Author: Rachael Carnes

Celebrity Chef Alton Brown to Appear At The Hult

In a culinary variety show

Chow
Alton Brown

Acclaimed “foodie” and TV personality Alton Brown has been teaching Americans how to cook for decades. The author of seven cookbooks, Brown created the Peabody Award-winning series Good Eats, has hosted Iron Chef America and has been a mentor and judge on Food Network Star. Currently the host of the popular food competition Cutthroat Kitchen, EW caught up with the multi-talented Brown in the midst of his international tour of “Alton Brown LIVE! The Edible Inevitable Tour.”     Continue reading →

Oregon Shakespeare Festival Premiers Three New Plays

Fingersmith, Head Over Heels and Sweat

Theater
Fingersmith

Just a few hours south on I-5 exists a dulcet community that my family has re-named “The Magical Twinkly Fairyland.” For the uninitiated, the village I’m referring to is Ashland, where good restaurants abound, creeks babble, deer wander and, from February through November, some of the finest theater glimmers across the stages of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  Celebrating its 80th year, OSF’s 2015 season features three world premieres:  Continue reading →

What a Way to Make a Living

ACE Pours a Cup of Ambition with 9 to 5

Theater

In the iconic 1980 movie 9 to 5, workaday heroines Doralee Rhodes, Judy Bernly and Violet Newstead (played by Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin) suffer under — and ultimately triumph over — their “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” boss, Mr. Hart (rendered to oily perfection by Dabney Coleman). It’s a classic film, with a title song that’s been scientifically proven to be the foremost go-to karaoke anthem of all time. Continue reading →

The Spin

Who’s who and what’s what in dance this month

Dance
Ballet Fantastique’s An American Christmas Carol. Photo by Stephani Urso.

This holiday season, stages beckon with dance offerings for the young and young at heart. Ballet Fantastique rolls out its new holiday tradition, An American Christmas Carol, choreographed by Donna Marisa Bontrager and Hannah Bontrager. This jazzy retelling of Charles Dickens’ classic tale sets the ghostly story in post-WW II America and features live music by jazz singer Halie Loren. Performances run Dec. 12-14 at the Hult Center; $17-$49. Folks on the coast can catch the show Friday, Dec.19, at the Florence Events Center; $16-$24.  Continue reading →

Making Memories in the Kitchen

Chow
A warm batch of mostaccioli

Whether it’s tamales, suet pudding or even lutefisk, many Eugene families keep memories alive by preparing their favorite holiday foods.  “We eat mushroom soup every Christmas Eve, in keeping with the Polish tradition of my husband’s family,” says Leigh Christiansen, who co-owns Eugene-based Calypso Fly Fishing Guide Service with her husband, Barrett Christiansen. “We gather chanterelles in the fall, and dry sauté and freeze them for our soup. This ritual is very dear to us.”  Continue reading →

The New Hansel and Gretel

The Fringe Festival’s Constance & Sinestra gets an Oregon premiere at LCC

Theater
Anna Parks (LEFT) as Constance and Naomi Todd as Sinestra with Tilese Haight as Dead Mum

When the new musical Constance & Sinestra and the Cabinet of Screams premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the summer of 2011, Lane Community College student Anna Parks happened to catch a performance of the quirky show. Parks later brought the idea of presenting the offbeat musical to LCC’s Student Production Association, and after clearing sizeable hurdles to secure the rights to the play, the LCC theater will be among the first venues outside of the UK to debut this darkly twisted fairy tale.  Continue reading →