theater
It’s a
Miracle!
MILAGRO TELLS THE STORY OF
A EUGENE GIRL’S MIRACULOUS
BICULTURAL LIFE
By Bob Keefer
O
K, show of hands: Who in the arts world
hasn’t ever daydreamed of writing a
musical and having it go to Broadway?
Eugene singer Evynne Hollens has
certainly entertained that fantasy. On
Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 23 and 24,
Hollens takes her dream a step closer
to reality as part of a cast that includes Latin Grammy
Award-winning singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno when
The Shedd mounts a concert performance of songs from
her bilingual musical to be, Milagro.
“Milagro” means “miracle” in Spanish, and after
working on the show for the past five years with Moreno
and Portland singer-songwriter Anna Gilbert (who was
dubbed Eugene Weekly’s Next Big Thing a decade ago
when she lived in Eugene), Hollens agrees that it’s going
to feel miraculous to perform some of its songs in public.
The musical will tell a story based on the life of Adriana
Ripley, a phenomenal young Eugene singer herself, who
survived her two-months premature birth in Guatemala
and came back to the U.S. with her mother, a U.S. citizen
who had been working in Guatemala.
Ripley, now 18, went off this fall to study music at the
University of Colorado, Boulder, though she’s coming
back to town for the performance of Milagro. She came
to the sudden attention of Eugene theater audiences in
a different “miracle” show in 2015, when Radio Redux’s
executive director, Fred Crafts, cast her as Susan Walker
in a holiday production of Miracle on 34th Street. The
12-year-old Ripley knocked out a dazzlingly mature
rendition of “O Holy Night,” which Crafts added to the
show just for her, and drew a standing ovation from a
starstruck crowd.
In Milagro, Ripley will play the character Gabriela,
who is based on herself. Reached by phone in Colorado,
Ripley says the challenge to playing Gabriela is that the
fictional character keeps changing as the play develops
and has morphed into someone quite different from her
real-life self.
“I am very cautious, and always will be. Gabriela’s goal
is to find her independence,” Ripley says. “She reminds
me of Jo in Little Women. I’m more of a Beth.”
Hollens drafted Moreno into helping out with Milagro
simply by reaching out. “Gaby was always a dream,”
Hollens says. “I started following her on social media
and saw she was coming to Portland.” Hollens messaged
Moreno and said she was working on a musical about a
girl born in Guatemala, Moreno’s own country of origin.
“Right away she said, ‘Yes,’” Hollens says.
Hollens and her husband, Peter, have long been staples
on Eugene’s musical scene, performing at The Shedd and
other venues around town. Her Broadway aspirations
for Milagro were sharpened in 2017, when she and Peter
made their own Broadway debuts in the holiday special
Home For the Holidays, Live on Broadway at the August
Wilson Theatre in New York.
Milagro, which has gone through years of development
and workshopping, remains a work in progress. The
Shedd production will feature 14 songs from the show; a
handful more have yet to be written. Songs are credited
to Gilbert and Moreno; book is by Hollens and Seattle
playwright Rebecca Tourino Collinsworth.
Hollens admits Broadway is a dream that might or
might not come true for her and her musical. “Some days
I see it very clearly,” she says. “I see the Tony Award for
this musical. And then the next day I don’t know if we’re
ever going to pull it off.”
Milagro runs 7:30 pm Saturday, Oct. 23, and 3 pm Sunday, Oct. 24,
at The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts. Tickets are $18-$28 at
TheShedd.org; more information on the show at MilagroMusical.com.
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THEATRE IS RECRUITING FOR A NEW
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AUGUSTA SPORTSWEAR, 91230 N Coburg
Industrial Way, Coburg, OR. Petition num-
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Jonesin’ Crossword
BY MATT JONES
©2021 JONESIN’ CROSSWORDS (EDITOR@JONESINCROSSWORDS.COM)
Across
1 Brit’s WWII weapon
5 Eight, to Teo
9 Tiny tastes
13 Chance for change,
maybe?
14 Bratwurst topper
15 Spike’s demon friend, on
“Buffy”
16 Opera highlight
17 Flower in a Texas song
19 Genre for Michael
McDonald and Rupert
Holmes
21 “___ la vista, baby!”
22 Raphael’s weapon, in
“Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles”
23 Chess piece, at times
24 Getaways with a focus
on poses
30 Commandeer
31 “The Hangover” actor Ed
32 Progressive character
35 Otter relative
36 Car brand that translates
to “I roll”
37 Galumph
38 Play the quizmaster
39 “Aladdin” character
40 “Real Housewives”
channel
41 Longest waterway in
China
43 Toward the rear of a boat
46 Objective
47 Prized instrument, for
short
48 “I’m serious”
54 “No argument here”
56 “Empire” actor Diggs
57 Like two, but not too?
58 Cardiologist’s procedure,
for short
59 Raison d’___ (justification)
60 Hardy title character
61 Abbr. on a cognac bottle
62 Ticket specification
“YRs Truly”
--more initial reactions.
Down
1 Hang around
2 “America’s Next Top Model”
host Banks
3 Impressive in scope
4 Vessel crammed full of
wildlife
5 McFlurry variety
6 A.P. math subject
7 Smashing fellow?
8 Prefix meaning “ear-
related”
9 Cancels
10 “Have ___ my mind?”
11 Bucatini sauce
12 Lipstick smudge
14 NBA star Irving in the
news for refusing to get
vaccinated
18 Word often used by
“Jeopardy!” champ Matt
Amodio
20 It covers a lot of ground
FALL CREEK FARM & NURSERY, INC. 39318
Jasper Lowell Rd. Lowell, OR 97452.
Petition number: 98032. Certification
date: 9-30-2021. Impact date: 8-16-2020.
Expiration date: 9-30-2023. NOTICE OF
POTENTIAL TRADE ADJUSTMENT
ASSISTANCE FOR WORKERS (TAA)
PROGRAM BENEFIT ELIGIBILITY. The
Department of Labor (DOL) certified
Hannah Clotere
Real Estate Broker • 541-543-9345
23 It’s hard to distinguish,
for short
24 “3:10 to ___”
25 Conditional suffix?
26 Engine buildup
27 Minimal beachwear
28 Fired up again
29 Presley-inspired Mexican-
American singer with the
albums “Graciasland” and
“Merry MeX-mas”
32 Chuck D’s Public Enemy
partner, for short
33 Zero, for Nadal
34 Dumpster emanation
36 ___ diagram (logic
illustration)
37 Order for humans
39 “En ___!” (fencing
command)
40 Runny cheese
41 Longs (for)
42 Keep an ___ the ground
43 Until now
44 Cooking appliance
45 Squares up
48 Yangs’ counterparts
49 Waffle brand that
somehow has a cereal
version
50 Propose a romantic
connection, in fanfic
51 Like some bloomers
52 Constellation named for a
stringed instrument
53 Chuck as far away as
possible, in modern slang
55 Toyota ___4 (SUV model)
t h a t S
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e s
S e
i c e
i n
r v
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