Performing Arts: Page 63

Domestic Crimes in Arid Climes

Christmas is fakakta for the family in VLT’s Other Desert Cities

Theater
Brett French, Tracy Ilene Miller, Bill Campbell, Christine Hanks and Pamela Lehan-siegel in VLT’s Other Desert Cities.

No American playwright — and perhaps no playwright ever — was as adept as Tennessee Williams at pulling apart the icky, sticky tangle of hurt that one furiously guarded secret can exact on a family. In the humid atmosphere of a Williams play, a single skeleton in the closet can level an entire clan for generations down the line, by way of recrimination, jealousy, resentment, obsession, addiction and, most of all, fear. Shit gets ugly when we tamp down the truth. Continue reading →

A Little Dickens

Theater
Tinamarie Ivey as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Robert Hirsh as Scrooge

It’s a timeless literary trope, from Ecclesiastes to Groundhog Day: A cynical man, mired in despair and the funk of worldly resentments, is confronted with the error of his ways to such an extent that he undergoes an immediate and permanent transformation, emerging from darkness into light. Such victories of the spirit are the epitome of happily ever after, and we never tire of their telling. Continue reading →

Code Red

Comedian Carly Aquilino talks standup, Girl Code and MTV

Comedy
Carly Aquilino

Carly Aquilino has been doing standup for less than three years and she’s already got a hit show — millennial favorite Girl Code, a comedy series where women in entertainment “weigh in on the sisterhood that all girls share” — and a cult following: In a recent episode, a fan gets Aquilino’s face tattooed on her thigh (another fan shaved her face into his back…). EW caught up with Aquilino over the phone from her New York apartment. She brings her act to Eugene for the first time Dec. 6 at McDonald Theatre.   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 →

Orphan Saves the Day

Theater
Jenny Parks as Molly, Kenady Conforth as Annie and Tony Joyner as Daddy Warbucks

There’s something fuzzy and bittersweet about that old populist daydream of an adorable orphan so possessed by optimism that her mere presence can sand down the rough edges of a capitalist tycoon and compel an embattled president to launch the New Deal. If that’s not a political fairy tale for a bygone era, I don’t know what is. Continue reading →

Sounds of the Season

Performing Arts
Jóse Hernàndez and Sol De México

There are plenty of traditional holiday sounds available this month, but happily, Eugene music organizations are also providing worthwhile alternatives when the wassail grows stale.  The seasonal fare starts with the ever-popular University of Oregon holiday choral and gospel concerts Dec. 6-7 at Beall Concert Hall, featuring youthfully exuberant energy and traditional faves. 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 →