2013.4.23. Ten Chimneys @ Artists Rep

4/23 Tuesday. Warm sunny. First night performance of Ten Chimneys by Jeffrey Hatcher at Artists Repertory Theatre. Very much enjoyable. Good acting. Decent stage set in an intimate 180° theatre. A very entertaining story based on Broadway couple Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, their colleagues Uta Hagen and Sydney Greenstreet, centered around a rehearsal of Chekhov's The Seagull in Lunt's summer estate 10 Chimneys. Quirky remarks, acting tips are a plus. The playwright's love of theatre is contagious. However, the dominating mother, the gambling brother, the discontent sister took too much share of the play, which can be better used to dig deeper into Hagen and Greensteet. The last appearance of Hagen seems a bit out of place. Her monologue of how she found her way to Nina's mind is nice, but is delivered out of context. I was hoping for some more insight when she spoke with Fontanne at the end of the play. Overall, I appreciate Hatcher and Artists Rep introducing me to these fascinating people.

A little shy of 100 people today attending the performance.

2013.4.21. Bayocean Spit

4/21. Sunday, drizzle. Bayocean Spit loop hike outside of Tillamook Bay. ~8 miles, flat. One side the shallow bay, wet, mossy. The other is wide beach, windy, sandy. Saw a group of elk close to the parking lot (they disappeared into the woods on our way out, so was most of the water in the bay). A lot of shore birds (heron, egret, Caspian tern), 2 pairs of Elegant Tern.

Bayocean was a planned beach front development in the early 1900s. A fancy hotel, comprised of a 1000 seat movie theatre and a 160'x50' indoor heated swimming pool (with gallery for spectators :). The roof of Natatorium collapsed in 1936. By 1954, the spit washed out, making Bayocean an island. The last house fell into the ocean in 1960. After the 2nd protective jetty was built in 1970s, the spit became more stabilized. Now a county park. No trace of former town. Found some soggy mattress along the trail, not sure it's from the old days, or just carried in by the tides.

We stopped for icecream at Tillamook Cheese Factory. No active production was running at that time, but the big rooms have glass windows for viewing the machinery. Posters about the local history, a video showing the cheese making process, some tasting samples. Lots of people.

Direction: Hwy 6 to Tillamook, right on Bayocean Rd for 5 miles. Parking on a gravel road. Today: 7 mindful people, 3 dogs. Organizer Samantha is very knowledgeable about the history and birds. I like this group better, no unnecessary chitchat.

2013.4.20. Oregon Symphony: Fanfare for the Common Man

4/20 19:30

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
James Ehnes, violin
Antheil: Jazz Symphony
Bernstein: Serenade (After Plato's Symposium)
   I. Phaedrus: Pausanias -- lento & allegro
  II. Aristophanes -- allegretto
 III. Eryximachus, the doctor -- presto
  IV. Agathon -- adagio
   V. Socrates: Alcibiades -- molto tenuto & allegro molto vivace
Copland: Symphony No. 3 (incorporating Fanfare for the Common Man)

Kalmar talks in front of each half, introducing the musical pieces with some humor. Antheil is a mismatch of more or less harmonic pieces. Avant-garde to my ears, even though it's about 80 years old. I dozed off during Bernstein's Serenade: too tired.

2013.4.20 Volunteer at Mosier Plateau

Saturday 4/20. Cloudy with brief sun breaks. I joined Friends of the Gorge in a stewardship program. Under the direction of Renee Tkach, Gorge Towns to Trails Project Manager, a dozen of us trimmed the trees, hauled out debris, dug out invasive teasel, leveled a part of trail on a now flowering slope (which I don't think it's worthwhile, if not actually cause damage to the slope). We were given tools, gloves. I got 3 ticks on my pants, and sat by some poison oak at lunch! I should have sprayed myself before getting into the woods to cut tree limbs.

