Bill Engvall @ Spirit Mountain Casino

Bill Engvall, best known as part of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour played Spirit Mountain Casino last night. Unlike fellow "Blue Collar" alum, Ron White who also graced the Spirit Mountain Stage, most of Engvall's routine was relatively clean. Bits ranged from his tenure on "Dancing with the Stars" to the cremation of his father-in-law and his experiences as a novice with Medical Marijuana. Also notable was his assessment of Farmer's Markets, which went over well with a -ahem- knowing Portland-centric audience.

Once again I must note that Spirit Mountain is among my favorite venues in the state. The Event Center has many moveable seats, so that many of them can be easily converted into a wheelchair space. The same is true of the slot machines. There is also a comparative abundance of accessible seating at the gaming tables. I love this place so much If you've never been, drop everything and go!

"The Music Man" at Broadway Rose

"The Music Man" is an ambitious production from Broadway Rose. I would wager that it is among the most complex shows they have mounted. The large cast is impressive in every way, but especially with regard to choreography. The band is top-notch and fills the intimate space with so much melody it seems barely able to contain it.

The sets and props are magnificent, particularly the train that comes rushing out at you, complete with smoke.  Joe Theissen shines as the cunning con man Harold Hill, and Thomas Prislac Jr. is an appropriately stuffy Mayor Shinn.

It's a fun show, and again, a lavish one. Thoroughly enjoyable in every respect. Here's my favorite photo from the press-kit which I think does the best job of capturing the scope of the choreography.

  

"The Playboy of the Western World" @ Artists Rep.

I'm afraid to confess this because I think it makes me sound not-so-smart, but "The Playboy of the Western World" is pretty hard to follow. Of course, that really shouldn't come as much of a surprise, given that it was written in 1907, in a strange Irish-what's the word--dialect? Artists Rep seems well-aware of the play's difficulty, providing links to the script and other resources on their website, and yet, I think director Damaso Rodriguez sums up the complexity best with this passage from his Director's Note:  "On the page, Synge's language seems impossibly dense, each line requiring a Google search to make sense of what's being said."

In this light, perhaps I should feel that I am in good company in being frequently lost in terms of the plot.  Despite this, there is still praise to be given, particularly to Michael Mendelson, who once again proves himself ready for Herculean acting tasks, the lyricism of the dialogue can not be denied. If you feel up to it, you might do better than I did, and even if not, watching some of Portland's finest actors take on a challenge like this is something to see.

"The Beauty Queen of Leenane" at Third Rail Repertory Theatre

"The Beauty Queen of Leenane" marks my first show as an invited critic to Third Rail Rep, though I've been a long time fan of their work. It is also gratifying to see them fitting so comfortably into their new home at the Winningstad Theatre. In fact, if memory serves, the last production I saw of theirs was also a Martin McDonagh play, "A Skull in Connemara," on my birthday during their first "Leenane Day" in which a full production of a play in the Trilogy is performed after readings of the other two.

"Beauty Queen" is the first of the Trilogy, a play which mostly focuses on the strained relationship of Maureen and her mother, Mag, though there is room for McDonagh's trademark odd-ball supporting characters, as well as some of the darkness he is also known for, but I'd better leave it at that.... Both actresses are in top form, Jayne Taini is the grating and conniving Mag and Maureen is Maureen Porter, in a role she seems meant to play, right down to her first name.

It is an honor to be added to Third Rail's Press List. I can not wait for next season.

Brighton Beach Memoirs @ Clackamas Community College

"Brighton Beach Memoirs" at Clackamas Community College is once again a truly ambitious undertaking, rivaling their last production of Neighborhood 3:Requisition of Doom, again directed by James Eikrem with a set by Chris Whitten. This one is the multi-room home of the Jerome family, the alter-egos of Neil Simon's own.

"Brighton Beach Memoirs" is the first in Simon's trilogy known as the Eugene Plays, after his own character, Eugene Morris Jerome. This play concerns Eugene's adolescence, followed by his service in World War II in "Biloxi Blues" and finally his fledgling career as a writer in "Broadway Bound."

The cast is top-notch. Branden McFarland is a ceaselessly likable Eugene. Jayne Hall is the elder brother, Stanley, whose main function is to be a fount of endless "adult" knowledge for Eugene. Halley Houser is a stoic and endearing Kate, the family matriarch, a perfect match for her wise, yet stubborn husband, Jack. Blanche Morton (Jennifer Whitten ) is Kate's sister and complete opposite--frail and asthmatic--but sympathetic nonetheless. Her daughters, Nora and Laurie complete the out-sized brood, the younger daughter shares her mother's frailty, while the elder provides oh-so forbidden fantasy for Eugene.

Unfortunately, once again, I saw a late performance, and the show is now closed. But, the production was so well received that I hold out hope that they may make their way through the trilogy. If they do, I will be sure to give you a heads-up, because it will doubtlessly be worth seeing.

