BY ARIA SELIGMANN
(Neil Rhinestone), the show features young-
sters Somer Joe Hornbuckle — who’s only 5
1/2 and has a lead role, Kati Dawalt, Jimi
Dawalt, and William Heinl-Hagerty. Melody
Roberts accompanies on organ and vocals,
and the choir consists of 15 local vocalists.
The show runs at 7:30 pm Thursday, Oct.
30; Friday, Oct. 31 and Saturday, Nov. 1 at the
Lord Leebrick. Tix are $10, with all profits
going to Eugene PeaceWorks. LLTC Box
Office: 465-1506.
A
The Church of the
New Crusade runs
this weekend only
at Lord Leebrick.
The Cultural Response
Local, organic, homegrown art .
H
e was riding his bike around Eugene
one day post 9/11 when all these
songs just started popping into his
head. For local performer Scotty P., that
wasn’t unusual, except for the fact they were
church hymns. “I couldn’t just go out and
sing them,” says the 35-year-old pianist, gui-
tarist and teacher (Imagine That summer
camp, Borko’s Magical Moombah, other
high-profile acts), so he wrote some words
for context, and the musical farce The
Church of the New Crusade was born.
Opening this weekend at the Lord
Leebrick Theatre space, the Floating Bus pro-
duction and benefit for Eugene PeaceWorks
is billed as a Tony and Tina’s Wedding meets
the “700 Club.” The show invites the audi-
ence in as a congregation under the leader-
ship of the evangelical Rev. William “Bill”
Stubble (Michael Glownia).
Stubble explains how God wants the
U.S.A. to declare war on other countries: “let
us go forth indeed now with Love in our
hearts, being light in spirit ourselves, even as
we battle against those who would wrest
from us the world that is rightly ours, and
against those who would challenge our moral
convictions.” Meanwhile, the choir belts out
such hymns as “Our God is the Right God”
and “One Nation Indivisible;” songs so real-
istic if you don’t pay close attention to the
lyrics, you might not laugh.
“I’d been feeling helpless and cynical
after 9/11,” says Scotty P., “and the songs were
sort of a musical vomit for me.” While he still
feels irked by the propaganda surrounding the
event, he says he doesn’t feel as vile and jaded
as he did before writing the show.
The show draws on his own evangelical
Montana upbringing, and while he says he
has a close and loving family, that religiosity
is “the biggest source of angst” for him.
With the news wires reporting on the influ-
ence of the religious right over the Bush ad-
ministration, and with certain U.S. army offi-
cials declaring the war in Iraq a “crusade,”
Scotty P. feels he’s hit on something that, if
anything, is a little too close to home. “The
feedback I’ve been getting from people is that
the show is scary because it’s so real,” he says.
And he’s using that to
lure people out for a
tough-sell Halloween
performance. “We have
religious freaks in
charge of the world’s
largest nuclear arsenal
— that’s scarier than
any haunted house,” he
adds.
In addition to
Glownia and Scotty P.
Live Matinee
celebrates its
25th Anniversary
beginning Nov. 6.
lso renting the Lord Leebrick space
this year after a couple of shows
most recently performed at
Tsunami is Live Matinee, the irreverent
comedy troupe this year celebrating its 25th
anniversary. The move to Charnelton Street
allows the company to show some home-
grown vintage video performances filmed
over the past two and half decades. “It’s sort
of a ‘Best Of’ Live Matinee show,” says
founding member Barbara Embree, with not
only video clips, but also skits revamped
from years past.
Most of Live Matinee’s original members
met in the early ’70s in a Shakespeare reper-
tory company that was part of the UO theater
department. They were the ones with the
teeny parts: messengers, ladies in waiting,
and with so much time on their hands back-
stage, became fast friends who wanted more
out of theater.
They formed a small company, did some
children’s theater and in ‘78 put together a
comedy show. The late Steve Bové, who
owned the former Cinema 7 movie theater,
offered the space for a performance, but time
was only available in the afternoon, as
movies showed at night. Thus, Live Matinee
was born.
Over the years, the skits, born organically
from improv during rehearsals, reflected the
changing lives of the actors. Different jobs,
getting married, getting divorced, physical
changes — nothing was off limits to the in-
your-face performers, who were high on
black comedy.
“It’s a great release,” says founding mem-
ber Bob Marquis, who teaches 4th and 5th
grade at Parker Elementary. Some of the rou-
tines have included material he’s garnered as
a teacher, as well.
But much of the material is high political
satire. What’s interesting, says Marquis, is
that so much of it is still applicable today.
“It’s surprising it still works so well after all
these years,” he says. For instance, in 1980,
the show focused on how ridiculous it was for
the U.S. to be hostile toward tiny
Afghanistan. Today, the subject’s dis-
turbingly relevant.
“We’re not particularly hardcore political
people, but more goofy,” says Embree. “The
humor’s used to break down barriers.” The
group has been described as “shameless” and
Embree says that’s because the actors are
more than willing to discuss “certain scato-
logical functions. It’s about saying the un-
sayable,” she says, adding, “That’s why we
say ‘No kids under 12.’”
Leaving them laughing is the agenda, and
it works. “People will come up to me and say
they need another dose,” says Marquis. “It’s a
respite from the grind.”
Live Matinee stars Barbara Embree,
Richard Cave, Nancy Cave, Bob Marquis,
and Tamsin Morgan. Bill Lynch will make an
appearance at certain shows. Cheyney Ryan
accompanies on piano and guitar. Shows are
at 8 pm Thursday-Saturday, 2 pm Sunday,
Nov. 6-9, 13-16, and 20-22 at the Lord
Leebrick. Tix: $12.99-$14.99. LLTC Box
Office: 465-1506. No one under 12 admitted.
C
ontinuing this weekend and next at
UO’s Arena Theatre is Pulitzer
Prize-winner Paula Vogel’s (How I
Learned to Drive) Desdemona: A Play
About a Handkerchief . A comic recon-
struction of Shakespeare’s Othello, the play
follows the original plot, but gives the
women’s perspective. Vogel never shies
away from, but insightfully delves into, con-
troversial issues regarding women’s roles and
femininity, power, sex, money and friend-
ship. Desdemona is a funny, intelligent script,
showing Vogel at her best, and this produc-
tion is in the hands of some great talent.
Shows are at 8 pm on Oct. 30, 31, Nov. 1, 6,
7 and 8 in the Arena Theatre at Villard Hall, UO.
No late seating. See calendar for details.
ew
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