September 21, 2022
Page 7
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
Meet Parkrose’s Drumline Instructor
Confederates (2022) Photo by Jenny Graham
Oregon Shakespeare
Festival King John
& Confederates
Opinionated
Judge
by
Darleen
Ortega
Having now made my own fi-
nal trip to Ashland this season,
I heartily recommend that you
make the effort, too—particularly
to see the two final shows to open.
“King John” is the show I
would most have hated to miss this
season. That’s saying a lot, since
I can’t claim to be a fan of Shake-
speare’s history plays, which are
always dense with political bat-
tles that are a fair distance beyond
what I know I am motivated to ab-
sorb. But director Rosa Joshi has
a gift for transforming the Bard’s
histories into the most riveting
theater which also manages to
evoke with surprising clarity the
misuses of power that plague us in
the present. Only Joshi can keep
me on the edge of my seat with
material like this.
A piece of how Joshi does this is
by engaging actors who we don’t
normally see in these hyper-mas-
culine, war-driven stories—that
is, a very diverse cast of female
and non-binary artists. The pro-
duction was mounted in conjunc-
tion with upstart crow collective,
Joshi’s long-standing project with
cast members Kate Wisniewski (a
mercurial King John) and Betsy
Schwartz (seen here as the dan-
gerously self-assured Lewis) that
has for 16 years produced strong
productions of Shakespeare’s his-
tories with casts of female and
non-binary artists. Joshi and her
artistic partners are not so much
saying something about gender
as they are capitalizing on what
these artists can bring to these hy-
per-masculine stories about pow-
er and violence and intrigue and
unchecked ambition. They pres-
ent male characters as male, but
don’t underline the point; there
are no fake beards in evidence,
and there is no artificial lowering
of voices. Yet the artists capture
things in breath-catching ways—a
battle scene broken down to the
Continued on Page 9
By Phyllis Harris
From a distance, if you listen
closely you can hear modern pop
music being played and accompa-
nied by the laughter of students.
As students engage and focus on
Beyonce’s Crazy In Love, they
attentively shift into their next
song of this year’s themed “Pop
Divas” performances in prepa-
ration for upcoming football
games. This is thanks to Johnnie
Ballard, the new drum instructor
at Parkrose high school.
Keija Lee, head band director
at PHS boasted about her col-
leagues track record with the pro-
gram over the last fourteen years.
“It’s a joy to work with him, he's
so positive all the time he's been
kind of a rock.” With a genuine
smile on her face she added “he's
been kind of a rock and steady in
the program. He truly loves our
kids and just has a heart of gold.”
Ballard recalls some of the
adults that had an impact on his
life, “my uncles are all musicians
and the story goes that I would
tap and beat on everything! My
parents told me they took me to
the Ringling Brothers Circus and
that’s how I started drumming.”
Johnnie Ballard, native of Rochester New York is currently a
husband, father, and Special Education champion.
Ballard perfected his craft at
the School for Performing Arts in
Rochester along with indulging
in the mentors around him, “like I
said, my family are all musicians
and my uncle was kind of like a
big influence because he too was
a drummer. I used to watch him
at tent revivals and listen to my
big cousin play. I started play-
Continued on Page 11
We want to see
our community
stay safe and
healthy during
the COVID-19
pandemic. Please:
Black
Health
Matters
North by Northeast Community Health Center is the only clinic
in Oregon devoted to African American health. We provide
welcoming, high quality health care to adults who have Oregon
Health Plan. Since 2006, our priority has been to serve the local
African American community and to reduce the deadly effects of
high blood pressure and diabetes. We are accepting new patients,
and if you’re uninsured, we can help you get covered!
To make an appointment or learn
about our services, contact us:
www.nxneclinic.org
(503) 287-4932
714 NE Alberta Street
Portland, Oregon 97211
Protect yourself and
others by getting the
COVID-19 vaccine (and
booster when you are
eligible). Call us at
(503) 287-4932 to
schedule a vaccine
appointment.
Wear a well-fitting mask
over your mouth and
nose, ideally a surgical,
N95 or KN95 mask.