some toast. What you least expect is a fully frocked and coiffed cadre of drag queens, prepping to put on a show. Nevertheless, yesterday morning Crush, on SE 14th and Belmont, delivered all of the above. “Bear with us,” exhorted Jaiden Palace (pictured, right) as the troupe tested sound and lights. “We’re experiencing some testicular difficulties.”

The valiant a.m. antics, emceed by Ms. Phoenix Monte (pictured, left), marked the premiere in a series of morning drag performances by Chaos In A Container, a new group of femme-feigners. Juicy Monique Palace (pictured, foreground) confessed beginners’ jitters, but delivered a soulful performance of “I Am Changing.” And, egged on by her teenage daughter Coco*, Ms. Monte swished through several high-kicking numbers, and saucy shout-outs to the groggy morning crowd.

Set to become a Sunday staple, the event kicks up just where the more risqué Saturday night soirees at Embers and Darcelle’s leave off. And with coffee, cornbread, and all the other brunch amenities on-hand, it promises to awaken queer-arts appreciation in a whole new way.

*Crush admits all-ages patrons ’til 3pm.

For a more comprehensive list of events, visit the Arts & Entertainment Calendar.

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Tags: Theater, Fashion, Drag, Queer-Friendly, Gay-Friendly

Hootin’ Annies!

Heads up, SantaCon. A red-and-white summer spectacle is hot on your heels.

Posted by: Anne Adams on Aug 02, 2010 at 01:00PM 6 Comments

Luckily, the sun came out yesterday for AnnieCon.

This was a packed weekend. A hundred-odd Portlanders played music at PDX Pop Now. Ten thousand or so folks played fairies at Fairieworlds. But a few scamps looking for levity, played Annie, in a conspicuous downtown pub crawl yesterday afternoon.

The first annual AnnieCon, riffing off the international winter flash-mob phenom SantaCon, challenged its participants to caricature the lovable orphan, then hit the bars for Hannigan-style shenanigans. With a modest but respectable turnout yesterday, the event hopes to grow. Says founder Goldie Davich (pictured, third from right), “I’ve always loved Annie so much. As a curly-haired kid, I wanted to be Annie, and I’ve never stopped wanting it. This is the culmination of a lifelong dream.” Jeez. Cue the string section.

Silly as it may seem, post-Annie ennui is its own psychological meme. Below, consider the trailer from the documentary Life After Tomorrow, featuring actresses who struggled to gracefully outgrow the winsome role:

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Tags: comedy, monday fun, annual, Gay-Friendly, Queer-Friendly, Drag, drama, kitsch, fun, Guerilla Art, Downtown Bars, Downtown, Bar Culture, Events, Fashion, video

RENT

Stumptown Stages gives Broadway classic a new lease.

Posted by: Anne Adams on Jun 28, 2010 at 02:00PM 3 Comments

There are two types of people in the world: those who love RENT, and those who despise it. It’s melodramatic. It’s idealistic. It’s angsty. It’s maxed out with poetic double meanings that have since worked their way into the pantheon of cliche. If these are not deal-breakers, then we’re okay—and there’s a good chance that you’ll enjoy Stumptown Stages’ production, the musical’s post-broadway regional debut. Culturephile caught yesterday’s matinee. Here’s what stood out:

Best Assets: Ensemble chemistry and choral blend. The scenes where everyone is singing together onstage, are undeniably strong in this production, and the cast seems to genuinely like each other.

Most Riveting Solo Moment: Strong soloists, of course, are a given for RENT, so this almost doesn’t bear mentioning. But the tiara and sash would have to go to Maureen’s performance of “Over The Moon.” Though you’re supposed to laugh at this scene, Maureen (Alina Ziak) is so mesmerizing, she’ll make you believe. A master mind-trick, by an excellent performer.

Best Love Chemistry: Angel (Tyler Andrew Jones) and Tom (Jerrod Neal). Very warm, protective vibe. Not rip-roaringly sexual, but that makes sense for the dire straits the characters navigate.

