Top Things to Do This Weekend: Dec 29–Jan 1
Chanti Darling, seen here at Treefort Music Fest last summer, plays NYE at Mississippi Studios.
Image: Flickr/Treefort Music Fest
Comedy
Curious Comedy’s New Year’s Eve Extravaganza
8 p.m. Saturday, Curious Comedy Theater
Take four hours of improv, stand-up, and sketch. Add platefuls of appetizers and a midnight champagne toast and you have yourself a New Year’s Eve party that’s actually funny. Like, intentionally.
Film
New Year's Day Hong Kong-a-Thon
2 p.m. Sunday, Hollywood Theatre
Ring in 2017 with a triple header of martial arts classics, all in 35 mm: Bruce Lee vehicle Enter the Dragon, the wildly violent Riki Oh: The Story of Ricki, and John Woo classic The Killer.
Music
Ode to Joy: New Year's Celebration
7:30 p.m. Friday–Saturday, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Send out 2016 with Beethoven’s roof-raising Ninth Symphony, with Oregon Symphony joined by the Portland Symphonic Choir and four soloists.
Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons
9 p.m. Friday–Saturday, Doug Fir Lounge
From Little Women in the ’80s to his current Jackmormons trio, Joseph is an OG staple of the jam-rock scene.
Brandi Carlile
9 p.m. Saturday, Crystal Ballroom, SOLD OUT
With 2015 album The Firewatcher’s Daughter, the Seattle-based country-rock musician established a more robust sound but one that still showcases her impressive, surging voice.
Chanti Darling
9 p.m. Saturday, Mississippi Studios, SOLD OUT
Portland’s resident dance party starters bring their R&B grooves and choreographed moves to Jump Jack Sound Machine’s New Year’s Eve throwdown.
Theater
CLOSING Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin
Noon and 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Friday, Gerding Theater
Polymath performer and pianist Hershey Felder takes us on a nostalgic spin through the life of legendary songwriter Irving Berlin, with plenty of musical stops along the way—think “Anything You Can Do,” “Easter Parade,” and, of course, “White Christmas.”
Hershey Felder takes a stroll through Irving Berlin's legendary songbook at PCS.
Image: Eighty Eight Entertainment
CLOSING A Christmas Carol
7 p.m. Thursday–Friday, Portland Playhouse
For the fourth year, Portland Playhouse gives the Dickens classic a song-filled kick.
La Belle
Noon and 3:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday, noon Sunday, Imago Theatre
Elaborate puppets, a large whirring ship, original music, extensive shadow play—little wonder this Imago Theatre show has been in the works since 2013. The wildly creative minds behind the Frogz and ZooZoo menageries unveil a new Beauty and the Beast–inspired romance, set on a steamship in the 1920s. For more, check out our preview.
Visual Art
CLOSING Andy Warhol: Prints from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation
10 a.m.–8 p.m. Thursday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturday–Sunday, Portland Art Museum
From the iconic (think Campbell’s tomato soup can and neon-hued Marilyn Monroe) to more obscure early works, this wide-ranging showcase of about 250 images is the Pacific Northwest’s largest-ever display of Warhol’s work.
It’s your last chance for PAM's Warhol blowout, a showcase that includes work from the pop artist’s drag queen series.
CLOSING Jamila Clarke
1–5 p.m. Friday–Saturday, Wolff Gallery, FREE
Portlander Clarke says the fantasy-specked photos in her new exhibit, The Stories People Tell, “serve as visual interpretations of folktales.”
CLOSING Calvin Chen and Patricia Lay-Dorsey
Noon–5 p.m. Thursday–Saturday, Blue Sky Gallery, FREE
In Tea for Two, photographer Lay-Dorsey chronicles small moments at home with her husband—little glimpses into the shared life of an aging couple. Chen’s black-and-white series Cómo Juegan Los Niños documents children at play across the globe.
CLOSING Sean Healy
10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, FREE
In Gut, the multimedia artist—known for work created from chewing gum and cigarette butts—examines maleness and aging via materials that, in his words, “droop and sag.” We’ve got more on the show here.
