Closing This Week
AN EVENING WITH ALAN BALL ā¢ Call in Sick Productions, at the Russell Street Theater
ANNIE ā¢ Best of Broadway, at Keller Civic Auditorium
LION IN THE STREETS ā¢ Theater Vertigo at the Russell Street Theater
WIT ā¢ Artists Repertory Theater
One Week Only
ANNIE ā¢ Best of Broadway, at Keller Civic Auditorium
Opening & Current Runs
Annie
The crowds will come out, this weekend, bet your bottom dollar on old Annie. BEST OF BROADWAY, AT KELLER CIVIC AUDITORIUM, SW Third and Clay, 241-1407, Thur-Sat, 7:30 pm, also, Sat, 2 pm, ends July 2, $15-50
Antiques Improv Show
The latest variation in the Brody's improv hijack focuses this time around on attributing stories from old objects. Spectators are encouraged to bring their own objects with the reward of an admission discount. A thinly-veiled scheme to decorate the Brody? The Merc wants to know. BRODY THEATER, 1904 NW 27 Ave, 224-0688, Fridays,10:30 pm, $6
Betsy's in the Kitchen
Betsy's in the Kitchen is a dizzyingly complicated improvisation, with eight cast members spinning off a three-act play. BRODY THEATER, 1904 NW 27 Ave, 224-0688, Fridays, 8 pm, through June 30, $8
An Evening with Alan Ball
Four one-acts ("Power Lunch," "Your Mother's Butt," "Bachelor Holliday," and "Made for a Woman,") by the sitcom writer turned Academy Award-winning screenwriter for American Beauty. See review. CALL IN SICK PRODUCTIONS, AT THE RUSSELL STREET THEATER, 116 NE Russell St, 232-4382, Fri-Sat, 10:30 pm, through July 1, $8
Eyes Right
Three different intertwined stories emerge and blend as performers improvise among themselves and-yikes-with audience members. BRODY THEATER, 1904 NW 27 Ave, 224-0688, Fridays, 8 pm, through June, $8
Late Nite Catechism
A popular, recent trend in local theater is supposedly interactive plays. Here is one said to be the most popular, about a parochial school nun. CLOUD 9 PRODUCTIONS AT THE MAIN STREET THEATER, 904 SW Main St, 790-2787, Thur-Fri, 8 pm, Sat, 2 and 8 pm, Sun, 7 pm, through July 31, $24.50 to $29.50
* Lion in the Streets
Canadian playwright Judith Thompson's play about a little girl who comes back and haunts her old neighborhood might sound a lot like the movie The Sixth Sense, but it's a little more intellectually ambitious, particularly when the cast of seven play 29 different characters. THEATER VERTIGO AT THE RUSSELL STREET THEATER, 116 North Russell, Thurs-Sat, 8 pm, though July 1, $10-12
PIPfest Gala
A major congregation of actors, filmmakers, dancers, musicians, and performance artists, the month long Portland International Performance Festival commences with this variety evening, featuring, from the theater side, Vertigo Theatre and others. The plays are to follow the next weekend, beginning with master playwright Steve Berkoff in Shakespeare's Villains. Berkoff is not new to Portland; he recently directed and wrote the plays Greekand Kvetch in Portland. Yet he also has an international following, beginning in British theater in the '60s. In the month, Berkoff will be followed by The Prince of West End Avenue, Pidgin Macbeth and Theatre Stories, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds, Himatsurri, MacArthur's Children, Stories From India, the Repugnant Story of Clotairo Demoniax, and Kyogen: Japans's Classic Comedy. Berkoff premeries at LINCOLN PERFORMANCE HALL, AT PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave, 725-3307/725-3105, Sat, 8 pm, $20-30
Wit
Director Allen Nause mounts this play by Margaret Edson about a professor coping with cancer, starring Vanna O'Brien and JoAnn Johnson. ARTISTS REPERTORY THEATER, 1516 SW Alder St, 241-1278, Thur, 7 pm, Fri-Sat, 8 pm, Sun, 2 pm, through June 25, $15-25
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
The late, anodyne newspaper comics creator receives the inevitable homage from this dinner theater combo. Remarkably, Charles Schultz is still good, even for a dead guy. SYLVIA'S CLASS ACT DINNER THEATER, 5115 NE Sandy Blvd, 288-6828, Thu-Sat at 8 pm, Sun at 7 pm, through Sept 2, $21.95-$31.95
