Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (April 11, 2001)
6________ A&E Pioneer journalist shares past, present TI he CI ac I camas P rint WedNEsdAy, Apnil 11, 2001 TAM OLIVER tion. At the age of 23, Buckley, a graduate of Smith College, landed Priscilla L. Buckley will be read her first big job at United Press Ra ing from her memoir String of dio in New York City during WWE. Pearls tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the She has the distinction of being one of the first journalists to re Gregory Forum. For 27 years, she served as man port the end of the war. In an excerpt from String of aging editor of the National Re view, founded by her brother Will Pearls, she describes the momen iam F. Buckley, Jr., from its incep tous day. “As I walked in tion until she re the door it was tired last year. apparent noth President Ronald "Z would write the ing much was Reagan once de first fifteen-minute happening, but scribed her as just minutes “one of the sharp radio news broadcast later we got the est conservative on the end of World word that minds in the coun War IL” Truman, who try.” Priscilla Buckley had become Additionally, Journalist president on Buckley will give Roosevelt’s a presentation, death in April, “From Gutenberg to Gates: how print production has would speak to the nation at 7 p.m., changed,” on Friday, April 13 at and in London, Clement Attlee, noon in CC127. She will be discuss who had replaced Churchill in July, ing the mechanics of print produc would speak to the British people tion and how the advent of tech at midnight, when BBC ordinarily nology has shaped news produc went off the air. A&E editor “This was it: the BIG ONE...I would write the first fifteen-minute radio news broadcast on the end of World War II. I have it still, on faded teletype paper. Not world shaking prose, but competent and comprehensive. The FLASH—“Ja pan Surrenders”—went out at two seconds after 7 p.m. My fifteen- minute broadcast cleared the line at 7:48 p.m. August 14,1945.” Her recently published book is filled with autobiographical recol lections of a world of journalism that is quite different from the one of today. It is centered on her first experiences as a correspondant in Paris. According to the Senior Editor Richard Brookhiser at National Review, her memoir String of Pearls is “full of great stories, clear- as-a-bell memories and laughs. A lost world of journalism lives again.” Buckley is at Clackamas Commu nity College by invitation of En glish Instructor Kate Gray. Both the reading tomorrow night and the workshop Friday are free and open to the public. PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF FPG INTERNATIONAL Priscilla L Buckley, journalist and author, will read from her memoir tomorrow night at 7p.m. in Gregory Forum and host a discussion of changes in journalism at noon Friday in CC 127. Talented cast sustains A New Brain TAM OLIVER A & E editor Spending the evening attending Portland Center Stage’s first musi cal, A New Brain, is a pleasant ex perience, although not profound. The play explores the liberating qualities of the near death experi enced by composer, lyricist and writer William Finn. With co-writer James Lapine, the music Finn created during that time in his life was devel oped into the au tobiographical musical, A New Brain. Shortly after re ceiving two Tony Awards for Falset tos in 1992, Finn was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. This turned out to be a misdiagnosis, but while he contem plated the very real possibility of immi nent death, his first thought was of the music he would never have the chance to write. When he returned from the hospi tal, he sat down at the piano and found that music flowed from him like never before in his life. This became the substance of this mu sical. The play’s main character, Gor don Schwinn (Darrin Baker), is a songwriter who makes a living writ ing songs for a large, demanding television frog named Mr. Bungee (Steve Wilkerson). Feeling that writing for the tyrannical amphib ian is stifling his creativity, Gor don is complaining to his friend Rhoda (Susannah Mars) over lunch, when he begins to feel strange and collapses face first into his baked ziti. He is rushed to the hospital where he is quickly diagnosed with a possibly fatal brain condi tion. Scheduled for life-threaten ing surgery, Gordon laments the music he may never be able to write. Though consoled by Rhoda, his mother Mimi (Michele M. Mariana) and his lover Roger (David Ayers), he sends them away the night before the sur gery so he can be alone to possibly com pose the last song he’ll ever write. There is no dialogue in A New Brain so the success of the work de pends on the stage settings, lyrics and actors’ performances. z The settings, which were sparse, worked well in that they didn’t dis tract from the impression that the action was taking place inside Gordon’s head, except for one scene in which a mast with sails appears for'a song Roger sang about his love of sailing. This' might have worked fine for the audience on the main floor, but from the balcony, the sight of a set of sails unattached to a boat ap peared ludicrous. As for the actors, their perfor mances were sincere and their singing clear and well enunciated. However, one performance stood out above the, others. Bernadine Mitchell plays the bag lady that Gordon first encounters when hur rying to lunch with Rhoda and continues to encounter through out the play with equal parts bel ligerence and panache. She is a commanding presence as she sings and swaggers across the stage. Also notable was the crys tal-clear quality of the voice of the minister played by Edward M. Barker. “A New Brain” is an entertain ing production, but it lacks the depth that could be expected from a close call with death. It feels more like a work in progress needing more humor to be considered com edy or more emo tional penetration to be deeply felt as drama. Although the cast was flawless, talented and exu berant, they didn’t have enough, to work with td have a great production. It was difficult not to try to imagine what the same group of actors might do with a work with more substance.. Performances of A New Brain will continue at Port land Center Stage through the mati nee on Sunday, April 22. Tickets range from $10 for those under the age of 2.5, to $15 - $43 general admis sion. Box office: 503-274-6588; Gen eral information: 503-248-6309 or www.pcs.org. Mitchell, as the bag lady, "is a commanding presence as she sings and swag gers across the stage. " COUGAR CAFE A New Dining Experience Come Visit the espresso bar today Hrs: Mon. - Thurs. 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri. 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. 8:30 a.m.-l:30 Wednesday, April 11 Monday, April 16 Breakfast: Turkey, bacon, pepper jack omelet w/ toast Grill special: Southwestern grilled veggie sand w/potato salad Entree: Hawaiian chicken Budget Entree: Nachos Breakfast: Chef s surprise Grill special: Chefs surprise Entree: Greek salad w/ chicken Budget Entree: Penne pasta w/ sausage Tuesday, April 17 Thursday, April 12 Breakfast: Chefs surprise Breakfast: Turkey, bacpn, pepper jack omelet w/toast Grill special: Chefs surprise Grill special: Southwestern grilled veggie sand, w/ potato Entree: Rigatoni w/bleti cheese salad Budget Entree: Foccacia sausage melt + salad Entree: Beef stew in a bread bowl Budget Entree: Vegetable curry Friday, April 13 FINE HOST Breakfast: Turkey, bacon, pepper jack omelet w/ toast Grill special: Southwestern grilled veggie sand, w/ potato CORPORATION salad Entree: Fresh halibut fish tacos Budget Entree; Spicy noodles + veggies Daily and weekly specials also available by dialing extension 2675
