Opening This Week

36 Views
A highfalutin' tale of corruption in the Asian art market, inspired by Japanese artist Hokusai's Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji. Portland Center Stage, 1111 SW Broadway, 274-6588, Opens Fri, runs Tues-Wed, Sun 7 pm, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Thurs & Sun 2 pm, through Feb 29, $16-51

Circle
A modern update of Schnitzler's 19th-Century psycho-sexual farce, composed of 10 vignettes set in Starbucks and other trendy locales. The press photos sent out by Triangle feature middle-aged actors decked out in strap-on dildos and bondage gear. Blech to the max. Triangle Productions, at Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont, 239-5919, Thurs 7:30 pm, Fri-Sat 8 pm, through Mar 6, $19-23

* Reality Check
The Brody Brothas and Sistas are at it again with an improvised riff on your favorite MTV-style reality shows. Fun! Brody Theater, 1904 NW 27th Ave, 224-0688, Fri-Sat 10:30 pm, through Feb. 21, $8

Service
An improvised tar and feathering of service employees, and even better, annoying customers. There better be something about bad tippers. Brody Theater, 1904 NW 27th Ave, 224-0688, Fri-Sat 8 pm, through Mar 13, $10

One Week Only

Vaudeville Revusical and Novelty Show
It's a special Valentine's Day edition of Miz Kitty's basically monthly series of theatrics, music, and general entertainment. Tonight catch drama studette Lorraine Bahr, the fiddling of the excellently named Brongaene Griffin, belly dancers from Sister Caravan, and more, more, more! Miz Kitty's Parlour, at Artichoke Music Backstage Gate, 3130 SE Hawthorne, 232-8845, Sat 8 pm, $12

Closing This Week

Big Real
Linda Austin's new one-woman show Big Real will appear in the Dance section of most community calendars, but with little traditional choreography, it plays more as performance art than anything else. Austin plays with plastic figurines, strums a ukulele-like instrument, outlines her own body with salt, and moves, catlike, in and out of Simon Crane and Val Williamson's cleverly constructed set of screens, secret panels, and windows. What emerges from it all is a beautifully staged, perfectly lit (by the always reliable Jeff Forbes), frequently self-absorbed hodgepodge of... stuff that interests Austin. Such stuff includes solipsism, scoliosis, the obscure 18th-Century poet Thomas Chatterton, and corks; many, many corks. JWS Performance Works NorthWest, 4625 SE 67th Ave, 777-1907, Fri-Sun 8 pm, through Feb 15, $7-10

* Lucia di Lammermoor
Attention Gaetano Donizetti fans: Lucia is supposedly his most beautiful tragedy, the gothic tale of a man who tries to force his sister to marry a wealthy man so he can ride her coattails to success. Portland Opera Company, at the Keller Auditorium, 222 SW 3rd, 241-1802, Thurs, Sat 7:30 pm, $30-$125

* Oklahoma
Oh, what a beautiful mornin'! One of Rodger and Hammerstein's most popular musicals blows through town for one week, sans hunky Hugh Jackman, who made an enormous splash on Broadway as Curly. Catch the uber-trippy 1955 film version for a warm-up. Broadway in Portland, at Keller Auditorium, SW Third and Clay, 790-ARTS, Feb. 17-21, 7:30 pm, Feb. 22 6:30 pm, $23-$63

Current Runs

LOOT
Joe Orton's allegedly outrageous play about a bank heist gone all wonky. This production has an amazing cast, including Laura Faye Smith (haven't seen her in a while), Leif Norby, and Kevin-Michael Moore. Coho Theatre, 2257 NW Raleigh, 220-2646, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm, through Mar 6, $18-20

Scapin
The constantly improving Radiant company presents a mishmash of masks, music and acrobatics based on Bill Irwin's adaptation of a Moliere comedy. Radiant Theatre at Disjecta, 116 N. Russell, 502-8261, Fri-Sat 8 pm, Sat 2:30 pm, through Feb 22, $10-15

* The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?
Our antihero in The Goat is Martin, who would seem a very normal man. He's 50, smart, successful and loves his wife and teenage son. But Martin has also somehow fallen in love with a goat he calls Sylvia, and when his clandestine trips to the barnyard are revealed his life begins crashing down around him. Allen Nause's performance as Martin, a bumbly, sweater-clad romantic desperately trying to explain to his family how he's inexplicably, hopelessly in love with a goat, is in turn titillating, repugnant, hilarious, woeful, and endearing. AS Artists Repertory Theatre, 1516 SW Alder, 241-1278, Tues-Thurs, Sun 7 pm, Fri-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm, through Feb 22, $15-32

Dance

A Moving Sound
A touring Taiwanese music/dance group comes to the Holocene to present their unique fusion of French horn, violin, guitars, African drums, cool vocals, and movement. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, Thurs 9 pm, $8