Skip Mercier, our set designer for Guys and Dolls (and the designer for Cabaret and West Side Story) flew in earlier in the week to work through the model of G&D with the team.  We’ve consciously moved the design process earlier this year to try to get a jump on our nutty production schedule.

He’s created a world that is surrounded by abstract portals evoking the frenetic life of NY in the 30’s.  Each portal contains a series of light boxes that can light up or dim in a different configuration for each scene.

Two large wagons will move mechanically across the stage carrying the furniture to shift into the next scene.

And a series of drops at the back will fly in and out to change the shape, color and mood of each locale.

The original production was set in 1951 (when it was produced), but the book upon which the musical is based was written in the 1930’s - so we are opting for the earlier timeframe.  The feeling of Coney Island in the 30s as depicted in the artwork of Reginald Marsh and Paul Cadmus inspired much of the hyper saturated, over ripe texture.

I love both the fluidity offered by the design as well as the chance to dramatically change the feel with one big, simple gesture.  We will utilize more “flying scenery” for this production than any we’ve yet mounted.

{photo: Brooke Bloom takes center stage in A Feminine Ending, a play which was developed as part of Portland Center Stage’s JAW festival.}

Sometimes people ask me, “What is this, ‘JAW‘ anyway?” Allow me to fill you in.

Just Add Water (affectionately known as JAW, and sometimes referred to - incorrectly - as JAWS) is a new play development festival that began here at PCS ten years ago. Liz Huddle, my predecessor, felt that Portland Center Stage needed to make a leap into the creation of new work, and had the brilliant foresight to call Jim Nicola at New York Theater Workshop. NYTW is one of the most adventurous theaters in the world, and has developed a robust methodology for creating deep relationships between artists and institutions - and for helping nurture the creation of new work.

New York Theater Workshop was already doing a festival of new works that they called Just Add Water - so the Portland incarnation began life as Just Add Water/West (JAW/West). Creative staff from NY worked alongside PCS staff for the first three years, until they said, “Hey - you guys know how to do this on your own. Go for it!”

The festival is a veritable kaleidoscope of original playwriting, with a regional series (“Made in Oregon”), site-specific pieces, labs for writers, and much more (consult the JAW calendar for the full roster). But its centerpiece offerings have always been four new full-length works. From about 150 scripts, four are selected, and the writers are paired with a team of professional directors, actors and dramaturgs. For a quick ten day period the team works feverishly in the rehearsal hall, while the playwright reworks material overnight and brings it back in the next day. At the end of the ten days, a staged version of the script is shown before an audience - and a feedback session happens afterward.

The process can prove invaluable for the playwright. As you can imagine, the writer has been sitting in front of a computer for months banging the draft into a shape they are happy with. But until you hear live actors speaking the story in front of an audience, it can be difficult to truly understand what you have created, and what is communicating.

{photo:A quiet moment in the world premiere of Sometimes a Great Notion, which was workshopped at last year’s JAW. Pictured top to bottom: Andy Patterson and P.J. Sosko as Hank and Joe Ben, Karl Miller as Leland, Sarah Grace Wilson as Vivian and Tobias Andersen as Henry.}

At PCS, each year that I’ve been here - we’ve subsequently produced one of the scripts from JAW in our subscription season (Flesh and Blood, Outrage, Another Fine Mess, O Lovely Glowworm, Celebrity Row, Act a Lady, A Feminine Ending and Sometimes a Great Notion).

And scripts from JAW have gone on to find productions at Third Rail Rep, Stark Raving Theatre and Sand and Glass Productions here in Portland; Actor’s Express in Atlanta; the Illusion in Minneapolis; South Coast Rep in Costa Mesa, CA; the Long Wharf and Yale Rep in New Haven; Actor’s Theater of Louisville; Interact and The Wilma in Philadelphia; and Cherry Lane, Playwrights Horizons and New York Theater Workshop in Manhattan.

This year in addition to the four readings of new plays, we are adding a musical component as we workshop Crazy Enough, Storm Large’s new show. Join us! All events are free.

more blogs about JAW || About Jaw || Complete JAW Schedule || Made in Oregon || Big Weekend || Other Events

{photo: Uber-agent Diane (Antoinette LaVecchia) charms the pants (and the play) off of a gay playwright she’s courting for a potential star vehicle for her client.}

A very thoughtful email about Little Dog came in last week from Ralph Cook:

“My wife, Barbara, and I saw, felt and were delightfully immersed in The Little Dog Laughed in the Sunday matinee on May 25th.  We laughed till our sides and stomachs ached.  As a writer, I kept thinking to myself and whispering in my wife’s ear, “How’d he do that.”  The asides, the interruptions, the overlaps.  The timing.  And use of lighting.  The actors’ interpretations.  Here was an incredibly close collaboration among the playwright, Douglas Carter Beane, the director, the crew and the actors.  ‘At the first nudity,’ Barbara later said, ‘out of the corner of my eye, I saw the hands shoot up of the woman sitting next to me.  She covered her eyes, then opened her fingers.’  Yes!  A live person, responding to live theater.

 One elderly couple in rather business-like attire sternly walked out at the intermission and never returend.  Ok.  Age has nothing to do with it.  I’m probably ten years their elder.  It’s more the mindset.

Afterward we stayed rooted in our seats as the audience filed out.  We had to share thoughts on this work.  We continued as we walked to the Rock Bottom brewery and resaturant, and then probed it more over dinner and a draft.  As a writer I had to get a script.   . . . The moment we arrived home, I went to my computer and found one through Amazon.  It was delivered Wednesday.  I read it the moment I tore open the envelope.  “Yes!  That’s how he (they) did it.”  I’ll share this with some of my fellow playwriting students.  Not all.  Some.  Because others will just cover their eyes.

{photo: Mitchell (Brik Berkes) and Alex (Dennis Flanagan) bring a touch of testosterone to some romantic evening in The Little Dog Laughed}

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Let it never be said that actors at PCS don’t take full advantage of this city’s many and varied amenities.  Last week, Antoinette LaVecchia (who is rocking the house nightly as Diane in The Little Dog Laughed) went horse back riding with subscriber, DeWayne Brown - who had kindly invited her to join him.  All sounds fine, except for the fact that DeWayne trains horses for international competition, and was a more seasoned rider than our heroine.  Antoinette returned home with a few large scratches on her arms from tree branches, which meant she had to wear long white gloves for the next few nights of performances (her opening gown is sleeveless).

 The cast of Little Dog has also enjoyed happy hour at Portland City Grill, a jaunt to Multnomah Falls, skipping through the cold waves of the Oregon coast, and sipped their way through the Wine Country.  Ahhh, the life.

