For Immediate Release

Animals & Plants

by Adam Rapp

October 13 – November 5, 2011

Directed by Michael O’Connell

Featuring Chris Murray, Joseph Bolenbaugh and Nikki Weaver

CoHo is proud to facilitate an unprecedented collaboration two more of Portland’s hottest theater companies. Adam Rapp’s quirky comedy will feature  Nikki Weaver, the Drammy-winning star of Portland Playhouse (who also received rave reviews for her work in CoHo’s recent reasons to be pretty!) and Chris Murray a talented young member of the acclaimed Third Rail Repertory. Also from Third Rail, director Michael O’Connell will apply his unique vision to Rapp’s script.

In Animals and Plants, Burris and Dantly are trapped in a seedy motel room outside of Boone, North Carolina, waiting out a snow storm. Errand men for a drug dealer in New York, they’re here to purchase a large quantity of mind-altering drugs from a mysterious “Burning Man”. As the snow piles up outside, cryptic phone calls ring in, bears lurk in the dark, and visits from local denizens begin to alter the minds of Burris and Dantly, unassisted by any drug. Animals and Plants received its World Premiere in 2001 in the New Stages Program at the American Repertory Theatre. Rapp recently directed a site-specific version of the play at NYC’s Gershwin Hotel, a collaboration with the Amoralists theatre troupe. Variety calls Animals & Plants “a lurid comic phantasmagoria of life on the underside of Middle America.”

Adam Rapp is a novelist, filmmaker, playwright and director. In 2006, he was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his play Red Light Winter. His other plays include Bingo with the Indians, Kindness, American Sligo, Nocturne, Blackbird, Stone Cold Dead Serious, Finer Noble Gases, Essential Self Defense, Trueblinka and Faster. As a director, his production of Blackbird received two Drama Desk nominations. Red Light Winter won the Joseph Jefferson Award in Chicago and a Lucille Lortel Nomination for Best New Play and two Obie Awards in NYC. Finer Noble Gases at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival received a Fringe First Award. His films include Winter Passing and Blackbird. In a recent online interview with Jesse Schmitt, Rapp said of his work, “I feel like [in] theatre, that’s where you want to know what humanity can be and how horrible we can be and how beautiful we can be. So I do deal with extremes but one thing that’s real important about that is, as brutal as my stuff is, I actually think it can be as tender or as sweet or as beautiful at times; I want that combustion.”

Director Michael O’Connell is a Drammy-winning actor that has performed all over Portland and teaches at Portland State University, as well as Porltand Center Stage’s acclaimed Visions and Voices program. Michael’s Third Rail credits include The Lying Kind (Drammy), A Skull in Connemara, Nobody Here But Us Chickens, Number Three, The Pavilion, The Lonesome West, Dirty Story and Recent Tragic Events (Drammy). Michael has numerous local acting, regional and New York acting credits and recently directed Matt Zrebsky’s Forky for the Made in Oregon Series at the JAW Festival.

Chris Murray is a veteran co-producer at CoHo, having adapted and performed in Shakespeare’s Hamlet in 2010. He recently starred in Futura at Portland Center Stage and The Unseen, produced by Quick & Dirty Arts Project. Chris played Mairtin in A Skull in Connemara at Third Rail, before his inclusion in the company in 2009. Other Portland credits include Mr. Marmalade and Take Me Out (Drammy, Best Supporting Actor) at Artists Repertory Theatre, Six Degrees of Separation and The Sisters Rosensweig at Profile Theatre, The Receptionist at CoHo Theatre, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Lakewood Theatre.

Nikki Weaver is a founding member of Portland Playhouse and won a Drammy Award in 2011 for her performance in The Scene. She recently received praise for her role in CoHo’s reasons to be pretty. Before relocating to Portland, Nikki performed on the East Coast for Shakespeare & Company, Centastage, Theatreworks, and 11:11. Other Portland Playhouse credits include Telethon, bobraushcenbergamerica, After Ashley and Mauritius.

Performance Schedule
Friday, October 14 at 8pm – Opening Night
Saturday, October 15 at 8pm
Thursday – Saturday, October 20 – November 5 at 8pm
Sundays, October 16 – October 30 at 2pm

Ticket Information

Adults: $25
Seniors (60+)/Students/Educators/Groups (8+): $20
Thursdays are Pay-What-You-Will

(Prices do not include online/phone fees)

Tickets can be purchased by calling 503-205-0715 and more information is available at www.cohoproductions.org.

