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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2001)
december 7 ,2 0 0 1 » THEATER With a bow on fop iestion: Where can you find quality, pro- essional theater in suburbia? Q Answer: The Broadway Rose Theatre ximpany in Tualatin. Yes, Tualatin. A Taffeta Christmas is the holiday sequel to the immensely popular off-Broadway show The Taffetas, created by the same musical comedy genius, Rick Lewis. Sisters Kaye, Peggy, Cheryl and Donna— the illegitimate love children of the Chiffons and the McGuire Sisters— are the Taffetas, a 1950s girl group from Muncie, Ind. This winsome quartet whisks you home for the holidays via memory lane in a sleighful of Christmas standards. In fact, Lewis notes most holiday music we now consider classic originated in the '50s. A Taffeta Christmas is guaranteed to induce warm, fuzzy nostalgia, like an after-dinner, tryptophan- induced high. The fun starts when the girls appear on the television show Holiday Hometown Hoedown, per forming such hits as “Santa Baby” and “White Christmas” with tongues firmly planted inside their rouged cheeks. The foursome’s flawlessly blended voices complement Lewis’ lush arrangements like whipped cream on pumpkin pie. Although the actresses who play the Taffe tas aren’t sisters, sibling singing acts always have been popular because of the inherent sim ilarity of their voices, which creates a unique blend. It’s difficult to duplicate the timbre of real sister sonorities, but under the able tute lage of Lewis and music director Jeffrey Kauf- manns, DNA be damned. But lest you think the gals just sing for their supper, they also deliver sheer hilarity during “Taffeta Chatter,” answering audience queries in their own Taffeta-esque way. Other interactive bits include cousin Ricky and the costumes, which you’ll just have to see to believe. “You never know how you’re going to touch someone as an artist,” Lewis says. “This music may seem like fluff, but it holds a special place in our hearts, in our own life memories.” He recalls a letter from two men telling him what the performance meant to them. “One man was dying of AIDS, and his lover had promised him that if he tried to eat, took his vitamins and got his strength up, he’d take him to see the show.” That carrot did the trick, and the dying man said it was one of the highlights ewis end lives his partner in Vancouver, at the of with his life. Wash., hut his showbiz career got off to an early start as an actor doing juvenile roles. In 1978 he headed for New York to pursue act ing, hut luck sent him in another direction. “Because I played piano— though 1 taught myself—I kept getting hired as a musical direc tor, so 1 just went with it,” he reveals. “I actual- L ing!” he recalls. Lewis found out about the title switch when he went online to search for pro ductions he wasn’t getting checks from. In fact, the royalties from that show and oth ers he’s written allowed him to leave New York in 1993 and move here. Lewis had broken his wrist and was told he might never have the use of his hand again, so his piano days seemed numbered. So why Oregon? “ I was always intrigued by the Northwest. We came out here on vacation and just fell in love with Portland.” Ohio-born with a Baptist minister for a father, Lewis confides that being gay in the Big Apple was unique. “It took me a long time to get comfortable with the openness in New York. You could liter ally live next door to a blue-collar construction worker who wouldn’t care at all. But when I came out here with my partner, we bought a house together, and that’s when it hit m e...I’m not in New York anymore,” he says, referring to some of our more conservative elements. “I think being a gay writer living out here has made me a little bit more wicked in my writing,” he says with a chuckle. “I think it’s easier for me to make more fun of things.” Lewis has done quite a bit of acting since moving to the Pacific Northwest, including playing Donny Dulce in Tony 'n Tina’s Wed- ding, Marvin in Falsettos for triangle produc tions! and George in La Cage aux Folles at the Musical Theatre Company. The Taffetas will gift-wrap your holiday spirit by L y n n T homas T You’ll have a ball with the Taffetas ly enjoyed it more than acting, but I had inse curity because I was a voice major in college, not a piano major.” Clearly a natural musician, Lewis impressed directors with his ability to sight-read any music and transpose it on the spot, which ultimately led him to plum jobs. He spent a year as the cast ing pianist for Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway production of Sunday in the Park with George. When Lewis tells of that experience, the awe is still in his voice. “It was always dark in the audition hall and 1 was behind the scrim, so I’d just hear a disembodied voice saying things like, ‘Take that up a third; OK, now down a second; how about up a minor second?’ “One day after we’d done multiple modula tions on a piece made more difficult by its open ing diminished chord, I was taking a break in the men’s room when he came in, stood next to me and said, ‘You know, 1 always have trouble with diminished chords, too.’ I didn’t hear anything else he said because all I could think was, ‘Oh my god, I’m standing here at a urinal discussing diminished chords with Stephen Sondheim!’ ’’ The original incarnation of The Taffetas opened in 1988 at New York’s Westbeth The atre Centre, then moved to the Cherry Lane Theatre and later to the Village Gate, where it ran for a year and a half to rave reviews. Lewis proudly notes other productions are playing throughout the world. In Germany, it’s known as Die Taffetas, “which was at first disconcert- he Broadway Rose Theatre Company is attracting corporate and foundation support and talent from New York, Los Angeles and Seattle as well as Portland. It loves to use live music and obtains many sets and costumes from the National Alliance of Musical Theatre. And don’t let it fool you that the shows are produced in a high school auditorium. This is the real deal. Professional, high-end, quality theater in the heart of the ’burbs. Although just 2 years old, A Taffeta Christmas will play this year in 20 other cities. But, Lewis says, “Tins will be the first one I get to see!” The revue is a kitschy, comic blast from the past, as good for the ears as it is for the heart. So forget Bing, Perry and Patti. Tease up your best bouffant, grab your loved ones, and get thee to Tualatin. The Taffetas await. j n A T affeta C hristm as runs through Dec. 22 at the Tualatin High School Auditorium, 22300 S.W. Boones Ferry Road. Call 503-620-5262 or order tickets online at www.hwayrose.com. L ynn T MOM AS is a free-lance writer and musician who recently donated all of her own personal taffe ta to the underdressed. For comments or donations please write to mzmz4l43@saw.net. W h M e U f t £ c * ( f m p k ( t eve) need. Make Bender Properties your real estate home. Put your feet up and relax! Details are our business. Y om won’t lift a finger as we attend to every aspect of buying or selling your home-even the lit tle chores that others sweep under the rug. And successful? When it comes to fresh marketing or resourceful hunting, our enterpris ing agents really clean house. Complete service and client educa tion are always our priority. «jO V W HOME PURCHASE & SALES INVESTMENT PROPERTY SALES, PURCHASE & M ANA GEM ENT LICENSED TAX CONSULTATION tt'f ACC tu* bender, properties Äctniption! 4133 SE Division Street, “Richmond Place" fTl 1 N © 503 . 233.4363 Portland, Oregon 97202 39
