Lauren Weedman returns for another take on her “People’s Republic of Portland”/Patrick Weishampel
The season announcements from Portland theater companies have practically crashed the tender system here at ArtsWatch HQ, so many have arrived so rapidly. But today we’ll start, um, digesting them a bit. First up, Portland Center Stage, which this year has an unprecedented 11 productions on its docket. That’s a lot of theater, all by itself!
First, on the Main Stage
- Dreamgirls, Music by Henry Krieger, Book and Lyrics by Tom Eyen, Sept. 20–Nov. 2, 2014. The Broadway smash musical about a Motown girl group that looks a lot like the Supremes…or the Shirelles and lots of other R&B acts from the ’60s.
- The Second City’s A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens, by Peter Gwinn and Bobby Mort, Nov. 22–Dec. 24. The Second City skewering of the familiar tale returns for another roasting.
- Mojada, by Luis Alfaro, Jan. 10–Feb 8, 2015. Alfaro’s take on Euripides’ Medea updated to an immigrant Mexican family in Chicago. The third of a set of similar adaptations, it premiered in 2013.
- Other Desert Cities, by Jon Robin Baitz, Feb. 21–March 22, 2015. Baitz’s family drama pits political ideologies against real world events, in this 2012 Pulitzer winning play.
- Cyrano, by Edmond Rostand, translated and adapted by Michael Hollinger and Aaron Posner, April 4–May 3, 2015. Hollinger’s recent translation of Rostand’s delicious play hews closer to the original than the Anthony Burgess version, but it still has the dash and the romance.
- Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, by Christopher Durang, May 23–June 21, 2015. This 2013 Tony Winner marries Durang’s anarchic spirit to some of our favorite Chekhov characters.
And now to the smaller Ellyn Bye Studio:
- The Typographer’s Dream, by Adam Bock, Oct. 4–Nov. 16, 2014. A Small Fire‘s Bock has concocted a mystery from three presentations by a Stenographer, a Geographer, and a Typographer.
- The Santaland Diaries, by David Sedaris and adapted by Joe Mantello, Nov. 23 – Dec. 28, 2014. It’s one thing to be a mall Santa Claus. It’s quite another to be his elf.
- Threesome, by Yussef El Guindi, Jan. 24–March 8, 2015. This is a world premiere of a 2013 JAW new play festival entry at Center Stage, and asks the question, can a three-way sex session be the cure we’ve all been looking for?
- The People’s Republic of Portland, by Lauren Weedman, March 21–April 19, 2015. Weedman continues her investigations of the rituals and mores of a primitive people known as Portlanders
- The Lion, written and performed by Benjamin Scheuer, May 2–June 14, 2015. Scheuer’s musical exploration of his life was a big hit at the Edinburgh festival.
We’ll be getting around to more of these announcements soon!
NOTES
We previously wrote about Artists Repertory Theatre’s season.