How We're Coping

A Portland Performer Discusses the State of the Arts Under Coronavirus

John Ellingson is the associate artistic director at Northwest Children's Theater and father to a 1-year-old daughter. In the face of a global pandemic, he's thinking hard about both.

03/20/2020 By Conner Reed

PoMo Picks

Top Things to Do This Weekend: March 5–8

Profile, Artists Rep, and CoHo close provocative shows, PIFF kicks off, and Tommy Orange comes to the Schnitz.

03/04/2020 By Conner Reed and Daniel Bromfield

Review

Indecent Is a Moving Celebration with Some Very Pretty Pictures

The Profile/Artists Rep coproduction is a flawed but effective meditation on collective grief.

03/02/2020 By Conner Reed

Pomo Picks

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Feb 27–Mar 1

White Bird brings French-Candian acrobats to town, plus an embarrassment of plays and exhibitions.

02/26/2020 By Conner Reed and Daniel Bromfield

Theater

OSF Stalwart Lynn Nottage Locked Herself in a Lincoln Center Bathroom Yesterday

The two-time Pulitzer winner set an extremely specific corner of the internet on fire when she tweeted out a cry for help from a bathroom in Manhattan.

02/07/2020 By Conner Reed

Pomo Picks

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Jan 23–26

PETE closes its Beckett mosaic and Michael Kiwanuka comes to town.

01/22/2020 By Conner Reed and Daniel Bromfield

Review

Beckett Women Is a Mesmerizing Scream

The latest from the Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble is a twisty, agitated wonder.

01/14/2020 By Conner Reed

Theater

This Portland Actor Channels Die Hard's Hans Gruber Every Holiday Season

A Q&A with actor Landy Lamb, who shines as German mastermind Hans Gruber in Funhouse Lounge's Die Hard: The Musical

11/26/2019 By Conner Reed

Arts

2019’s Best Oregon-Born Culture, From Potent Whispers to Vivid Dances to Twitter Comedy

Plus, a play that melted our writer’s face off.

11/26/2019 By Conner Reed and Fiona McCann

Review

Defunkt's Smokefall Beguiles, Befuddles, and Lingers

The Portland premiere of Noah Haidle's hallucinatory, imperfect show is a stimulating if uneven watch.

10/21/2019 By Conner Reed

Review

The View from Fuse Theatre Ensemble's Bridge is Bright, Indeed

Fuse's production of A View from the Bridge, staged in a warehouse north of Slabtown, will run for one more weekend.

10/18/2019 By Conner Reed

Pomo Picks

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Oct. 17–20

Portland's own Dodgr hosts an all-star Roseland show, Smokefall opens at Defunkt, and the 8th annual Portland Film Festival continues!

10/16/2019 By Kiva Hanson, Olivia Wolf, Conner Reed, and Alli Weseman

Theater

At the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Wigs Are Serious Business

Bouncy bouffants, soaring “hair sculptures,” handlebar mustaches, and beyond—and upwards of 100 each season.

10/16/2019 By Rebecca Jacobson

Pomo Picks

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Oct 10–13

Shaking the Tree updates Euripides, OBT's season opener closes, and buzzy Brooklynite Hank Willis Thomas kicks off his new show at PAM!

10/10/2019 By Rebecca Jacobson, Kiva Hanson, Fiona McCann, Conner Reed, and Olivia Wolf

Pomo Picks

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Oct 3–6

A grim 1984 closes at Artists Rep, OBT kicks off its 30th season, and the All Jane Comedy Fest comes to town!

10/03/2019 By Fiona McCann, Brendan Nagle, Conner Reed, Olivia Wolf, and Alli Weseman

Music

Big Emotions Reign Supreme in PHAME’s World-Premiere Rock Opera

Written and performed entirely by adults with developmental disabilities, The Poet’s Shadow is a landmark production for the Portland nonprofit.

07/24/2019 By Conner Reed

Theater

A New Portland Play Takes On Climate Change—For Hours

Award-winning playwright E. M. Lewis breaks down her five-hour epic, Magellanica.

01/16/2018 By Sarah Hutchins

THEATER

Why Are Portland Millennials So Theater-Averse?

Portland theater has an age problem. But some of the city's most established companies are looking for ways to bring in younger audiences.

05/05/2016 By Jack Rushall

THE ESSENTIALS

Summer Cannibals to Phil Knight: May’s Pop Culture Hot List

The album, book, festival, and play you can’t miss this month

04/22/2016 By Fiona McCann

HAPPENINGS

How We Fell for Dita Von Teese

We talked with the enchanting burlesque queen about self-invention, her upcoming Portland shows, and that giant martini glass. Plus, take it from Dita: beauty comes in all sizes.

04/14/2016 By Eden Dawn