Spring Musicals at Portland Center Stage

The dressing rooms, hallways, and stages are alive with music at PCS! This past weekend, Portland Center Stage debuted the world premier of of two new shows both featuring music: Wild and Reckless: A New Concert Event with Blitzen Trapper (running until April 30, 2017) and Lauren Weedman Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (running until April 30, 2017).

I attended both and here’s are my thoughts on the Spring Musicals at Portland Center Stage.

Wild and Reckless: A New Concert Event with Blitzen Trapper

A World Premiere!
Blitzen Trapper mined their lyrical storytelling and Oregonian roots to create a story for the stage that fuses the energy of a rock concert with the imaginative possibility of the theater. Wild and Reckless traces the unforgettable tale of two kids on the run, in a futuristic vision of Portland’s past. Evoking a bygone era of Portland, this sci-fi dystopian love story features a rock-and-roll score that marries previously unreleased songs with favorites from the band’s catalog, including “Black River Killer” and “Astronaut.” Portland Center Stage at The Armory commissioned Wild and Reckless as the second world premiere in its new “Northwest Stories” series, dedicated to developing and producing stories about, or by artists from, the northwest region.

The performance runs for approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. Ticket prices range from $25-75 depending on show and seats. All performances are at the Armory (128 NW 11th Avenue, in the Pearl District). See more details and other ticket specials for groups, students, military, or learn about rush tickets here.

Recommended for ages 17 and up. Contains theatrical haze, strobe-like lighting effects, mature content, explicit language and adult situations. Children under 6 are not permitted at any production.

In terms of what I thought of the show, if you are someone that likes Blitzen Trapper already, you will like this show. If you like like indie rock bands with a folksy sound but sprinkle of pop (the video gives a taste of that music below), you will enjoy the show as well. The voices of Eric Earley, playing the main narrator, and Laura Carbonell who plays as a character “The Girl” intertwine beautifully so that although on stage you only witness the subtlest of physical connection through simple proximity, leaning into each other, and holding hands, you believe in the love story from their voices.

Story-wise, I admit being confused at first until Brian Adrian Koch, playing The Scientist, lays down the groundwork to establish this parallel reality Portland that this story is set. Brian, of the five band members of Blitzen Trapper apparently has the most theater experience, and is able to have the most fun chewing the scenery and brings some levity to the otherwise dark and emotional tale. Meanwhile his bandmates (not counting Laura and also Leif Norby who plays The Dealer, both who are also theater veterans who are added to the cast besides the Blitzen Trapper band members) seem to still be figuring out this line between ad hoc performance in a concert setting playing music but also having to remember blocking on a stage. I did see the show opening night so this could be easily smoothed with more time.

Also, importantly I don’t want to sell Eric short. Eric has to carry the emotional weight of the show. This can be a difficult burden when you function as the narrator and so also are an observer of the past that provide constant exposition for the audience. Towards the end there is a heart wrenching moment that he completely embodies that really makes this play impactful.

Laura Carbonell as The Girl and Eric Earley as The Narrator in “Wild and Reckless” at The Armory. Photo by Patrick Weishampel/blankeye.tv.

Speaking of the stage, the production here is top notch – it manifests itself obviously in the intense and very cool setting of the stage (plus a magical bathtub), but the sound was always perfect, and timing of cues with lights (ha ha) always spot on. Given that there are TWO shows playing in repertory (alternating performance between the two shows), keep in mind they need to partially tear town/move pieces each time the shows swap – which mean several times a week!

Once you as the audience understand the importance of lightening and dust in this alternate version of Portland, the rest of the story and songs begin to come together. On the surface, it’s a youthful love story, and it’s also a tale of the effects of addiction. Some of the lines from The Scientist, The Professor, and The Dealer also stir in questions about enablers, either directly or through inaction, and how that is also a reflection of our society.

This latter part was after some contemplation and cocktails after the show – part of me wonders of adding just a sentence or two at the end could have brought this point home better and made the end of the play a little smoother. I’m torn on this idea: on one hand, I don’t like when storytelling has to almost spell it out for the audience (and I definitely hate if they hit you over the head with it), but on the other hand the end of the play seemed abrupt.

Lauren Weedman

A World Premiere!
What do you do when your heart is broken? When your world seems to be falling apart, one frustration at a time. Grab a guitar, hitch up your jeans, and sing about it! From the star of HBO’s Looking and The People’s Republic of Portland at The Armory, Lauren Weedman (and her alter ego Tami Lisa) are ready to take you on a journey of heartbreak, laughter and fresh starts. Lauren will be joined by a band of fine musicians; and we’re pretty sure her hair will be bigger than ever..

The performance runs for approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. Ticket prices range from $25-75 depending on show and seats. All performances are at the Armory (128 NW 11th Avenue, in the Pearl District). See more details and other ticket specials for groups, students, military, or learn about rush tickets here.

Recommended for ages 17 and up. Contains mature content, explicit language, nude photos and adult situations. Children under 6 are not permitted at any production.

The best way I can think of to explain what this show is would be to describe it as another tale of heartbreak via betrayal and finding out how to be ok with oneself, but this one done with sharp humor almost along the lines of stand up with its chattiness. Lauren uses her Tami Lisa alter ego to channel a country girl variety show host that includes conversations and musical performances by guests and with other characters – all who are by the way, the one woman show of Lauren. In the meantime, snippets of her real life hardships are also faced by Tami Lisa (and her cast of characters) as the undercurrent to the variety show.

Lauren Weedman in her newest show, Lauren Weedman Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Photo by Patrick Weishampel/blankeye.

Lauren has an amazing ability to really switch out into the various characters during the show, including some great physical acting for a few of them so that even before she says a word, you know we’re back to her friend/employee Cornbread. She keeps the show moving at a fast pace with her mouth moving at a sometimes dizzying almost manic cadence, and maintains apparently boundless energy. Even sitting on the stool briefly for part of a monologue here or there, you sense the tornado within.

Although there’s lots of laugh outloud moments, there are real concerns that also present themselves throughout – what do other people think of me? The persona of Tami Lee putting up a fake persona herself of being fine when she’s not, and then through some ups and downs, all with ferocious humor, finding a way to actually be ok.

As always, I highly recommend visiting the PCS webpage for Wild and Reckless: A New Concert Event with Blitzen Trapper and Lauren Weedman Doesn’t Live Here Anymore because they often have lots of fun events before or after the show, sometimes with complimentary snacks and beverages so it can really make it a whole outing! This can vary from Taste of Oregon wine, beer, or cider tastings to movie nights (such as free movie and pizza with  Movie Night: Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny on April 10 or Movie Night at The Armory: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas on April 16) to shows celebrating female empowerment and identity crisis with a Identity Crisis Comedy Event (April 2, $5) with six female artists doing sketches or several Rock and Roll Walking Tours on several Sundays in April. There are several discount codes for show tickets on the website as well!

Disclosure: I was invited to see these opening night productions at Portland Center Stage, but I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own