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Focus
November 15, 2000
Page 3
Arts
A Celebration of Female
Friendships with Steel Magnolias
The Maggie TheaterCompany is
thrilled this year to be back and
opening its 2000-2001 season with
Robert Harlings’ well-known play
“Steel Magnolias.” Filled with the
spirit of life and teeming with laugh
ter, this warm and witty celebration
o f female friendships is sure to bring
a smile and a tear.
A memorable favorite, “Steel
Magnolias” wholeheartedly embod
ies the mission ofT he Maggie The
ater Company; To produce quality
works o f art that simply tell the sto
ries o f women. We are committed to
themes that are universal coming of
age themes for women. Identity,
family, girlfriends, mentors and he
roes. Themes that present the truths
o f our own experiences as women
without defining us as anything but
real people. Simply telling the sto
ries o f all kinds ofwomen: rich, poor,
awkward, and sophisticated, house
wives and lawyers, artists and world
leaders, athletes and scientists and
laughter. W e’re hoping that every
one who steps through the doors of
this production feels as if they are
coming back to a familiar place where
a good cup o f coffee, friendly con
versation, laughter and even tears
are enough to warm the soul.
In a quaint well-kept Louisiana
Hamlet, a local group o f women con
gregate at Truvy’s Beauty Salon
where “anybody w ho’s anybody”
comes to have their hair done. They
gossip and giggle while preparing
one another for life’s tragedies and
terrific triumphs. Aided by her young
assistant Annelle, whose peculiar
past is enough to gain her accep
tance into the cliquish coffee klatch,
the outspoken, wise cracking Truvy
dispenses shampoos and free ad
vice to the ladies o f the town. There
is the rich curmudgeon, Ouiser, an
eccentric millionaire (“I ’m not crazy,
I’ve just been in a bad mood for 40
years”); Miss Clairee, the tow n’s
former first lady; and M ’Lynn, the
local social leader. Lately, the talk of
the town has been about M ’Lynn
Eatenton ’ s daughter Shelby and her
upcoming wedding to one o f the
“good ole boys”. Brimming with
comedic dialogue and many acerbic
but humorously revealing verbal
collissions, the play moves toward
tragedy when Shelby who is a dia
betic risks her life to become preg
nant and this sudden realization of
mortality affects all and draws on
the underlying strength and love o f
its characters. By making them truly
touching and real, Robert Harling’s
memorableplay definitely brings the
powers o f love, friendships, and
laughter to the stage.
The Maggie Theatre Company’s
showing o f “Steel Magnolias” will
be at the Firehouse Theater, 1436
SW Montgomery from Friday and
Saturdays at 8 p.m. throughout
November until Dec. 9. Sunday
matinees begin at 2 p.m. For more
information, call 503/708-8554.
As a special holiday event, if you
bring an unwrapped new toy to ei
ther the Nov. 19 or Dec. 3 Sunday
matinee 2 p.m. performances, Ms.
Truvy will welcome you with open
arms and a free seat! The Maggie
Theater Company will donate the
toys throughout the city to children
o f all ages!
Cygnet Spotlights WW I
Poets in Fall Production
Cygnet Productions presents a
literary caberet reading o f “Not
about
H e r o e s ,”
S te p h e n
M acDonald’s intimate exploration
o f the friendship betw een W ilfred
O w en and Siefried Sassoon, two
o f E ngland’s most lauded W orld
W ar I poets, brought together by
the shared horror o f war.
D irected by Jon K retzu, “Not
about H eroes” will run through
Nov. 19. N ew com er to Portland
Je ffre y S zu sterm an w ill play
W ilfred Owen and Portland vet
eran G rant B yington will play
Siegfried Sassoon. Set design is
by Tim Stapleton, and lighting
design is by Jam ie Rea.
T h e p la y u n f o ld s w h en
Siegfried Sassoon, m ost famous
for “M emoirs o f a Fox Hunting
M an,” finds h im self stuck in a
m ental hospital after refusing to
lead his troops into w hat he has
com e to believe is a senseless
war. There he meets Wilfred Owen,
a budding poet later made famous
for his “A nthem for D oom ed
Y outh,” who has been hospital
ized for an aggravated case o f
shell shock.
