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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2007)
on stage Artists Repertory Theatre presents Home and Garden, two interlocking plays about a highly comic series of catas trophes and intertwined relationships during a luncheon and a midsummer maypole fête, performed simultaneously on two separate stages with a single cast that dashes madly back and forth, Sept. 4-Oct. 14. (Call for times. 1516 SW Alder St. $20$47 from 503-241-1278.) Broadway Rose Theatre Company presents No Way to Treat a Lady, a musical-comedy thriller about a publicity- crazed actor turned killer who'll go to any lengths to get a New York Times review, through Aug. 19 at Deb Fennell Auditorium in Tigard. (Call for times. 9000 SW Durham Road $19-$26 from 503-620-5262.) Classic Greek Theatre of Oregon presents Peace, based on the play by Aristophanes, Sept. 8-30 at Reed College’s Cerf Theatre. (Call for times. 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd $10- $20 from Brown Paper Tickets.) Defunkt Theatre presents The Lesser Magoo, a funny, thought-provoking play about a woman working at a cutthroat office whose supervisor invites her to a dinner party, Sept. 6- Oct. 13 at Back Door Theater. (8 pm Thursday-Sunday. 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd. $10-$15 from 503-481-2960; Thursdays and Sundays are "pay what you will. ") Portland Actors Ensemble presents a free production of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew through Sept. 3 at a different park each weekend. (3 pm Saturday and Sunday, 3 pm Sept. 3. For locations visit www.port landactors.com.) Portland Opera's Broadway Across America presents Monty Python's Spamalot Aug. 22-Sept. 2 at Keller Auditorium. (Call for times. 222 SW Clay St. $33-$78 from Ticketmaster.) Slocum House Theatre presents Dearly Beloved, in which three sisters throw a gossip-generating wedding in their small Texas town, Sept. 7-30. (8 pm Friday and Saturday, 4 pm Sunday 605 Esther St., Vancouver, Wash. $8-$10 from 360-696-2427.) Studio 20 Entertainment presents The Code, an original play by Kwik Jones, through Aug. 25 at Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center. (8 pm Friday and Saturday, 3 pm Sunday. 5340 N Interstate Ave. 503-473-6649.) Taous Khazem presents Tizi Ouzou, a one-woman play set in Algeria about a multitude of characters in search of their history, their country and themselves, Aug. 26 at Theater Theatre. (7:30 pm. 3430 SE Belmont St. $12.) Theater Theatre presents Zombie Prom, an atomic rock musical about a bad boy who returns from the grave as a radioactive zombie hell-bent on taking his best girl to the prom, through Aug. 18. (8 pm Friday, 8 and 11 pm Saturday 3430 SE Belmont St. $16 in street clothes, $12 in costume from 503-970-9184.) Theatre Vertigo presents A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen's classic in which a woman's forgery of her husband's signa ture sets into a motion a series of events that call into question the validity of their marriage, Aug. 24-Sept. 22 at Theater Theatre. (8 pm Thursday-Saturday. 3430 SE Belmont St. $15 from 503-306-0870; Thursdays are “pay what you will.") Third Eye Theatre presents Das Barbecue, a maniacal musical about two Texas families who are brought into comical collision over the patriarchs' rivalry, through Sept. 1 at Crimson Theater. (Call for times. 700 NE Dekum St. SIS Taous Khazem stars in the one-woman show SI 8 from 503-970-8874.) Tizi Ouzou Aug. 26. The Geeky Gay's Holy Grail Half Light Productions presents This Is Our Youth, Kenneth Lonergan's meticulous, hilarious snapshot of 48 hours in the lives of three lost young souls on Manhattan's Upper West Side at the dawn of the Reagan era, through Aug. 18 at Shoebox Theater. (8 pm. 2110 SE 10th Ave $10-$ 15 slid ing scale from 503-720-2529.) Lakewood Theatre Company presents Noises Off, a hilari ous comedy about the backstage antics of a touring theater troupe in England, through Aug. 19. (Call for times. 368 S State St., Lake Oswego. $23-$25 from 503-635-3901.) Lakewood Theatre Company presents Thoroughly Modern Millie, based on the Oscar-winning movie about a Kansas woman who takes New York by storm during the Roaring '20s, Sept. 7-Oct. 21. (Call for times. 