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Chronicling the lives of five women in show business, the new play Five of a Kind spans half a century of friendship and social transformation. Written by Anita Dwyer and Adrienne Armstrong, the play premieres this week, Feb. 13-15, in a “reader’s theater” format at the Very Little Theatre. Continue reading
Head to downtown Springfield for the Second Friday Art Walk 5 to 8 pm, Feb. 13, and see the latest creations in silk, cotton and wool of fiber artist Tylar Merrill at the Thimbleberry Felt Designs pop-up shop at L’Etoffe Fabrics (329 Main St.). Continue strutting your stuff for the South Willamette Second Saturday Art Walk 3 to 7 pm, Feb. 14, with stops at Wild Birds Unlimited, 16 Tons Café, Tsunami Books and more. Continue reading
Dance in 2015 is beginning to bloom! The Eugene Ballet Company offers Carmen, a sultry love story set to Bizet’s romantic score. Choreographed in 2007, the piece pulses with the passionate influence of Spanish flamenco and features Danielle Tolmie and her fiancée Mark Tucker in the lead roles. Check out the free “Ballet Insider” conversation with EBC Artistic Director Toni Pimble 45 minutes prior to each performance. Carmen runs Feb. 14-15 at the Hult Center; $28-53. Continue reading
The enormous diversity gap the Oscars tends to leave in its wake can make you want to give up on film altogether. Luckily, here in Eugene, there’s a place less mainstream films can thrive. Currently in its 23rd year, the Queer Film Festival, presented by the UO’s Cultural Forum, will screen 21 LGBTQ-focused films at the Bijou Metro Feb. 6-8. This year, filmmakers Christina Hurtado-Pierson (Transmilitary) and Liliya Anisimova (Love Is The Highest Law) will travel from New York to host discussions and Q&A sessions 7 pm Feb. 6 and 7. Continue reading
Eugeneans — if you think driving 20 minutes to Cottage Grove to see a band play is too long, consider how long Self Decay traveled just to play there. “We are four-piece from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,” says Self Decay bassist Pedro Gibson. In 2012 the band lived in L.A. for six months before returning to Brazil, but didn’t have the chance to tour the states until now. Continue reading
If you thought Jamaican reggae was laidback, Wayne Enos is here to tell you that Hawaiian reggae is even more chill. Enos, guitarist and vocalist with Hawaiian reggae band Natural Vibrations, or Natty Vibes, says: “Hawaiian reggae is definitely inspired by Jamaican reggae. We kept the idea of a melodic bass line but the subject matter is different most times. Continue reading
The music of Los Angeles’ Dengue Fever sounds like the soundtrack to an unmade James Bond film set in Cambodia. Guitarist Zac Holtzman tells EW his group is inspired by the rich and complex horn arrangements of Ethiopian jazz, as well as plain old American surf rock. Initially, however, Holtzman says he and bandmate and brother Ethan Holtzman came together over a shared love of Cambodia’s much-anthologized ’60s garage-rock era. Continue reading
Lane Community College’s inaugural Playwright’s Showcase 2015 gives student playwrights the chance to see their nascent works come to life onstage while also gaining real-world expertise in arts management. Through this innovative program, students not only nurture creative projects, but they learn firsthand how plays are produced and promoted. This year’s showcase, which runs Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 12-15, features five plays, each written and directed by students or former students. Continue reading
Send Shakespeare to the moon. Put him in the middle of Nazi Germany, the antebellum South, the Prague Spring, the Whiteaker Block Party. The miracle of Shakespeare’s plays, and the iambic mechanics of their impossible flexibility, is that wherever you set them, Shakespeare more or less remains Shakespeare — even in Castro’s Cuba. Continue reading