First tolerant author and ador
ing fan, then teacher and pupil,
and finally friends o f a deeply
passionate and passionately re
served nature, Sassoon and Owen
en discover in each other a shared
commitment to telling the unpopu
lar truth about the “G reat W ar” .
This fragilely built com m union is
ultim ately tom apart when both
betray their pacifist convictions
to return to the front in fruitless
a tte m p ts to c o n fro n t p riv a te
ghosts o f fear and nihilist desire.
All performances will be taking
place at The Russell Street T he
ater, located at 116 NE Russell St.
in Portland. Show times are Thurs
day, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.
and Sunday at 7 p.m . Tickets are
$6 for Preview, $ 12 Thursdays and
Sundays, and $15 Fridays and
Saturdays. Student and Senior
rates are available. Tickets may be
reserved by calling 503/295-3555.
The Metropolitan Opera
National Council Auditions
T he S chool o f Fine and P er
fo rm in g A rts at P o rtlan d State
U n iv ersity is p roud to host the
O reogn D istrict auditions for the
-M etropolitan O pera.
T he au d itio n s are at 1 p.m . on
Sunday, N ov. 19 in L incoln P er
formance Hall. Admission is free.
T he d istric t w in n er from P o rt
land m ove on to the N o rth w est
reg io n al a u d itio n s in S eattle on
M arch 4. O regon is one o f five
d i s t r i c t s th a t c o m p r is e th e
N o rth w est R egion.
“ I t ’s alw ay s e x citin g to have
the M ET a u d itio n s here on cam
p u s,” said Prof. R uth D obson,
D irecto r o f P S U ’s O pera T h e
a te r P rogram . “ PSU is alw ays
w ell rep re se n te d at the a u d i
tions. O ur K elly N a ssie f w on in
P o rtlan d and w ent on to be a
N ational Aw ards winner a couple
o f years ago, and last y e a r’s
w inner w as PSU alum A ngela
N eid erlo h , w ho w ent on to win
in the S eattle R egionals and got
to perform on stag e at the M ET
w ith full o rc h e stra . It w as a tre
m en d o u s e x p e rie n c e, and was
an im p o rta n t b eg in n in g to her
p ro fe ssio n a l c a re e r.”
S ince g ra d u a tin g from PSU
a n d th e M E T c o m p e titio n ,
N ie d e rlo h has p erfo rm ed w ith
the O regon Sym phony, the C ho
ral A rts E n sem b le, N ew Y o rk ’s
C h a u ta u q u a O p e r a , O p e r a
S o u th w e s t in A lb u q u e r q u e ,
N M , and O pera O m aha.
T he goal o f the M etropolitan
O p e ra ’s N atio n al C ouncil A udi
tions P rogram is to find e x c e p
tio n a lly ta le n te d o p era singers,
aged 19 - 33, and to a ssist them
in their developm ent, to discover
new ta le n t fo r the M etropolitan
O p era and to search for p o s
sib le p a rtic ip a n ts in the Y oung
A rtist D ev elo p m en t Program o f
the M ET.
A p p lican ts m ust have a voice
w ith o p erativ e po ten tial: ex cep
tional qu ality , range, projection,
c h arism a, co m m u n icatio n and
n atu ral b eau ty . V oice training
and m usical b ackground is a
req u irem en t. T hey m ust dem
o n stra te an a b ility to sing c o r
re c tly in m ore than one lan
guage and give evid en ce o f a r
tistic aptitude. A pplicants m ust
be p re p a re d to sing five o p e r
atic arias in the o rig in al lan
guages and keys and in m ore
than one language and co n tra st
ing styles. A rias should be com
m ensurate w ith the sin g e r’s age
and level o f a b ility and m ay be
no lo n g er than eight m inutes
each in length. The ap p lic a n t
w ill be p erm itted to sing an aria
o f h is/h e r choice; the ju d g e s
m ay then request an o th er aria
(o r arias) for the purposes o f
com parison.
T he M etropolitan O pera N a
tio n al C ouncil A u ditions p ro
gram began in M inneapolis/S t.
P aul in 1954. O ver the years,
these a u d itio n s have expanded
to 17 regions, w hich include the
U nited S tates, C anada, A u stra
lia, and P uerto Rico.
MOVIES NIGHTLY
W EEKEN D MATINEES
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