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From his early career until now, director Martin Scorsese has been documenting the dark and devious side of The American Dream, where success achieved in bad faith leads to spectacular crashes and spiritual bankruptcy. Scorsese is obsessed with the Cinderella story in reverse, where the magic slipper shatters into killing shards of glass. Continue reading
What’s the most informative debut album title, you ask? Why, 2002’s Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz, of course. The title says it all, and what better way to announce yourself in the hip hop scene than that? Take three racially charged foodstuffs, slap ’em on a sleeve and call yourself Nappy Roots. Yes folks, it’s that country rap you’ve loved since Birdman, Nelly or Ludacris first pimp-slapped your brain. Jangly piano, minimalist beats, red-beans-and-rice-style hooks: It’s all you’ve ever wanted from the dirty South and more. Continue reading
Ask Pete Bernhard, the guitarist and lead singer for The Devil Makes Three, what surprised him most about the band’s recently released album I’m A Stranger Here, and he’ll tell you how easy the experience was. Continue reading
Look around at your next house party. Doesn’t everyone look the same? Isn’t everyone there for the same damn reason? If there’s a band, and they aren’t playing Elliott Smith covers, there’s a good chance everyone’s there to dance. Nothing else. That’s it. Dance. Continue reading
The Autumn Defense features Patrick Sansone and John Stirratt of Wilco, a titanic modern rock band that casts a long shadow to escape from under. But now, with the release of its fifth studio record (out Jan. 28 on Yep Roc Records and aptly named Fifth), Autumn Defense deserves to be considered a band rather than merely a side project. Continue reading
Dance All That Dance Company allthatdancecompany.com • 541-688-1523 Jan. 25 Tea with Tights (Guy Lee Elementary School, Springfield) Ballet Fantastique balletfantastique.org • 541-342-4611 Feb. 7-9 Tales from the Floating World (Hult Center) May 9-11 The Book of Esther: A Rock Gospel Ballet with the UO Gospel Singers (Hult Center) Eugene Ballet Company Continue reading
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival kicks off once again Feb. 14. Our internationally recognized theater down I-5 is entertaining with plays ranging from 400 years old to fresh off the press, dark dramas to Marx brothers comedies. I got in touch with a few notable theater artists from Eugene to see what’s on their list to see this season. Water By The Spoonful: A 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner, Water By The Spoonful follows the public and virtual lives of a group of recovering addicts who have met and bonded as family in an online chat room. Continue reading
Divas and prima donnas rule the opera stage. But in real life, not so much, no matter what happens with Hillary in 2016. On Feb. 8 and 9, the University of Oregon Opera Ensemble presents “A Tale of Two Women: The Old Maid and the Thief and Trouble in Tahiti,” a pair of delightful American one-act operas that explore — sometimes hilariously, ultimately poignantly — the psychology of mid-20th-century women and their roles in a changing America. Continue reading
The Hult Center stands as the Grand Dame of the Lane County performing arts scene — known more for highbrow ballet, opera and classical music than contemporary or avant-garde work. Brad Garner of the Eugene-based interdisciplinary arts organization Harmonic Laboratory hopes to change that … well, at least in the lobby. Continue reading
“I don’t understand what you are trying to say. I have never understood anything you are trying to say,” says George, the protagonist of The Language Archive. Can you love language but have no words for love? George is a passionate linguist but a passive spouse. He cannot express his love for Mary. She, in turn, hides odd little poems about her unhappiness and then denies ever writing them, such as, “Husband or throw pillow? Wife or hot-water bottle? Marriage or an old cardigan? Love or explaining how to use the remote control?” Continue reading