Author: Anna Grace

Slaves, Sex and Centurions

Very Little Theatre gets irreverent with Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Theater

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum captured our country’s imagination when it debuted on Broadway in 1962. A young Stephen Sondheim wowed audiences with an interesting score, providing a teaser to his masterful later works. The book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart is based on Plautus’ Roman comedies, resulting in a goofy, sometimes brainy farce that manages to reflect a deep respect for the humor of antiquity. Continue reading →

Mr. Moonshine

Anonymous distiller shares his homebrew philosophy

Drink
A few of The Provider’s libations

Distilling hard alcohol without a distillery license is illegal in Oregon and the U.S. From herein, any discussion of homemade spirits is purely theoretical.  I may know a man who makes the most incredibly smooth scotch, icy clear vodka, flavorful limoncello and Drambuie, creamy gin, authentic rum. Since I can’t refer to him by name, because he may not exist, I will simply call him “The Provider.” Continue reading →

Class Act

Veteran director Judy Wenger is back with Snow White at Rose Children’s Theatre

Theater
Judy Wenger directs Rose Children’s Theatre’s Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs

Veteran teacher, director, author and the inspiration for Ms. Wingit of the nationally syndicated cartoon Stone Soup, Judy Wenger is a Eugene icon. And she’s directing again, with a gleeful adaptation of Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs for Rose Children’s Theatre. During her 37 years in education, Wenger developed a theory of theater education that rests heavily on community and respect, at the expense of starpower. Continue reading →

Let Them Eat

Young women in Eugene talk body image and the pressure to be perfect

Health

“Gaining weight was the worst possible thing that could happen,” says 17-year-old South Eugene High School senior Sophie Kreitzberg. Returning from a 500-mile walk along Spain’s Camino de Santiago, Kreitzberg had never been so thin. “I got so much attention,” she remembers, noting that she experienced her first romance, was cast in plays and that social interaction was just easier as a thin woman.  “My grandmother cried because I was so beautiful,” Kreitzberg recalls. Continue reading →

Holiday Drama

Family-friendly theater to beat the winter blues

Performing Arts

Wanna catch a show? Holiday theater abounds in our suddenly festive town. This year local theaters are offering fun, family-friendly shows that aren’t necessarily Christmas-focused. Your options are as follows:   She Loves Me Cottage Theatre is producing this sweet musical. She Loves Me is taken from the same story as the 1993 classic, Sleepless in Seattle. Fun music and dancing accompany the tale of corresponding sweethearts. The Cottage Theatre builds on a string of strong musicals, making this play a good bet. Dec. 5-21. Continue reading →

Peter Pan (Jr.) Flies Again

Rose Children’s Theatre takes us back to Never Never Land, Disney style

Theater
Adriana Ripley plays Tinker Bell in Rose Children Theater’s Peter Pan Jr.

Who can resist a story that starts with a trio of children flying out the bedroom window to a land where you never grow up? Add a fearsome, hook-handed sea captain and a mischievous fairy, and you are solidly in the grasp of the marvelous adventure of Peter Pan, a version of which — Disney’s Peter Pan Jr. — opens Friday, Nov. 7, at Churchill High School under the auspices of Rose Children’s Theatre.  Continue reading →

Don’t Believe Everything You See

VLT examines dishonesty in Steve Dietz’s Private Eyes

Theater
Jay Hash, Melanie Moser, Bradley Wilson and Hailey Henderson in Private Eyes

Deception — slick, fertile, invasive deception. The Very Little Theatre’s latest production, Private Eyes, floods the theater with the sickening ocean of emotion that comes from being lied to by a lover, then dangles a life preserver just out of reach. This funny and painful play examines the concept of deceit in every possible manner: the deceit of your spouse, your shrink, yourself, even your audience. Continue reading →