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.
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