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{photo: Mrs. Muller (Lisa Renee Pitts) shocks Sister Aloysius (Jayne Taini) with an unexpected reaction to allegations that the priest may have behaved inappropriately toward her son in Doubt.}

We’ve heard many responses to Doubt - clearly the production is generating a great deal of discussion and conversation.  But an email I received this morning felt worth sharing:

 ”Dear Chris:

I thought the script for ‘Doubt’ was superb . . . it was so beauitifully written and tight.  Every incident, memory, response was perfectly fit to puzzle the pieces together, yet, still we wonder.  I was talking with a friend the other day and she had the idealist vision of nuns in habits, living quiet lives in contemplative convents.  Then she was searching for someone with whom to counsel.  A nun was her best recommendation so she went with it.  Their first meeting was a shock to her preconceived picture, when she met this sister and found her dressed in blue jeans and a sweatshirt; not at all in keeping with her conjured image.

 The Catholic sisters with whom I studied, worked and have known as good friends, mostly resembled Sister James in their temperaments and idealisms.  Their personalities were primarily sensitive and immensely loving.  I was very happy to learn in my own personal research before opening night that there really was a Sister James (Sister Margaret McEntee) and a Sister Aloysius (Sister Aloysia - head mistress) both of whom were an inspiration for John Patrick Shanley’s narrative.  He has provided us with a unique gift; for me my mind is wild with images and memories.

And then there is the issue of ‘doubt’ . . . it is so large.  I once experienced a strong intuitive observation for which there was no indication of proof . . . just the feeling and the sense of it.  In this situation, the doubt kept my counsel.  Ironically, then years after the fact of my thoughts, a Catholic sister was in the appropriate place and time to expose the truth.  It was apparent and at that time, awareness and her diligent and careful research revealed an ongoing pattern, there was no doubt.

And then there is thet concept of ‘reasonable doubt’ and how one serving on a jury must continually check one’s thoughts and conclusions against this market.  It can be an awesome challenge.

You must know how much we have appreciated your choices for each year’s productions.  There is always something which touches us deeply, and provides challenges which inspire thought and conversation.  For what more could we ask?

Thank you,

Jessie Adams”

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After the last show of the year opens, friends will often ask, “So do you get some downtime now?”  I laugh because the Summer months are often our busiest time of year as we’re plunged into casting, design and planning for the coming season.

While in NY last week, I began conversations with the design team for Guys and Dolls (Skip Mercier, set; Daniel Ordower, lights; and Jeff Cone, costumes) - which happens to be the same fantastic team that brought you Cabaret.

I had just been reading the original Damon Runyon stories upon which Guys and Dolls is based - and was trying to figure out whether we should set our production in the 30’s (when Runyon’s originals were set) or in 1950 (when the original Broadway musical was set).

There are merits to both ideas.  I understand why the authors of the musical chose 1950: it was making it contemporary for their audience - and it also embodies the exuberance and burst of energy that was America and NY just after World War II.  Anything seemed possible, and the ‘ideal’ image of American marriage was at its peak.

But I also found the original period quite compelling.  Runyon’s original stories are set amidst the innocence and tawdriness that was New York or Coney Island in the thirties.  There is a direct connection to Vaudeville, and the world seems at once fantastical, exaggerated, sexy and gritty.  It is by no means a “real” world - but a world of Runyon’s observation and imagining.

I suggested to Skip that he look at the paintings of Paul Cadmus, which have this wonderful Carnival, oversexed, sweaty feel - and yet are from the period.  He threw in some Reginald Marsh pics as well - and put the four collages you see here together as inspiration for himself and the team.

{photo: Sister Aloysius (Jayne Taini) has her suspicions about the charming new priest Father Flynn (John Behlmann) and his relationship with her school’s first African-American student.}

I had never seen a production of Doubt onstage, and it had been quite awhile since I read the script.  So it was a pleasure to discover how powerful John Patrick Shanley’s script plays onstage.  In Rose Riordan’s simple and taut production, the twists and hairpin turns of the story’s plot feel like they’ve been etched with a razor blade. 

 There were several times during the first preview when you literally could not hear the audience breathing - such was the rapt level of attention in the room.

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Charlie Frasier (our Development Director) and I just returned from a week in NY touring with PCS patrons.   I hadn’t done alot of the ‘touristy’ sites in NY, so it was fun to learn about the city from guides who understand the history in depth.

I also enjoyed spending some quality time with one of my favorite patrons (and friends), Teri Rowan - who managed to keep me giggling through most of our bus tour.

Our first evening in town, we caught Nathan Lane in David Mamet’s new comedy, November.  Nathan played a meaner and funnier version of a dim-witted President (you can decide who it was modeled after).  The play was pretty hilarious in stretches, but also thin for a Mamet piece.  And ultimately not particularly satisfying.

We started our first day with breakfast at Tavern on the Green in Central Park (which I learned is the highest grossing restaurant in America).

The restaurant features windows and chandeliers of cut glass that are pretty spectacular.

Our tour included the newly refashioned World Trade Center Atrium.

And a glimpse of ground zero, which is still under reconstruction.

While in town, I was also casting for Guys and Dolls.  

Rick (left), our Musical Director and Joel (in the white shirt), our choreographer were in tow.  Since this is our third musical to work on together - we were pretty comfortable in figuring out how to speak each other’s language and how to look out for what the others concerns might be.  During auditions for West Side I was curious when Joel would say, “He moves well, but his technique is iffy.”  I didn’t understand.  So he elaborated, that if a dancer’s training isn’t solid, they may still be able to learn and deliver the combination - but the likelihood that they will injure themselves doing the show 8 times a week multiplies exponentially.

I also got to see the new musical, In the Heights, which has been nominated for 14 Tony Awards.  Written by a 28 year old kid who also stars in the show - it features a cast of 25 hot, young actor/dancer/singers - telling the story of a young girl trying to make it out of the ‘hood’ in Washington Heights (upper, upper Manhattan).  The book was pretty weak - but the music and the singing were amazing.  And the choreography (by Andy Blakenbuhler, who choreographed Gypsy for us in 2001) was sensational.

It was also fun to hear that Anderson Davis (Tony in our West Side Story) is now in the Broadway company of Les Mis; Sarah Marie Hicks (Kit Kat Girl from Cabaret) is in the revival of Gypsy; Tommy Berkland (Baby John in West Side) is Gregory in A Chorus Line on Broadway; and Gretchen Burkhalter (Helga in Cabaret) was just cast in the National Tour of Legally Blonde.

