OREGON S LGBTO NEWSMAGAZINE
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I
APRIL 15. 2011
t hearts •
icon and the show fostered a relationship
between the theater and Atlanta’s gay
community.
Today is a “different m om ent” in the arc
o f the community as a whole, he says.
W hereas 15 or 20 years ago he knew virtu
ally no gay parents, today many LGBTQ_
individuals are raising children. W hen mar
riage equality champion Evan Wolfson be
gan advocating for gay marriage in the
1990s, Coleman says his reaction was, “It’s a
pipe dream, [will] never happen in my life
time.” Now, he notes, things feel different.
In making the video, Coleman looked back
decades to bring up emotions and recall a
time o f his life to which he does not return
often. He spent so much time trying to over
come the pain, shame and difficulties of being
gay that purposely conjuring those experi
ences was unsettling, he says: “It’s something
I don’t do everyday, and it’s something I
haven’t done in a long while.”
Unlike Elliot, Coleman is not an explo
sive person, but he admits to understanding
a lot about the character. In recent years,
Coleman has addressed his own experiences
with anger and hurt. W hen the Gerding
Theater at the Armory opened in 2006, it
was a huge success for PCS. He thought, “T
should be elated, I should be thrilled,’” he
says, “and in some ways I was.”
But Coleman also felt angry— and he
didn’t know why. Now he believes that reach
ing that goal opened up space for him to real
ize painful elements of his past he had
smoothed over with his accomplishments.
2 9
Elliot (Chris Coleman) and Dorian (Matthew
Boston) wrestle for power while Grace
(Sarah Stevens) ponders the depths of
the Lazara Quartet's dysfunction in PCS's
production of Opus.
“Then you realize,‘Oh, I’ve been carrying that
anger around all my life,”’ he explains, adding
that, in recent years, efforts to excavate and
heal past experiences have been productive.
In addition to engaging with their char
acters psychologically, the actors in Opus
had a skill to learn. They must mime their
instruments convincingly— no small task,
Coleman notes. W hen he first heard a dis
sonant, rhythmically jarring Bela Bartók
piece the group would be performing, he
remembers thinking, ‘“How am I ever going
to be able to count that, let alone bow?’”
Cast members worked with coaches to
learn how to authentically embody the mu
sicians. “Anytime you’re playing a role or a
new play, you’re really learning a whole new
world,” Coleman says.
His lengthy break from acting caused him
to wonder: “T m 12 years older than the last
time I was on stage ... Does my brain still
work? Do the muscles still work?”’ he
continues.
Anxieties aside, Coleman is most looking
forward to putting the play in front o f a live
audience and “hearing the humor,” he says.
“The audience teaches you so much about
how the story is unfolding.”
B E R T H O C 6 , CPA
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Opus runs through May 8, Tues.-Sun., 7:30p.m.,
Sat.-Sun. matinees at 2 p.m., Thurs. matinee at
noon; Gerding Iheater at the Armory, 128 N W
UthAve.; $18-$58, 503-445-3700orpcs.org.
—
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