JAW. Saturday July 21, 4pm:
David Adjmi's Marie Antoinette.

JAW. Saturday July 21, 8pm:
Dan LeFranc's Bruise Easy

JAW. Sunday July 22, 4pm:
Jacquelyn Reingold's A Story About a Girl

JAW. Sunday July 22, 8pm:
Jason Grote's Box Americana
(A Dream of Wal-Mart)

"Storm Large IS Sally Bowles."
    — Rick Lewis

on stage
JAW 2007
Portland Center Stage’s annual playwrights festival is right around the corner and this year is packed with more plays and special events than ever before. The most exciting news for Portland theater lovers is that all the public play readings and events are ABSOLUTELY FREE for the first time in the Festival’s 9-year history!

Ingredients this year include 13 staged readings, 23 separate public events, 38 playwrights, 22 directors, and 11 different theater companies from around the city.

Having our own space for the Festival makes a world of difference. Not only will we be featuring readings on the Main Stage and in the Studio, we’ll be animating practically every nook and cranny of the building with the Theater Fair, site specific performances, Community Artists Labs and other surprises!

At its heart, JAW is a festival dedicated to the development of new plays by some of the country’s most talented playwrights. Four top names are invited to bring a play to workshop with actors for one intense week and then present that play to a live audience in the form of a public reading on the Main Stage during the culmination of the Festival, July 21 and 22. The results have been nothing short of phenomenal. Many of the plays featured in previous years have later been fully produced at Portland Center Stage and in other regional theatres around the country. Adam Bock’s The Thugs was part of the 2005 festival and, earlier this year, it enjoyed a late-night run in the Gerding Theater Studio (and winning three Portland Drammy Awards); it was also produced Off Broadway, where the author won a 2006-07 Obie Award for the script.

In addition to the national guests, three local playwrights have been invited to participate this year. Their plays will be performed in the Studio and attending those readings will be the only way to get an early taste of the best plays being created right here in our own backyard.

A very special event at JAW 2007 is Portland’s own piece of Suzan-Lori Parks’ national theater experience known as 365 Days/365 Plays. In 2004, Parks wrote a different short play for every day of the year. Throughout this year, theaters all over the country are performing them. On July 20, we’ll be collaborating with Many Hats Collaboration, the children of Self-Enhancement, Inc, defunkt theatre, Miracle Theatre Group and skinner/kirk Dance Ensemble to contribute to this epic dramatic phenomenon.

The Theater Fair promises to be more dynamic than ever with troupes from all over the city hocking their wares and raffling off season tickets to lucky and hopeful Festival participants. Site-Specific performances will be happening throughout the Theater Fair so you’ll want to stay on your toes and be sure not to miss these one-of-a-kind plays.

Portland Center Stage wishes to express our deepest thanks to the generous JAW 2007 sponsors, The Kinsman Foundation, SmartForest Ventures, Mentor Graphics and the Oregon Cultural Trust.

Most public events will be happening between July 20 and 22, so scrap anything on your calendar for those days and dedicate them to JAW 2007 now. For complete JAW 2007 details follow this link and to read a great interview with JAW Literary Director, Mead Hunter, follow this link to followspot.org. See you at the Festival!

Cabaret News:
Wade McCollum will join Storm Large On Stage for Cabaret!
In what is likely to be the most significant pairing of local phenoms in Portland theater history, it has just become official that Wade McCollum will play the role of Emcee opposite Storm Large as Sally Bowles in the PCS production of Cabaret opening in September. McCollum originally announced his desire to perform the role not long after being invited last spring, but getting a gig on the national Jersey Boys tour presented a potential snag in the original plan. Wade has recently confirmed that he will be available and is eagerly anticipating the opportunity to work alongside Storm Large.

In Storm Large news, she recently performed at one of her favorite Portland haunts, Dante’s. The show was a celebration of the release of her CD Ladylike, Side One and to keep the crowd intimate and local, the performance was billed under a pseudonym that I can’t quite repeat on the PCS website. Portland was lucky to see Storm before her month-long tour of the Great White North; she’ll be in clubs and venues all over Canada through late July. How was the show? Simply amazing. Watching Storm and The Balls perform their signature (lounge core) brand of mixed medley covers and edgy but soulful originals made me realize that what Rick Lewis (Music Director for Cabaret) said when Chris Coleman asked him about Storm for the role of Sally was absolutely right, “Storm Large IS Sally Bowles.”

There’s no excuse for missing Cabaret this fall. Don’t be the one with nothing to say next to the water-cooler. Based on our experience with a relatively unknown and mostly out of town cast in West Side Story last year, we are expecting an early sell-out for all dates of Cabaret, featuring two of Portland’s favorite performers. Subscriptions to the 2007-2008 Portland Center Stage Season are available now and the season brochure should be in your mailbox any day. For the best seats, subscribe to the entire season as soon as possible. Single tickets for Cabaret will go on sale to the general public September 1, 2007. You can reach the PCS Box Office seven days a week at 503/445-3700 or learn more right here on the PCS website.