Whats-Happening: Page 527

Big Bubbly Creative Soup

The NW10 Festival offers up a heady stew of short plays

Theater

The seventh-annual NW10 Festival returns this week with a handful of 10-minute plays premiering at Oregon Contemporary Theatre.  “There’s a big difference between a skit and a 10-minute play,” insists festival co-founder Paul Calindrino. “A skit is like a one-line joke, whereas a 10-minute play has the potential to be a fully self-contained dramatic unit with character development, emotional impact and narrative force.” Continue reading →

Slaves, Sex and Centurions

Very Little Theatre gets irreverent with Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Theater

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum captured our country’s imagination when it debuted on Broadway in 1962. A young Stephen Sondheim wowed audiences with an interesting score, providing a teaser to his masterful later works. The book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart is based on Plautus’ Roman comedies, resulting in a goofy, sometimes brainy farce that manages to reflect a deep respect for the humor of antiquity. Continue reading →

Spring Whites to Savor

Drink

We March into spring with a twice-told tale: Last month, we revisited merlot, great wine brought low by shabby winemaking and shifty marketing, then revived at its nadir, to become, again, yummy quaff. This month, the white side, same tale: Riesling is one of the world’s great grapes. The white wines made from Riesling grapes vary widely, from bone dry to heavenly sweet, yielding wines adaptable to dinner courses from aperitifs to desserts. Continue reading →

The New Old Neighborhood Pub

Across from the Washington-Jefferson skate park, Old Nick’s Rock Pub opens doors in April

Drink
Emily Nyman in front of the future Old Nick’s Rock Pub.

The building has stood empty for about a decade. Over the years, the spot has housed a variety of well-known drinking holes, notably Harvey’s and most recently Rascal’s — in fact, the signage still faintly reads “Rascal’s.” However, the interior has been transformed into the Whit’s newest nightlife destination — Old Nick’s Rock Pub, located at the corner of 2nd and Washington across from the WJ Skatepark + Urban Plaza. Continue reading →

Mr. Moonshine

Anonymous distiller shares his homebrew philosophy

Drink
A few of The Provider’s libations

Distilling hard alcohol without a distillery license is illegal in Oregon and the U.S. From herein, any discussion of homemade spirits is purely theoretical.  I may know a man who makes the most incredibly smooth scotch, icy clear vodka, flavorful limoncello and Drambuie, creamy gin, authentic rum. Since I can’t refer to him by name, because he may not exist, I will simply call him “The Provider.” Continue reading →

Viva Vivacity

Oregon’s first woman-owned distillery crafts small-batch spirits from organic, local ingredients

Drink
Caitlin Prueitt of Corvallis’ Vivacity Spirits

There’s a burgeoning trend throughout Oregon for food and drinks that are locally sourced and handcrafted, and since 2011, Corvallis-based Vivacity Spirits has been sating consumers’ desire for organic non-GMO small-batch gins, vodka, rum and liqueur. Owned and operated by Caitlin Prueitt and her partner and spouse, Chris Neumann, Vivacity is not only the first woman-owned distillery in Oregon, but also one of only a handful nationwide.  Continue reading →