Storm Large, James Beaton, Jim Brunberg, and Scott Weddle talk love, life, brussel sprouts, and Crazy Enough!

Storm and Her Balls from Portland Center Stage on Vimeo.

More Posts about Crazy Enough || Get the Details about the Show || Buy Tickets

This winter, Portland Center Stage will be offering two dance classes from Portland’s very own dance sensation, Amy Palomino. Amy will be offering both musical theater and tap dance classes through PCS’s GreenHouse, a unique school of theater offering theater training and related studies for people at all degrees of involvement with the living stage. Space is limited, so reserve yours early.

Segment I: Musical Theater Dance
A fun environment where actors can brush up on their dancing styles. Learn a new combination in every class—each a different style from a different musical. Practice picking up choreography, learning the nuances of each dance style, and singing while you dance! In addition to the dance combinations, there will be a short warm-up at the top of each class to stretch and tone and the opportunity to practice various steps and techniques across the floor.
Course dates: Mondays, Jan. 5 through Jan. 26, 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Tuition: $100

Segment II: Tap
A class for adult tappers who are dying to pull out and dust off the tap shoes and brush up their skills. Mostly geared toward advanced beginners and intermediate tappers, this class will include a warm-up, chances to practice steps across the floor, and tap combinations at the end of each class to learn and perform for the group.
Course dates: Mondays, Jan. 5 through Jan. 26, 8:00pm to 9:30pm
Tuition: $100

For enrollment, or any other questions, please call Kim Morris
at 503.445.3795 or email her at kimm@pcs.org.

Amy Palomino moved to Portland shortly after closing the Broadway revival of 42nd Street. Prior to that, she played “Lorraine” in the National Tour of 42nd Street and was assistant dance captain. She graduated with honors from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and has been a performer and choreographer in numerous regional New York musicals. Amy most recently appeared as “Anybodys” in Portland Center Stage’s West Side Story, a “Kit Kat Girl” in Cabaret and multiple characters in the current production of Guys and Dolls (pictured above). She served as Assistant Choreographer and Dance Captain for all three productions.

{Storm Large as Sally Bowles in Cabaret. photo by Owen Carey}

Cabaret opened at Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY this past weekend, and so far, the public and critical response has been nothing short of, well, phenomenal. For starters, we’re told (but we don’t have pictures of this yet) that those “polar bear” Rochesterians came out and lined up with lawn chairs, in sub-freezing weather, just waiting for the box office to open on the day Cabaret tickets went on sale.

Playbill.com has a listing complete with a “Mature” Show advisory and this description…”A sleek and sexy production of one of America’s classic musicals…not recommended for viewers under 16.”

The preview written by Stuart Low for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle literally dominated the cover of their Arts section and gave those few in the chilly Northeast who still weren’t altogether sure about “this whole Cabaret thing from Portland, Oregon” the straight dope about Storm, Storm and Chris Coleman and of course about the play itself and what a sizzling, sexy production it promised to be.

Marcia Morphy wrote the review for the same paper. We found it online yesterday (so did the Oregonian’s own Barry Johnson) and boy howdy! Let’s just cut to the chase, when a review starts out “Move over, Liza” and ends with the proverbial “Don’t miss it,” something is going pretty doggone good! Rochester has practically adopted not only Storm Large, but the entire cast and creative team of Cabaret. You really have to read this review…I read it three times looking for any remote semblance of a reference to a “hairy arm”…it ain’t there, baby!

{Wade McCollum and the Kit Kat boys and girls in Cabaret. photo by Owen Carey}

Just in case you’re leery of links…here’s the juice.

“Geva’s production, directed by Chris Coleman, is pitch-perfect in set design (G.W. Mercier), lighting (Daniel Ordower), costumes (Jeff Cone) and music (Don Kot). And the performers match their talents, from the seductive, come-hither approach of Millhollen, the guy-next-door sweetness of Fruge and the banal-turned-evil transformation of Rollison, to the touching and emotionally ignited sparks between Mariana and Mathews.”

“Like a traffic jam, all the characters seemed to come to a standstill through the eerie machinations of McCollum, who truly is an exemplary master of ceremonies and omnipresent Man Du Jour. He has it all. The charm, the wit, the sneaky chameleon-like personality that made me wonder: Was he laughing with us or at us?”

What can we say? Sometimes modesty is just plain silly. We tip our hat to our Artistic Director, Chris Coleman…way to go, bro. We’re sending a BIG transcontinental THANK YOU to the entire cast that made this production SO amazing and an equally robust embrace of appreciation to the brilliant designers, tireless scene and costume shop workers and a HUGE BEAR HUG to the Portland community for rallying around what became the most successful show in our history, so far. Storm and Wade we’re sending you two extra special wishes for whatever makes your lives beautiful, inside and out!

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!

“The game is afoot”—Henry IV (part 1)

It’s 2008, a new year, and that means out with the old and in with the new. We’ve resolved this year to make Fade to Black, our wildly popular theater cheap ticket/entertainment/cocktails series, bigger, shinier, and better than ever in the new year.

If you were among those who attended the sold-out Cabaret event last fall, you might be saying, “how is this possible?” Attended by 500 or so of our closest friends (including Pennie Lane, a posse of bright young community leaders from the Office of Sustainable Development, Portland Mercury’s Wm. Steven Humphrey, Byron Beck of WWeek, and 94/7FM’s Tara Dublin), the blow-out featured Karaoke from Hell, surprise performances from Storm Large, barely-clad members of Sissyboy, and a talented 13-year-old named Gretchen [below] who blew the roof off with a version of Abba’s “Dancing Queen.” An evening of great theater, tasty snacks, a generous cocktail supply and live music–what could possibly be better?

Well, how about a $20 ticket to Amy Freed’s The Beard of Avon–a bawdy, mind-bending comedy that asks who “really” wrote Shakespeare’s plays–hors d’oeuvres, generous servings of cocktails and unfettered access to Nintendo stations loaded with Guitar Hero 3, Wii Sports, and Rayman’s Raving Rabbids. Shazaam!!

Sound crazy? Maybe. But consider for a moment that Shakespeare is just one in a long line of long-haired rabble-rousers (alongside the Man from Nazareth and Ben Franklin) who paved the way for the arena spectacle of the guitar-god. Yes indeed, in this alt-universe Shakespeare is the original Lute-box hero and “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely Wii players.”

Don’t wait until you begin to fade “Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon/With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,” join us as we Fade to Black.

A night at the theater just got a little more interactive.

Fade to Black: a play and gaming party with Nintendo happens Tuesday, January 29 immediately following the 7:30 pm performance of The Beard of Avon. Sponsored by Nintendo, Activision, New Deal Vodka, 94/7 FM, OregonLive.com, the Portland Mercury, The Art Institute of Portland and Rogue Brewery.
Available in person at the Box Office or by phone at (503) 445-3700.