Fall Fest 2011

I’ve said before and it’s worth repeating: On any given weekend in Portland tri-county area, you can have yourself an arts festival with a multitude of choices. Here are just a few of the offerings that came my way via email this week.

PICA presents the perennial TBA (Time-Based Art) Festival, (photo left) 10 nights of music and art at The Works at Washington HIgh School, SE Stark (between 12th and 14th Streets), Portland. For more info visit www. pica.org. Some highlights include:

• Ten Tiny Dances 25 [GLOBAL, DANCE] Saturday, September 10. Celebrate the 25th performance by Ten Tiny Dances with a lineup that draws together five “greatest hit” tiny dances, and five new works by TBA Festival artists, including Taylor Mac, Raja Kelly, Yoko Higashino, Yukio Suzuki, and tEEth.
• Whoop Dee Doo, a kid-friendly faux public access television show featuring performances and live audience participation. With skits, contests, musicians, and local talent, the program is inspired by television shows such as Pee Wee’s Playhouse, Mr. Wizard, The Gong Show, Double Dare, and Soul Train. LIVE PERFORMANCES: Saturday, September 17 at 1 & 4pm
• Occupation/Preoccupation, an exhibit that brings light to more than 700 U.S. military bases on foreign soil in sovereign countries where we have no declaration of war. This project unites musicians, researchers, and music-lovers to cover songs that originate from each of these places, raising awareness of our global military presence.

Artists Repertory Theatre presents the Tony-award-winning play God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza and directed by Denis Arndt, stage, television and film actor.  This shocking comedy/ drama play kicks off ART’s 29^th season with actors Patrick Dizney, Michael Mendelson, Trisha Miller, Allison Tigard. Performance Dates are September 6 – October 9 at ART’s Alder Stage (16^th and Alder St.) in Portland.  For tickets call 503.241.1278 or visit www.artistsrep.org. (Check out Denis Arndt live in the studio on Sept. 6th at 11am!)

Triangle Productions presents Maybe Baby, It’s You By Charlie Shanian and Shari Simpson. It’s a comedy about searching for a soul mate told in 11 vignettes and features Gary Cash and Adair Chappell. The show runs September 8 – October 2 at Triangle’s new space, The Sanctuary, 1785 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland. For tickets, call 503-239-5919 or visit: www.tripro.org.

Lunacy Stageworks

Lunacy Stageworks presents a comedy called Love Song by John Kolvenbach and directed by John Steinkamp. Described as a funny, passionate, poignant play about raw wonder and boundless love, it features a man named Beane and a fire-spitting young woman channeling an avenging angel. Performances are Sept. 16 – Oct. 8.  All Performances will be at The Sellwood Masonic Lodge, located at 7126 SE Milwaukie Avenue in Portland. For tickets and additional information, visit www.lunacystageworks.org.

Bag & Baggage Productions starts off its season with Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Crimes of the Heart. Performances are at the Venetian Theatre in downtown Hillsboro. The tragic-comedy about the dysfunctional McGrath sisters opens Sept. 21 — October 9.  For show times and more info, visit www.bagnbaggage.org.

Imago Theatre presents Zugzwang. Jerry
Mouawad’s fifth”Opera Beyond Words” –Sept 29 to Oct 22, Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the door or by calling Imago: 503.231.9581. Or TicketsWest.com at 503.224.8499.   When a man is left with little time to make a life altering gamble in a game of poker, he pauses the game to journey with his gang to mysterious locales and discovers the unexpected. Fifth in Mouawad series of “Opera Beyond Words” ZUGZWANG is part theater, part dance and a large part sweeping operatic movements – all without words. Visit www.ImagoTheatre.com.

BodyVox’s season begins with Horizontal Leanings, Sept. 29—Oct. 15. According to BodyVox, Horizontal Leanings distills their singular union of imagery and dance into an intimate glimpse of real-life community concerns like relationships, recycling and diminishing greenspace. Set to original music by L.A. composer Vivek Maddala and  Portland band Nu Shooz creator John Smith.  For more info, visit BodyVox.com.

Polaris Dance

Polaris Dance Theatre returns with iCHANGE at the Newmark Theatre Oct 5-7 with a fresh look at one of its most popular works - iCHANGE. Originally conceived by Polaris Artistic Director Robert Guitron as a five-part exploration of the transformative effects of human relationships over the course of a lifetime.

Visit BoxOfficeTickets.com or the PCPA Box Office. For more info visit: PolarisDance.Org or call 503-929-0791.

Portland Taiko opens their 2011 season with Beat Salad: U-Pick, a compilation of audience favorites. PT asks fans to vote online and at live performances during the coming months. Two shows only of U-Pick on Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. and Oct 2 at 2 p.m. at the Newmark Theatre, Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway St., Portland.  For info visit www.portlandtaiko.org or call 1-800-745-3000 for tickets.

Miracle Theatre presents the ambitious and lively La Luna Nueva Festival, a celebration of Latino arts and culture  featuring music, dance, fine art and theatre, September 16 – October 1 includes:

• “Inspirational Sounds from Latin America” with Gerardo Calderón and “A Sultry Night in Latin America” with Correo Aereo. 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17.
• The Grammy-nominated Alfredo Muro Trio and “Latin Jazz Night” and Alfredo Muro solo for “Guitarra Apasionada” (Passionate Guitar), Friday and Saturday, Sept. 23 and 24.
• Fingers dance, strings sing… ZING! “Los Dedos Bailan, Las Cuerdas Cantan” with Toshi Onizuka and guests, Sept. 30.
  

  Rebecca Martinez - Viva la Cultura!

• Family-friendly
 stories and interactive songs and dances for the kids with “Nuestros Cuentos” (Our Stories) and  a separate show called “Mexico Lindo” (Beautiful Mexico) with ¡Viva La Cultura! (Donna Oefinger, Andy Sterling and Rebecca Martinez), Sundays, 2pm on Sept. 18 and 25.
• A drama
awarded “Overall Excellence in Solo Performance” at NYC Fringe Festival: “Be Careful! The Sharks Will Eat You!” – a personal story of an amazing journey, written and performed by Jay Alvarez, Sept. 19, 20 and 21.
• A play by Caridad Svich adapted from the novel by Isabel Allende : “The House of the Spirits” / “La Casa de los Espíritus” Staged reading in English: Sept. 26
Staged reading in Spanish: Sept. 28.
• “The Evolution of Latino Hip Hop” with Latin Groove PDX Productions, Thursday, Sept. 29.
• ¡Eso! Flamenco “Travesuras” (Pranks) Flamenco dance with Ricardo Diaz and guests, Oct. 1.
• Open Mic Poetry Night, Sept. 27
• A study in contrasts — here and there, past and future Paintings by Claudio Alberto Soriano and William Hernandez, Sept. 16-Oct. 1.

For a complete schedule visit La Luna Nueva web page or call the theatre to request a brochure by mail: 503-236-7253 or visit: www.milagro.org.