It takes a
* Village
‘City o /
Roses’
Prom Gown
Decisions
Community
confronts gang
violence
Grads look for
personality,
self-expression
See page 3
Read back issues of the Portland Observer at WWW.p o rtla n d o b s e rv e r.c o m
Volume XX XX I. Number K
"
Wednesday • May II. 2011
See page 11
hsetlier 41
Established in 1970
"~
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Playhouse Keeps the Diversity
Church theater
speaks to the
community
by M indy C ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
A local theater production directed by and
featuring a cast of local African-American
actors has found a home with a new theater
group that wants its production to reflect the
diversity of northeast Portland.
Portland Playhouse is a small and funky
95-seat venue that was converted from an old
church at 602 N.E. Prescott St.
The theater recently extended their perfor
mance season and current production of Ma
Rainey’s Black Bottom, a play written by
renowned black playwright August Wilson
that opened last April to full and diverse
audiences.
Set in Chicago in 1927, the production
brought to the stage a day in the life at a
recording studio, where a group of African-
American musicians and a record producer
share emotional displays of both will and
circumstance.
The Portland Playhouse, which has only
been around since 2008, was founded by
brothers Michael and Brian Weaver, and
Brian’s wife Nikki.
“From the beginning, one of our goals was
to expand the traditional theatre,” explained
Michael Weaver, who is also the business
manager of the playhouse.
Although there is a pattern of traditional
photo by M indy
C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver
Brian Weaver (from left) with his wife Nikki and brother Michael work at keeping
the diversity of northeast Portland reflected in their theater productions staged in
the old church they converted into the Portland Playhouse at 602 N.E. Prescott St.
Now showing is the local African-American theater production of Ma Rainey's Black
Bottom.
theatre often catering more towards an older
and more affluent, non-minority demographic,
Weaver explained, they work hard at keeping
the diversity.
Their commitment to choosing plays that
directly speak to the community appears to
be successful when looking around the per
formances of Ma Rainey, where the eclectic
seats of the playhouse are filled with people
from all walks of life.
We wanted to have a diverse audience
across age, economics and race,” said Weaver.
“This is why Ma Rainey seemed to be the
perfect play for us to do.”
The production, directed by Kevin Jones,
a local African-American director and play
wright, is both intimate and honest, capturing
the emotional attention of the audience from
the opening scene.
Although the production’s set is minimal
in design, the direction of the scenes make
those attending feel as though they are hang
ing out with the characters in real time, which
creates a true connection between the actors
and those in the audience.
The play is the third installment of August
W ilson’s chronicle of the lives o f African
Americans in the 20th century. Set in a time
often known as the Chicago Renaissance era,
the performances shed light on the lives of
musicians singing and playing the blues as a
means of self expression and a way of life.
Frequent threads of music are interwoven
throughout the performance and the archi
tecture of the former church carries the acous
tics of the music naturally.
Weaver explained his further excitement in
continued
on page 4
Appeals for Better Schools on the Line
Ballots due on building
remodels; operations
by M indy
C ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
The buzz surrounding Portland’s public education sys
tem is becoming louder as Tuesday’s May 17 vote-by-mail
election nears.
Ballots were mailed to residents almost two weeks
ago and many believe the upcoming election will
serve as a critical milestone in the fight for better
schools across the city.
The vote will fill four-seats on the Portland
Public School’s Board o f Education, as well as
™
decide on two money measures: one that could
protect the number of teachers in local classroom '
and another that asks voters to increase property
taxes to help rebuild schools.
■
The average PPS is 65 years old, and therefore
a number of school buildings throughout the
city face multiple infrastructural issues.
The school facilities bond, measure 26-
121, would pay for these needed upgrades by
ita l asking residents for a bond rate of about $2
p per $ 1,000 of taxable assessed value, which
would cost the median homeowner roughly
continued
on page 18