A cryptic press release was sent out in early December for Down
Low: The Musical, a performance of an unnamed musical with proceeds
benefiting something called the “Arabella Collective.” It read:
“Should intellectual property belong to the artist or to the
distributor? The author and composer of this tiny
musical would love to see this show up in lights all over the
country… but the wily corporate mega-giant that owns
the rights feels differently. So we can’t tell you the name of
this show. We can however tell you that it’s full
of vampires. And it’s a musical. And it’s a
little bit gay. We can tell you that a small group of
local artists are laughing in the face of the corporate mega-giant,
and well, if it means anything to you, ‘…you
can sing along.'”
It didn’t take much guessing, or much Googling, to establish that
the show in question is “Once More with Feeling,” the musical
episode of Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The popular
episode was shown as a singalong at theaters around the country
(including locally at Cinema 21) until Fox rescinded the rights for the
episode in 2007, barring future showings.
It’s not as simple as “Fox equals evil,” however. As Whedon superfan
(and Can’t Stop the Serenity founder) the One True b!X pointed out on
the collective’s Facebook page, “This isn’t ‘the wily corporate
mega-giant’ crushing creativity. A union filed a complaint against said
mega-giant because the actors were not receiving residuals from public
screenings of something not designed for public screenings.”
So much for artistic freedom fighting…. But for what it’s worth,
the Arabella Collective is not actually screening the
episode—their singalong is an entirely live production that
features performances from folkster Malcolm Rollick and singer
Beth Willis (who earlier this year played Tonya Harding in the
rock opera Tonya and Nancy). The show is a fundraiser for the
Arabella Performance Art show, scheduled at Holocene at the end of
January. (Fez Ballroom, 316 SW 11th, Sun Jan 11, 7:30 pm, $10-20
sliding scale.)
The current recession is taking its toll on local businesses, and
bookstores are no exception. The Associated Press reported Thursday,
December 11, that Powell’s has asked its employees to
voluntarily cut back on hours or take unpaid sabbaticals, due to
December revenues that were lower than projected. Meanwhile, In
Other Words bookstore—the sole surviving nonprofit feminist
bookstore in the country—has also seen revenues drop, and the
situation is dire: In order to continue operations in the new year,
they need to raise $11,000 by yearend, plus an additional $10,000 by
March to pay off an expiring line of credit. As of Monday, December 15,
they’d raised $8,100—you can donate at inotherwords.org, attend their dance
party/fundraiser at Zaytoon’s on Sunday, December 21 (2236 NE
Alberta, 7-11 pm), and support either business with your Christmas
shopping dollars.
And finally, the arts community lost two of its own this week.
Portland Art Museum photography curator Terry Toedtemeier passed
away in Hood River on Wednesday, December 10, at a reading for his
recent book Wild Beauty, a collection of photographs of the
Columbia River Gorge. Portland Center Stage electrician and spotlight
operator Josh Westhaver died on December 11 from a major asthma
attack that led to cardiac arrest.