BY STEFFEN SILVIS, BILL SMITH AND BYRON BECK
243-2122

MARCH 28- APRIL 3

stage
events | openings | new reviews | previously reviewed | children's theater
classical
dance

stage

EVENTS

Wonderbroads
Melinda Pittman and her Mary band shtick it to you with their brand of pun-ishing humor. So, how's my audition?

Angeltime Productions at Brunish Hall, Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway, 288-5181. 8 pm Tuesday-Sunday, April 3-8. $18-$22.

OPENINGS

A New Brain
Chris Coleman directs Paul Floding, Kellie Johnson, Michelle Mariana, Susannah Mars and Steve Wilkerson in William (Falsettos) Finn's musical.

Portland Center Stage at the Newmark Theater, Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway, 274-6588. 7 pm Tuesdays-Wednesdays, 8 pm Thursdays-Fridays. 7 pm Sundays. Opens March 30. $10-$43.

NEW REVIEWS

Chinese Take-Out
Whenever I get tired of cold pizza and subs, I throw open the refrigerator door and hunt for the familiar Chinese takeout box. So this week, when the theater menu in town offered nothing particularly palate-worthy, I again turned to the East for sustenance. Andrew Periale and The Perry Alley Theatre, based in New Hampshire, have prepared a veritable feast of puppetry for us West Coasters to dig into. In this "made to order" puppet performance, the audience chooses items (3 appetizers, 3 entrees, 3 soups) from a takeout-style menu; and, staying true to the Chinese culinary experience, they are subject to whatever ingredients are mixed in front of them. On my visit, there was the dry humor of a "1,000-year-old egg" musing over how friggin' old it is. Then there was the hilarious Barbie-rotic fantasy "Celestial Surprise"; a little spicy for some folks, but worth a try. Periale's performance with these "found" puppets is a riot, if at times absurd and seemingly without context. Some of the entree sketches, such as "Jaded Delight" (a medley of God and lost love) and "Soft-Shelled Crabs in Sa-Cha-Sauce" (memories of ma's chow), are garnished with an insight that sometimes only comedy--and puppets--can provide. Though a few of his dishes could use a bit more flesh, Andrew Periale is a skilled puppeteer and a fine writer. Make your reservations now. (Eric Larson)

The Perry Alley Theatre Company at the Winningstad Theatre, Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway, 248-0557. 8 pm Saturdays. Opens March 24.
$8-$10.

No Can Do
See review.

Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th Ave., 231-9581. 7:30 pm Thursdays, 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays. Closes April 14. $14-$18.

The Weir
O'Neill, O'Casey, Synge and other Irish titans created a theater so exalted in Europe and the United States that few Irish playwrights have failed since to find audiences. It's curious, however, that recent works from natives such as Martin McDonagh (The Cripple of Inishmann), and now Conor McPherson, stray little from the lionized formulas of their predecessors. The Weir is a work of Irish storytelling. In a pub (of course) near Sligo, five locals indulge the past through a series of ghost stories told to Dubliner Valerie (Linda Hayden), newly arrived in their rural community. In the end, Valerie herself reveals an experience so painfully haunting that it leaves the pub stupefied. Reliably, The Weir possesses the things we lust for in the Irish: richly crafted senses of mood, language and humor. What seems lacking is a solid plot trajectory. The play starts nowhere and ends nowhere. Rather, the characters seem serendipitously brought together simply to facilitate a showcase of solo performances. But McPherson's piece is carried by characterization, as is ART's production with its intimate ensemble. Douglas Mace is very funny as Jack, a sardonic, middle-aged scarecrow of a man, though there is poignancy to him as well as he stands valiantly in protest against anything that might come his way. Hank Cartwright skillfully exaggerates the local fat cat Finbar, and Hayden captivates, despite being given little opportunity to do so. Michael O'Connell also provides solid support, but Michael Moore's pinched accent sounds perilously leprechaunish, and his monologue takes ages to end. Production quality is high, given Rodolfo Ortega's subtle sound design and Mark Loring's attention to scenic detail. (Russell Meyer)

Artists Repertory Theatre, 1516 SW Alder St., 241-1278. 7 pm Wednesdays-Thursdays, 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes April 29. $15(students)-$26.

PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
Joe DiPietro's often-clever musical review shows him to be one of the few honest descendants of Comden and Green. Dale Johannes is well worth seeing. (SS)

Triangle Productions! at the World Trade Center Auditorium, 121 SW Salmon St., 239-5919. 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 1 pm Sundays. Closes April 21. $23-$25.

Joined at the Head
Dawn Larned skillfully portrays the intense pain and labored optimism of someone faced with cancer. (Russell Meyer)

Magdelyn Theatre Company at the YWCA Wilson Center, 1111 SW 10th Ave., 708-8554. 7 pm Thursdays, 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes March 30. $12-$14.

The Subject Was Roses
Lou Pollotta powerfully inhabits the role of John Cleary, an explosive alcoholic father and husband, and Danahy Sharonrose is likewise well cast as the fragile and aloof mother, Nettie. But Jason England gives a monochromatic performance, and his numb responses to his colleagues are crippling to the production. (Russell Meyer)

Paula Productions at the Jack Oakes Theater, 2820 NE Sandy Blvd., 238-9692. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays. Closes March 31. $10.

The Swan
Though there is a germ of an interesting play here, playwright Elizabeth Egloff is a poor writer to try carrying it off. Her primary problem is that she lacks seriousness, a common complaint about most American playwrights at present. It's to Lorraine Bahr's credit that we feel anything for the protagonist, though this isn't yet one of Bahr's strongest performances. But Shawn Skvarka gives an extraordinary and dangerous performance, finding an intricate physical vocabulary to express being a man in a swan's body. (SS)

Sowelu Theater at the Back Door Theater, 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 230-2090. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 4 pm Sundays. Closes April 21. $7-$15.

CHILDREN'S THEATER

Tom Thumb
The visiting puppeteers from New Hampshire's Perry Alley Theatre present their version of the little classic.

The Perry Alley Theatre at the Winningstad Theater, Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway, 248-0557. 7:30 pm Fridays, 11 am Saturdays, 2 and 4 pm Sundays. Closes April 1. $9-$13.

classical

EVENTS

Portland Opera's Dialogues of the Carmelites
Poulenc's 1957 Dialogues of the Carmelites is the story of the faith and heroism of a convent of nuns swept up in the fury of religious persecution during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror. It's proven remarkably durable, nudging its way into an opera canon begrudging of 20th-century works thanks to Poulenc's exquisite lyrical score. David Edwards directs soprano Ann Panagulias as Blanche de la Force, opera royalty Rosalind Elias as the Old Prioress, and an ensemble cast.

Keller Auditorium, 222 SW 2nd Ave., 241-1802. 7:30 pm Wednesday and Saturday, March 28 and 31. $25-$125.

PDQ Bach
"PDQ Bach" is, of course, the nom de musique for Peter Schickele, spoofologist and commentator for NPR's classical-music theme park The Schickele Mix. The shtick has garnered Schickele Grammies galore for tongue-in-cheek parodies like Oedipus Tex and The Art of the Ground Round. Though the strictly-for-blueblood humor barely rates a knee slap, Schickele's music--an amalgam of stolen quotes and snatched phrases braided together with rhythmic originality--can be inspired.

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 228-1353. 7:30 pm Thursday, March 29. $20-$57.

Richard Fuller
Fortepianist Fuller, a Washington native currently residing in Vienna, has called the modern piano "too plump" for the classical repertoire of Mozart, Haydn and Schubert he favors. It's a splendid down-to-earth mantra from a man who's devoted his life to this early, less grandiose version of the piano. Fans of Melvyn Tan's fortepiano series of Beethoven sonatas will welcome Fuller's delicate pianistic singing in a program of C.P.E. Bach, Haydn, Mozart and his Prague contemporary Johann Baptist Vanhal.

The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave., 222-2031. 8 pm Friday, March 30. $20.

Choral Cross-Ties: Bach's St. Mark Passion
Bach's completed "Passion" pair--the St. John and St. Matthew--are among the most glorious musical statements ever made; it's not surprising then that the lost St. Mark Passion (the last copy of which was destroyed by us during our murderous bombing of Dresden in World War II) has continued to tantalize music scholars. Recent scholarship, mined from existing musical scraps, brings us this "judicious conjecture" of the work, and Bruce Browne and company have a go at it. The choir for the work is a trim 12 voices with Scott Tuomi, LeaAnne DenBeste and Allison Swenson as soloists, and an orchestra culled from the ranks of the Portland Baroque Orchestra and Oregon Symphony.

