We've got issues.
Like fragrant pines, candy canes and twinkle lights, The Nutcracker is a perennial symbol of the holiday season. Toni Pimble, artistic director for the Eugene Ballet Company, agrees. Most people tell her that without the ballet company’s annual performance, Christmas just wouldn’t be complete. Continue reading
As any owner of a house cat knows, it’s difficult to get cats to do anything — much less perform for an audience. But award-winning performer Gregory Popovich of The Popovich Comedy Pet Theater thinks he knows the secret: “You cannot push a cat to do something,” says Popovich, whose act has been voted Las Vegas’ Best New Family Show. “As a trainer I have to see what [the cats] like to do and then create tricks” based on the natural habits of the animal. Continue reading
At the North Crawford Mask & Wig Club, Central Connecticut’s finest community theater, Tom Newton is waxing philosophical on love, pure and complicated. “The way I see it,” he notes, “love and theater have a lot in common. They’re both seductive. They both make promises they can’t always keep. And they’re both chock-full of attractive people who are maybe just a little too addicted to drama.” Continue reading
Czech-born playwright Tom Stoppard was knighted as a British subject in 1997, a gesture of literary pomp that, while entirely deserved, nonetheless must have struck Sir Tom as a delicious twist of irony. Continue reading
There’s nothing more attractive than a funny woman (or rather, a funny person). Forget what the world of advertising tries to tell us; true beauty doesn’t rest with spherical breasts south of a perfectly placed Monroe mole (or washboard abs south of a cleft chin). It lies with a person who can master perfect timing or who can observe the subtle hilarity in everyday life and discuss it on stage with only a microphone. Continue reading
Brian Haimbach waited, watched and learned. His first year as the lead theater faculty at Lane Community College slipped by as Haimbach got to know the college and the community. Now, he’s ready to bust out some change. Haimbach’s vision encompasses transfer degrees, acting competitions, community connections and the revamping of a vibrant old theater department. Continue reading
“Even if he was a communist, why would he have cards printed up?” the writer asks, hearing that General George Marshall has just been accused by Joseph McCarthy of being a card-carrying communist. It’s just another day at the office — the crazy, neurotic, hysterical office for Lucus (Zachary Twardowski) as he tries to make it as a comedy writer for a major comedian against the pressures of lowering network standards and Cold War propaganda. Continue reading
The Knights Who Say “Ni.” The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog and the Gorge of Eternal Peril. A three-headed giant, a sorcerer named Tim and that petulant French sentry who threatens to “fart in your general direction” before vowing to “taunt you a second time.” Continue reading
“Spin the windmill,” yells out Tim Matteson, the caller for Eugene’s Spin City Square. He adds, “Flip the hourglass,” “Horseshoe turn” followed by “Split the outside couple.” As he calls out steps, eight dancers move about the floor, switching partners and sharing laughs. Continue reading