On a more somber note, I was stunned to read in the NY Times that Adrian Bailey (El Gallo in our The Fantasticks) fell through a trap door of The Little Mermaid set - falling 30 feet to the floor below.  He was hospitalized with two broken wrists, a broken back, crushed pelvis, and broken sternum.  Horrifying. 

The last show I saw was Bart Scherr’s (Artistic Director of Intiman Theater in Seattle) production of South Pacific at Lincoln Center.  It was one of the most satisfying evenings I’ve ever spent in the theater.  From Michael Yeargan’s stunning and three dimensional sets, to the exquisite singing, gorgeous and athletic staging, to the nuanced and simple acting - it was joyous and revelatory in a completely honest way.  I happily lept to my feet at the end - and could have sat down and watched the entire thing again.  If you are in New York:  go, go, go.  (Oh, and I forgot:  Sean Cullen - who played Tupolski in our Pillowman has a nice featured role in the production).

{Chris Coleman}
Position: Artistic Director 
Hometown: Atlanta, GA

What do you love and/or miss about your hometown? Spring.  When it explodes (usually mid-march), the city is awash in pollen – but also an explosion of flowers and blooms.   Wild parties:  definitely a party town. 

When you were young what did you want to be when you grew up? A preacher; a teacher or an actor.

Favorite part of your job: Rehearsing the plays.  I love being in the rehearsal room, especially the process of staging the play.  I also love strategizing about new initiatives with our senior staff.

Hobbies? Reading (political history; biography); cooking: obsessed with chocolate cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream (yes, made from scratch); hiking; biking; movies; meditating.

Pet? Nope.

What was your first job? Slinging burgers at Wendy’s on Buford Highway.

What was the last book you read?  Legacy of Ashes: A History of the CIA.  Movie?Elizabeth:  The Golden Years; Movie? TV:  John Adams

What is something most people don’t know about you? That in 1979 I won the Georgia Baptist Youth Speaker’s Tournament.  My topic was, “The Faith Factor”.

What sets PCS apart from other places you have worked?

Every afternoon around 3 pm, the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies wafts into your office.

What is something you are absolutely passionate about? PCS.  Duh.

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{Diane (Antoinette LaVecchia) pours on the charm to seal a deal on behalf of her client in The Little Dog Laughed.}

So The Little Dog Laughed is finally up and running - and if our first four audiences are an indication - we are in for a wild, wild ride.  First night out was a benefit last Sunday evening for Basic Rights Oregon, and Antoinette (who plays Diane, the ruthless agent) was so startled at how vocal the responses were that she got tickled a few times.  After one particularly long and hearty response from the audience, she said she literally had to bite her tongue to keep from cracking up.  It’s one thing to perform a role like Diane, where much of your interaction is with an audience.  It’s quite another to do so in the round, with audience members’ feet literally sticking out onto the stage from time to time.  It is a gas.

{Mitchell (Brik Berkes) and Alex (Dennis Flanagan) find an unexpected moment of connection after a hook up turns into something deeper.}

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about how audiences would respond to the relationship between the two guys, and in particular the evolution of their passion for each other.  So far - folks seem to be taking the ride in stride.  They just get involved with the story - and walk out smiling.  Helen Raptis, the anchor for A.M. Northwest, interviewed Antoinette on Thursday morning - and went on and on about the ‘health and vitality’ of the two guys in the play.  LOL.

{What are you THINKING? Diane (Antoinette LaVecchia) tries to get her client off of the “raft made of rent boy”}

It’s also fun to hear the audience putting the pieces of the puzzle together along the way.  When one particular plot point was revealed on Wednesday night, I saw heads nodding and heard a few, ‘ohhhhhhhhhhhs’.  Very fun.

{Some romantic evening indeed. Mitchell (Brik Berkes) and Alex (Dennis Flanagan) prove that a kiss is not always just a kiss.}

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It’s still raining outside, but it is beginning to heat up inside the studio theater.

We moved downstairs last night for technical rehearsals for The Little Dog Laughed. There were all these cool hipsters pouring into the building as we came in (we started at 5:00 pm) and after nosing around a bit, I learned that they were gathered for local Engineering Awards.

Antoinette (who plays Diane, the ruthless agent) and I rode together in the elevator. I was curious about the pile of magazines she was carting around with her.

She shared that she was creating a “Diane collage” for the wall of her apartment in the Mark Spencer Hotel.

Dex Edwards (Batboy: The Musical; This Wonderful Life; A Christmas Carol) designed the set, which allows us to move fluidly between a high end hotel room, a skanky nightclub, a restaurant in LA, the subway, Westchester, and the streets of Manhattan - among others.

This is the first show I’ve directed in the studio - and it reminds me an awful lot of being at Actor’s Express (my theater in Atlanta). The set was nearly ready, but the aisleways hadn’t yet been carpeted, and I got a little exercised at how difficult that would make it to time entrances and exits. But our crew is fantastic, so they very quickly remedied the problems.

Brik Berkes plays Mitchell (the moviestar) in Little Dog. He is fond of wearing Star Wars T-shirts to rehearsal, so we were pretty impressed at how well he cleans up. Brik and I worked together about a decade ago in Atlanta on a production of Paul Rudnick’s Jeffrey.

Techs usually require the actors to stand around and wait alot, while the light designer and sound designer are working to get their work timed precisely. So things can get a little goofy.

I love using the space with the audience on four sides. It’s been quite fun on this show, as there are numerous occasions throughout when the actors speak directly to the audience - and we’ve had to engineer ingenious ways to make the intended recipient clear.

By about 10:30 - Dennis was toast.

Natalie (who plays Ellen) gets quite a wardrobe transformation throught the show, as her fortunes rise.

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{photo: Storm Large hanging out with Chris in his office.}

Storm and I had a great conversation this morning about her show next year (Crazy Enough). She has shared several pieces of her writing with me thus far, and sitting on my balcony today she sang a song that had come to her while walking to the grocery store yesterday. It was gorgeous and sad. She said she’d been trying to figure out the link to one particular story and so she ‘prayed to Kurt Cobain’ and out popped this little ditty.

We’ll be workshopping the piece this Summer at JAW (Just Add Water).

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When we first began discussions about what we’d like our new home to be like, one of the phrases that often popped up was, ‘it should be activated from 10 in the morning until midnight, six days a week.’  It sounded exciting - but perhaps a bit unrealistic.  I mean, were people really going to ‘hang out’ in a theater lobby?

 Last week I arrived at the building at 8 in the morning for some meeting, and was surprised to find a film crew set up in the lobby and swarms of people running back and forth.  I had no idea what they were doing - because I literally cannot keep up with the amount of activity that now happens at the Armory.  The building has become like yeast:  it has a life of its own.

