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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 3, 2002)
may 3.2002 - J u t M rt.4g THEATER ............. ▼............... h, hot flashes— the quintessence of menopause. W omen shudder in anticipa tion of the dreaded “change” and the emotional and physical manifestations that accompany it. But wait! T here’s hope! Thanks to a Port land musical group with the very same name, women can finally get support for menopause, including a healthy dose of laughter. Hot Flashes, playing May 3 to 12 at Fire house Theatre, follows the career of a five- woman band over three decades— from their 40s to their 70s. The production discovers and embraces the changes menopause brings. Although the show obviously is entertaining, the members of Hot Flashes want it to serve as education and outreach to women. Kate Finn and her husband, Rick Weiss, wrote the musical comedy, gleaning inspiration from Finn’s massage practice, which she started when her theater group, Fallen Angels, ended in 1996. She became intrigued by stories her female clients told about their life changes. Finn notes not too long ago women were in the dark about how to approach menopause; fortunately, that is changing. “We are riding a wave of a huge menopausal network,” she states. “So many women are facing menopause.” She decided to produce programs that entertain, support and educate women. W ith these goals in mind, she contacted Lois Smith of All W omen’s Health Services, a naturopathic and medical association that works with low-income women. Smith agreed to sponsor the show, and her organization will have an educational table at performances. The A Call It crazy What the Butler Saw is fast, funny and sexy by T imothy K rause istaken identities. Cross-dressing. A n insane number of near-miss entrances and exits of six characters fit for an asylum. This is the lunacy behind What the Butler Sow, a comedy by gay playwright Joe O rton onstage at Theater! Theatre! W ith typical British sex farce formula (think Noises Off), he sought to send up institutions of society with his stinging wit and shocking scenarios. Some 30 years later, the situations seem more clever than shocking but remain hilarious. Set in a private psychiatric clinic, Butler M Got hot flashes? It’s a band, it’s a musical, it’s a state of mind by - . * , 1 k yjß ¿L.j f . V N a ta lie S h a p ir o i If S j§ J »? Wk . i Northwest Health Foundation also sponsored the program. Finn plans a post-show discussion “about our experiences in aging and health.” The production itself, she says, looks “at aging with a sense of humor,” beginning at a dinner theater and ending in an assisted living home. It’s directed by Portland gay musical the ater virtuoso Rick Lewis. The show’s music is half parody and half original, explains Hot Rashes member Sharon Knorr. “We do a parody on ‘I Will Survive’ ' called ‘1 Will Not Age.’ It’s about plastic surgery.” Band members include Finn, who plays accor dion, guitar and flute; lead singer Knorr; bassist Marvella McPartland; and Lynn Thomas, a singer who also plays keyboards and clarinet. Pam Krieg came on board a bit later as drummer. “We play everything,” Knorr says, “rock, rap, Glenn Miller.” All five women have a rich history of involvement in music and the arts. Thomas did the women’s music circuit in the 1990s, singing at festivals and concerts. She wrote the anthem for the 1993 March on W ashington (“Together, Proud and Strong”). In the production Thomas plays an out lesbian (a role she knows well). “As a lesbian in a band.. .1 always have to change the lyrics. I’m constantly changing pronouns.” One of the pieces emphasizes the amusement of pronoun dilemmas. Knorr performed in Angry Housewives, a pop ular musical in Portland and Seattle in 1984, but then she experienced the discrimination facing older women. “W hen you turn 40, the phone stops ringing" She decided to become a produc er, focusing on issue-oriented subjects. McPartland also has a long history of musi cal involvement. “I wrote, directed and choreo graphed my first musical when I was 12 years old,” she exclaims. She has been a working musician since 1965, opening for such famous performers as Lily Tomlin, the Smothers Broth ers and Randy Newman. Krieg is a lesbian but (rats!) doesn’t get to play one in the show. She started playing music in the early ’80s and has been involved with many bands since. She and her partner of 21 years, Kate Sulli van, played together in Loose Women, a band that recently ended 20 years of performance. Finn envisions running Hot Flashes again in the fall and wants to do productions at women’s and health conferences. in H ot F lashes plays May 3 and 4 and May 10 to 12 at Firehouse Theatre, 1436 S.W. Montgomery St. Tickets are $20 at the door or $I5-$17.50 in advance from www.hotflashesthemusical.com or Fastixx. NATALIE S hapiro is a Portland free-lance writer. Mrs. Prentice (Michelle I though they could have considerably more Maida) with her own than just one with a little fine-tuning of the young, previously-loving- | play’s precise comic timing. but-now-blackmailing T h e cast is glued together by th e deliri hotel page (Jefferson L. ously obsessive perform ance o f Murrell, play ing a cross betw een Drs. Frasier C rane and Davis) in tow. Frank N. Furter. M aida is equally viscous as Throw in a random the psychiatrist’s delicious nym phom aniac government inspector wife. A tkinson is th e girl-awhirl, Davis a (Robert Wade) and a pliable scamp, N orm an the foolish bumble police sergeant (Gary and W ade a voice o f ill reason. Norman), and innocent Most elements behind the production are misbehaving quickly leads to a chaos in which near typical triangle-adequate-but-uninspired. Costumes by Elizabeth W right, however, coyly ly all lose their wits ami their clothes. But no mat hint at the sexy ’60s. ter how wild the situation As non-epiphanic as die script might be today, What the Buder Saw nevertheless shows gets, these mad characters how fun straitjackets can be. J R maintain their verbal vol leys until all is resolved V ario u s states of dress and undress in W hat the Butler Saw W hat the B utler S aw continues through with an amusing twist. Producer/director Don Horn of triangle pro May 25 at Theater! Theatre!, 3430 S.E. Belmont opens with Dr. Prentice (Darrin Murrell) St. Tickets ore $ 1 5 4 1 9 from 503-239-5919. attempting to seduce Geraldine (Deirdre A tkin ductions! keeps the pace fast and furious, pre senting Butler sensibly without intermission. son), a naive secretarial applicant. N o sooner T imothy K rause is a Portland free-lance uniter. Each performer has his or her own moment, has he convinced her to undress than enters — ■>— .— -------------- ---— — — a -................................... •— - .................... .— a ...; ... ------------------ A VAI INCLUDES MUSIC FROM: KOSHEEN ELLE PATRICE UO THE S EC OND SEASON M U S I C FROM T H E i§ »W ITO O R I G I NA L S E R I E S “honest, engaging... wonderful..." — Newsweek DEBORAH COX DJ DISCIPLE KIM ENGUSH SARAH MCLACHLAN DELERIUM ETTA JAMES MANDALAY CHEMICAL BROTHERS Offer good thru 5-16-02 “...funny and fresh... anything but safe.” rca \ 4 ctor n A ta a i — Time “...There's never been anything else like it on TV.” — USA Today EAST PORTLAND • 32nd & E Burnside St. • 231-8926 l¿l>C-1í»I O MILLENNIUM NW PORTLANO • 23rd & NW Johnson • 248-0163
