One Week Only

ONE World Performance & Auction
The upcoming September production of Wade McCollum's new musical, ONE is going to be sort of big. The acclaimed cast will feature local stalwarts Susannah Mars, Julianna Jaffe, Andy Alcala, and more, as well as ringers from NYC and LA. Tonight, in case you care, support the thing at a benefit featuring preview segments from the piece, as well as a silent auction and music from Brothers of the Baladi. Wonder Ballroom , 128 NE Russell, 234-0973, Sat 7 pm, $25

Closing This Week

A Light in the Dark
A series of vignettes, Ezra LeBank's 75-minute one-man show features 20-odd characters from a U.S. soldier in Iraq to a clown (same difference, you say?), all, naturally, played by LeBank. An ambitious, sometimes clever production, A Light in the Dark is essentially about death. But rather than addressing mortality directly, most of the vignettes rely on the characters' reactions to their own lives. WG Back Door , 4321 SE Hawthorne, 287-8737, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm, through Aug 7, $10-15

Faust. Us. (Version 2.0)
Stark Raving Theatre presents a remount of its modern update of Goethe's classic, with a remixed script and new music. Coho Theatre , 2257 NW Raleigh, 232-7072, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, $10-20

Salom
A new company, Look Away Productions, presents Oscar Wilde's seldom-done dark comedy, an eroticized Biblical interpretation that didn't see the light of day until well after his death. The Miracle Theatre , 525 SE Stark, 715-0960, Thurs-Sun 8 pm, $10-15

Tao Soup
Scott Kelman steps up to the directorial plate again after what feels like years of doing nothing but providing free experimental theater workshops to the community. For Tao Soup, he's utilized a process called "kelmanworks" to create a piece of "serendipitous events and entertainment." Brooklyn Bay , 1825 SE Franklin, Bay K, 777-5879, Fri-Sat 8 pm,, $10-14

VERB: Literature in Performance
For last summer's first installment of VERB, an evening of one-acts adapted from literary short stories, Portland Arts and Lectures selected works by Raymond Carver, an author whose blue-collar weirdness proved difficult to translate to the stage. This year, the nonprofit has eased up a bit with lesser known writers and a theme: "Love's Labors: Lost & Found." In Russell Banks' "The Moor," a middle-aged man (the great, grizzled Ted Roisum) encounters the now-elderly woman he had an affair with (Michele Mariana) when he was just a young 'un. Elsewhere, Grace Paley's "Love" presents a geriatric couple talking about poetry. Its five-minute running time barely kept my boredom from eating me alive. Even shorter is the adaptation of Lon Otto's "Love Poems," essentially an extended joke about an aspiring writer's true reasons for writing an ode to his beloved. The remaining one-acts are based on Charles Baxter stories, "Saul & Patsy Are Getting Comfortable in Michigan" and "The Eleventh Floor." Banks and Baxter, in particular, can spin prose that entrances. But here, onstage, their work feels purposeless. Nobody in this production is energized, from the techies involved in the high school-quality set changes to director Julie Akers' listless staging. JWS Theater! Theatre! , 3430 SE Belmont, 227-2583, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sun 7 pm, $16-22

Current Runs

As You Like It
Portland Actors Ensemble presents what feels like the 300th outdoor Shakespeare event this summer. As You Like It is a zany tale of mistaken identity, comedy, and romance set in a magical forest that... that... ZZZZZ... Washington Park , 467-6573, Sat-Sun 3 pm, free

Footloose: The Musical
These days a film has officially reached cult status when it is given a staged musical adaptation. NW Children's Theater thus presents the theatricalized version of Footloose, a cinematic work so unrelentingly terrible it could receive nothing BUT cult status. Northwest Children's Theater , 1819 NW Everett St, 222-4480, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm, through Aug 7, $14-18

Much Ado About Nothing
The reliable Quintessence company is back for another go-around with Shakespeare's old standard about pretty much exactly what the title implies. Mago Hunt Center, at the University of Portland , 5000 N Willamette Blvd, 943-7287, Fri 8 pm, Sat 4 pm, Sun 2 pm, $10-15

Omnium Gatherum
See review this issue
. West End Theater , 1220 SW Taylor, 223-4240, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sun 7 pm, through Aug 14, $18

The Rocky Horror Show
This Wade McCollum-helmed vehicle has been extended all the way through August 20, which we guess means it's popular or something. Triangle Productions , Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont, 224-8499, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, extended through Aug 20, $30-35

Comedy/Improv

Mississ-Improv
Some local improv all-stars--Nate Halloran, Brad Fortier, Phil Incorvia, and more--have teamed up for an evening of, well, improv. Mississippi Pizza , 3552 N. Mississippi, 288-3231, Fri 8 pm, $10

Summer In Brodavia
The Brody presents its usual summertime fare: a weekly evening of generally good improv with veterans Tom Johnson, Brad Fortier, Marilyn Divine, and more. Brody Theater , 1904 NW 27th Ave, 224-0688, Sat 9 pm, through Sept 3, $6-9

Dance

BodyVox
Cool dance company BodyVox is gearing up for the fall season, presenting a sneak preview of new works whilst you nibble on succulent (if slightly overpriced) eats in the cool confines of clarklewis. The performance is free. The meal is most assuredly not. Clarklewis , SE Water and Taylor, 235-2294, Mon-Tues 8 pm