Performances are held at CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh Street, Portland, OR, 97210.
CoHo’s 2011-12 Season Continues with:

Day of the Docent
by Ebbe Roe Smith
February 17 – March 24, 2012
directed by Marcella Crowson
featuring Casey McFeron, Laura Faye Smith and Ebbe Roe Smith

Movie-loving criminal Mick wants to change his life. When he discovers that Francis Overley, the writer of his favorite film, is in town, he and his girlfriend Grace abduct him in an effort to coerce him into becoming Mick’s mentor. What begins as a kidnapping develops into a mutually advantageous partnership, as the three collaborate on a screenplay they hope will launch Mick’s career, and allow Francis to return from his self-imposed exile from Hollywood.

Hard Times

adapted by Stephen Jeffreys
from the novel by Charles Dickens
May 11 – June 2, 2012
directed by Michael Gerber
featuring Camille Cettina, Ted deChatelet, Patricia Ferguson, David Janoviak

The wide expanse of Dickens’ novel on the riches and hardships of the Industrial Revolution is triumphantly brought to life in this skillful adaptation of Hard Times for a cast of four. The New York Times says Jeffreys’ adaptation has “heart, humor and twists that keep the audience engaged until the final resolution.”

Coho Productions

CoHo Productions’ mission is to produce high quality and affordable theater in Portland in an intimate setting under a unique collaborative model we call co-production.  CoHo invites local theater artists to propose plays for production and our Artistic Council, consisting of established Portland artists of all disciplines, selects three shows per season.  CoHo provides the venue, funding, and marketing support for the show, freeing our co-producers to focus on the artistic and technical aspects in which they excel.  CoHo serves the entire Portland metropolitan area, with a particular concentration on our Northwest Portland neighborhood.

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COHO PRODUCTIONS HIRES NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR

CoHo Productions announces that Erin Lucas will become Managing Director, effective April 11.  Lucas will oversee the operations of the Portland-based theater company, including financial, box office, and administrative matters.  She will also be responsible for managing and marketing the acclaimed 99-seat CoHo Theater in Northwest Portland.  Lucas will support CoHo’s Board of Directors as they launch a new, more professional direction for the organization.

Lucas has extensive experience in theater and arts management, including marketing and management positions with Profile Theatre (Portland), La Jolla Playhouse (CA), Symphony Space (NYC), HEREArts Center (NYC), and Main Line Art Center (PA).  She was the founding Producing Artistic Director of Philadelphia’s Flashpoint Theatre Company from 2003-2008. She served on the Board of the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, acting as Chair of the SPARK committee, which represented over 80 small and emerging theatre companies in the Philadelphia region. Lucas holds a B.A. degree in Theatre Arts from Drew University and is currently working towards an MFA in Directing at the University of Portland.

“Our selection committee was very impressed by Ms. Lucas’ experience in all aspects of theater management.  We had a very strong pool of very capable candidates, but Erin topped the list in every category.  CoHo Productions is very fortunate, pleased and excited to have Erin Lucas at the helm for these challenging times,” said Scott Stephens, CoHo board president.

Lucas takes the helm just in time for CoHo’s 2010-11 season closer, Neil LaBute’s reasons to be pretty, directed by Gretchen Corbett, running May 13 through June 18. Tickets can be purchased by calling 503-205-0715 and more information is available at www.cohoproductions.org.

For Immediate Release

CoHo Gets a Little Bit Naughty This Summer

Madder Music & Stronger Wine**

August 5 – 27, 2011

**2011 Portland Area Musical Theatre Award (PAMTA) Nominee

for “Best Original Musical”!

An audience favorite at CoHo’s Festival of World Premieres Summer last year, Madder Music & Stronger Wine is a musical revue exploring and ultimately celebrating erotica as it manifested in the Victorian Era. Madder Music & Stronger Wine takes the form of an informal salon of the era, combining witty discussion on entertainingly naughty subjects with rollicking new tunes with music by Sir Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) and lyrics by author Russ Cowan, a veteran of the local theatre scene as an actor for over thirty years.

