Inane Title + Meg Ryan = Awesome Meg Ryan is a fine actress who has made some excellent films, but few people remember that fact because along the way she has made two key mistakes: 1) she rode her cuteness like a horse until it was lame and tired, and then kicked it to death […]
Justin Sanders
Posted inTheater & Performance
A Bicycle Country
Theater Review
A Bicycle Country The Miracle Theatre Through May 11 Three Cubans set out on a raft for America to find freedom from the persecution of their native land, and the emotional turmoil of the truly oppressed meets the high suspense of a risky ocean adventure. It is a premise with enough potency to outweigh its […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Fifty Infants
Theater Review
Fifty Infants Oslund & Company Conduit Dance Studio Mary Oslund makes her company work; moments of rest during Fifty Infants are rare, moments of stasis nonexistent. At least one person is always moving with furious energy, if not two or three, or most commonly, five, six, seven, or eight. Dancers leap, twist, turn, catch, throw […]
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Dinner with Friends
Theater Review
Dinner with Friends Artists Repertory Theater Through April 28 Gabe and Karen (Grant Byington and Susannah Mars) are the kind of people who make gorgeous dinners for their friends and then explain exactly why each individual dish is so delicious. They take trips to exotic places like Italy and tell their guests stories about it […]
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Chainsaw Spaceman
Theater Review
Chainsaw Spaceman Hoskins & Breen at Coho Through April 20 At the opening night showing of Chainsaw Spaceman, in the midst of the first scene–a riff on farmers and the machinery they love–John Breen broke character and started giggling to himself. It was a fascinating moment that could only happen at a show’s premiere, when […]
Posted inSPECIAL!
THE MOST OYSTER SHOOTERS EVER SHOT… IN THE WORLD
My continued search brought me deep into the heart of Multnomah Village, wherein lies a quirky little bar and grill called Renner’s. I had caught wind of a very special kind of athlete who is a regular here. His name is Chip Beck and he has a very unassuming frame, considering the ability that lurks […]
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THE MOST PINT GLASSES AND MILK CRATES EVER BALANCED ON SOMEONEโS CHINโฆIN THE WORLD
he area around Tyler Bechtel’s house in the heart of Woodstock, was even more unassuming than Chip Beck’s bar of regulars. Chip’s hang-out is a drinking establishment after all; a place where ludicrous acts of human achievement are at least plausible. Tyler, a professional clown and entertainer, lives in a simple, quaint neighborhood, basically on […]
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Some Explicit Polaroids
Theater Review
Some Explicit Polaroids Sowelu Productions Through April 20 Some Explicit Polaroids is a classic example of style over substance. Mark Ravenhill’s script revolves around Nick (Ted Schulz), who is released from prison after serving time for a politically driven attempted murder. He tries to reunite with his old girlfriend, the hard-nosed Helen (Lorraine Bahr), meets […]
Posted inNews
PORTLAND:THE BEST CITY…IN THE WORLD
And Justin Sanders Proves it By Spotlighting Three of Portland’s World Champions!
Any PDX resident who isn’t comatose needs not be reminded of this recent dismal distinction: Portland has the highest unemployment rate in the nation. People are turning down the heat in the midst of frigid weather, in order to save a few bucks for rent money. Wallets are thinner than a bargain pizza, and even […]
Posted inSPECIAL!
THE SMALLEST PARK… IN THE WORLD
The healing continues with Mill Ends Park, the Smallest City Park in the world. Mill Ends is something to be proud of for a number of reasons. For starters, it truly is incredibly tiny–really nothing more than a yard by yard concrete square surrounding a patch of dirt and flowers. It’s also located in the […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
The Portland Subway
Theater Review
The Portland Subway Circle of Fire Productions Through March 30 Here’s what I think you’ll experience at The Portland Subway: a steady stream of lunatics will scream and mutter to you about various existential dilemmas. Their rants will be accentuated by loud and horrific sound and visual effects. In that sense, it will be very […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Rashomon
Theater Review
Rashomon Theatre Vertigo through April 16 Married couple Takehiko (Tom Moorman) and Kinume (Nanette Pettit) are attacked while out in the woods. The attacker is the bandit Tajomaru (Song Kim), who proceeds to tie Takehiko up, force himself on Kinume, and then kill Takehiko. This is the simple sequence of events that Ryunosuke Akutagawa so […]