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About What's happening. (Eugene, OR) 1982-1993 | View Entire Issue (July 16, 1987)
■THEATRE Summer Theatre Round-Up by Deborah S. McGee Come, spend an evening—or find daytime delight. Eugene summer theater houses every type of dramatic partner. Whatever your taste, you’re sure to find pleasurable the time you spend with Eugene’s multicolored performers and their troupes. 1987 outdoor theater season began last weekend at the controversial inter section of Broadway and Willamette. With the audience seated adjacent to center fountain, Mainstage Theater/ Eugene Downtown opened Briga doon, the first of their summer reper tory offerings; A Funny Thing Hap pened On the Way To the Forum opens there this weekend. Both plays promise that marvelous experience of theater canopied with nothing but dusk-to-stars nighttime. This same theatrical circle brought us Oliver and The Rintastiks last sum mer, same place. This year’s big news is an improvement in acoustics, due to switching audience/stage places. Players now have a permanent, sound-catching wall behind them. When mingling with theatergoers at intermission Saturday, I saw mellow faces and a mad rush to Prince Puckler's. Where did the espresso stand go? Hawaiian shaved ice was still there. Brigadoon's principal romantic leads reportedly show a definite spark of love among them. Wonderful Ken ny Kienzle is in the cast, at 78 their eldest. Kienzle, a retired South Eugene High math teacher, starred in last summer’s Taking My Turn. Liz Folger also from that cast plays a sword dancer here—this I gotta see. Many’s the tune you’ll remember from this highland romantic tale, most likely “Come To Me, Bend To Me,” “The Heather On the Hill,” and “Al most Like Reiner in Iove' Jim Roberts has stepped suitably into the musical direction role for this produc tion, heading a 20-piece orchestra. One night recently I looked on as Sherie Blankenship, Brigadoon’s choreographer, put through their paces a bevy of young women, the highland lassies of the play. Do other theater lovers know the evening pleasure of strolling around the mall, checking out the theater sections of bookstores, and catching snippets of Mainstage rehearsals? You can watch theater in process, ending up more aware of how much work goes into such artistic productions. A Funny Thing... is a lighthearted Stephen Sondheim musical comedy. Springtime in ancient Rome back drops this tale of a cunning slave, Pseudolus, a role on-Broadway for which Zero Mostel catapulted higher in feme. A hero and heroine of mock classic proportions also are in the play, which is topped off with ample forays into vaudeville and burlesque. Brett Bigham, emigre from New Jersey a year and a half ago, plays Pseudolus. Don Scorby is in it, of Snafu and Cascade Balzac Company, back in Eugene after last summer’s stint in Ashland. Steve Reddy is another one to look for, the person who played the American soldier in Beirut in Rap Master Ronnie. If your drama desires pull you to entertainment on a grander scale, you’ll be at the fabulous Silva Con cert Hall of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, for one of 15 full productions of 1776. Producing direc tor/local celeb Ed Ragozzino calls it “the best musical ever written.” The subject is the signing of the Declara tion of Independence. The Eugene Festival of Musical Theater is behind this production, those folks who gave us last summer’s dazzling. Broad way-rivaling Guys and Dolls. At the July 24 opening of 1776, Oregon governor Neil Goldschmidt will give a brief curtain speech. An opening night semi-formal gala will follow the play, with dancing, a mid night supper, and a no-host bar, at the Conference Center, Eugene Hilton, at $15 per person. In smaller quarters at the Soreng Theater, also of the magnificent Hult Center, serious musical theater buffs and popular culture aficionadoes wanting a more current breath of East Coast, still-the-hub theatrical air, will look forward to Leader of the Pack. Mainstage Cabaret/Jim Roberts Pro ductions will be in plush Hult Center accommodations for the first time, following a string of highly success ful musical theater productions at Seymour’s Greenery. Based on the life, times and music of the woman who wrote the lyrics to that famed 60’s single of the play’s name, Leader stirs my blood more than anything else in local theater in sight. Eugene summer theater will be enjoyable, entertaining, and emo tionally satisfying. I predict Leader will give the peak moments of all those characteristics. Mainstage Cabaret/ Jim Roberts Produc tions will be in plush Hult Center accommo dations for the first time... And Now, A Word From the Punks... Three strong rumbles from other local theater groups could prove total ly satisfying. In addition to the first of Mainstage Cabaret getting a toe in the door at the Hult, University The ater, Very Little Theater and an inde pendent production company have at tempted other firsts—boldly exposing themselves to new ventures. The University of Oregon Theater Department is doing August Strind berg’s Lucky Per’s Journey, with an interesting daily double format: mor ning performances for children, fol lowed each evening by an adult ver sion. Strindberg’s original script of his fantasy play forms the basic plot the kids will see. At night, mature au diences will hear an expanded version “with updated satirical references to local and national institutions," ac cording to Norma Wetzell, director, costumer and UO Theater candidate for the Ph.D. It’s not every year the