"Lizzie" @ Portland Center Stage

You know a production is strange when even the Director's Note says, "Whaaat? How's that going to work?"A musical about Lizzie Borden is weird enough on its own, but not entirely unheard of, I mean "Sweeney Todd" is based on fact, right? It's the "punk-rock musical" part that sends it into the stratosphere of bizarreness. Somehow it works, and I don't just mean that I enjoyed it, or that it managed to transcend the "Whaaat?" Factor. No, what I'm trying to articulate is that "Lizzie"succeeds in all of those ways,  and also pulls off a difficult tonal balancing act. Of course it's dark, and, as is to be expected, there's also a healthy dose of dark-humor mixed-in, culminating in a number with a giant blood-spraying axe that closes Act I, but there is also room for quieter, more serious numbers, and it turns out that those are the ones that become unexpected     

The band deserves special mention. I suppose that six musicians is a fairly large band, but the music is so...thumping that you'd expect a group twice that size.

Beyond the band, beyond the general fun of it all, the best part of "Lizzie" is that it seems to be a musical for people who don't particularly like traditional musicals (myself included). There's almost none of the Broadway Belting that even seeps into compositions by rock artists who should know better. This is a feat indeed.

KINK on the Waterfront: Vicci Martinez, Marc Broussard, and Vintage Trouble

Where to begin? I knew I'd love Marc Broussard having seen his unique brand of Bayou Soul before. And he did not disappoint. He performed a set of songs taken mostly from his first album, Carencro, but also included new songs as yet only found on his album "Live from Full-Sail University." The summer-themed tunes were a perfect complement to the unexpectedly warm night.

I had never heard of either of the other acts, Vicci Martinez, and the headliner Vintage Trouble. Both were incredible surprises. Martinez is like a female freight train, and Vintage Trouble was Classic Soul, (we also got the unexpected treat of Booker T. subbing for Vintage Trouble's ill bass player.) Vintage Trouble's lead singer bounded about the stage, and a seemingly impossible distance away from it  They played classics  as well as their own tunes, and they seemed indistinguishable, as in equally great.

Out of nowhere Vintage Trouble's lead singer made a short speech about the power of live music on the spirit, and I would whole-heartedly agree. The evening was both full of soul, (the genre), and soul-stirring.

The Last Five Years @ PCS

 "The Last Five Years" is an autobiographical musical tracing the relationship of writer "Jamie" and aspiring actress "Cathy. Perhaps it was a little too autobiographical, because the inspiration for "Cathy" threatened legal action against playwright Jason Robert Brown, alleging that the musical mirrored her life to closely and violated the terms of their divorce decree.  Brown altered the lyrics to a song in order to avoid legal trouble. Ah, the perils of writing, (and getting involved with a writer.) The play employs an interesting narrative device. Jamie's story is told in chronological order, while Cathy's is told in reverse, (I must confess that I lost track of the timeline occasionally.)

 My favorite song was the devastating opener "I'm Still Hurting" a raw look at the broken heart of a person left behind. (I must note that the piano in some songs drowned out bits of dialogue, I hope that they have made slight adjustments since Opening Night.)

What's most interesting about "The Last Five Years" is that Cathy was willing to sue over her portrayal, and yet her character is the more sympathetic one. Which means that the most admirable thing about "The Last Five Years" is Brown's willingness to look far less than perfect. Not many of us would be willing to do that, and that is worth seeing.

"The Quality of Life" @ Artists Rep

It is my practice to avoid reading synopses of the plays I haven't already heard about. "The Quality of Life" was one of those plays. Which means I was unprepared, to put it mildly.

The play is about death and dying, but it is also about grief, and our unavoidably clumsy way of dealing with it. There is never any grace in grief. 

Susannah Mars once again plays a mother who has lost a child, a role she has played twice before in Artists Rep productions, "Rabbit Hole" and "Next to Normal," and it is a role she crushes every time, in such a way as to make it look effortless. Michael Mendelson plays a terminally ill man, and while the role does have room in it for him to be a bit of a goofball free-spirit, his raging speech at the end is a departure for the character, and if memory serves, for Mendelson himself.

Michael Fisher-Welsh has the thankless job of playing the stiff and boring grieving father, a man who has had every ounce of joy sucked from him. I say "thankless" because we spend much of the play not liking him, so the challenge is to imbue him with a dwindling spark of humanity, doused almost completely by sadness. Fisher-Welsh succeeds, and the audience owes him thanks.

I've been trying not to use "gut-wrenching" because it is a cliche, but perhaps I'll be granted a pass if I admit that the aforementioned last scene with Mendelson made me nauseated. You have been warned.  

"Othello" @PCS

Portland Center Stage's "Othello" is magnificent in every way. The entire cast is fantastic, but special praise is owed to Gavin Hoffman as Iago. His performance is so palpably villainous that one expects to see a forked tongue eventually. And he's local, which of course scores him even more points!

The set is mammoth, so much so that adjectives like that don't quite do it justice, which compels me to quote the specifications from the Press Notes: "The set structure is 30 feet wide and estimated to weigh 2,000 pounds. It rotates 360-degrees on 104 castors, powered by a 5 horsepower engine." Try to imagine what that looks like. I wager the actual set is grander than what your mind's eye conjures. It must be seen to be believed.

"Othello" is my favorite of Shakespeare's plays. I enjoy its dark themes, and the language seems easier to interpret than some others. I would recommend "Othello" to reluctant Shakespeare beginners. But really, I'd recommend it to everyone. It is such a feast for the senses, it almost defies description.