Check out the local coverage from the Oregonian and Willamette Week, and definitely don’t miss Alison Hallett’s blow by blow “Live at the Drammys” blog- the best way to get the flavor of the event if you weren’t able to attend.

Want reactions from performers who won after the show? Eric Bartels interviewed several winners in his coverage of the evening.

Here are the highlights on the record-breaking number of awards Chris had to lug into the theater this morning:

Darius Pierce and Brent Harris (pictured below) won for their delightfully bawdy portayal of the Bard and Edward DeVere in The Beard of Avon.

Michele Mariana secured an award for her work as Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret.

Jessica Wallenfels’ logger ballet choreography for Sometimes a Great Notion picked up an award, as did Tony Cisek’s set design and Dan Covey’s glowing, mist strewn lighting design.

Deborah Trout snagged a Costume Design accolade for her brilliantly hued pumpkin pantaloons in Twelfth Night.

The favorite of the evening, Twelfth Night also garnered an award for outstanding production and a nod to Jane Jones for her masterful direction. Dueling Kenneth Albers and Brad Bellamy took home awards for their supporting actor performances.

Rounding out the awards for Twelfth Night, William Bloodgood was honored for his multipurpose Elizabethan scenic design.

It was a beautiful evening, and we were honored to provide opportunities for so many outstanding artists and performers to shine!

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!

{Sally Bowles (Storm Large) and Kit Kat Boy, Hans (Luke Longacre) in “Mein Herr” from Cabaret.}

As the Portland run of Cabaret comes to a close, the cast prepares for our transfer to Geva Theater in Rochester, NY just after the New Year. Next week we load up trucks with the sets, costumes and props and send them across the country. Then the whole team reassembles in the snowy NE to set upstate New York on fire.

A few really nice letters in response to the show have arrived lately. Barbara Miles and Donald Lee wrote:

“We have not seen anything better anywhere in the past 40 years! In talking to a number of our friends, we are all in agreement about your show. We were astonished at the magnitude of the talent assembled before us – Storm Large was a miracle! What incredible casting! . . . My husband notes in Wade McCollum’s character how he starts out tempting and teasing, as the two sides of the coin of good and evil, and gradually morphs into a much more stylized symbol, as the situation in real life Germany disintegrates around him into unspeakable horror . . . It was all magnificent.”

{Rosie (Amy Palomino), Texas (Emily Lockhart) and the Kit Kat Girls in Cabaret.}

Barbara Hort wrote:

“I want to congratulate you on your absolutely breath-taking production of Cabaret. The film version made such an indelible and superlative imprint on our collective impression of the show that it was hard to imagine how you could match or surpass that, but you have. In addition to your casting coup of enticing Wade back to play the Emcee, and your inspired choice of Storm Large to play Sallie, you have taken the production beyond its original merit and the film’s enhancement and brought it (and us) into a contemporary framing that is both exhilirating and excruciating. What a tour de force!”

{Lulu (Karen Hyland) catches eyes in Cabaret.}

And Melissa Kelly wrote:

“I was particularly struck by the supremely soulful performance of Michele Mariana. Wow. I’ve never seen her like this . . . This show worked for me on so many levels, it was simultaneously delightful and frightening.”

“Dear PCS, To be truthful, the only thing I didn’t like about the play CABARET was the stupid ending. He should so not be reading out of a book on the train with bruises and saying “Oh yeah, I’m fine, great, grand.” So stupid. But other wise I really liked it. Storm was a total babe. Dude, I’m serious. Her voice is fantastic, and I’m glad you guys picked her for the character Sally Bowls. I am also glad Wade was M.C., I must say he did a good job in the character he played. Everyone did a wonderful job in the play and I had a traffic time. But I must say, that cafe had better get some better cookies!? And a bottle of water should NOT be a 2 dollar pay thingie! So wrong. I liked the costumes though and the songs . . . Wait! The songs you should cut down on, no offense or anything, just I almost fell asleep is all. Dont gotta have songs in every scene. Thank you very much, Chilly”

I love it! The group is coming back for 12TH NIGHT, SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION, FEMININE ENDING, and DOUBT.