There’s been a lot of news about women in the military recently, particularly women who have experienced sexual assault. But that’s not what inspired playwright Andrea Stolowitz to write Ithaka, her newest play, which won the newly established Fowler/Levin Prize and is being produced by Artists Repertory Theatre this month. Ithaka centers on Lanie, a…
Fans of musicals can choose between new and old classics this summer, as the Broadway Rose Theatre Company presents Andrew Lloyd Webber’s blockbuster “Cats” in July, and Lerner & Loewe’s equally beloved hit “My Fair Lady” in August. Alan Anderson, BRT’s marketing director, says these two productions fit well into BRT’s theme for 2012-13, “Season…
When Portlanders enjoy hearing journalist E.J. Dionne at Congregation Beth Israel on May 5, they may recall other speakers in the annual Oseran Family Lecture series. The syndicated Washington Post columnist and National Book Award nominee follows greats including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon and national correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg….
A group of teen dancers kneel on the floor, their mouths stretching in a silent scream. They remain motionless in a huddle, conveying the exhaustion of grief, a jumbled mass of dead bodies, or maybe both. Thus ends choreographer Josie Moseley’s compelling memo- rial to the Holocaust, “When I Close My Eyes.” The Portland Ballet’s…
“Being a curator means having to drill down to where your subject really is,” says Shoshanna Lansberg, when asked to define what she does for a living. “It’s not just dry information; it’s the how and the why that a curator helps you understand. You have to be able to focus on the integral part…
The solo performance phenomenon – in which an artist is both creator and performer – rides on the back of storytelling. Great solo performance is a combination of meaningful content, skillful use of space, and charismatic, dynamic storytelling. Unlike TV, radio or writing, solo performance is face to face, eye to eye and heart to…
When you hear a Dave Frishberg song, you notice it. The lyrics are cool, wry, sophisticated and, at times, wistful. The music, always in service to the words, enhances their meaning in subtle, indefinable ways. Frishberg’s artful settings lend his lyrics a three- dimensional quality, so that they take on additional meaning. Frishberg’s songs, including…
The Jerusalem Quartet, among the best-known of Israel’s chamber music ensembles, is one of the world’s most highly regarded string quartets. The Strad magazine calls it “one of the young, yet great quartets of our time.” Several years ago, violinists Alexander Pavlovsky and Sergei Bresler, violist Ori Kam and cellist Kyril Zlotnikov embarked on a…
Bob Priest, creator of March Music Moderne, is a heavy lifter when it comes to creating musical events. Photo by Chris Leck One doesn’t often get the chance to meet a genuine impresario. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines impresario as 1) the promoter, manager or conductor of an opera or concert company and 2) a person who…
The new Portland Aquarium was inspired, at least in part, by Dr. Marc Gottlieb’s desire to give metro-area families the same opportunity to interact with ocean life that his own sons enjoy in San Diego. “We are always surrounded by ocean life in San Diego,” says Gottlieb. But his wife, Clover, who grew up near…
