Enter the Vortex
PLAYWRIGHT SUE MACH DISCUSSES HER MUSICAL “ VORTEX 1”
STORY A N D PHOTOS BY BRENDAN SWOGGER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
In th e sum m er o f 1970, am idst protests,
p o lit ic a l c la s h e s a n d a n t i- V ie t n a m
s e n tim e n ts , 100,000 p e o p le g a th e re d
a t M ilo M cIver P a rk in E stacad a fo r a
“ biodegradable festival o f life ,0 dubbed
V o rte x 1. H eld in c o n ju n ctio n w ith a
p la n n ed p ro te st an d riot in d o w n to w n
Portland, th e festival m ade history as th e
first and o n ly rock concert paid for b y th e
state o f Oregon.
Decades later, playwright and professor at
Clackam as C om m unity College Sue M ach
con ceived th e idea to b rin g th is unusual
d ifferen t from ju st a standard stage play?
Mach: It’s a lot broader in a sense. W hen
you go into character, you don’t have time
in a scene as m uch to develop a character'
through dialog. You p y sh th e plot forward
through song. That’s ju sta different thing
to think about.
‘
S w ogger: T h e w h o le id e a o f a m u sical
based on th e V ortex 1 festival — th at’ s a
v e ry unique idea. W hat drew you to that
story?
b u t h istoric e v e n t to th e liv e sta ge in a
Mach: Well, Bill [Wadhams] was wanting to
m usical adaptation.
w h e r e t h e o p e n in g s c e n e — a c la s h
write a musical, and we were tossingaround
a lot of ideas. And I had heard this story, and
I think it’ s such a fascinating story that it
lends itself to a m usical..Soflwas just really
drawn to it, and I think th eiim e is right right
b e tw e e n s tu d e n t p r o te s to r s a n d th e
Portland police— to o k place, M ach gave
now for a story like this to be out there about
activism and struggles betweenthe activists.
F o llo w in g th e p rem ie re o f h e r m u sical
b ra in c h ild a t th e M issio n T h e a te r in
d o w n to w n P o rtlan d , ju st b lo c k s fro m
so m e in sig h t in to h e r w o rk tu rn in g a
m assive historic even t and its w ide cast o f
characters info a proper stage production.
Swogger: Y ou ’v e w ritten a lot [of plays].
Had y o u eve r w ritten a m usical before?
Swogger: Th ere w ere a lot o f little details
fro m th e true story th at you w ere able to
pu t in th e play. W h a t w a s th e research
process like fo r this?
Sue Mach discusses her musical, “Vortex 1” at a staging at the Mission Theatre
on Jan. 28.
night. So, a lot o f the governor’s story came
there, but it’s not this big extended thing.
from that. And then I interviewed people. I
went to Oregon Historical Society and looked
at McCall’s letters. They have a whole Vortex
box w ith photos, and you can go on “ The
There’s the festival in a song.
Oregonian” and look at newspaper articles
o f the time. So, I just started compiling stuff.
M ach: W ell, I did a lo t o f reading on it.
Mach: No, this is m y first go!
There’s a book by Matt Love called “ Vortex
S w o g g e r: H o w is w r it in g a m u s ic a l
1. ” And I read the biography of Tom McCall
b y B ren t W aith — and h e w as th ere last
Swogger: How long have you been working
on this?
Mach: Bill and I started exchanging ideas
M ach: Oh yeah. I rewrote the second act
m any tim es. I’m still rewriting it. That’s
a n o th er th in g — w ith a play, y ou do
som ething like we did last night. If you’re
w ritin g a novel, you h ave you and your
a couple years ago, m aybe two years ago.
editor, maybe a few friends that can read it
And th en I w as on a sabbatical last year,-
and give feedback. It’s kind o f private. With
so I was able to throw m yself into it w hen
I w asn’t teaching. So, I did the bulk o f the
a play, you gotta hear it. You gotta hear the
dead spots, and you gotta hear where w e are
writing last year.
now and h ow w e can adjust.
S w o gger: A n d th is w a s o n ly , w h e n it
prem iered, th e first half.
Swogger: W h at’ s your end goal w ith th is
play?
M ach: Y eah, A ct 1 plus tw o scenes from
M ach: W ell, w e hope to get it produced,
Act 2.
h o p e fu lly b y 2020, b ecau se th a t’ s th e
50th anniversary. So, w e hope there’ll be
Swogger: Is th e rest w ritten , or is it still in
th e process of?
Mach: It’swritten. It’s adraft, and so w e’ve
got a couple other songs alm ost done. But
I think there’s about six m ore songs. And
a theater com pany that can pick it up. SOj
w e just gotta get people out to see it and we
hope some producer w ill be like, “Yeah, we
w anna do it.”
Swogger: Do you th in k som eth in g like a
som e of it kind o f w raps up. Like getting to
the festival itself— that was a big challenge.
Like, how do I show this? It’s there. I studied
V ortex festival could happen in th is day
and age?
all th ese m usicals w h ere th ey — like in
“ H am ilton,” for exam ple, h e show s the
M ach: I do, actually. I th in k the political
Battle o f Yorktow n in one song. Can you
do these big historical events in one song?
and trying to come together around music— I
Yeah, you can. So, I kind of played with it. It’s
Clackamas Print
Swogger: Trying to fit that m assive festival
into on e scene, on e son g— w as th at one
o f th e bigger challenges?
theclackam asprint.com
atmosphere of people just com ingtogether
mean, sure it can happen. But I mean having
the state pay for it? I don’t know about that.
February 13, 2019