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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 2020)
calendar As Eugene Weekly’s calendar editor, I have found myself either saying or typing the words “I’m sorry” to far too many people this week. My condolences always come after a cancellation or postponement notice, and EW has had an avalanche of both notices since last Friday. Some are for single-day or single-night events. Other institutional-like venues, be they the Eugene Public Library or The Jazz Station, have ceased between now and the end of March and deep into April. The novel coronavirus is likely in Lane County, even if not yet reported, but its specter of fear has seeped into the pores of everyone in our county and state since Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency on March 8 surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19 in Oregon. There are no music listings in this week's paper. Obviously, there’s no template for this for anyone, let alone for EW. EW was born in 1982 and called What’s Happening. Literally, it was a paper of calendar listings. Years afterward, the late Lois Wadsworth, one of the paper’s founders, wrote that What’s Happening was created “because we needed to know what political meetings were scheduled, where James Thornberry’s band was playing, which movies were coming to Cinema 7 and when the city’s performing and visual artists planned their next outrageous event.” Not much has changed over the years. I imagine it was as much of a bear to wrestle with all the listings in 1982 as it is today. Typically, I sift through upwards of 1,000 submissions per month. I have had some frustrated emails fired at me. I also have received thank you cards and some beer from satisfied event organizers as a reward for my efforts. Always, I have had relationships that I can smile about. This is why I have found myself saying or typing the words “I’m sorry” this week with sadness. I know the heart of the people who are putting on their events and wish for publicity, no matter how small. And I have come to enjoy work. Let’s get back to normal soon. — Dan Buckwalter LITERARY ARTS Page 3 Poetry open mic, 7:30pm, Rooted Space, 245 Van Buren St. FREE SPIRITUAL Meditation Tuesday, 6pm, Open Sky Shambhala, 783 Grant St. FREE Refuge recovery meeting online via Zoom, 6:30pm. ID: 973-821-778. Co-Dependents Anony- mous, women only 12-step meeting, 6pm, St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1465 Coburg Rd. FREE SPIRITUAL Refuge Recovery meeting online via Zoom, 7pm. ID: 814-281-918. WEDNESDAY SUNRISE 7:03AM; SUNSET 7:32PM MARCH 25 GATHERINGS Postcard- ers for Democracy, 2pm, Turtles Bar & Grill, 2690 Willamette St. FREE SPIRITUAL Refuge Recovery meeting online via Zoom, 6:30pm. ID: 974-466-634. SUNRISE 7:05AM; SUNSET 7:31PM AVG. HIGH 58; AVG. LOW 38 GATHERINGS Overeaters Anonymous Big Book study group, 8am, First Christian Church, 1166 Oak St. FREE Postcarders for Democracy, 10am, The Washburne Cafe (back room), 326 Main St, Spfd. FREE THURSDAY MARCH 26 AVG. HIGH 58; AVG. LOW 38 theater Show, Interrupted THE CAST OF VLT’S LITTLE WOMEN AUDITIONED, REHEARSED AND HAD A FINAL DRESS. THEN THE SHOW WAS HALTED BEFORE OPENING NIGHT By Taylor Perse U ntil recently, the threat of coronavirus still seemed distant. Even with several cases in Oregon, life in Eugene went on as normal. Plays and other music productions rehearsed, anticipating their March openings. Then, the situation worsened, and on March 13 Gov. Kate Brown announced a ban on gatherings of 250 people for the next month. That canceled or post- poned three local stage productions practically moments before they opened. I was in one of them: Very Little Theatre’s produc- tion of a musical version of Little Women. Another, Eugene Opera’s Tosca, was also canceled after the fi- nal dress rehearsal. Both shows, as well as Sunset Bou- levard at Actors Cabaret, were to open on the same night, March 13. Regardless of what happens with this show in the future, being a part of the musical has been an unfor- gettable experience for the entire cast of Little Women. In early November, I had to muster a lot of courage to audition for this show. I never thought I would have as much fun as I did through callbacks, when I eventually received the role of Clarissa (the heroine in Jo’s story). One of my favorite parts was sword fighting on stage. I was excited to act alongside the talent of the March sisters, as played by Hailey Eckhart, Morgan James, Sabrina Gross and Alycia Thatcher. Kari Bolden Welch directed the show, with Russell Dyball as the assistant director. The cast totaled 15. Little Women was a first play for many, and a first community production for others. It was my first show since high school. “I was really happy that from the auditions we were able to bring in people from all pockets of local the- ater,” Welch says. “It felt like what community theater really should be.” After three months of rehearsals, I walked in the E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M VLT’S LITTLE WOMEN Photo by Richard Scheeland dressing room on the night of our first performance — a free preview with friends and family in the audi- ence — to a despondent look on the actors’ faces. They asked me if I had heard the news from our director, that this might be our only performance after months of re- hearsals crammed into our daily schedules. I hadn’t. We gave preview night everything we had. The tears and the emotion in our voices were raw and real. Every- one hoped to at least have opening weekend. The next day, we heard that in an exercise of caution, VLT was suspending all normal operations, including our show, even though the theater seats only 220 peo- ple — just under the limit. The large and diverse cast grew close during re- hearsals, which made the abrupt ending more difficult for everyone. When I found out things were suspended somewhat indefinitely, I was honestly devastated at the injustice. We all were. It was as if a chapter in our lives had ended in the middle of a sentence. On what would have been our planned opening night, we had party of sorts. Instead of performing our show, the cast and crew drew different character names out of a hat and performed an improv version of the musical on stage to an audience that included just our music direc- tor and VLT costumers. We laughed so hard, we cried. “Every single person in the cast I feel like I could sit down and talk for hours,” says James, who plays Jo. “I felt like I gained a lot of familial understanding with the cast.” Gross, who plays the sweet but strong Beth March, has performed in many local shows and says through this one, she has also made lasting friendships. “I think the relationships that happen on stage and the interactions people see on stage, they were all formed off stage and translated onto the stage,” Gross says. “I really do think it was the fact that we were such a close cast that made the show what it was.” And though that closeness may never occur in the same way again, it won’t be easily forgotten. “The show is so much more than this one girl finding her place in the world,” James says. “It’s about passion and love, and love after loss. And how to grow through immense pain. And beyond that, how to find your place in the world when you don’t have a place.” Toward the end of Little Women, Jo sings “The Fire Within Me” while grieving the death of her sister. It is through this song that Jo realizes her purpose, under- standing how she can immortalize the memories of her sis- ters through a book, though it will never be the same again. And to echo James, the beauty of Little Women isn’t necessarily that Jo gets the story of her sisters published (which she does), but of her process getting there and creating something meaningful. And I think my cast and crew would agree that, though we are uncertain of the future of the show, what we created still matters. Right now, there is talk of getting to perform our Lit- tle Women with VLT at some point in the future. How this will play out, and whether all the original cast will be involved, I don’t know. But I do know that I will never forget watching James from stage right during our preview performance, em- ulating the fire and passion of Jo March as she stands and finishes the song: Here in all the smallest details of the past Here in this attic, life is something vast The four of us forever here at last As unexpected as can be Astonishing M A R C H 1 9 , 2 0 2 0 13
