September 22, 1988, Portland Observer, Page 5
y y y y T T T T T TT l
zzzzzzz
BEHIND THE
SCENES
BOUND
DEDUCT
by G arland Lee T hom pson
WORLD PREMIERE OF
“ YUKI ONNA (THE SNOW
WOMAN)”
The prem ieres o f “ Y uki O nna
(The Snow W om an), the c la s s ic
Japanese g h o s t story adapted by
" fu s io n th e a tre c re a to r,” R ic
Young, w ith choreography by E li
zabeth A bts, m u sic by L ucia
H w ang and “ Line o f Kanzashi,"
c h o re g ra p h e d
by
M a r ik o
Takayasu, appears at th e In
term ediate Theatre.
On Saturday n ig h t (9/10/88),
the A b ts A m erican Dance T heatre
C om pany presented these tw o
new w o rks at the P ortland C enter
fo r th e P erform ing A rts, along
w ith presentatio ns of the Fu-
jln a m i Kai Dance C om pany’s tra
d itio n a l kabuki dances (cla ssic
Japa n e se dan ce and th e a tre
form).
“ YUKI ONNA,”
A MONSTER OF A STORY
A blizzard is raging in the
m o u n ta in s . T w o w o o d c u tte rs ,
one young and handsom e, the
o th e r old and grizzled, s tru g g le
tow ard th e ir village, and safety.
They take sh e lte r in a ric k e ty shed
part o f the way home.
In the m id d le o f the n ig h t the
young man is aw akened by a fri
gid blast of w ind. The shed d o o r
opens and in com es a be a u tifu l
w om an, as w h ite as snow . She
bends over the old man and blo w s
in his face. In a few m o m e n ts he
has frozen to death. She ap
proaches the young man, w h o
sh rin ks back in terror. She lo o ks
deep in to his eyes, then s p e a k s ...
"Y o u are so handsom e th a t I
have grow n fond o f you. I w ill
spare you now , b u t in return you
m ust never speak o f w hat you
have seen to n ig h t. If you do, I w ill
appear and freeze you on the
s p o t.”
She w as Yuki Onna, the s p irit
o f co ld and snow , a c h illy fo lk tale
passed o rally from g e n eratio n to
generation in the central m o u n
ta in s o f Japan and fin a lly re co rd
ed in the 19th century by Lafca d io
Hearn, an A m erican livin g in
Japan.
The co m p a n y’s b le n d in g o f the
arts o f Japan and the W e s t (ballet,
m odern dance, co stu m e s, m usic
and ele m e n ts o f the “ b u y o ," cla s
sica l Japanese dance) d o create a
new bizarre fantasy w orld of
dance, m oving screen scenery
and p o w e rfu l puppetry, such as
w ith the riveting use o f a real
ske le to n in “ the g h o st and final
d e a th ” scenes. Yes, "Y u k i Onna,
w as "m o n s te r” o f a piece!
U nder the banner title , "O d o ri,”
a dance p resentatio n, co-founde r
and exe cu tive d ire cto r, C hisao
Hata, b ro u g h t fo u rth th is alluring
evening in to the new 1988-89 per
fo rm in g arts season. She, her
partner Elizabeth A b ts an R ick
Y oung had everything it seem ed,
b u t hey w orried if they had an au
dience, w hen Ms. H ata spoke to
me the day before the show . “ Art-
quake,” w ith M iriam Makeba, (Port
la n d ’s W eekend-long arts celebra
tion) had been like the Broad
w ay play, "J o e T u rn e r’s C om e
and G o n e ." Langsto n H ughes
w as “ S im p ly H eavenly,” a cco rd
ing to th e great cast headed by
Brenda P h illip s, M ichael H oliday
and aud ie n ce s at the L in co ln Hall
Theatre, P ortland State U niversity
(thru Sunday, Sept. 11th). H ow
c o u ld “ O d o ri,” fill th e new 900
seat house or at least be respect
fu lly attende d in P ortland tow n?
W ell, they did p retty good, from
w h a t I c o u ld see fro m the house
o rch e stra seats, fo r it w as a re
spectable turnout. And as fo r the
s h o w , I ju s t lo v e " m o v in g
scenery,” ku b u ki-style m ystery
dance theatre. I know we w ill see
m ore o f th is new eight-part b a llet
re n d itio n of a fam ous Japanese
g h o st story, in an rem arkable ar
tis tic co lla b o ra tio n th a t fuses
Eastern and W estern fo rm s of
theatre and dance. I w as "c h ille d
to the b o n e !” W rite on, C hisao,
Ric and Betsy!