University does summerstock. Let’s hope it’s a habit. Very Little Theater is uncovering new vistas with a children’s theater production. Basically a community theater troupe, its members have made both an intriguing and daring choice: The Boy Who Stole the Stars. It has comic moments, and is not too heavy, but the topic of the play, ter minal disease, is serious. The Boy Who Stole the Stars, Brigadoon, and matinees of Lucky Per’s Journey are probably best choices for parents who want their offspring to have positive theater experiences. Depending on their tastes and ages, though, some also may enjoy 1776 and A Funny thing... Mallomar Productions will stage Graceland at New Zone Gallery, in near-synchronicity with the 10-year commemorative service to be held at Graceland, Elvis Presley’s Memphis mansion. I can’t wait to see it with D. Roberts (in last summer's renegade theater winner Laundry and Bourbon) and Heather Copeland, that outra geous baton twirler you won’t have forgotten from University Theater’s Talking With. It’s about two women who at first compete, then cooperate, on the matter of who will be first to enter the memorial. Terra Nova The ater staged Dorothy Velasco’s Miracle At Graceland a year and a half ago. A question I want to ponder is the synchronicity in our community of the two different plays. Opening night Ju ly 23 is a preview/benefit for Shanti in Oregon, an AIDS/ARC support group. Curtain time is 8 pm, with a 7:30 pm Elvis radio tribute. A Need For Brussels Sprouts most likely will not be staged until later, in spite of those tantalizing posters around town. Razz Berry said Berry/ Lane Productions is re-forming, and postponing the mounting of this curiously titled production. Watch for it. Party Time This year there will be another evening celebration of musical theater, on Saturday, August 1, in the space between the Hult Center and the Eugene Hilton. Cast and crew mem bers of 1776, Leader Of the Pack, Brigadoon and A Funny Thing... and those in the background of Eugene's musical theater scene will be milling around those of us there looking for another evening thrill. There will be wine and entertainment and lots of peripherals available at nearby hubs (Leah’s, the new BJ’s now where the Bon-Sai was, the Big H, Original Joe’s, Sixth Street Grill, and farther afield). Admission to party is free. The scene will be at least worth a stop-by on your Saturday night on-the town wanderings. More specific details follow. Dates indicate the run of the play, but per formances are not every night. See What’s Happening’s calendar or the Lane Regional Arts Council Calendar for more information. The Boy Who Stole the Stars At 7 pm at Very Little Theater, 24th & Hilyard, July 17-August 2. A boy spending vacation as usual with his grandfather learns the old man is dy ing. $3. 344-7751, 686-4000, 344 3934. Brigadoon Mainstage Theater/Eugene Down town. At 8:30 pm at central fountain, outdoors downtown, July 10-August 8. Romantic musical set in 18th cen tury Scotland, with two 20th century visitors. $4-6 tickets at The Bon, Literary Lion, at 45 W. Broadway or by mail or phone from Mainstage, P.O. Box 11732, Eugene 97440, phone 686-4368. Zouch of Class b did Quality Resale in Natural Fibers for women and children I All Summer Clothing reduced 20-50% We pay more for your used clothing’. 2650 Willamette • 343-0095 Mon.-Fri. 10:00-5:30/Saturday 10:00-5:00 The Boy Who Stole The Stars stars Ben Taitel as “Grandpa” and Mathew Smiley of Fern Ridge as “Mathew.” This Very Little Theatre production opens July 17. A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the Forum Mainstage Theater/Eugene Down town. At 8:30 pm at central fountain, outdoors downtown, July 16-August 9. Comedy about a Roman slave con ning his way into freedom. Same ticket info as Brigadoon above. Graceland Mallomar Productions. At 7:30 pm, Elvis radio tribute, with 8 pm curtain time, at New Zone Gallery, 411 High Street, July 24-August 8. Nostalgic comedy-drama about two women in competition for first-comer position at an Elvis Presley memorial. $4 at the door or at Backstage Dance wear. 683-6866, 345-7152. Leader of the Pack Mainstage Cabaret/Jim Roberts productions. At 7:30 pm in Soreng Theater, Hult Center, July 31-August 9. Sixties music, a West Coast pre miere, with lyrics by Ellie Greenwich of title song, “Da Doo Ron Ron,” and “Chapel Of Love” fame. $8.50-$9.50 tickets at Hult Center outlets or at 45 W. Broadway. 686-4368, 687-5000. Lucky Per’s Journey University of Oregon Theater Department, in Robinson Theater Ju ly 31-August 8. Matinees at 11 am for children, evening adult-oriented, plus politics performances at 8 pm. Fan tasy play by Swedish playwright Au gust Strindberg (Miss Julie). $2.50 general, $1.50 children under 12, tickets at box office in Villard Hall, UO campus. Hours noon-4 pm Mon days-Saturdays, 10 am-8:30 pm per formance dates. 686-4191. 1776 Eugene Festival of Musical Theater. At 8 pm in Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center, July 24-August 15. Full pro duction, large-scale musical with a humorous look at the men and times when the Declaration of Indepen dence evolved. Ed Ragozzino is pro duction director (read dazzle). $6-$16 tickets at Hult box office. 345-0028, 687-5000. If you like What’s Happening, support our advertisers! MONSTER COOKIE CO. Sports Enthusiasts & Rock ’n Rollers agree Monster Cookies are a classic Eugene tradition Stop by MCC to enjoy ICED • coffees • espressos • cappuccinos • chocolatinos • cafe au lait Ice Cream Cones Sandwiches and Bagels 5th & Willamette • 687-1064
