Ashland on My Mind

Local theater artists chime in on the upcoming Oregon Shakespeare Festival season

The Tempest at OSF

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival kicks off once again Feb. 14. Our internationally recognized theater down I-5 is entertaining with plays ranging from 400 years old to fresh off the press, dark dramas to Marx brothers comedies. I got in touch with a few notable theater artists from Eugene to see what’s on their list to see this season. Water By The Spoonful: A 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner, Water By The Spoonful follows the public and virtual lives of a group of recovering addicts who have met and bonded as family in an online chat room. Continue reading 

The Daddies Do Ballet

Eugene Ballet Company brings out the softer side of the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies with Zoot Suit Riot

EBC dancers Mark Tucker, Danielle Tomie and Reed Souther

The Eugene Ballet Company is perhaps best known for its professional approach to traditional ballets, perfecting performances like The Nutcracker for the past 32 years. Yet occasionally, artistic director Toni Pimble likes to shake things up by exploring a new artistic vision or collaboration. Following collaborations with bands The Freudian Slips, Pink Martini and The Jazz Kings, the EBC will team up with local boys the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies for Zoot Suit Riot, a visual storytelling told through dance and set to the tune of the band’s extensive musical cache. Continue reading 

Women on the Verge

UO Opera Ensemble’s “A Tale of Two Women looks at the lives of American women

Austin and Katherine Curtis in Trouble In Tahiti

Divas and prima donnas rule the opera stage. But in real life, not so much, no matter what happens with Hillary in 2016. On Feb. 8 and 9, the University of Oregon Opera Ensemble presents “A Tale of Two Women: The Old Maid and the Thief and Trouble in Tahiti,” a pair of delightful American one-act operas that explore — sometimes hilariously, ultimately poignantly — the psychology of mid-20th-century women and their roles in a changing America. Continue reading