October 19. 2001 • J u t M t f .39
MUSIC
▼
100 voices get a new face
fritti cast, ere* and hostess Prison Water.
after the show at Dragon fish As ipn Cafe
r / GALA Night • November é, 2Ó01
Portland Gay Men’s Chorus fills a new position
by
A ndy S imon
0ffice jn the Galleria is sparsely
furnished: a desk and chair, a
small row of theater seats for visi
tors, a cluttered folding table. A
JlL
boom box sitting on the floor
plays music. A few posters are on the walls, but
you hardly would call it decorated. It looks like
someone just moved in.
That someone is Tony Stroh, newly
arrived in town to assume his
responsibilities as executive direc
tor of the Portland Gay Men’s
Chorus. The position is as new
as the office space.
But Stroh isn’t waiting to
get settled. He is already thor
oughly immersed in the job.
And it’s a big job. Stroh’s
responsibilities include supervising
financial aspects of the chorus, coor
dinating marketing materials and
overseeing all aspects of growth and
development. But he also has a less
tangible role: to be the face of the
organization for the larger community.
His position with PGM C is fund
ed initially by the Meyer Memorial
Trust. He points out with pride that
the three-year grant, which covers
his salary, is the first award the
foundation has made to a gay or
lesbian organization.
Stroh brings to the job 15 years
of experience in arts management.
He has worked as a manager and
director of marketing for several theater groups
in Detroit, the Santa Fe (N.M .) Music Hall
and the Desert Voices Chorus in Tucson, Ariz.,
just to name a few.
In addition, Stroh has direct experience in
music performance. He toured for three years
with Main Street, U.S.A., a 10-person music and
dance show that visited a variety of venues
including state fairs and expos across the country.
He describes it as “almost Vegas-style, 10
costume changes. We lived on a Greyhound
bus. 1 also did directing and studio work for
them in the ’80s. It was mainstream all-Ameri
can but glitzy and slightly sexy,” he recalls, then
laughs. “Thank God I got into performance
management where I didn’t have to keep per
formance weight, since 1 love food so much!”
Although Stroh won’t be making artistic
decisions for PGMC, he regards his perform
ance background as important. For instance,
once decisions about repertory are made, he
will collaborate closely with artistic director
Bob Mensel and the board to develop, coordi
nate and market programs.
Speaking just a few weeks after the terrorist
attacks, Stroh realizes special challenges are
ahead for groups like PGMC. “The entertain
ment industry can pull the country through in
the worst of times— maybe it’s a diversion,
maybe it’s therapeutic.”
Stroh’s presence represents a shift in the
organizational structure of PGM C, but it’s not
part of his mission to oversee any significant
change in its course. He is enthusiastic about
the direction the group already is headed in.
“PGM C is not the biggest chorus within
the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses,”
he says, “but it is on the edge of becoming one
of the leaders.” He attributes its success to “the
amazing level of passion and artistic integrity
on the part of everyone involved.”
A great strength of the
chorus, he says, is its commit
ment to commission and per
form new works. The record is
impressive: 30 pieces have
been composed specifically for
the Portland group. As these
works become available to
other choruses,
PGM C has the
potential to
become a pos
itive force
worldwide.
Stroh
notes that
the group’s
presence in
the commu
nity is already
a large one, but
he would like to
see it become
even more
visible. He
envisions
expanding
collabo
rative
efforts
with
other or
ganizations.
Increasing
audiences is
another goal he’ll pursue. One way he hopes to
do that is to expand the number and variety of
guest artists the chonis performs with.
Although a singer himself, Stroh does not
plan to perform with PGMC, at least for the
first year. He fears that roles might get a little
too confused if he did participate.
But folks will have a chance to hear Stroh
sing before long. He is in the cast of a concert
version of Falsettos taking place Nov. 17 at
Metropolitan Community Church of Portland,
2400 N.E. Broadway.
Before arriving in August to start his new
position, Stroh’s only visit to Oregon was dur
ing Pride 2001. “What an amazing city, when
you take into consideration that Portland is
much smaller than metro Detroit, yet the par
ticipation here was four times that of Detroit.
I knew I needed to be-involved here, and that
openness took away a lot of my fears,” he
notes, referring to his concerns about constant
ly battling anti-gay ballot measures. “The com
munity was visible and viable and lively.”
Stroh already loves it here, although he still
sees it largely in context of other places he has
lived. Oregon has, he believes, the lush green
ness of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, artwork
similar to Santa Fe and a laid-back approach to
the arts reminiscent of Tucson. After a bit of
settling in— and some serious rain— he likely
will have a clearer view of the area’s unique
charms and qualities. JH
The next P ortland G ay M en ’ s C horus
performance will he Holiday Voices Dec. 15 and
16 at Reed College’s Kaul Auditorium. Call
503-226-2588 for more information. For tickets to
Falsettos call 503-281-8869.
A ndy S imon is a teacher and free-lance writer
who lives m Southeast Portland.
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503 . 274.6588
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_____________________________________________________
FLESH
O ctober 30 through N ovember 18, 2001m the N ewmark T heatre
(uLipteJ by PETER G a TTENS from the novel Iry Pulitzer /Yirc-U’mncr MlCHAEL
_____
___ _________
“This is w hat’s happening. I live by m yself in a five-bedroom house. M y
oldest daughter hardly speaks to m e. M y son loves other m en. M y youngest
child gave birth to an illegitimate half-black baby whose father is god knows
where. A n d I am trying to dress fo r a lunch with my grandchild’s ‘god
m other’ who is my only point o f contact to my daughter, and 1 have no idea
w hat to w ear because I’ve never had lunch with a m an who w ears d resses.’’
S panning from 1 9 3 5 to 2 0 3 5 , a family lives through the
CATACLYSMIC CHANGES THAT SHAKE AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE 6 0 S , 7 0 S ,
8 0 S AND 9 0 S . A WORK OF GREAT HUMANITY AND STARTLING INSIGHT.
N ote : this play contains graphic sexual content .
S p e c ia l t h a n k s
TO OUR BACKERS
AND T O ...
^ ^ A R A M O U N T T ^ ÍO T T I.
R e s t a u r a n t ft B a r
ju s t r r n i
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