Some examples of activities over the past six weeks:

Oregon Ballet Theater Board Meeting; Henry Condos HOA Meeting; tour for the Vancouver, Washington Parks and Rec board; ”Green Building” event hosted by Former Governor John Kitzhaber and Dick Moe of the Trust for Historic Preservation; Travel Portland Board meeting; Sojourn Theater reception/fundraiser; Powell’s Books bulding committee met to look at our approaches for their future expansion project; tour for Newberg High School students; tour for Portland Adventist School; gathering for ‘Crave Portland’ a group of sustainable entrepreneuers; Juvenile Diabetes Photo Shoot; Equity Foundation fundraiser; Portland Magazine photo shoot (fashion spread); Travel Portland event:  60 meeting planners from across the U.S. here to view Portland venues for potential bookings; Ian Garrett event - young leader in the Green Theater movement in LA; Business Journal banquet; Corley Wedding; Nintendo Video Shoot in the lobby (this is apparently what I stumbled upon); Klosterman wedding; Ken Kesey Symposium with Gus Van Sant; Regionalism Dialogue with William Robbins; tour for PCS Donors; tour for students from Catlin Gabel school; Oregon Council for the Humanities:  ‘Four Questions’ Lecture series; World Affairs Council - visitors from the British Prime Minister’s office; GBD architects (the building’s designers) tour with 15 architects from New Zealand; Oregon Live (news website) reception; Portland Community College Environmental Building class; ‘Good Day Oregon’ TV filming about Green Technology applicable to homeowners; Literary Arts event with Barry Lopez and Paul Hawken; Portland Tribune Home and Garden tour for the ‘Green Homes’ section; PDX ‘Mind Share’ reception.

This doesn’t count the folks just hanging out to have a pastry or cup of coffee at the cafe, or to check out the history of the building at the ‘historiscope’ (last week there was an older woman sitting at the thing with a notebook scribbling notes - for what I couldn’t quite imagine).

 Whew.  I’m worn out just thinking about it.

But it is awfully fun to watch this variety of activity filling up and enjoying our home.

{After an unguarded moment of tenderness, Alex (Dennis Flanagan) watches over an exhausted and beleagured Mitchell (Brik Berkes)}

Had a really fun conversation yesterday with Douglas Carter Beane, the author of The Little Dog Laughed.  I was driving (cellphone in hand, I know, I know) to Columbia Gorge - he was doing research for an upcoming project at Barnes & Nobles in Manhattan.  I met Doug about a decade ago, when he was kind enough to fly to Atlanta to help us promote his play As Bees in Honey Drown, and asked if he would talk to me for a bit about this current project.

First question:  what inspired the play?  Doug said he’d been writing ‘The Adventures of Alex’ for several years, thinking it might become a novel.  Alex was inspired by his discovery of a website called “Manhattan Schoolboys” or the like, where you could pull up the profile of an appealing ‘escort’, read his bio - and actually link to his blog where he would offer up details of his daily activities.  Doug became fascinated by the human beings behind the commerce and started writing about Alex (the ‘rent boy’ in Little Dog)

{Caught in the Act! Rising star Mitchell Green (Brik Berkes) tries to explain a “slight reoccuring case of homosexuality,” spurred on by the sweet natured rent boy Alex (Dennis Flanagan) to his scheming agent Diane (Antoinette LaVecchia).}

The evolution of Alex into Little Dog was inspired by Doug’s adventures in Hollywood - when Bees had been optioned for production as a film.   The studio execs he encountered were so determined to change almost every element of the original, that he finally gave up and just put the script on a shelf (where it remains).  But his window into the ruthlessness, and formulaic demands of ’showbiz’ seared themselves onto his brain.

A common request was, “Can’t we soften up the heroine?”  To which he would reply, “You mean the psychotic, lying con-woman at the center of the story?  What exactly would ’softer’ look like?”

{Nothing to see here: Diane (Antoinette LaVecchia)tries to steer the media glare elsewhere as Mitchell (Brik Berkes) and Alex (Dennis Flanagan) fall in love.}

He also took inspiration from a particularly famous, Oscar-winning movie star - who took his mother to the award ceremony - and upon receiving his statue - turned to his manager (apparently a well-known lesbian in the business) and thanked her as “the woman who taught me how to love”.   When the cameras panned to the manager, she was looking behind herself in confusion to find out who he was talking about.

 Doug is as funny (spontaneously) on the phone as he is in real life and on paper. 

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As Sometimes a Great Notion was readying for its first preview last Tuesday evening, we were also beginning rehearsals for Douglas Carter Beane’s racy and hilarious comedy, The Little Dog Laughed, which will close out the studio season.

Brik Berkes plays the rising movie star who (as his agent puts it), ‘has a slight recurring case of homosexuality.’ Brik and I last worked together in 1995 at Actor’s Express, where he played the title role in Paul Rudnick’s Jeffrey. When I called Brik to ask if he was available, he said something to the effect of: ‘Chris you haven’t seen me in 10 years. Are you sure you’re ready to have me get naked onstage?’ I said, ‘Hey: you’ve got 3 months to whip it into shape!”

This was an extremely hard play to cast, as each character demands both particular skills and looks. The cut-throat (and hilarious) agent who is fighting to keep her client in the closet is a plumb of a role for the right actress. But not until Antoinette LaVecchia walked into the room, did we feel like we had someone who had the comedic chops, the appropriate glamour and the charisma to pull it off. (Both Antoinette’s parents are first generation Italian immigrants - and I love hearing stories about them in rehearsal).

Dennis Flanagan plays Mitchell’s love interest: a male hustler named Alex. We had several good looking and interesting choices for the role. But Dennis captured both the characters’ insecurity and his vulnerability - which is key to making the heart of the play sing. Dennis is originally from New Jersey.

Natalie Knepp plays Alex’s girlfriend, Ellen. She is originally from Cleveland and beside being a wonderful actress, is also quite an accomplished harpist (harpist? Is that the right word?) During the auditions I asked her about growing up in Cleveland, and she talked about the time the river caught on fire in the 70s (before she was born) because there was so much oil in the water. I liked her instantly. Natalie and Dennis both studied at Rutgers University.

