Chris Van Allsburg appearing at First Congregational Church, 1126 SW Park, 227-2583, Saturday 11 am, $8-13 In addition to being my favorite children’s book creator of all time, Chris Van Allsburg has achieved something even more notable: a modern Christmas story that I don’t loathe. Recently released as a huge-budget animated film starring Tom Hanks, […]
Justin Wescoat Sanders
Posted inTheater & Performance
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar at the Magdelyn Theater, 403 NW 5th, 274-4771, Fri-Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 2:30 pm, through Nov 28, $15 Recently, in a conversation on favorite thrillers, a friend mentioned Fred Walton’s When A Stranger Calls, an obscure 1979 stalker flick starring Charles Durning and Carol Kane. I found this odd because I had just […]
Posted inBooks
David Sedaris Needs No Introduction
But We Gave Him One Anyway, and While We Were at it, Decided to Go Ahead and Interview Him
Chances are, if you’re reading this you already know David Sedaris is coming to town this week. Chances are, you knew about the appearance months ago and have been wiping your drool on the calendar to cross off each agonizing day. Chances are, I don’t even need to tell you the most hilarious memoirist alive […]
Posted inBooks
Childhood’s End
Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke (1953) Awkwardly meandering through centuries of time and blatantly ignoring character development, Childhood’s End is a flimsy narrative excuse to connect a series of otherwise unrelated ideas. But those ideas by themselves are quite mind-boggling, making this slightly bumpy ride well worth taking. It begins with a classic scenario: […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead NW Cultural Center, 1819 NW Everett, 222-4480, Fri-Sat 10 pm, closes this weekend, $12-15 George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) is a bad movie made by a good filmmaker. Its dirty black and white film quality and shaky camerawork add a creepily realistic ambience to an otherwise uninspired […]
Posted inBooks
Book-Whacked!
Political Books for the Best Election Year Ever!
Amidst this volcanic election year’s molten river of lies and accusations, informing yourself politically has never been more important–and that doesn’t mean 20 minutes of Fox News while eating breakfast. As Stephen Elliott, author of the new Democratic campaign trail diary Looking Forward to It, says, “If you’re going to figure out what’s true, you’re […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Below the Belt
Below the Belt Tribe Theatre, 403 NW 5th, 227-3976, Fri-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm, through October 30, $10-15 In an intimidating warehouse space on the outskirts of the Pearl District, a new arts organization is making a go of it. A fusion of art gallery, café, concert stage, and theater space, Tribe, to say […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
King Lear
King Lear Portland Center Stage, 1111 SW Broadway (at Main), 274-6588, Tues-Wed, Sun 7 pm, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm, through October 31, $15-55 A growing awareness of one’s own insanity is an almost unbearable thing to imagine, and no other work in the English language makes us do so with such relentless precision […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
An Interview with Kevin-Michael Moore
An interview with Kevin-Michael Moore appearing in W! The Musical, Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont, 239-5919, Fri-Sat 8 pm, through October 30, $17-23 The apathetic liberals in swing states are registering to vote in record numbers, and at the time of this writing, Kerry just finished beating Bush soundly in round one of the Presidential […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha Lakewood Theatre, 368 S State St., Lake Oswego, 635-3901, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sun 7 pm, through Oct 17, $25-27 It’s true I’m biased against high-end community theaters in suburban locales with a senior citizen audience quotient exceeding 75 percent. But I’ve also given the Lakewood Theatre Company multiple chances to prove […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
The Mercy Seat
The Mercy Seat Artists Repertory Theatre, 1516 SW Alder, Sun 2 pm & 7 pm, Tues-Thurs 7 pm, Fri-Sat 8 pm, through October 24, $15-35 In The Mercy Seat, playwright Neil LaBute addresses the 9/11 bombings, a discomforting backdrop even by his wonderfully nasty standards. Ben (Leigh J. Guyer) is a Manhattan business-type, a husband […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Shoehorn
Shoehorn playing with Brenda Bufalino, Vine Leaves Restaurant, 2221 SE Hawthorne, Tuesday September 14, 8 pm, $10 When Shoehorn took the stage at the Mercury Pizzazz Talent Show that occurred two weeks ago, his function was as “segue entertainment,” a smooth, melodic transition from one segment of the event to the next. To my ignorant […]