As the nineteenth century wound down, there was an unusual flowering of art of every sort and variety. Madder Music & Stronger Wine explores specifically the abundance of high quality erotica that was a component of the time. Works by such luminaries as Oscar Wilde, Emile Zola and Mark Twain were notable for their frank social commentary on the effects of the Industrial Revolution, but also on the fringe element of human sexuality.

A cast of six actors portray hedonists and whores, cads and clergymen, rogues and royalty as they perform over two dozen roles, including literary characters from erotic novels of the day, the authors who created them, and even historical figures prominent in the Victorian Era. Returning talent from last summer’s World Premiere production include Catherine Bridge, Jeffrey Schoenfeld and author Cowan, along with new cast member Shannon Jones and longtime Portland favorite, Ron Harman.

Performance Schedule
The play runs August 5 – 27, 2011 and is presented in one act (running time approximately ninety minutes), and the curtain rises at 8:30PM on Thursdays through Saturdays to allow for cocktails and socializing before the show. Matinees on Sundays will begin at 2:00PM.

Ticket Information

Adults: $15
Seniors (60+)/Students/Educators/Groups (8+): $12
Thursdays are Pay-What-You-Will

(Prices do not include online/phone fees)

Tickets can be purchased by calling 503-205-0715 and more information is available at www.cohoproductions.org.

Performances are held at CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh Street, Portland, OR, 97210.

 

Photo by Gary Norman

“In short, costumes, like set, sound, and lights creatively and efficiently support the talented company as they very ably carry us through the twists and turns that make up Dickens’ tale.” (Read the Full OREGONIAN Review)

Hard Times

adapted by Stephen Jeffreys
from the novel by Charles DickensMay 11 – June 2, 2012

directed by Michael Gerber

featuring Camille Cettina, Ted deChatelet,
McKenna Twedt, David Janoviak

The wide expanse of Dickens’ novel on the riches and hardships of the Industrial Revolution is triumphantly brought to life in this skillful adaptation of Hard Times for a cast of four. The New York Times says Jeffreys’ adaptation has “heart, humor and twists that keep the audience engaged until the final resolution.”

CoHo Theater – 2257 NW Raleigh St., Portland, OR 97210
503-220-2646

http://stagenstudio.com/2011/02/kid-simple-writers-read-3/

You can hear the podcast by following the above link.

Holly’s Review

In addition, Marty Hughley had this to say about playwright Jordan Harrison:

Marty’s Thoughts

Come see what they’re talking about! Buy Tickets Here!

Photo by Casey Campbell, Sarah McGregor as Moll, Joe Bolenbaugh as Foley Artist

Sarah McGregor as Moll, Joe Bolenbaugh as The Foley Artist. Photo by Casey Campbell

Do you see what I hear? Well, if you come see Kid Simple: a radio play in the flesh at CoHo, you just might! We’ll tell you about Moll, the brilliant girl inventor who invents a machine that can make all of the sounds that can’t be heard! From toenails growing on a field mouse, to the sound of a heart that’s breaking, the Third Ear lets us hear them all. Everyone around Moll is thrilled at her invention, including a merciless Mercenary(played by JR Wickman) who wants the Third Ear for his own nefarious reasons. When the Mercenary steals the Third Ear and, incidentally, Moll’s heart, she sets off on a cumbersome quest with Oliver(R David Wyllie), the last boy virgin in the 11th grade, her alphabetized inventing pack, and her imagination. Together, they must cross chasms, raft rivers, and mount mountains to save sound as we know it.

Kid Simple: a radio play in the flesh is co-produced with call in sick productions. Kid Simple opens Friday, February 18th, and runs through Saturday, March 26th. Show times are 8:00 pm Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and 2:00 pm Sunday.  Tickets are $25 general admission, $20 for students, educators, and those 60 or better, and Thursdays are, as always, pay what you can. To purchase tickets, either call the CoHo Office at (503) 220-2646, or visit our website at https://www.hulahub.com/event?id=96855

Photo by Stephanie Yao. Marty says "Some shows are ready picks, others are still sprouting, but the Fertile Ground festival offers lots of chances to find something new to enjoy about Portland theater and dance."

Terrific news this morning, CoHo was featured as a Pick by The Oregonian in an article about Fertile Ground: “Steve Patterson won CoHo Productions’ New by Northwest competition with this musing on photography, death and human essence.” – Marty Hughley, The Oregonian. Read the full article here.