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{photo: The Stamper family rests a moment, each in their private world. Vivian Stamper (Sarah Grace Wilson, left) samples from Wallace Stevens’ poetry while patriarch Henry (Tobias Andersen, right) does some reading of his own. Leland (Karl Miller, middle), is awakes to visions of older brother Hank (P.J. Sosko, standing) and cousin Joe Ben (Andy Paterson, seated) on the slopes amid the timber.}

We’ve heard many responses to Sometimes A Great Notion - even though we are only in the second week of the run. A few examples:

“Great performance tonight. A quote I heard: ‘the theater took on a mesmerizing stance between intimate conversation and large-scale production. And walked that tight-rope for nearly 3 hours.’ From a third generation logging family, fantastic!” (Tanner Halton)

We’ve had a few complaints about the strong language in the play. To any I’ve had the opportunity to correspond with, I’ve shared that the language is straight out of Kesey’s novel, and accurately reflects the world about which he was writing.

We also heard a variety of responses to the production’s brief nudity:

“That seemed unnecessary.”

“I thought it was handled very tastefully.”

“Could you add more?”

{Wag it and shag it boys! Patriarch Henry Stamper (Tobias Andersen), laid up with a broken arm, relies on his sons Hank (P.J. Sosko, left) and Leland (Karl Miller, right) to keep the family logging business afloat.}

Gina Leon wrote: “My Mom and I saw Sometimes a Great Notion on Saturday and it was wonderful. She has not attended a production in the Armory Building before and was very impressed. You may have a new subscriber on your hands. The performance was fantastic. I’ve told everyone here at work that they are required to go buy tickets now!”

{Hank Stamper (P.J. Sosko) sizes up his exhausted little brother Leland (Karl Miller) after his first full day as a choker setter on the family logging site.}

And David Blount wrote: “We stayed glued to our seats at intermission talking about what we had just seen as we usually do — especially the high energy both on stage and in the audience of modern Portlanders who I suspect are for the most part content to imagine others laboring outside in the winter deluge for months not knowing what it is really like to live off the land that so many of us love to just soak up with our eyes. The play has to follow Kesey’s hellbent violent macho line set in the wonderland of the great Northwest outdoors where women were sidelined as bit players at best - it was not about them but the inevitability of the seeming irreconcilable conflicts of men who must fight. I learned from an Oregon Supreme Court justice on Thursday night that as late as the mid 70s — the court’s restrooms on the floor where the arguments are held had two bathrooms: one marked Women and the other ‘Judges’. These realities are bygone slices of our State’s history - but have been lived out in our lifetime which is sometimes hard to comprehend.

{The local loggers mull their options when the Stamper clan ignores the union strike. Pictured clockwise from bottom right: ensemble members Kevin-Michael Moore, Todd Van Voris, Chris Murray, Scott Coopwood and Tim True.}

I thought the production pulled all the tensions of the flooding maelstrom together with just the right touch - it was clearly well cast and you could tell they all enjoyed doing it. Karl Miller’s telephone oration with Peters was masterful and to me the whole play took off from there. The Stamper brothers’ fight scene was compelling and having grown up in a mining community and witnessing first hand bullying: it felt real. Joe Ben’s death scene was equally compelling - dying from laughter - which I had forgotten after watching the movie years ago. We joined the standing ovation which was well deserved.”

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There is definitely a buzz charging through the building as Sometimes A Great Notion moves toward opening night. The cast moved onto the set on Saturday (4 days early???? Why doesn’t that happen on MY shows?) And this morning they began focusing the lights.

As you can see, the set is a jagged series of platforms, steps and beams that sore above the actors’ heads. Climbing around on it, you actually get the sensation that you’re hiking up one of the ridges of the Cascades.

The work this morning was about securing the safety of the actors as they begin to traverse the different levels.

This is the view from the top platform. A little scary for the actors, but also pretty cool.

This is Tony Cisek, the Set Designer (also the designer for A Feminine Ending). Tony is based in Washington, D.C. and hates having his picture taken.

Bradford is our new Concierge. He also doubles as an intern for our Development Department.

And since its Wednesday, the Tai Chi class was on the mezzanine at noon. Come join them!

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One of my favorite letters of the year arrived this morning, from Heather Frederick.   Allow me to quote:

 ”Dear Jane and Chris and the entire stellar cast of ‘Twelfth Night,’

I simply had to write to thank you for all your amazing, inspired, fabulous, and thoroughly enjoyable production of ‘Twelfth Night’.  My 17-year-old son was home on Spring Break last week, and I thought it would be fun to take him to the theater.  This was his first exposure to Shakespeare and I really wanted his maiden voyage to be a positive experience, so that he’d be hooked for life, as I was at his age.  One always crosses one’s fingers when heading off to see the Bard (I can’t tell you the number of truly hideous hatchet-jobs I’ve seen in my life), but having recently attended ‘The Beard of Avon’ with my husband, I suspected you folks would do the material proud.  As we arrived and took our seats, however, I have to admit that my heart sank.  It was a Thursday matinee, and the theater was bristling with high school students.  A field trip audience?  I braced myself for trouble.

I needn’t have.  From the hilarious opening scene with the ’ship’ of players to the final bow, you had us all in the palms of your talented hands.  We hung on your every word - including the hipper-than-thou teens, no easy feat.  We howled with laughter.  We listened with collective joy to the rich cadences and beauty of Shakespeare’s language.  It takes a rare kind of actor to make Elizabethan English as transparent as you all did, and my hat is off to each of you.  Ultimately, the highest compliment I can offer are the words of praise that came from my son as we were leaving the theater:  “Mom, that was awesome.”

Thank you all so much for your dedication to your craft, your obvious delight in your work, and your generosity of spirit in sharing your gifts with us.  We can’t wait to come back for more!

 All the best,

Heather Frederick”

Read more from Chris’ blog.

Find out more about our opportunities for students.

{There’s a reason they’re called the Stampers. Hank Stamper (P.J. Sosko) test drives a new pair of caulk (pronounced “cork’) boots in Sometimes a Great Notion, opening April 4th on the Main Stage.}

I saw a runthrough of Sometimes a Great Notion in the rehearsal hall yesterday.  The company was still digesting new pages of text (some had only arrived that morning), but you could already feel how powerful an evening it is going to be.  From the first gorgeous lines describing the banks of a river in Oregon, to the humor of the logging family, to the aching losses that arrive in the end - it is going to be a huge evening of theater.

{Hank Stamper (P.J. Sosko) sizes up his little brother Leland (Karl Miller).}

One of the most difficult aspects of this piece has been finding the right cast members.  We had two workshops during the developmental process, and had wonderful actors in the three principal roles.  But those roles/characters are extremely idiosyncratic and tough to nail down.  Lee, the younger son - has to convince us that his roots are in Oregon, but his mind has taken flight to lofty literary heights stoked at his time back east at Yale.  Hank, the older brother, has to feel ‘of the earth’, sexy, intimidating and potentially dangerous.  And Viv, Hank’s wife - has to convince us both that she loves these men, and that her self-knowledge is something outside her grasp at the beginning of the story.  Not easy on any front.  I’m delighted to report, though, that the actors playing these roles for the world premiere are fantasssssstic.