Reed College, Kaul Auditorium, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., 224-4400. 7:30 pm Saturday, March 31.
Augustana Lutheran Church, 2710 NE 14th St., 224-4400. 3 pm Sunday, April 1. $10-$15.

Quartetto Gelato
One of chamber music's most playful ensembles visits town with accordion in tow. That the Canadian group combines traditional instrumentation like violin, cello and oboe with the decidedly untrad accordion is not quite as shocking as it was five years ago when the ensemble formed, thanks to the accordion's newfound status. As Joseph Macerollo gracefully weaves the instrument's disparate tonal colors throughout David Popper's sensuous Tarantella or a passionate tango by Piazzolla, it's obvious that the "squeeze box" has broken out of the polka barrel.

Reed College, Kaul Auditorium, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., 725-3307. 3 pm Sunday, April 1. $12.50-$25.

AROUND TOWN

Third Angle Does Copland
The new music ensemble replays its program of Copland chamber music works for U of P's belated birthday bash for America's composer. As a sidebar, Copland earned an honorary degree from the school and bequeathed to it a complete set of his scores as thanks.

University of Portland, Buckley Center Auditorium, 5000 W Willamette Blvd., 943-7228. 7:30 pm Friday, March 30. Call for tickets.

Oregon Symphony at the Movies
Going with a winning gimmick, Murry Sidlin conducts a program of Oscar-lauded film-score snippets as live clips from Gone with the Wind and other cinematic chestnuts roll overhead.

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 228-1353. 8 pm Saturday-Monday, March 31-April 2. $19-$60.

Jonathan Dubay, Edith Kilbuck, John Hubbard
L&C music faculty members present a musical hodgepodge of violin, cello and harpsichord works by Bach, Kodály, Walter Piston and Andrew May.

Lewis & Clark College, Frank Manor House, 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road, 768-7960. 3 pm Sunday, April 1. Free.

dance

GRUPO CORPO
Global dance, put into the context and complex phrasing of contemporary movement, is one hot ticket in the Northwest and beyond. One of the leading purveyors of this post-modern pairing is Grupo Corpo, a spellbinding Brazilian dance group that makes its first appearance in Portland this week courtesy of White Bird.

Able to fuse Afro-Brazilian dance forms, such as the athletic and edgy capoeira, with the staid and studied steps of classical ballet, Grupo Corpo shapes a particularly unique dance environment in which movement transcends the confines of its cultural borders and becomes a universal language.

Guided by two brothers, artistic director Paulo and choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras, Grupo's been a family affair since the early 1970s. That's when these two boys first set out, with the help of family members, to create a company that had a foundation in traditional forms of Western dance but had the energy and excitement of their indigenous dance.

The one-night-only performance will include two works: 1997's Parabelo and '98's Benguele. The first piece is inspired by the sights and sounds of Northeast Brazil, while Benguele shows Brazilian dance's West African roots in capoeira as well as flamenco and samba. (Byron Beck)

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 224-8499. 7:30 pm Tuesday, April 3. $17.50-$44.

Viva Baile, Noches de Cuba
The glorious Before Night Falls may have rendered all things Cuban muy caliente, but the Milagro Bailadores (a division of the Miracle Theater Group) have been dancing up a storm in Southeast Portland for some time now. For this particular program the group will showcase the diversity and influences that have come to make this colorful style of dance such a hit south of the Florida border.

525 SE Stark St., 236-7253. 7:30 pm Thursdays, 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays. Opens March 30. $8 (preview), $10-$12.

Moving Signatures
In the past, this inventive program has worked as somewhat of a dance lab for Oregon Ballet Theatre, showcasing the work of up-and-coming (and now accomplished) choreographers such as Trey McIntyre.

Lincoln Hall, Portland State University, 1620 SW Park Ave., 222-5538. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. $17.

Skylark Tappers
Ten members make up this dance troupe of toe tappers.

PCC Sylvania Campus, 12000 SW 49th Ave., 245-3994. 8 pm Saturday, March 31, 2 pm Sunday, April 1. $15.