rts ¿^Entertainment
April 27, 2005
^tlLACKAMASPf^flf
esus Christ rocks the house
zabeth Tobey
Clackamas Print
>
>hts dim, the live band sofit-
iins to play, and the voice of
rings out over the audience
idiant Theatre’s production
classic rock musical, “Jesus
I Superstar,” begins.
ider the direction of Anna
feerg, the Portland-based
I company brings together
ilectic group of perform-
id musicians to present the
al version of the life and
!of Jesus Christ, played by
tide Bell.
;companied by a live five-
band, musical director
imin Van Diepen brought
credible vocal performanc-
pn all the leading roles, and
tally from Judas, as por-
I by Collin Warren.
le ensemble was composed
3 members and included
ranging in age from ;sev-
grader Cara Gabrielson,
ieerful, gray-haired Gary
son.
iroughout the story the
able was kept busy chang-
Ostumes to portray the fol-
s of Jesus, the servants of
Caiaphas, or Herod’s posse.
With vocal work and clever
staging, they effectively set the
scene, filled out the story and
engaged the audience with their
energy, enthusiasm and emotion.
An extremely physical show,
choreographer Hannah Ballou had
actors leaping off of platforms,
doing cartwheels and back-flips
across the floor, and shaking their
booties as they danced their way
through the story.
Refusing to conform to any
theater standards, the band was
on the stage and the performance
took place on platforms on the
floor and in the lobby.
The audience was seated on
benches around the main floor,
and ushered into different rooms
throughout the evening.
Costuming for the show was
mostly a mishmash of vintage
pieces most likely collected from
various thrift stores. Matching
scarves identified the apostles
and a red color theme, along wiih
original, handmade masks, iden
tified the “evil” from the “good.”
Combining the ancient, sacred
themes from the show with mod
em political history, the produc
tion forces viewers to address the
parallels between the events of
Christ’s time and current political
struggles between Palestine and
Israel.
As Jesus is left to die, the
actors move slowly through
the audience, handing out olive
seeds. The director’s note in
the program explains that over
500,000 olive trees that have
been uprooted in Palestine in
the last five years due to the
Israeli wall construction.
As the show comes
to a close the audience
is left smiling through
teary eyes and solemnly
reminded that the story
isn’t over yet.
Radiant
Theatre
Productions will be per
forming the show for
two more weekends at the
Scarlett Ballroom, located at
700 NE Dekum in Portland.
Shows are April* 129, 30, May
1, 6, 7, 8, with sign language
interpretation on April 30.
Call 503-502-8261 for reser
vations. Tickets are $15,
and just $8 for stu
dents with ID, and -
it couldn’t come .
with a higher Jjj
recommenda-
tion.
BELL
MjBBfasBurtesv of radianttheater.org
veryone Orchestra big success Hey, 001 w you, buddy
m Krause
Clackamas Print
Everyone Orchestra was
cess this year, raising funds
awareness for the Pangaea
ct, a local non-profit, and
delivering a performance of
lificent proportions.
lursday started with bassist
ickhardt saying: “From the
to the south, to the east to
rest, from the bottom to the
le to the top, Seven con-
ms for seven directions for
1 connections, and we don’t
k
rst on stage was Libby
jatrick, a singer/songwriter
a soprano voice that sighs
any loneliness. She let notes
mt and sustain.:
ext a bluegrass trio hit the
. Billy Nershi with folk style
Scott Law leading the way
tally, Tye North burst through
hopping rhythm and country
on the bass.
len the percussionists joined
on stage. Jon Fishman really
ered with consistent beats,
ael Travis took to his kit
precision, or he was under
nfluence. Matt Butler had a
drum set that was made
of hand drums. Even the
kick drum looked like a
modified djembe.
But it was Jamie
Janover’s ability on the
hammered“ dulcimer that
grabbed my attention. A
hammered dulcimer play
er is hard to come by.
Between sets, I spoke
with Asher Fulero, the
keyboardist and sampler
for the night. “I graduated
high school in 1995 and
headed to U of O,” he
said. After studying piano
for 14 years, he felt it
was a natural choice to
major in music composi
tion with an emphasis on
theory and analysis.
Sam Krause Clackamas Print
Fulero started out the
Billy Nershi of String Cheese Incid-
second set with some clas
sically influenced music
dent leads the Orchestra in a song.
reminiscent of Bach’s
abundant use of notes and Mozart’s ing force at the show. He had a
dainty yet dramatic qualities.
smile plastered on his face that
Eckhardt and a young Indian signaled true enjoyment of the
woman, Tavari Agoshu, rah the music he played.
Everyone present truly enjoyed
stage for a while. Kai mdde his bass
flow smoothly along to Agoshu’s the show. From the squarest of the
traditional dancing, singing, chant geeks to the headiest of the hip-
pies, no one left the show disap
ing and beats.
Aaron Holstein was an amaz pointed.
. Ben Maras
|| Tfe Clackamas Print
We all know how to count
on our fingers, but what if
I were to say that there was
a new and improved meth
od? A method which would
allow one to count to 31 on
one hand, and 1,023 on two
hands?
This form is a two-based
number system called binary.
For those who are unfamiliar
with the idea of a two-based
number system, it’s quite
simple; it’s a system of count
ing based on using only two
digits, 1 and 0. If that sounds
Iponfusing, bear with me.
The first thing is to make
two fists. Now turn the fists
fingers up. This is zero. Now
put out the thumb on your
right hand—that’s number
one. The value of the thumb
of the right hand is always
one, something very impor
tant to keep in mind. Now put
the thumb down, and extend
your index finger, this is the
number two. Still pretty easy.
Now it may get more
confusing. What would one
think the number three was?
No, it’s not the middle fin
ger. Extend the index finger,:
and the thumb. Two plus one
equals three, therefore that
hand position is three.
Now for the number four:
Being as there are no more
numbers to add, since all the
fingers before that are up, the
number four is just the middle
Sam. Krause Clackamas Print
iy 100 people attended the Everyone Orchestra community drum workshop on Friday,
115. The group’s percussionists led the workshop, giving tips to Portland’s drummers.
finger, with nothing else. In
short, each finger doubles in
value, and all numbers are
made through combinations
of numbers added together.
For example, the number six
would be the middle finger
(four) and the index finger
(two). If fingers down equal
0 and fingers up equal 1, this
would look like 00110.
This makes it possible to
count to extremely high num
bers (-1,023 to be exact) with
just ten fingers. When you fin
ish on one hand, with all the
fingers extended (the number
31), you would close all the
fingers on your right hand,
and begin with the pinky
on your left hand extended,
which would be 32, or writ
ten in binary: 00001 00000.
A number like 47 would be
written in binary as 00001
01111—all fingers on the
right hand extended, except
for the pinky, and the pinky
: on the left hand extended.
What is the point to this
skill? Well, nothing really, but
it does enable one to count
to very high numbers, and it
makes it impossible to lose
place while counting, because
one glance has the number
literally written with your
harids. Fun ones to try; four,
five, 18 and 22.
So next time you’re driv
ing down the street and some
idiot cuts you off, you can
just tell him that he’s number
four, knowing that you have
acquired the arbitrary skill of
how to count on your fingers.