{Stamper Family Values: Pictured from top right are patriarch Henry Stamper (Tobias Andersen), his nephew Joe Ben (Andy Paterson), daughter in law Vivian (Sarah Grace Wilson) heir apparant Hank (P.J. Sosko) and prodigal younger son Leland (Karl Miller).}

Read more from Chris’s blog.

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 I overhead a woman in the lobby the other night trying to find her way.  The usher asked, “Which play are you here to see?”  She shook her head, “Ohhh, I don’t know.  I just have tickets to millions!  Millons!”  Had to laugh - after mounting three plays in less than a month, I think we’re all swimming a bit.  But its fun swimming. 

I’ve had wonderful emails on all three productions - but here are a few of my favorites:

“Before I forget, I want you to know how much I loved ‘Beard of Avon‘ last night.  It was brilliant, spot on, perfect.  Congratulations.  The casting was fantastic, the acting scintillating, the timing exquisite, I didn’t want the play to end.  This after attending the first reading at South Coast Rep many years ago, and seeing a production at ACT in San Francisco before the New York Production.”  (Rosalie Tank)

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{Brook Bloom takes the stage in A Feminine Ending. Photo by Owen Carey}

“My wife and I just saw ‘A Feminine Ending’ yesterday.  What a good show!  Great playwright and super acting.  You, and the actors and staff of PCS have done just an outstanding job of picking and performing plays this season.  I don’t think it could get any better than what we have seen so far this year.  Congratulations on a job well done.”  (John Bromley)

{A Bardacious Brawl: Fabian (John Wernke), Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Darius Pierce), Sebastian (Daniel Harray), and Sir Toby Belch (Kenneth Albers) throw down in Twelfth Night.}

"I sure enjoyed ‘Twelfth Night’ on Sunday.  Of all the Bard’s plays I’ve seen in PDX, this was, in my humble opinion, the very best.”  (Judith Richmond)

Super cool article about the Armory in this month’s ArchiTech Magazine. Check out the link at: www.architechmag.com/articles/detail.aspx?contentID=5610

There has been an awful lot of noise in theater circles recently about the Broadway production of August:  Osage County, so I was mildy trepidatious about seeing it last week.  I was in New York to cast Little Dog Laughed, and had the opportunity to see Tom Stoppard’s new play Rock ‘n Roll (about the revolutionary power of music - specifically related to the Czech revolution); Is He Dead (the hilarious recently unearthed play by Mark Twain that is receiving a delicious production by Michael Blakemore [British director of Copenhagen and the revival of Kiss Me Kate].)

 But August:  Osage County was in a league of its own.  The play is by Tracy Letts, the author of Bug  and Killer Joe (both of which Artists Rep produced in Portland), as well as The Man From Nebraska, an elegiac drama that I admired immensely.

 Osage County is an epic America family drama set in Oklahoma.  It has the power, raw emotion, bitter edge and wild humor of the greatest of Edward Albee’s plays - and the reach of the best of Eugene O’Neill.  Writing for the NY Times, Charles Isherwood called it the best new American play in a decade (I guess that would be since Angels in America).  I tend to agree.  It was astounding.

 But perhaps even more delicious, were the balls-to-the-walls performances by members of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Company.  Completely naturalistic, overlapping dialogue was delivered with a truthfulness, specificity and acid humor that confounded from start to finish.  Though it was three acts and 3 hours and 15 minutes, I felt like I could have sat down and watched the entire thing again from start to finish.

 If you get to New York:  Go!

{Lord Walsingham (Rob Krakovski), Queen Elizabeth (Carol Halstead), the Earl of Derby (Brad Bellamy) and Sir Francis Bacon (Brian Thompson) in The Beard of Avon}

Beard of Avon finally opened on Friday night, to a rousing response from the audience in attendance. I am struck by how many of the “theater” jokes audiences seem to appreciate. And they always get a charge out of the evolution of Anne Hathaway’s (Catherine Lynn Davis) struggles with her dreamy husband, Will Shakespere (Darius Pierce).

Shakespere is not a very good farmer, and his life is transformed by the appearance of a group of wandering players. Meanwhile Brent Harris (Edward DeVere, 17th Earl of Oxford) is trying to pull himself out of a funk that hitting 40 has brought on.

Carol Halstead (the star of last season’s Bad Dates) is difficult to recognize as the ruler of the most powerful country on earth. But she manages to find great humor in the opportunity.

A disguised Anne Hathaway manages to have both a hilarious and heart-rending adulterous romp with her husband’s patron, the 17th Earl of Oxford. She then wonders where fortune will lead her marriage.

The Queen appears at the theater for a command performance of a very special play, which gets a little out of hand.

But the relationship of the two competing authors proves the playwright’s ultimate interest.

I am currently sitting on the “Creative Capacity Steering Committee” which Commissioner Sam Adams has convened to look for a dedicated funding stream for the Arts in PDX.  I was interested in some recent research gathered comparing Portland’s overall arts funding breakdown, with national trends:

 Nationally, Arts organizations get 50% of their revenue from Earned Income (Tickets, et al.);  in Portland that number is 39%; at PCS it is 67%.

Government (State, Local and Federal) funds make up 9% of the pie on the national front; only 4% locally; and only 1% of the PCS operating budget.

Individuals make up the difference:  nationally they provide 21% of arts funding; in Portland they provide 30%; at PCS they provide 10%.

 Interesting.

The high was 14 degrees the first day we landed in Rochester for Cabaret rehearsals at Geva Theater. Geva was one of the theaters we studied closely when designing the Armory, as it is also housed in a renovated Armory building.

The theater is configured differently than the Gerding, in that the stage thrusts out into the audience more: so you are closer to the action, but it is much more difficult to utilize the full depth of the stage - as you lose sitelines for the folks seated on the sides. So we had to restage some moments. But this actually made for some fun times: with Fr. Kost making out with her sailor right in the aisle.

I think the opening number (with the guys dancing on the chairs) raised the temperature of even frozen Rochesterians in this configuration.

There was definitely a bit of a “reunion” feel as the cast had been away from each other for six weeks. Jamie Hill (squished in the middle), our Assistant Stage Manager on Cabaret traveled with the company to help devise the backstage moves and coach the running crew. Thank God for her.

