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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2016)
WORLD CLASS DANCE TONI PIMBLE, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR EUGENE BALLET COMPANY @HULT CENTER TICKETS 541-682-5000 eugeneballet.org BUY FIVE OR MORE PER SHOW AND SAVE $10 PER TICKET! Carmina Burana Bravo! E W ’ S G U I D E TO T H E P E R F O R M I N G A R T S WRITTEN IN THE STARS THE GREAT GATSBY OCT’s Silent Sky tells story of little-known female astronomer L ike a lot of people, Corvallis- based theater director and educator Elizabeth Helman watched Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos series on APR 9–10 FEB 13–14 MAY 14 ONE SHOW! PDX JAZZ FESTIVAL BEGINS FEBRUARY 18–28, 2016 100+ Events | A Dozen Venues | pdxjazz.com Brian Blade and Fellowship OCT’S SILENT SKY DIRECTOR ELIZABETH HELMAN Netflix. “I just happened to see a tiny little biography,” Helman tells EW, “a 10-minute segment of the Cosmos series and it had this mini-biography about Henrietta Leavitt.” Henrietta Swan Leavitt was an American astronomer at the turn of the 20th century. When Craig Willis, artistic director of Oregon Contemporary Theatre, gave Helman some scripts to consider directing, Silent Sky, Lauren Gunderson’s 2011 play about Leavitt, caught Helman’s attention. Helman continues: “Months later I read the script and I went, ‘Wait a minut e! That sounds really familiar.’” She says it feels as though her decision to direct the play was written in the stars. “It’s a very sweet biographical story,” Helman says, noting that Leavitt made some significant discoveries while working at Harvard — chiefly the relation between the luminosity and the period of Cepheid variable stars that later lead to the development of the Hubble telescope. Perhaps that’s all too science-y for you — Helman says it’s even a bit too much for her. “I’ve always been interested in astronomy and science,” Helman jokes. “I’m horrible at science and I’m terrible at math, but I find it really fascinating.” “I just enjoyed the way the story was told,” Helman says of Silent Sky. “It’s warm and it’s funny and comic and also true. It gets at a lot of issues about women in science, women in academia, issues of gender, issues of sexism. A lot of that still resonates today. A lot has changed but a lot of those old gender biases still exist,” she says. “The story is really human,” Helman adds. “The characters are very real and they’re funny and they’re flawed.” Silent Sky runs Feb. 26 through March 19 at Oregon Contemporary Theatre. — William Kennedy EVERYbody has DanceAbility DanceAbility Class for Youth and Adults January 11 – March 14, 2016 Mondays: Youth 4-5pm • Adult 5-6pm www.danceability.com • 541-357-4982 Creative dance class for people of all abilities & disabilities Ravi Coltrane Dianne Reeves | Chano Domínguez | Kenny Barron | Pat Martino Spanish Harlem Orchestra | Orrin Evans | Geri Allen | Joe Lovano Jimmy Greene | John Scofield | George Cables | Azar Lawrence Sonny Fortune | Alicia Olatuja | Nicole Glover | Gary Peacock Sullivan Fortner | Reggie Workman | Jimmy Cobb | Gary Bartz Title Sponsor Official Wine Sponsor 18 January 21, 2016 • eugeneweekly.com Hilarious comedy THE NERD The Kathy and Mo Show: directed by Shelly Davey Dax PARALLEL LIVES AUDITIONS for THE NERD February 8 & 9 at 6:30pm by Mo Gaffney & Kathy Najimy Feb. 18-20, 25-27 • 7:30pm • $12 - Rated R directed by Peg Major Starring Miriam Major and Nikki Pagniano SHOW DATES for THE NERD April 28, 29, 30, May 5, 6, 7 at 8pm 513 E Main Street, Cottage Grove, OR 541-946-7252 • www.opalcentercg.org
