Peter Alzado co-directs and stars in Ashland Contemporary Theatre’s production of John Logan’s “Red,” playing March 26 through April 3 at the Ashland Community Center. Alzado (who served as artistic director of Ashland’s Oregon Stage Works for seven years and Talent’s Actors’ Theatre for another seven) is a brilliant actor. I saw “Red” on opening night. Alzado as Mark Rothko, the abstract expressionist painter, and Reece Bredl, as his assistant and artistic foil, deliver a dynamic two-man tour-de-force.
EH: I saw you in “Portlandia.”
PA: I think more people saw what I did in “Portlandia” than saw all of the work that I did here for 15 or 16 years.
EH: Tell me about “RED.”
PA: Rothko and his assistant are involved in working on the Seagram murals. As they work on them, there is an uncovering of secrets and also an uncovering of Rothko’s art and its relationship to the world. It is all about the work. Continue reading ‘Red’ dives deep into Rothko’s color fields→
James Edmondson is directing Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” at Southern Oregon University opening this Friday, Feb. 26. The play is based on the witch trials that took place in Salem, Mass., in 1692. This is the centennial of Arthur Miller’s birth. Many productions of his plays are being produced internationally.
James Edmondson has been an actor and director with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival since 1972, where he performed 60 roles including the title roles in “Richard II” and “King Lear.” He directed 30 productions for OSF, most recently, “Rabbit Hole,” and “The Diary of Anne Frank.” Edmondson has directed and acted for the American Conservatory Theatre and numerous other nationally known theaters.
I saw an early run-through of “The Crucible” and the production promises to be a compelling night of theater. I met with Edmondson in the Theatre Arts building on the SOU campus to discuss the play. Continue reading SOU stages Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’→
David Humphrey is director for the Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University. With a doctorate in music education and opera production, Humphrey went on to become director of education for the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and director of San Francisco’s Museum of Performance & Design before coming to Ashland. We met at Pony Espresso Café in Ashland. This is the first of a two-part interview. The second will be published on Dec. 14.
EH: How did you become interested in an interdisciplinary approach to education in the arts?
DH: I started in music, but my interests grew very broadly. I really liked all the arts; I know so many young people do too. Art schools tend to keep students within specific disciplines and don’t allow them to explore other disciplines.
Students are multi-talented, and their choice of a specific area is based on very limited knowledge. They wind up in a particular discipline doing very well, but not quite suiting their personality. They need to find themselves. I believe if you can really understand who you are, and how the arts work, you can make a better decision. Continue reading SOU hopes to strike sparks between the arts→
Jackie Apodaca directs a new version by Libby Appel of Anton Chekov’s “Seagull,” now playing through Nov. 22 at the Center Square Theatre on the Southern Oregon University Campus. I saw an early run through and was impressed by the high quality of the rehearsal and the vibrant energy that propels the play. I met Apodaca at The Human Bean next to the library on the SOU Campus.
EH: What is the world of Chekov?
JA: Chekov is embracing the idea that everyone is the hero of their own tragic-comedy. The thing that is so fascinating about it is that it’s relatable, it’s about the type of issues that we all face. We think our lives are great dramatic love stories with triumphs and tragedies. We live our own lives that way. It’s the tiny things in our lives that take on such great importance, and that are ridiculous from the outside. You do get to very dramatic outbursts. It’s very naturalistic, in that we really do take those things so seriously. Continue reading SOU stages adaptation of Chekov’s ‘Seagull’→
James Donlon is directing “Caliban’s Dream” which opens Nov. 6 at Southern Oregon University’s Center Stage Theatre on the SOU campus. Donlon devised the script from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” With its imaginative framework, unique staging and iconic characters that morph through time, “Caliban’s Dream” promises to be a stimulating and unique theatrical experience.
Donlon, an assistant professor in SOU’s Theatre Arts Department, found his affinity for theater as an undergraduate while attending Humbolt State University on a basketball scholarship. Since then, he has shaped a long theatrical career that includes teaching at such prominent theater schools as The American Conservatory Theater, The Yale School of Drama and the University of California at Santa Barbara and San Diego. We lunched at the Standing Stone Brewing Company in Ashland. Continue reading Backstage: After the ‘Tempest’ – Caliban continued→
Susan Aversa-Orrego directs Jean Giraudoux’s “The Madwoman of Chaillot” which opens Friday, June 26, 2015 at the Randall Theatre. The play, which was written during the Nazi occupation of Paris in World War II, mirrors our current economic and environmental state of affairs. During the play, corporations that are attempting to drill an oil well in the middle of Paris clash with the local Bohemian community. Aversa and I visited at the Wild Goose in Ashland.
SA: The setting of the show, as it’s written by Giraudoux, says: “The time is the spring of next year.” We set the play in 2015. It works very well. By making it 2015 it really speaks to the audience now. Now it’s not just a period piece. You can see that undercurrent of evil. It’s just so relevant to what is happening now. We’re staging it in our time period because there’s such intensity about the fracking that’s going on now, and how it’s causing earthquakes.
There’s a line in the show, “What would you rather see in your backyard, an almond tree or an oil well?” There is a very callous attitude toward taking care of the world and life in general. There is that Wall Street greed. And they don’t care. Continue reading The Madwoman of Chaillot→
At the the Ashland Independent Film Festival awards ceremony on April 12 at the Historic Ashland Armory, AIFF Director of Programming Joanne Feinberg said her goodbyes to two standing ovations and a surprise staff-produced tribute film. During the five-day event, many filmmakers mentioned that Feinberg’s involvement was one reason they brought their films to the AIFF. I met Feinberg for coffee at Mix on the Plaza in Ashland. This is the first of a two-part interview. The next column will be published on May 14.
EH: How did you first get interested in film?
JF: When I was 9, I went to a small private alternative school. I had a teacher who was a photographer. He gave me a camera and built a darkroom in the school. I just fell in love with taking pictures, developing the film and printing the images; I learned that whole process. I decided I was going to become a photojournalist and travel the world. In my senior year of high school video came in. I got a little taste of what that was like, and how you could tell stories with interviews and moving images. Continue reading Joanne Feinberg→
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