Krista Garver - Page 11

Portland Center Stage's TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS asks us all to 'imagine what the world would be if we led with love and kindness," and shows us a path to get there.

COME FROM AWAY is an inspirational, funny, and uplifting musical about a small community in Canada that opened their hearts and homes to 7,000 strangers on 9/11.

In LA SEGUA, Alberto Cañas Escalante adapts a Costa Rican legend to provide a sharp critique of our cultural obsession with beauty. This Spanish-language production of this play at Milagro Theatre (subtitled for those of us who don't speak Spanish) is not only a complex exploration of our culture of vanity, it's visually stunning as well.

A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2, now playing at Artists Rep, is smart funny, and raises questions worth grappling with as we work toward gender equality in personal relationships, politics, and society in general.

Lisa Tierney-Keogh FOUR LAST THINGS demonstrates the devastating consequences of the isolation and desolation of life in the Irish countryside.

Most of our cultural stories (plays, movies, news stories) are about the first group. In THE DELAYS, now in its world premiere at Theatre Vertigo, Sara Jean Accuardi gives us a look into the lives of some people in the second group. It's a moving, well-crafted play that shows how easy it is to get trapped.

Nick Cearley stars in Jonathan Tolins' delightful one-person play BUYER & CELLAR, now playing at Portland Center Stage.

The 10th Anniversary Fertile Ground Festival has reached its final weekend. This year, there was not only a smorgasbord of new works, but several of them were musicals! Last week, I saw three (watch for themes: local Oregon stories, revamps of classics, and 90s throwbacks).

NUNSENSE is a musical based on a cabaret show based on a greeting card line.The whole thing is pretty silly, so its success depends on an amazing cast, who can land the jokes and the songs. Fortunately, that's exactly what Broadway Rose has.

JUICEBOX is a painfully funny tribute to 90s teenagerdom.

THE UNDERTAKING and ART OF AGING PROJECT, two new pieces now in performance together as part of the 10th Anniversary Fertile Ground Festival, seek to spark a new conversation around aging and death, as well as provide space for seniors' voices.

Directed by Eric Tucker and with sets by John McDermott, Portland Center Stage's production of Kate Hamill's SENSE & SENSIBILITY is close to the Bedlam original.

Directed by Tea Alagic, Emma Stanton's NO CANDY reveals the power and fortitude of the human spirit. At times, it gave me chills. At times, it's also quite funny.

WITCH HUNT (featuring Sascha Blocker, Jeff Desautels, Amica Hunter, Emily Newton, and Maureen Porter), draws on Arthur Miller's The Crucible, along with the McCarthy hearings, the Federalist papers, the Puritan work ethic, and current events, to explore our cultural obsession with finger-pointing via modern clown performance.

TEENAGE DICK is a high school adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III, a play about lust for power and revenge written during a time when a physical disability was thought to indicate a moral failing. There's a lot to unpack here, so to get straight to the point: Don't let the fact that it's set in high school scare you. Artists Rep's production of this play, which was a 2018 NYC Critic's Pick, is very much worth a watch.

The 10th Anniversary Fertile Ground Festival starts in just over a week! This year's festival features more than 70 works, including plays, musicals, storytelling, dance, comedy, and more.

The national tour of THE KING AND I has all of the makings of a perfect classic musical production -- lavish sets, gorgeous costumes, excellent performances, and, of course, great music. But despite having the right ingredients, it doesn't quite rise to its full emotional potential.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY is a wonderful way to experience this time-honored classic -- great holiday fun for the whole family!

This production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL is absolutely delightful. And somehow, it manages to still be surprising. If you're the type who's skeptical about holiday shows in general, do yourself a favor and give this one a chance.