Performing Arts

Theater Review

Frida ... A Self Portrait Asks Why We Look in the Mirror

Vanessa Severo’s intriguing one-woman show starts Portland Center Stage's comeback season off on a reflexive note.

11/01/2021 By Conner Reed

Theater Review

The Chinese Lady at Artists Rep Is a Mostly Compelling Tale of Squashed Hope

ART’s season opener uses a real-life story to lay bare the emptiness of American optimism.

10/26/2021 By Conner Reed

Theater

A Nightmare on Elm Street Comes to Life at Siren Theater

The Old Town comedy venue will remount its musical adaptation of Wes Craven’s classic this weekend.

10/08/2021 By Cami Hughes

TBA

A Public Procession High-Steps Through Boise-Eliot

In Let ’im Move You: Intervention, jumatatu m. poe and Jermone ‘Donte’ Beacham bring Black queer performance to the parks and sidewalks of historically Black neighborhoods.

10/01/2021 By Rebecca Jacobson

Performance

16 Months Later, Darrell Grant’s Jazz Opera on Gentrification Hits the Stage

Originally slated to premiere last April, Sanctuaries will run September 7–9 outside the Memorial Coliseum.

09/01/2021 By Conner Reed

Interview

5 Portland Drag Queens Reflect on a Year without an Audience

Poison Waters, Carla Rossi, and others share how they’re emerging from the pandemic.

06/03/2021 With Reina Harwood, Marty Patail, Margaret Seiler, and Conner Reed

News

While the Moda Center Welcomes Back Fans, Stagehands Remain Benched

Inside one labor union's fight to help workers in a struggling live entertainment industry.

05/13/2021 By Gabriel Granillo

In Memoriam

Remembering Tempest Storm, Burlesque Legend and Former Portlander

After leaving Portland, Storm dated Elvis and became a national sex symbol. She passed away on April 20 at the age of 93.

05/12/2021 By Andrew Jankowski

News

Artists Rep Announces New Artistic Directing Fellow

The inaugural fellow, Zi Alikhan, will collaborate with the company’s artistic director while also heading up ART’s new DNA: Oxygen initiative for BIPOC theater practitioners.

02/22/2021 By Fiona McCann

Performance

5 Things to Stream at the 2021 Fertile Ground Festival

All of this year’s pieces will be available on-demand through February 15.

02/09/2021 By Conner Reed

Interview

Drag Queen Jinkx Monsoon Talks Getting Married in Portland and New Career Moves

"I’m trying to use the word ‘unapologetic’ in my work more often: unapologetically queer, unapologetically feminine, unapologetically anti-racist."

02/05/2021 By Andrew Jankowski

Performance

Portland Playhouse’s Wonderland Festival Defrosts Old Ideas

Through film, music, dance, and theater, the festival presents virtual holiday food for thought.

12/10/2020 By Conner Reed

Dance

Oregon Ballet Theatre’s New Hybrid Season Highlights a Path Forward for Performing in a Pandemic

“We cannot escape the fact that we are the Oregon Ballet Theatre and we are located in Portland, Oregon. And our community has gone through quite a lot over the last six months.”

11/26/2020 By Conner Reed

TBA

Reflections of the Final Week of the 2020 Time-Based Art Festival

Flashy concept albums, dreamy choreo, and a soothing home concert round out TBA 2020.

10/13/2020 By Andrew Jankowski

TBA

Dispatches from Week Two of the 2020 Time-Based Art Festival

Highlights include an Indigenous dance album, a queer sermon, and a puzzling bit of self-led choreo.

09/29/2020 By Andrew Jankowski

TBA

Dispatches from Week One of the 2020 Time-Based Art Festival

A sautéed iPhone, a timid Macbeth, and more.

09/18/2020 By Andrew Jankowski

TBA

How PICA Is Pulling Off Its Time-Based Art Festival amid Overlapping Tragedies

A plague, shrinking budgets, and wildfire smoke aside, TBA 2020 is now streaming on a laptop near you.

09/16/2020 By Conner Reed

Slings & Arrows

The Path Forward for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

“There’s a generation of people on the streets right now who are saying, ‘Everything has to shift. If you don’t shift it, we won’t come.’”

08/01/2020 By Conner Reed

Theater

While the Curtain Stays Down, Portland Theaters Pivot to Audio

Profile, Artists Rep, and PETE are rethinking theatrical intimacy with a slew of new sound-based projects.

07/16/2020 By Conner Reed

Opera

Who’s the Portland Opera Singer with a Viral Video and a TV Invitation from Kelly Clarkson?

Meet Emmanuel Henreid, and his new project, Livin' in the Light.

07/04/2020 By Fiona McCann