TED’S SHUTTERS (AGAIN): For the second time in precisely two years, Berbati’s venerable, once-essential live-music venue at 231 SW Ankeny St.—formerly Berbati’s Pan, recently Ted’s in honor of the late Ted Papaioannou—will close. After Dec. 31, Ted’s will be no more. “There hasn’t been much going on over there for a while,” co-owner Nick Papaioannou told WW
over a beer at Berbati’s bar, which will remain open. “The time comes
for everything to end. And maybe this is the time for this to end.”
Papaioannou says in contrast to the last time the venue was shut down, Berbati’s has no plans to reopen the Ted’s space as a live-music venue.
CHANGING OF THE GUARD: Big news from Portland’s second-largest theater company: Artists Repertory Theatre last week named 38-year-old Dámaso Rodriguez as its new artistic director.
Rodriguez co-founded the Furious Theatre Company in 2001 in Pasadena,
Calif., as a scrappy artists’ collective—now known for its adventurous
and original works—and spent four years as associate artistic director
of the Pasadena Playhouse, a major regional theater. Bringing this range
of experience to ART, Rodriguez will spend six months transitioning
into the new role and working alongside departing artistic director
Allen Nause, who has held the post since 1988. “I’m drawn to work
that is really immediate, with great opportunities for actors, that
results in a visceral theater experience,” Rodriguez tells WW. He’ll make his ART directorial debut in April with Jeffrey Hatcher’s comedy Ten Chimneys.
FOR THE RECORD:
Portland music fans, make sure to circle Feb. 19 on your brand-new 2013
calendars, because that’s your de facto Record Store Day. That date
sees the arrival of anticipated new albums from three of the city’s
bigger artists. Biggest of all, perhaps, is Starfucker, which is releasing its third full-length, Miracle Mile,
on the Polyvinyl label. Last week, the band dropped a single from the
record, “While I’m Alive,” suggesting it is not moving away from its
signature Technicolor electro sound. Also on that day, rootsy
revivalists (and Willamette Week’s Best New Band in 2010) Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside are unveilingUntamed Beast, the follow-up to 2011 breakthrough Dirty Radio.
Long-standing avant-pop dramatists Parenthetical Girls have an album
coming out too—though it’s more of a pseudo-greatest hits collection,
compiling the best tracks from the group’s recently completed Privilege EP series. Start saving now!
STYLE SWAP: As reported in TheOregonian this week, a pair of prominent restaurants are pulling a gastronomic Freaky Friday. The Bent Brick
(1639 NW Marshall St.) is jettisoning its avant-modernist, leg-pulling
menu approach—along with innovative chef Will Preisch—in favor of a
“down-home” and “traditional” approach featuring a lot of sausage.
Meanwhile, staid Genoa’s “classic Italian” food will be going modern
in the person of chef Jake Martin, who’s skipping back down to Portland
from Seattle’s How to Cook a Wolf to design a new, more nouveau menu.
RODRIGUEZ - IMAGE: Shawn Lee
