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Most of us have grown up with the tale of Ebeneezer Scrooge rediscovering his Christmas spirit and, while the story doesn’t change, our relationship to the story does. Sometimes life makes Scrooges of us all with its litany of heartbreak, missed opportunities and too much time wasted stressing about careers and money. That’s what makes Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol so immortal. Continue reading
What is it about the encroaching cold and dark that sends us shivering out into the night in search of a collective theater experience? Local theaters can smell our desire, and like an expert patisserie, they set out the most familiar, uplifting theatrical fare to tempt us. There will be no angst-ridden, painful social statements made on stage this December. The holiday theater season is about warm, familiar classics to satisfy an audience hungry for community and tradition. Continue reading
For those willing to brave the cold, First Friday ArtWalk will be brimming with holiday cheer. Courtney Stubbert, of Eugene Contemporary Art, partners with Threadbare Print House to host a pop-up print shop — “Give Shop” — 5:30 to 9 pm Friday, Dec. 4, at 945 Olive in Broadway Alley. “Give” posters will be screenprinted on the spot. All proceeds go to Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Lane County. Continue reading
Mockingjay Part 2 has no illusions about being anything but the final movie in a series. There are no reminders, no “previously, on The Hunger Games” montages to put you back in the story; it just starts, opening on a Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) who is, as we so often see her, bruised but not broken. Which, in a nutshell, is the problem with this movie: It doesn’t know how to grapple with the way that book-Katniss really is broken, traumatized and angry after all she’s been through. Continue reading
What makes for a quintessentially L.A. band? History tells us the answer is always in flux, from the pristine sun-and-surf pop of the Beach Boys to the hairspray and whiskey-fueled sleaziness of Guns n’ Roses and the G-funk-laced bangers of Dr. Dre and Snoop. As for the present, you could make a case for Lana Del Rey’s Hollywood torch singing or Kendrick Lamar’s Compton revivalism, but I’d like to submit for consideration the quartet Parade of Lights. Continue reading
The world is full of Christian bands you didn’t know were Christian: U2, Kings of Leon, Belle & Sebastian and now … drumroll … Cold War Kids! Not that you couldn’t have guessed it — there’s something about that stomp-clap indie-soul-folk thing (think Mumford & Sons) that could easily give the band away, despite its lack of lyrical Jesus references. Continue reading
Thanksgiving can be a slow music weekend for Eugene, but don’t let that turkey tryptophan give you couch lock. There are plenty of reasons to put on some pants and leave the house: Continue reading
‘Seed’, at the Dougherty Dance Theatre on the U.O. Campus featured new works by the TRANSform, a collective of dance artists who are all graduates of the U.O. Dance Dept.’s M.F.A. program: Continue reading
Local filmmaker Daniel Eli Dronsfield shared with Eugene Weekly today a short video he made about Kesey Square and business owner Ali Emami, who says he'd like to keep the square as public space.. Continue reading
Raising the Barre: Big Dreams, False Starts, & My Midlife Quest to Dance the Nutcracker (Da Capo Press) by local author Lauren Kessler begins with the moment, a little over a year ago, when — in the midst of her middle-aged working-mom life — Kessler gets a bee in her bonnet to dance The Nutcracker with the Eugene Ballet Company. Continue reading