We had excellent support from the Geva staff, including Don (left, our musical director) and Kirsten (right) our terrific stage manager. The Eastman School of Music (one of the country’s finest) is just down the street from the theater- so the musicans we had access to were marvelous.

Because of the hiatus between runs, we had to replace a few of the ensemble members. On the left you see Tommy Berklund stretching. Tommy played Baby John in West Side Story last season, and stepped in to replace John Wood. Tommy is not only a terrific actor/dancer/singer - but he also fit into the gorilla costume!

The cast kept razzing me about never going out with them (I’m not much of a “hanger-outer”), so I acquiesced and joined them on Sunday evening. Here you see Karen Hyland kicking my ass in darts.

Wade arrived with a cold (he and his partner Noah had just completed their move from LA to NY), but fought it off after a few days. Noah joined us in Rochester after the first few days.

Joel Farrell, our brilliant choreographer, thankfully made the trek as well. I had to leave after our first invited dress to put Beard onstage, so Joel was there to keep cleaning and finessing up until opening night.

A great article in Sunday’s newspaper featured a big picture of Storm on the cover. The writer said Storm discussed her sex life with “blistering frankness”: we all had a good laugh about that one.

A few bumps technically getting the curtains to operate the way we like them to. But then audiences started arriving, and what do you know: they loved it as much as you guys!

After several days teching 12th Night, the cast of Beard of Avon changed their costumes and headed right into another round of technical rehearsals. Weary, but silly we launched into adding lights and sound, building the transitions between scenes, and figuring out how the play would best translate from the rehearsal hall to the theater.

Casi Pacilio, our resident Sound Supervisor, was deeply thankful not to have any actors in microphones after doing Cabaret and A Christmas Carol back to back.

This is the screen of her computer. You can see she has to build the timing and duration of each sound cue in the computer. Josh Kohl, our composer for the show sat with Casi throughout the process, and the two of them finagled over exactly how loud each piece of music should play in concert with the dialogue.

While the show utilizes no turntables, or flying ghosts (thank you) - it requires as many quick changes as any show I’ve been involved with. One of the trickiest changes demands that each of the actors above switch out of their “theater guy” costume into their “courtier” costume in less than a minute. No mean feat, when you are trying to figure out how to pull your pumpkin pants on.

Carol Halstead (from last season’s Bad Dates) gets the delicious job of playing Queen Elizabeth in Beard and Olivia in 12th Night. One of the treats of the rehearsal process was watching Carol work with an upside down coat hanger in the back of her collar in an attempt to approximate the effect of the “butterfly wings” of her costume.

The set is a wonderful combination of bare planked floor, stairs, bridges and doors - an “Elizabethan backstage” if you will - with numerous theatrical props suspended from the ceiling. John Wernke is seen sitting on the steps in his “player” garb: one of three roles he dons in Beard.

Cate Davis (Anne Hathaway), travels to London to try and woo her wayward husband back again; and spends much of Act 2 disguised as “Lucy, a bawd about town”.

So my last posting, about who actually wrote “Shakespeare’s” plays has drawn numerous comments.  Thought you might find a website dedicated to this subject of interest.  Go to:  www.shakespeare-oxford.com.  Happy trails.

This is an action figure of William Shakespeare that you can purchase for a modest fee at Powell’s Books.  Who knew such inspiration was possible?

Beard Of Avon has me thinking daily about the question of who actually penned the plays we have come to know and love as “Shakespeare’s”.  For most of my life, I assumed it was the actor from Stratford-on-Avon that tradition has brought down to us.  Though I have to admit I found it deeply frustrating when working on his plays, to have so little biographical material available on the guy.

Reams of writing exists by and about every other major writer in Elizabethan England (letters, articles, pamphlets, court documents, etc.) - but almost nothing exists about what we assume was the towering literary figure of his age.

 It was also completely baffling to imagine that this actor who had no university education, would through a complete stroke of genius not only be able to bring forth some of the most beautiful poetry ever penned, but that he would also have a deep and varied knowledge of politics, law, medicine, astrology, European travel, education, and history.  While not out of the question, it was always frustrating to me to have so little biographical information on this guy to help illuminate the intentions of the plays themselves.

Apparently I was not alone in my frustration, as there have been for centuries, multiple theories about who actually wrote Shakespeare’s plays. 

Beard of Avon mixes several theories, but makes a pretty compelling case for at least the strong inspirational hand of Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford.  De Vere was one of the great minds of his day - educated by the Secretary of State under Edward (heir to Henry VIII) until he was eight years old.  His father was murdered (likely by the Earl of Leicester in a rivalry for his lands and prestige) when De Vere was still young, and the boy became a ward of Elizabeth’s court and his education was completed in the house of Lord Burleigh (Elizabeth’s Lord Treasurer - a cross between Prime Minister and Secretary of State).  He had access to the finest education available in Europe.

Besides becoming one of the literary lights, patrons, and provocateurs of his day, De Vere was also quite a character.  By the time he was thirty he had murdered two men; attempted to lead an Army into  battle; converted to Catholicism and later renounced the faith at the foot of the Queen; renounced his child by Burleigh’s daughter Anne as a bastard; fathered an illegitimate child by another of Elizabeth’s ladies-in-waiting; spent time in the tower; likely had lovers of both sexes; and laid waste to a vast fortune.

 He  also owned and frequented one of the rowdiest taverns in London’s theater district, and became drinking buddies with all of the great writers of the time.  Many scholars believe he was lovers with the Queen, and some speculate that they actually had a child together.

 There were multiple reasons De Vere could not have published the plays under his own name, if he actually was the author.  The most obvious being that at the time, to “fraternize with actors was to debase oneself” (as Amy Freed puts it in Beard).  But being as close as he was to the crown, any statement he made publicly would have had national security implications (imagine the scrutiny to interpretation a screenplay by Condoleeza Rice might be subject to).

Interestingly, many of the specific events that occurred in De Vere’s life - make appearances in the plays of “Shake-speare”.  Hmmmmm.

Let’s see - today is December 21st and we just ran the first act of Beard of Avon yesterday (well stumbled through is really the appropriate term at this point in the process).  I believe that 12th Night reviewed the entire first half yesterday as well.

 Last week we began by learning the songs in Beard (don’t think of it as a musical, which it’s not - but the ‘acting troupe’ does sing a couple of drinking tunes).  Our composer is Joshua Kohl from Seattle (the guy with the cap and guitar on his lap above).

We’ve been shifting rehearsals between the rehearsal space on the top floor of the Armory (seen above) and the Studio Theater (which is empty right now).  The Studio allows us to get a sense of the entire depth of the set (which will be just over 40 feet) - which is extremely helpful when we’re staging the big group scenes.

