LOVE: Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune closes this weekend. It's a delightful, modest (in a good way) production about a pair of messed-up people falling in love over the course of one night, with a pair of great performances by Victor Mack and Valerie Stevens. Catch it at CoHo until Saturday night.
NEW COMPANY!: Beaverton Civic Theatre, a newly formed community theater, will present its inaugural production (Charles Busch's Psycho Beach Party) starting March 12. Why do I care? Because community theater, real community theater, not just amateur demi-professional theater, is a great thing. I grew up on the boards of Albany Civic Theatre, and it made a lifetime theatergoer of me. Sure, the productions usually weren't great, but no one expected them to be—we were all volunteering, after all. And tickets were dirt cheap. Even now, you can see a show at ACT for $11. Beaverton Civic Theatre seems to be sticking to the same philosophy. The entire cast and crew is made up of volunteers, and tickets are $15. If the area's professional and semi-professional and pseudo-professional companies really want to create new audiences, they should do everything they can to support efforts like this. It's a crying shame that Portland Civic Theatre died. There's no better way to bring people into the theater than to invite them to participate.
NEW BUILDING: Arts Equity is raising money to build a new home in Vancouver after the company's failed attempt to make a go of it in Portland, where they were (literally) robbed. Wanna help them out? Check out the website.
GOOD IMPROV: Action Adventure's Fall of the House also closes its current season this weekend. I love this series, as I've said many times. I'll just quote myself: "What began as a funny and engaging exercise in directed long-form improv has matured into a must-see comedy series. Each week, the FoTH cast performs a new "episode" in the lives of a bunch of underpaid, often immature twentysomethings who share a house in Southeast Portland. The plot is planned and rehearsed, but the dialogue is made up on the fly, lending the show the quick-witted spontaneity of the best improv shows without the digressive meandering that usually comes with it. FoTH is funny, relevant (the pre-election episode last season was a nail-biter) and surprisingly cheap. Go!"
GARLAND LYONS: His performance as a pill-popping judge in Theatre Vertigo's production of David Mamet's Romance is excellent. Wanna laugh tonight? He's your ticket.
ROCK 'N' ROLL: There are three performances left of Faith Helma's weird fantasy pop concert, Undine. In summary: "Faith Helma, a member of Hand2Mouth Theatre, shows off her glam-pop chops in a series of songs about a water spirit who marries a knight. Twee? Anything but. Helma has a lovely voice and a quiet demeanor, but she vamps, crawls and thrashes her way through the one-hour show with terrifying intensity, whipping her hair about and abusing the furniture. Half electro-pop concert and half creepy soliloquy, this strange and affecting show has only a one-weekend run. Catch it now."
