PCS Blog
Fertile Ground: Starring Some PCS Staffers!
Posted by BrandonW | 18 January 2012 | Comments (0)
The Fertile Ground Festival takes over Portland for ten days every January. Above all, it's an exciting time when artists from around the city put on new work for the Portland community to enjoy. Portland Center Stage is home to many professional theater artists, but this isn't the only place where they can flex their acting, writing and directing muscles. Other opportunities are always out there for the aspiring actor, writer or director - even one who may be masquerading in a completely different "9 to 5" job. In the next few weeks, a few of our very own staffers here at PCS will be participating in the Fertile Ground Festival around town.
Four PCS staffers will be participating in 4 X 4 = 8 Musicals at Coho Productions in Northwest Portland. Forget what you know about big, splashy musicals, at least for one night...cause they've been shrunk down to fit on a 4’ X 4’ stage! Taking inspiration from the long-running dance series Ten Tiny Dances, 4 X 4 = 8 Musicals is a part of the 2012 Fertile Ground Festival and features eight original, ten-minute musicals presented on a dinky 4’ X 4’ stage. These minuscule musicals will be accompanied by a live band and will prove that more is definitely less.
Master Electrician Connery MacRae and Sound Operator Cameron McFee have teamed up to write a ten-minute musical based on the OCCUPY movement. Sure to include pepper spray, riots, guards and unlikely lovers - you won’t want to miss their collaboration.
Kelsey Tyler, Education and Community Programs Director at PCS, will be stepping out from behind his desk to flex his acting muscles. He'll be featured in two of the musicals, Wishes of Eternity and Truth and Justice. He has also acted at PCS, most recently in A Christmas Carol. He's sure to bring comic wit and a great voice to these 4x4 musicals.
PCS Company Manager Brandon Woolley will make his debut as a director in Portland. He'll be directing Crownheads, Daydream Meanderings…, Wishes of Eternity and Work Friends. Don't miss it!
Performances are January 26, 27 & 28 at 7:30 p.m.
Directed by Diane Englert & Brandon Woolley
Music Directed by Darcy White
Curated by Mark LaPierre
A short description of each musical appears below:
Work Friends
A story of unrequited cubicle love.
Written by Aubrey Jessen and Mont Chris Hubbard
New York Minute
The Subway is the great socio-economical equalizer. Now DANCE.
Written by Mark LaPierre
The Daydream Meanderings of the 27th Floor Data Entry Clerk
Her morning elevator ride includes fights for her honor, declarations of love and an unkillable, evil, slutty woman determined to ruin Sally's life.
Written by Valory J. Lawrence and Kurt Misar
Truth and Justice
What is truth and justice according to Adolf Hitler, Menachem Begin, Yasser Arafat and Anwar Sadat?
Written by Michael Allen Harrison and Greg Paul
Crownheads
It is down to the nail-biting final three at the Miss Oregon Pageant. Follow Misses North Tualatin, Stumptown, and The Dalles as they grapple with increasingly high stakes and their own crown-centric ambitions. Who will win?
Written by Chanda Hall
Wishes of Eternity
A group of misfits join together to find community, acceptance, and 15 minutes of fame.
Written by Diane Englert and Jeffrey Kauffman
Young Flukes In Love
Fluke and Fleia are in love, and in a Boarder Collie, "Young Flukes In Love" is their musical comedy.
Written by Reece Marshburn and Sam Gregory
Occupy My Heart
Can a riotous heart be fenced in?
Written by Cameron McFee and Connery MacRae
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