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
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H h
II
V
W
—
risk of
becoming
homeless?
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