THE NORTHWEST PLAYWRIGHTS
GUILD MEETS
T he N o rth w e s t P la y w rig h ts
G u ild m et Tuesday, Sept. 13th,
1988, at the S to re fro n t Theatre on
Third and Burnside. The G uild has
an O regon chapter based in P ort
land, w ith m em bers in o ther
to w n s in the state. I spoke w ith
p la y w rig h ts Dan D uling (recently
m oved to W elches, Or. from
Calif.), M ichael W helan and Sha
ron W hitney, o f the board o f d i
rectors, about the new m em ber
ship drive and th e ir planned “ New
W orks F e stiva l,” at the S torefront
Theatre in N ovem ber/D ecem ber,
1988.
L e t’s com e o u t and support
th is w o rth y new p ro je ct fo r devel
oping p la yw rig h ts and th e ir new
w orks. T h is is w here every great
p la yw rig h t and new play starts, in
w orkshop and show case, such as
th is b e e n p la n n e d fo r th e
S to re fro n t Theatre.
As a playw right, d ire c to r and
the fo u n d e r o f the Frank Silvera
W rite rs ’ W orkshop, now in its s ix
teenth season in New York, I am
D articularly interested in how
local p la yw rig h ts w ork, develop
th e ir craft, get th e ir play produced
and m arketed. For fu rth e r in fo r
m ation c o n ta c t M ichael W helan
at (503)244-1606.
If you have never seen a play or
not fo r a long tim e, its tim e to
che ck it o u t and Support your local
theatre and artists. W rite on! call
or w rite to us at the Portland
O b s e r v e r , P .O . B o x 3 1 3 7 ,
P o r t la n d , O R 9 7 2 0 8 , (5 0 3 )
228-0033. We w ill steer you “ w rite
o n !”
IF C C E x h ib its T h e
W o r k s O f S c u lp to r
A l G o ld s b y
M etal scu lp to r, Al G oldsby,
returns to the IFCC to present his
m ost recent body of arc w elded
bronze sculptures.
G o ld sb y’s e x c itin g e x h ib itio n
o f d a rk b ro n ze s s h o w s th e
breadth of his techniqu e. S em i
a bstract to re a listic sculptures
co m p rise th is show o f land
scapes, face shapes, turtles, wall
and free standing pieces.
W o rking fo r 26 years in the
Portland area, G o ld sb y's s c u lp
tures can be seen fre quently
th ro u g h o u t the P acific N orth
w est. He has been aw arded sev
eral p u b lic c o m m issio n s, such as
the one at the Lloyd C enter and
the W a sh in g to n Park Zoo. H is
w ork is also in clu d e d in several
private and corporate c o lle ctio n s.
The IFCC invites the p u b lic to
attend an open reception honor
ing the a rtis t on Thursday, Sept.
Benson has a vocal on every track
of his latest LP, ‘T w ice The Love,’
ary W ilson gets sued:
w hile keeping his g u ita r playing at
A hrgus J u illia rd , co-author
a m in im u m . This, has som e of his
of “ Dream girl: M y Life As A
fans upset. But the 45-year old
Suprem e,” is seeking $300,000 in
m usician, w ho m aintains that fin
an LA C ounty S uperior C ourt suit,
ding non-vocal m usic is very d if
charging that she is ow ed back
fic u lt, w ants people to rem em ber
royalties and should share in any
that he g o t his start singing.
