Fiona is a former arts and culture editor and editor in chief for Portland Monthly.

MUSICAL THEATER

Cuba Libre: Two Critics Weigh In on One Sizzling Show

A Portland production of Broadway scale, with a budget of $600,000 and 21 performers: Cuba Libre has all the ingredients. Does this Artists Rep show pull it off?

10/27/2015 By Ramona DeNies and Fiona McCann

THE ESSENTIALS

October's Pop Culture Hot List

A book about swimming and coming of age in Portland, some big-riffed rock songs, and several stately beasts: We've got the books and albums you can’t miss this month.

10/22/2015 By Fiona McCann

RAP

Is Shakespeare Getting a Bad Rap? Not if MC Lars Has His Way

MC Lars does literary rap (think of it as a nerdcore subgenre). He's in town next week to share the flow of Poe and why rapping about beat poets is a natural fit.

10/22/2015 By Fiona McCann

LIGHT A FIRE 2015

Inspiring Creativity: Disjecta Contemporary Art Center

The Portland cultural institution curates the best of regional contemporary art.

10/20/2015 By Fiona McCann

PHOTOGRAPHY

Intimate Photos of Warhol and Basquiat Reveal the Artsy Grit of ‘80s NYC

From Warhol to Basquiat to Miles Davis, see some of Paige Powell's 10,000 photographs of the NYC art scene in a new Portland Art Museum exhibition.

10/19/2015 By Fiona McCann

THE ESSENTIALS

November's Pop Culture Hot List

The show, the book, the band, and the comic book that you can’t miss this month.

10/19/2015 By Fiona McCann

PREVIEW

Will the New Wordstock Literary Festival Charm Portland Readers?

Everyone agreed the lit fest desperately needed a rewrite. Is this the sequel we've been waiting for?

10/19/2015 By Fiona McCann

BOOKS

KINK FM's Big Voice Sheila Hamilton Opens Up About Suicide and Mental Illness

Portland radio host Sheila Hamilton talks about her husband’s suicide, the problems with how we treat mental illness, and how she wrote her new book, All the Things We Never Knew, both as personal therapy, and as a resource for others.

10/15/2015 By Fiona McCann

STORYTELLING

Pop-Up Magazine Is Portland-bound

A magazine performed live? A show with real-life stories? San Francisco's Pop-Up Magazine is coming to Portland, and we’ve got the lowdown on what it’s all about PLUS tickets to give away!

10/13/2015 By Fiona McCann

CULTURE CALL SHEET

The Latest in Portland Arts News—Bitch Media’s New Writers Fellowships

Plus Artists Rep's ambitious new musical, Cuba Libre, extends its planned run ahead of opening night.

10/08/2015 By Fiona McCann

MUSIC

Dream of the '70s: Portland’s Ultimate Punk Rock Playlist

Veteran Portland rocker Mark Sten has written a new book documenting Portland’s punk apex in the late seventies and early eighties. We put together a Sten-inspired playlist in homage.

10/08/2015 By Fiona McCann

SUSTAINABILITY

5 Steps to Transform Your Home into an Eco-Friendly Abode

There's no place like a green home!

10/05/2015 By Fiona McCann

LOCAL DESIGN

Meet Portland's Hottest Makers of the Moment

From stylish modern macrame to museum-quality vintage poster restoration, Portland's creative class keeps getting cooler.

10/05/2015 By Kelly Clarke, Rachel Ritchie, Zach Dundas, and Fiona McCann

CULTURE CALL SHEET

The Latest in Portland Arts News—Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Translation Project

The Bard is getting an update in a new OSF project to translate his plays into contemporary modern English.

10/01/2015 By Fiona McCann

MUSIC

This is What Happens When You Strip a Piano to Its Elemental Parts

Classical pianist Jennifer Wright has found a new instrument—an old piano, stripped to its bare parts, played with everything from shot glasses to wire brushes.

10/01/2015 By Fiona McCann

CULTURE CALL SHEET

The Latest in Portland Arts News—Loch Lomond, Third Angle, and More

Loch Lomond's new tune, Third Angle's green move, RACC's Fellowship Award winners and a shout-out for the elfishly-inclined...

09/24/2015 By Fiona McCann

TBA FESTIVAL

The Good, the Bad, and the Cous Cous: Our TBA Recap

We laughed. We cried. Our patience was tested—and often rewarded. There were dances in folk shoes, in forests, and with food, meditations on the end of men and some serious soundscapes. With another TBA behind us, our critics offer their verdicts.

09/22/2015 By Fiona McCann, Eden Dawn, Ramona DeNies, Megan Haverman, and Brandon Staley

SHOP LOCAL

Portland's Best Bookstores that Aren't Powell's

Find your personal page paradise with our guide to the city's under-the-radar literary hideaways—plus a few record shops to further your analog bliss.

09/21/2015 By Fiona McCann

HAVANA NIGHTS

The Ambitious Cuban-Themed Musical a Portland Company Hopes to Take to Broadway

A group of Cuban American talent—a musician, a producer, a director, a writer, a choreographer, and an actor—brings the story of Jorge Gómez to the Portland stage.

09/21/2015 By Fiona McCann

SHOP LOCAL

9 Only-in-Portland Places to Shop for Quirky Gifts and Goodies

From vintage dresses to a taxidermied mouse in a cowboy hat, these eclectic shops invite your urban scavenging.

09/21/2015 By Fiona McCann