368 S State St., Lake Oswego. $23-$25 from 503-635-3901.) Masque Alfresco presents a free performance of The Misanthrope, Molière's social satire updated for modem audi ences, through Aug. 26 at George Rogers Park Memorial Garden in Lake Oswego and Aug. 31 -Sept. 2 on the Beaverton Public Library lawn. (6:30pm Friday-Sunday) Northwest Children's Theater presents Summer Nights: A Musical Revue, bringing the best of Broadway to life with a new generation of young performers, through Aug. 19. (7 pm Friday and Saturday, 2 pm Saturday and Sunday. 1819 NW Everett St $5 from 503-222-4480.) Northwest Classical Theatre Company presents a free production of William Shakespeare's As You Like It Aug. 18 at Willamette Park in West Linn. (3 pm. For directions visit www.nwctc.org.) Northwest Classical Theatre Company presents A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare's naughty, irreverent tale of lovers, fairies and makers of plays, Sept. 7-30 at Shoebox Theater. (7 pm Thursday- Saturday, 2 pm Sunday. 2110 SE 10th Ave. $12-$18 from 971-244-3740.) Our Shoes Are Red/The Performance Lab presents the searing and ascerbic one-man show Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) Aug. 31-Sept. 16 in Room 115 at Portland State University's Lincoln Hall. (7:30 pm Thursday-Sunday. 1620 SW Park Ave. $5-$10 from 503-333-6096.) Performance Works Northwest presents the fifth annual Richard Foreman Mini-Festival—featuring a scintillating array of theater, dance and media artists creating a piece in 10 days by adapting text selected from avant-garde writer/director Foreman's online notebooks—Aug. 17 and 18. (8:30 pm. 4625 SE 67th Ave. $15-$50 sliding scale for one night, $25- $90 sliding scale for both nights from 503-777-1907.) eatingout eatingout Spamalot stars a rare breed of performer who can sing, dance and fart in your general direction. eatingout eatingout eatingout eatingout It’s one thing to grow up a geeky kid from Cincinnati, meeting your best friend after school to listen to BBC Flying Circus recordings and make mix tapes. But when you’re also a showtune-humming homo like Kenneth Davis, then working on Monty Python’s Spamalot is like the Holy Grail of big gigs. Winner of three 2005 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Spamalot is based on the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, weaving into the tale of King Arthur’s quest dancing divas, flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbits and one legless knight. Davis, 42, has been production stage manager since Spamalot hit the road in March 2006. Based in New York City, he’d already spent three years touring nationally with Hairspray. Before that, there were rounds of The Full Monty, Ragtime and Chicago. It’s the crazy life of a gypsy, says Davis, chatting by phone as he prepares for another sold-out performance in St. Paul, Minn, (practically spitting distance from Spam HQ itself), prior to visiting Portland via Kansas City, Mo. Fortunately, the Spammers often have extended stays, giving Davis opportunities to catch up with the boyfriend he met only weeks before leav ing on tour. “It makes the time you are together more special,’’ he cozies, versed in the Spamalot creed to always look on »he bright side of life. “There are plenty of shows that have a deep message, but this show is just to let you laugh for a couple of hours. That alone is really impor tant,” acknowledges Davis. Advocating the art of the often exclaimed, sometimes excoriated Python patter, he poiats to director Mike Nichols’ declaration that Spamalonians are real characters in an absurd situation. “Humor comes out of playing the reality of the situation,” he insists, then adding that it’s a rare breed of performer who can sing, dance and fart in your general direction. “Just when you think we’re going to play some thing straight, we’re going to put a twist on it to make it funny.” Which includes the outing of Sir Lancelot in a musical number of sophomoric disco-discovery. The bright side? Unlike Multnomah County, wedding bells ring gaily at Swamp Castle. Spamalot plays Aug. 22 to Sept. 2 at Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St. Tickets are $33-$78 from Ticketmaster or Portland Opera at 5O3-24M8O2. —Timothy Krause eatingout eatingout eatingout