p ro fits from any re su ltin g film or
“ Women Of Brewster Place” to
TV treatm ents. J u illia rd co ntend s
com pete w ith world series? Plans
th e ir '84 agreem ent ca lls fo r her
have not yet been finalized as to
receiving 30% of the b o o k ’s net
the airing of three-hour ABC
p rofits. She also charged that
te le p ic, "T he W om en of B rew ster
W ils o n ’s lis t o f book expenses
Place,” starring Oprah W infrey,
to ta lin g $88,541 (and in clu d in g
(who a lso serves as co-executive
her w ardrobe) to be taken out of
producer of the project), but there
royalties w ere abnorm ally and un
was talk o f it airing opp o site the
ju s tifia b ly high. M eanw hile, ju st
w orld series, to be broadcast by
last week, W ilso n signed a deal
NBC. '
w ith Lorim ar P ictures fo r a film
So fine! H arper’s Bazaar tagged
based upon the book. W hen asked
P h y llic ia R ashad and R obin
if she w ould star in the movie,
G ivens am ong the m ost beautiful
W ilson replied: “ Oh, no, i t ’s appar
w om en in the U.S. O thers to be
ent that the three g irls are m uch
named included Brooke Shields,
younger, and th e re ’s so m any
Farrah F a w ce tt and Rosanna
beautifu l talented g irls around.
Arquette.
W e’ll fin d three great Suprem es.”
Vesta does it again? 1988 may
W ils o n ’s ow n p a rticip a tio n w ill be
w ell be the year fo r recording a rt
lim ite d to that o f film co nsultan t.
ist V esta W illiam s, w ho many
O f the flak from the book, she
th o u g h t was lo st in the shadow of
says "I w a sn ’t out there to get ap
Janet Jackson and A&M Records.
proval but to tell a story, and to
N ext m o n th m arks the release of
share w hat happened, so it really
her second LP, and industry ex
d id n ’t m atter w hat people th in k .”
perts have called her a natural,
C urrently touring, she is also at
and the LP a w inner. O f course,
w ork on a second book that w ill
w ith a voice like the talented
pick up where th e firs t left off.
songstress, one can’t help but be
She hopes to p u b lish it som etim e
heard. Yet it is not w hat she
• next year.
sings, but w hat she says that so
Another tenant at " 2 2 7 ” : This
often gets Vesta W illia m s in to
fall, the cast of N B C ’s “ 227" w ill
trouble. Like the com m ent she
w elcom e a pint-size new com er.
m ade at a national m eeting of
S h e ’ s 1 0 -y e a r-o ld C o u n te s s
Hawking it in D.C.: Producers
Vaughn from Idabel, Okla. She
w ere in D.C. last w eek sco u tin g
com es to the show w ith six w in s
lo c a tio n s and preparing fo r w ork
as a ju n io r v o ca list on Star Search
on a Spenser For H ire sp in o ff,
to her credit. S he’ ll play an in
starring Avery Brooks as "H aw k.
te lle c tu a lly p re co cio u s student
ABC has put in a 13-episode or
w ho m oves in w ith the Jenkins.
der, and according to a co-execu
M eanw hile, another hit NBC ser
tive producer, the show could air
ies, "A m e n ,” is looking to add a
as early as January,
new pint-sized character to its cast
b la c k ra d io a n n o u n c e rs la s t
of regulars. The talent search
m onth about Tracy Chapm an.
centers on a boy, aged 5-19,13-16,
C hapm an’s hair she said ap
or a teenaged fem ale, 12-16.
by Lisa C o llin s
M
29,5:30 - 8:30 p.m.
George Benson to portray Wes
Montgomery: In January, singer-
m usician-jazz g u ita ris t George
Benson, sta rts film in g “ The Boss
G uitar,” in w h ich he’ll play jazz
great W est M ontgom ery. Benson,
45, now touring, is g e ttin g a lot of
flak fo r sin g in g to o m uch. Seems
peared as a head o f little b la ck
nipples. “ A nd that she m ust have
borrow ed nip p le s fro m everyone
in her fa m ily .” W illia m s , w h o ’s
had c o m e d ic in s p ira tio n s and as
part of her act does im p e rs o n a
tions, says it w as all in je s t. “ I
d o n ’t understand w hy everyone
gets bent o u t of shape. If th e se ar
tis ts w eren’t do in g a n yth in g . I
w o u ld n ’t put them in the sh o w .
The fu n n y thing is people c o m e
up to m e afterw ards and w hisper,
“ that really was funny, V esta.”
Briefs: Jody W atley is in the
s tu d io , w ith b o y frie n d A n d re
C y m o n e , p u ttin g
fin is h in g
to u ch e s on her new LP fo r release
by the end o f the year.
on your
# ■ reading list
I
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by
D r. R o n a ld E . W a l k e r
A book that w ill help m any
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I m entally, th is health guide
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on everyone's lis t fo r m ust
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MAIL THIS COUPON TODAY
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