Mama Drama

Four spill-your-guts shows join forces for Mother's Day catharsis.


IMAGE: Kim Scafuro

Some people keep their feelings about their mother locked down deep inside; others use 'em as an excuse to stab blondes in the shower or pen sappy chapters for Chicken Soup for the Soul. And somewhere in the middle are the rest of us. In honor of our myriad interactions with the women we call Mom, Live Wire! executive producer Kate Sokoloff persuaded a trio of cathartic local performance series—Mortified, Back Fence PDX and True Stories—to team up with her live radio show for Word to Your Mother, one big spill-your-guts blowout on Thursday, May 7. So, instead of brave locals and minor celebs sharing embarrassing stories and personal secrets with a live audience, they'll be sharing embarrassing stories and secrets involving their moms. Author Chelsea Cain and Metro honcho David Bragdon are slated to tell mother yarns, as are designer Adam Arnold and Sarah Hoopes, who already shared her tween-aged erotic vampire fantasies with Mortified audiences last year. Cult poet Derrick Brown and local folkists Loch Lomond round out the bill. Their mothers would be so proud.

GO: Word to Your Mother takes place at the Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 233-7100. 7:30 pm Thursday, May 7. $12 advance, $15 door. 21+. Visit wordtoyourmotherpdx.com for tickets and more info.

Headout

WEDNESDAY MAY 6

[DANCE]

JEFFERSON DANCERS

Wanna feel like an underachiever? Check out Jefferson High School's consummate dance program, which challenges über-talented teens with work from professional choreographers.

Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, 245-1600. 7:30 pm Wednesday-Friday, 2 pm 7:30 pm Saturday May 6-9. $15-$25. Call 248-4335 or visit ticketmaster.com or Fred Meyer for tickets.

THURSDAY MAY 7

[MUSIC]

DESTROYER

Daniel Bejar—the David Foster Wallace of indie rock—hits town to play a rare solo show. This night advances...ON! Bring your pocket dictionary.

Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 9 pm. $15. 21+.

FRIDAY MAY 8

[MUSIC]

STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS

Can you say new material? The king of wanky guitar solos plays a one-off show at a relatively small venue.

Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $15. 21+.

[STAGE] FABULOSO
Third Rail Rep closes out the season with a comedy by John Kolvenbach about a miserable married couple whose lives are turned upside down by the arrival of a knife-wielding, singing, newly engaged old friend. World Trade Center, 121 SW Salmon St., 235-1101. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes May 31. $16-$29.

[MUSIC] HAIKU D'ETAT
Who needs superheroes when you have a group of super MCs? Aceyalone, Myka 9 and Abstract Rude bring some of the hottest hip-hop to the Rose City. Berbati's Pan, 231 SW Ankeny St., 248-4579. 9 pm. $13 advance, $15 day of show. 21+.

SATURDAY MAY 9

[SCREEN]

PERIPHERAL PRODUCE INVITATIONAL

Matt McCormick and friends invite a handful of the nation's top experimental filmmakers to a friendly cage match, pitting their newest works against defending champion Orland Nutt and his kung-fu mash-ups.

Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., 238-8899. 8:30 pm. $7.

SUNDAY MAY 10

[SCREEN]

PORTLAND SESQUICENTENNIAL FILM FEST CRITICS’ PANEL
WW

Screen Editor Aaron Mesh debates the merits of Oregon movies with Shawn Levy and David Walker. It's a film critic shoptalkaganaza!

Marylhurst University, 17600 Pacific Highway, 534-4028. 1 pm. Free.

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