Planning to be downtown getting a jump start on holiday shopping this Thanksgiving Weekend? On Saturday, November 28th we invite you to take a break mid-marathon and join us for a relaxing Holiday Oasis at the Armory- you can pick up A Christmas Carol tickets at half price* when you show a Pearl District shopping receipt, cross some theater (and cupcake!) lovers off of your shopping list, and spend some precious moments rejuvenating with a FREE chair massage, a cocktail and the soothing sounds of our Holiday Jazz Trio.

Bring the kids and they can get their photo taken by our production photographer Owen Carey in our Victorian Family Photo Booth and then enjoy some free hot chocolate and some holiday cartoons on our big screen while you check out the offerings at the cafe.

{photo: The Cratchit Family Photo Outtake. photo by Owen Carey.}

Here’s some of what we’ve got planned:

FREE Victorian Family Photo Booth. 11 am to 3 pm.
Dress the family up in their finest and get your holiday photo taken in front of our Victorian backdrop by professional photographer Owen Carey. We’ll email you the picture- feel free to use it in your holiday e-cards!

FREE Live Holiday Jazz. 1 pm to 4 pm and 5 pm to 7 pm.
Chill out to the jazzier holiday classics from the Dan Gaynor Trio from 1 pm to 4 pm and the soulful stylings of Ali Ippolito from 5 pm to 7 pm.

FREE 15 minute Chair Massages. Prep for the next leg of your shopping marathon with a quick chair massage from professional massage therapist <XX>.

FREE Package Check. 11 am to 7 pm. Don’t want to make the trip back to the car? Check your holiday packages at the Armory Coat Check. We’ll keep an eye on them till you get the car pulled around.

Kids Colouring Lounge. 11 am to 7 pm.We’ll have A Christmas Carol themed Colouring Activities and Holiday Movies on the big screen TV for the kids to chill out with. They can redeem their completed coloring activity for a complimentary cup of hot cocoa from the Armory Cafe.

Holiday Themed Treats at the Armory Cafe. All day long we’ll be serving post-Thanksgiving holiday treats, including Turkey/cream cheese/cranberry sandwiches, harvest salads, mulled cider, and a whole bevvy of holiday cocktails at the upstairs bar.

Hot Deals on A Christmas Carol. Show your Pearl District shopping receipt at the box office and get 2 for 1 adult tickets to A Christmas Carol. Choose a performance before December 7th and tickets are $15 for kids and $30 for adults- a family of four could see the show for just $60 TOTAL if they show a Pearl District shopping receipt on Saturday!

Great Green Gifts for Everyone on Your List. Give the gift of experience this holiday season for a LEED Platinum certified holiday experience. Give PCS Gift Certificates and you can double the value of your certificate purchase when you mention the PDX Green Gift Guide.

Instant Gratification Giving: Our Sweetness and Spotlight gift package includes a pair of tickets to any PCS performance plus a dozen cupcakes from Cupcake Jones for just $75. Buy yours on Saturday and walk away with a complimentary cupcake for yourself (while supplies last).

What are you waiting for? Marshall the troupes and make a day of it! We look forward to helping make your downtown holiday shopping a bit more enjoyable this Thanksgiving weekend.

So you’ve bought your tickets to A Christmas Carol for Mom, Dad, Grandma, Bobby and Susie. But what about little Sally? She’s only four and that’s too young for A Christmas Carol (No children under 6 are allowed into PCS shows).  She really wants to go out and when you leave her home with a sitter, it isn’t pretty.

The answer is here! Two blocks from the Armory is We Village Drop ‘n Go Child Care.  Sally can have a great time with age appropriate fun focused around art and movement based activities. A night out for everyone!

As a special partnership with Portland Center Stage, We Village is offering a theater special. 3 1/2 hours of child care plus dinner for $35. What a deal! Just show them your ticket stub or email confirmation.

Learn all about We Village here.

Each of the ghosts of A Christmas Carol has a rather heady message to impart to Scrooge on Christmas eve.  Looking back at your past brings up painful regret. Looking ahead to a lonely, miserable future is so very grim. But it is the ghost of Christmas Present always resonates the most with me.  The call to look around and see the people that are vulnerable to ignorance, want and hunger is a powerful message.  Even Scrooge can’t come with a reasonable excuse not to help the vulnerable in his community.

So this holiday season, Portland Center Stage is partnering with p;ear. p:ear builds positive relationships with homeless and transitional youth, ages 15 to 24, through education, art and recreation to affirm personal worth and create more meaningful and healthier lives.

Beginning opening night of A Christmas Carol, the Christmas tree in the lobby of the Armory will be decorated with ornaments hand made by the youth of p;ear. Each ornament contains the Christmas wish of a homeless youth.  We are encouraging our entire PCS community to take an ornament from our tree and hang it on their own family’s tree. Then purchase the gift requested and “wrap” it in a new backpack with a pair of new socks.  Gifts need to be delivered to p;ear by December 20.

Find more info about how p;ear services our community’s homeless and transitional youth here

Catch the deal before it jumps the shark. On Wednesday August 19th Portland web-savvy audiences can catch a secret code for $25 tickets… but only if they are paying attention online.

For one day only, we’ll release – through Twitter, Facebook, blogs and email only – a secret promo code that can be used to purchase $25 tickets to any and all Main Stage performances (Area 2 seats). From midnight to midnight on August 19th, you can translate your social media addictions into real-live “meatspace” social interaction with your “tweeps,” “friends,” “fans,” “followers” (and you know, all that other web 2.0 jargon) … and even with your old-school e-mail distribution lists. To catch the secret code for the sale, follow PCS on Twitter @pcsghost, become a fan on Facebook or sign up for our e-newsletter.

Psssst. Hey! Remember when every funny/awesome thing that hit your inbox got instantly forwarded to everyone on your list? Yeah, we don’t either. But this sale is TOTALLY FORWARD-ABLE. Add a LOLcat so they’ll open the email. Hey! Here’s one! (see above) TOO FUNNYZ.

Offline experiences (aka shows) available for sale at this special price include the majesty and music of turn-of-the-twentieth century America in Ragtime, Rose Riordan’s creepy but carol-rific new interpretation of A Christmas Carol, the book club bestseller Snow Falling on Cedars, the whodunit meets hilarious satire of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, Chaim Potok’s touching tale of friendship The Chosen and the overachiever’s angst (set to catchy tunes) of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 503.445.3700 or online right here.The $25 price will be good for all Main Stage performance days and times, and there is no limit on the number of tickets per patron that are available through this one day only offer. Seats are restricted to Area 2.

So mark your calendar, and check back right here on August 19th for your secret code. Then BUY BUY BUY.

{All PCS offline experiences are LEED Platinum certified sustainable, locally grown entertainment. No animals were harmed in the making of this entertainment. Some actor egos. But no animals. These productions have not yet been rated by the MPAA. Items may have shifted during flight. Don’t forget to tip yer waitress.}

The weather outside IS frightful. But it’s warm and glowy in the Gerding Theater at the Armory, and many patrons are still making their way to Portland Center Stage.  So we are here, and will present performances of A Christmas Carol as scheduled!

If you cannot make it to the theater for your scheduled performance, please contact the box office at 503.445.3700. We will be happy to exchange your tickets for a later performance of A Christmas Carol, when possible, or issue you a credit for a later production in our 08-09 season.