Strongest Held Note: The second syllable of “Nightmare,” from “Will I?”, in act one, revealed the production’s Steve (Travis C. Patterson)—who doesn’t get tons of solo time—as a vocal standout.

Most Solid Harmonies: Mark (Clay Neal) and Roger (Stephen Miller).

Most Puzzling Problem: Roger’s inability to stay on key when singing solo, despite hitting pitch-perfect harmonies every time he sang with either Mark or Mimi (Heather Harlan). Hmm.

Best Physical Performances:

• Mimi’s hair-flipping gogo-dance routine. In electric blue sparkly spandex, she delivers the whole she-boom-boom.

• The ensemble’s rowdy cluster-hump in “La Vie Boheme,” shows off the cast’s group fluidity and chemistry.

• Angel’s last gasps, which conjure palpable pain.

Secret Weapons:

• Casting: The confines of a small stage demand extra subtlety. You can’t put anything over on an audience that’s that close. For the most part, actors honor their archetypes, with nary a soulless showboat in the mix.

• Lighting: This may seem silly to mention, but having recently attended a few shows that may as well have been held in gazebos, I really appreciated this lighting, designed by Director Kirk Mouser, which artfully supports season and mood, and beams intense, heavenly rays off Angel at the play’s dramatic climax.

• Band: Tucked away in the back hallway, piped through the PA, their live presence went unnoticed by the audience until the show was over. “Gosh, look, a band,” several people said, as they exited. (The fact that their performance was taken for granted, probably attests to their skill.)

A couple shortcomings:

• Aiming high: Three or four times (which isn’t bad, considering the material’s challenging vocal lines) a singer went for the super-high note, and choked. It would have been wiser for these mezzos (who probably know who they are) to aim for a tone closer to home, even if it meant deviating from the written melody.

• Not updating the wardrobe: Hm. Shared housing? Poverty? The pursuit of art? Are these topics the property of the New York 90’s? It seems like they’re just as pervasive in Portland, right now.The production no doubt chose to keep RENT in 90’s garb, for tradition’s sake. But it would have been more sporting, and equally on-message, to hop across the street to Belmont Stumptown and snatch modernized boho togs right off the patrons’ backs.

• Theatre! Theater! ‘s total online obscurity: Although the production company for this particular play has a decent web presence, I defy you to casually google the Southeast Belmont venue, Theatre! Theater!. Resolving this may fill more seats. C’mon, guys, help us help you.

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Tags: Theater, Review, music, Queer-Friendly, Gay-Friendly, musical

Pop Star Ping Pong War!

Local talent rallies to send one of their own to the Gay Games.

Posted by: Anne Adams on Jun 10, 2010 at 06:00AM 1 Comments

Mercury or Willy Week?
Sleater-Kinney or Explode Into Colors?
Thermals or Starf*cker?
Which local rock luminaries will prevail in a ping pong showdown?

Tonight at Holocene, eight celebrity doubles teams take to the tables in support of Kaia Wilson’s (Butchies, Adickdid, Team Dresch, pictured) dream to compete in the Gay Games this summer in Cologne, Germany. Wilson has been rigorously training for the games under the moniker “Spin Slayer,” hoping to become “the best ponger in the northern hemisphere.” In preparation for her world conquest, she challenges tonight’s winning team to an epic paddling.

THE TEAMS:

Kathy Foster & Westin Glass (the Thermals)

Ryan Biornstad & Shawn Glassford (Starf*cker)

Lisa Schonberg & Heather Treadway (Explode into Colors/STLS)

Joe Preston (Thrones) & Donna Dresch (Team Dresch)

Alex Smith & Sean Sumler (AS/SS)

Rachel Blumberg (drummer extraordinaire) & Ezra Ace Caraeff (Portland Mercury)

Michael Mannheimer & Casey Jarman (WWeek)

Janet Weiss (S-K, Quasi) & Carrie Brownstein (S-K, Monitor Mix)

Tickets $5 (or more) at the door.
Click here to learn more about the Gay Games.

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Tags: Events, music, Sports, Queer-Friendly, Gay-Friendly, portland, pingpong