Mosier is a small town on the edge of Columbia River. Not much going on. Most stores appeared closed on this Saturday. Nancy Russell bought 40+ acres of Mosier Plateau many years ago for $90k, and subsequently donated to the land trust. A very nice bluff with gentle incline suitable for cars. A trail is being made to connect to the city park with Mosier Falls. Great views over the surrounding fields and Columbia River. Already lots of balsamroot, larkspur is on its way out, some lupine already started blooming. Many tiny Rigid Fiddleneck and vetch, a single Bighead Clover.

2013.4.11 Circa at Newmark

4/11. Thursday. 2nd performance of Circa in town. Hosted by Whitebird. 4 boys 3 girls from Brisbane, Australia. Pure strength. A bit of humor. Quite good. 75 min without intermission.
Created By Yaron Lifschitz and the Circa Ensemble.

2013.4.7. Pop at Oregon Symphony + Portland Center Stage

4/7. 3pm. Dave Frishberg & Patrick Lamb with Oregon Symphony.

Jeff Tyzik, conductor 

Dave Frishberg, solo piano/vocals 
Quality Time, Jaws, Too Long in L.A., Sweet Kentucky Ham, My Attorney Bernie
Frishberg with symphony, orchestrated by Tyzik:
My Swan Song, Listen Here, I Want to be a Sideman

Patrick Lamb, saxophone/vocals 
Jean Pierre Garau, piano/keys
Ben Jones, bass
Richard Lawrence, drums
Tomo Maruta, guitar
Pick Up the Pieces, Grandma's Hands, When I Fall in Love, Ain't No Stopping Us Now, 
Amy's Opus, Maceo, Harlem Nocturne, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Hallelujah, Signed Sealed Delivered

Frishberg's songs are witty. I like his piano accompaniment too. But his voice is really bad. Lamb's voice is much better (not great). Talented. His own composition Amy's Opus and his arrangement of Hallelujah are absolutely beautiful. However, his stage image has plenty room for improvement, maybe okay for a bar. So are his two vocal accompanists, more like go-go dancers. He plays two shiny saxophones, one silver and sparking, one black and sparking too.

7:30. 2nd preview of Clybourne Park at PCS. I chanced on a PWYC night. I was a bit late, didn't want to squeeze past 6 already seated patrons, so sat 2 rows further back where it was almost empty. It happened that the director sat later in the same row, jogging down notes. This play is about race, and how we cannot tolerate each other, even if we say we can. In 1950s, the white neighbors are not happy about a house sold to a black family. 50 years later, a white family is trying to remodeled the same house in the now all black neighborhood (which was not clearly stated, for I to see). First act seems better organized. The 2nd act is messy, some unnecessary verbal battles and dirty jokes. I thought the ending is quite clever. Excellent stage set, good acting. Very enjoyable. There was a QA session after the show.

2013.4.6. Rain + Paul Taylor

4/6 Saturday, 2pm. Rain. Rain is so bad, that I left the theatre in the middle. Speakers are too loud, musical arrangement is next to nothing, no plot what so ever. I mistook for a musical, but it's just a band performing Beatles' songs. At the beginning of the show, the old Beatles' footage and cartoon are kind of funny.

7:30. 3rd and last performance in Portland by Paul Taylor Dance Company at Newmark theatre.

Brandenburgs (1988), Music by Johann Sebastian Bach
The Uncommitted (2011), Music by Arvo Pärt
Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal) (1980). Music by Igor Stravinsky, arrangement for two pianos

Brandenburgs is graceful, more like ballet. The Uncommitted is not much dancing. Interesting arrangements relating love, loneliness, fight. The Rite of Spring is weird and original. Black humor: a baby was stolen by the mistress of a gangster leader, everyone died in the end. Dances are in 2D (walking sideways like in an Egyptian painting) in a cartoonish fashion. I'll never listen to this music again in the same eyes.
Taylor was present at today's performance. He came on stage at the end. At 82.5, he still looks pretty good. 2 pianists today. Strong notes. Pretty bad acoustics, but good for dances.