Gossip Should Have No Friends

[September 20th, 2006] TBA TKO Critical and crowd fave Nature Theater of Oklahoma may have been the knockout hit of this year's Time-Based Art fest, but when company member Zachary Oberzan was mugged and punched in the face last Friday night, it didn't exactly rate a standing O. According to NTO artistic director Pavol Liska and company member Anne Gridley, Oberzan was heading back to his room at the Mark Spencer Hotel at around 2 am when some thug demanded Oberzan's wallet, demurely took a 20-spot, handed the wallet back and then punched Oberzan in the face . A fat bloody lip and several stitches were the result (as well as a total black eye on Portland's rep as a "friendly city"). The mishap didn't affect the NTO shows, according to PICA rep Brian Costello. "It was a little scary, obviously, but the performance went on just fine. It wasn't like it was a New York mugging ." See page 31 for more memorable TBA moments.

THE STRUT STUFF P-town's own Mode Models Agency provided local strutters like Terron Wood, Kate Swain, Brandi Brechbiel and Kenzie Roth for the must-see '07 spring shows for Olympus Fashion Week , which just wrapped up in New York City. Mode also provided another pair of P-towners who just happen to be two of the hottest models working in the business today: Darla Baker and Chad White . Baker worked Cynthia Rowley 's show (who we've heard will probably redecorate downtown's Fifth Ave. Suites when it becomes the Hotel Monaco) and strutted her stuff for Zac Posen and Heatherette , as did White, who closed the show with none other than Paris Hilton. Whew! After all this fame and fortune, Scoop wonders: Will these soon-to-be supermodels still come back to P-town to rock the pages of Portland Bride and Groom for free? For more Big Apple threadhead gossip, check out WW's Fashion Week diary at wweek.com.

IN THE NEWS Speaking of Portland Bride & Groom, its editor, Jill Spitznass, is proving it may be "hip to be square." Spitznass was spotted at the closing night of Wicked as well as boite-spot Bluehour with '80s singing sensation Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis and the News. They were introduced by local author Larry Colton (Lewis has bought the rights to one of Colton's books and has been spending time in Portland with the author).

DEPARTMENT OF SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION Scoop's personal opinion that WW's annual citywide aural explosion MusicfestNW is the best damn event in the universe just got confirmed. Fest attendance was up more than 40 percent from 2005, with more than 4,000 tune-hungry people turning out for the fest each of its three nights, Sept. 7-9. It also raised $7,500 for two local nonprofits, Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls and the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. That's thanks in no small part to the efforts of Musicfest's godlike executive director and head malcontent, Trevor Solomon.

WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK ON WW'S LOCALCUT.COM Talkdemonic violist Lisa Molinaro will be joining the Decemberists for that band's fall tour. Good news for everyone, except Talkdemonic, which it seems canceled its fall tour. Look for a conversation between Talkd drummer Kevin O'Connor and Mark Baumgarten about the future of the band this week >> Agalloch announced that it will be emerging from the dungeon and touring Europe >> Ethan Rose gets some ink in The New York Times >> Alan Singley starts out his Local Cut tour diary with a van fire >> Studio 415 threatens to close >> Plus, scads of free MP3s from Portland's top bands.