Barbara Casement (above) is our costume crafts genius (which means that she gets to create any specialty items that you might not quite classify as a piece of clothing).  For Beard one of the really fun items is this “bloody tongue” for the scene from Titus Andronicus that is enacted.  It looks pretty nasty, but Barbara seemed to enjoy showing off the tongue in action.

Another challenge in Beard is the superfast “transformation” that Cate Davis gets to make at the top of Act Two from “Ann Hathaway” to a “lady of the night”.  The change happens in full view of the audience as Cate is speaking - so it has to be pretty choreographed.  Cate and Deb Trout (our costume designer) spent several minutes talking through options [”well you could underdress it all” “yes, but then I’d have to wear an enormous pair of trousers over the skirt” “or you could not have the corset on until this speech” “yes, but how in the world is she going to fasten a corset onstage in 30 seconds?”]

Fun, fun, fun.

Our Board/Cast dinner for Beard of Avon and 12th Night happened last night at the lovely home of Board Member Barbara Baker.  Barbara is Senior VP for Cultural Enhancement at Umpqua Bank - and is chairing our HR Committee.  (Cool cupcakes, huh?)

The dinner is an opportunity for board members to meet the cast of an upccoming show and discuss the process.  It’s also a great opportunity for cast members to see a bit of Portland, and to enjoy some wonderful food and company.  Dairus Pierce (above left) plays Will Shakespeare in Beard and Sir Andrew in 12th Night - and I believe was discussing the fun and challenges of rehearsing two shows in rep.  (”It’s 3 pm - who am I playing now?”) Jen Taylor (Viola in 12th Night) looks on attentively.

In this shot, Brian Thompson (Malvolio in 12th Night and Condel/Bacon in Beard) and Darius are seen at the table saying something like, ‘Do you think that’s chicken or pork?’

Marge Kafoury (left) Chairs the Government Funding Task Force on the board, and her husband Stephen (right) joined us for the discussion as well.  Both have been active in State and local politics for many years.

[Special shout out to Reynolds Potter for taking these great shots at the party]

The Beard of Avon and 12th Night began rehearsals on Saturday with a brief design presentation from Bill Bloodgood, the set designer; and Deb Trout, costume designer. Both sets use major elements of the same set and costumes, with variations for each. Kim Crowe, our dramaturg for both shows has created a website for the company to access research about the period. You can peruse it as well at www.upstartdramaturg.com.

Ken Albers (Mr. Tarleton in Misalliance) plays the theater producer, John Heminge and Lord Burleigh in Beard; and Sir Toby in 12th Night. Cate Davis, plays Anne Hathaway in Beard; and Maria in 12th Night. Cate and Ken spent many years in the acting company at OSF, and this morning shared that this is the 75th play they have worked on together!

Daniel Harray plays a distraught playwright, Fitch, in Beard and Sebastian in 12th Night. Brian Thompson (The Fantasticks, Pride and Prejudice) plays the Theatrical producer Condel/Sir Francis Bacon in Beard and Malvolio in 12th Night. Brian actually played Malvolio many, many years ago as a student in college (Northwestern?) - and is tickled to have another shot at it.

This is the 12th Night costume sketch for Antonio.

And for Sir Toby.

Ben Buckley (left), our only Portland native, plays Geoffrey/Ludibundus/Cleopatra/Kate in Beard and Valentine/Soldier/Priest in 12th Night. He’s going to be a busy guy. This is his first PCS show. Jennifer Lee Taylor (Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice) is playing Viola in 12th Night and the Minstrel/Player in Beard.

Today we spent time around the table discussing Beard of Avon. I like to start at the end of the play and work our way back to the front. For me, it’s easier to see the relationship of the events if you go back to front.

A Christmas Carol is up and running, and it has proven as huge a production to mount as Cabaret.  Two shows the size of Ben Hur back to back has taken its toll on our production department, but seems to be making audiences happy.

Ted Roisum, who you’ve seen in numerous productions at PCS (King Lear, The Devils, Another, Much Ado) is seen here as the scary Ghost of Jacob Marley, with Wesley Mann as Scrooge.

Julianna Jaffe,the Ghost of Christmas Present, has one of the more memorable entrances in recent history - and throws an homage to Joanne Worley into the mix - just for kicks.

I sat in front of a group of middle schoolers last night, and loved hearing the gasps when Jacob Marley entered; and the “what the heck” when the Ghost of Christmas Past entered.  They sang along quietly with some of the carols.

But the best:  at the very end, the 12 year old girl behind me leaned over to her friend and said, “I liked that play.  I liked that Christmas play.  I’d like to see that again.”

Since then, I received this very gracious feedback by email:

I attended the performance last night, Thursday, November 29.
I just wanted to say Thank You for bringing back the original version of A Christmas Carol.
This play has been missing from Oregon for years.
The sets and costumes were wonderful.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
~Helen

Many happy returns of the season. We look forward to seeing you at the show!

I am delighted to announce Creon Thorne’s promotion to the position of General Manager here at PCS! Creon has been with the company for fourteen seasons: first as Master Electrician; for many years as our Production Manager (overseeing Sets, Costumes, Lights and Properties); he served as our Project Manager on the design and construction of the Armory; and for the past 18 months was Director of Operations.

When Greg Phillips joined us last month as Managing Director, he and I began talking about elevating Creon to the GM role for a few reasons. Number one, because Creon has for all intents and purposes been playing the role anyway and this would acknowledge both his skills and committment to the organization. Number two, Creon’s internal focus on operations would insure that Greg can keep his focus out on the community and ramping up our fundraising efforts. Number three: Creon has given his blood, sweat and tears to the organization for many years, and deserves the recognition.

To all who work with him, Creon is described as calm, laid-back, unflappable and great with the details. He just gets things done, and is one of the most pleasant people to work with in the building.

Please join me in congratulating him.

The scene shop is stuffed full with Christmas Carol scenery. I counted at least four Christmas trees.

The costume shop gathered around to hear notes from Designer Jeff Cone about last evening’s rehearsal.

As the weary crew made last minute alterations.

And the sets received additional coats of paint from Geno.

And final touches were added to the rooftops of London. Glad I’m not having to make it work.

Work on A Christmas Carol has reached a fevered pitch in both of our shops.
Jeff Cone, our resident costume designer is trying to find his holiday cheer amidst all the Victorian clothing he has to have ready in a week.

Larissa is hard at work on the mountains of fabric used for The Ghost of Christmas Present.

Foggy is working on Dora’s bodice.

And Mrs. Fezziwig’s gown is starting to take shape: