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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2017)
V I / News ALEXANDER, from page 10 weather? Portland has come together to do some amazing work on behalf of our • populations experiencing poverty and homelessness the last two weeks. What is your experience with homelessness? A.A.: Back, in the ‘70s, when I was in my 20s, I had a brief period, about three months. I relocated, and I was unable - ; to find housing for a brief period. My experience with homelessness was in a warm climate. I didn’t !■ experience anything like that in a P roducer; Dub Squad cold climate. Music B ook, m u s ic and ly ric s : Alan Alexander ill A d d itio n a l m u sic arid ly ric s : Kathryn Grimm S.Z.: You are running the show at the Clinton Street Theater at the end o f the month. For those interested in attending the performance, what can we expect? A X : We have a great cast and crew. The timing of Fertile Ground M usic d ire c to r: Steve doesn’t give you a whole lot of time Cleveland to rehearse. People are busy, and it’s always happening right after the S ta rrin g : Barbara Theater this year. holidays and the snowstorms. But Passoh, Bruce. Jennings, . I usually buy a pass and go to at least 10 we’ll be ready. Sami Yacob-Andrus, to 13 events and see every musical. They It’s a stage workshop, which Myles Lawrence, Lindsay have about a half-dozen musicals every year. means it is still evolving but is ready Reed, Kyle Urban This year, I won’t see as many because l am for some sort of public presentation. heavy in the production mode myself, but it O rchestra: Steve Basically we are going to do it off is a great deal. You get a pass for 50 bucks, Cleveland, Kathryn book. Actors have memorized their and you can see 10 to 15 plays over the lines - you see a lot of folks at Fertile Grimm, Leah Hinchcliff, course of 11 days. Ground will do a staged reading. This Edwin Coleman III It is all original work created right here in | is different. We have a live band. It’s Portland - those are the only two criteria: a story; it’s not a lecture or original and local. showcase. It is a story with „„People aye coming from L.A. and New chaFactersthaThaveasteryarc.HopefuHy York now because it is one of a kind in the you will care about these characters when United States. You know, once again, you get to meet them and find out who they Portland rules! are. S.Z.: A critical point in your musical comes My last musical was performed at Fertile with the threat o f a sweep of the camp where Ground in 2015.1 went for the first time the the protagonist, Matilda, is staying. This is all year before in 2014. It is a great festival. too familiar to the people of Portland When I went in 2014,1 was able to find g experiencing homelessness and sweeps. < out what worked and what didn’t. This helped to guide our show in 2015,- It was a . A.A.: We don’t really address the nature staged reading. We sold out two weeks in of sweeps, per se. We do address the effect advance. We were one of the first shows to that it has on the campers. It is a call to sell out in Fertile Ground that year. action for the people in the camp. We realized we need a bigger venue, We’re not trying to offer solutions. We which is why we are at Clinton Street aren’t trying to take side on any issue. This D ire ctor: don Garcia s B ; S i t Did you serve in the I Armed Forces is about people. You as an audience are there to relate to these characters and the decisions they make as individuals. We had in attendance someone from Street Roots and someone from Outside In. We got a little feedback from the table reading, just finding out what people on the ground think about what we’re doing. S.Z.: What changes came out o f input from those fo lk s? " PH O TO BY M A R Y Y A C O B -A N D R U S From left: Actors Bruce Jennings, Sam i Yacob-Andrus and Myles Lawrence and director Jon Garcia rehearse “Homeless (the musical.)” A.A.: They mostly had to do with character development. These characters r^pf^sentlouTafchef^esbas'ed'onVesearcli1 done before the script was developed. There are lots of reasons why people end up on the street, as you know, but drug addiction and mental illness, domestic violence, abuse, these are some of the common ones. These characters represent some of those archetypes. In doing so, we wanted to make sure we didn’t create situations where we were being two-dimensional or stereotypical in our portrayal of these characters.; It was about character development and making sure these were three-dimensional people. n e & n l e ’s FARMERS’ MARKET WEDNESDAYS 2-7PM ^ b a n d are experiencing H h II V W — risk of becoming homeless? or at TransitionV Projects ■ Please call 855.425.5544 or visit 650 NW Irving Street fly UP TO $10 MATCH WITH EOT CARD We're passionate about helping our community access healthy food that they can trust. By shopping at our market, you'll get extra food dollars while supporting local farmers and community. < 3029 SE 21st Ave. btwn Powell & Division
