Portland, OR. Music, dance, artistic freedom, censorship, and a 1920’s lesbian love story, collide with the looming threat of the Holocaust in an award-winning play now being staged by Artists Repertory Theatre. Indecent by Paula Vogel, is part of Artists Repertory Theatre on Tour (ART) season, which is taking place as the company’s theater is undergoing renovation. The play features Michael Mendelson (picture above) and is being produced with Profile Theatre; the production takes place at Portland State University. Indecent is described as a backstage drama filled with music and the history of Jewish theatre. (Photo credit, Kathleen Kelly)
Miriam Schwartz and Jamie M Rea
“Our need to tell our own stories is one of the most ancient needs we have,” says Artistic Director of Profile Theatre and director of the play, Josh Hecht. “It’s not just the telling that is important. It’s the witnessing. It’s the confirmation that comes from speaking our truths and having someone else say, “Yes, that’s me, too. Yes, I recognize that. We may be different, but in this way we are the same.”
“This original production of Vogel’s acclaimed, moving, and ultimately joyous play is a collaboration between Profile Theatre, Artists Repertory Theatre (ART), and Portland State University (PSU),” says Dámaso Rodríguez, Artistic Director of Artists Repertory Theatre. “This ambitiousness and scale of this project, which affords opportunities for PSU students to interact with and learn from some of our city’s most accomplished theatre artists, might have been out of reach for all of our companies had we not combined our resources to make it possible.”
Here’s a video about the production:
Indecent runs through March 8th, at Lincoln Hall, Portland State University, 1620 SW Park Ave. ART descriptions include the following: A boldly touching portrayal of the original theatrical company that presented Sholem Asch’s The God of Vengeance. The creator, Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Paula Vogel based scenes off of Asch’s play portraying the risk-taking group that brought the script to the stage.
Tickets are $60 regular price; $30 preview/student/under 35; $15 PSU student with ID. Special Discounts include Sliding Scale Sunday (tickets start at $10): applies to Sunday evening performances, 20for20: 20 tickets available at every performance for $20, Artists Rep participates in Arts for All and the Multnomah County Library’s Discovery Pass Program. Tickets at 503.241.1278 or www.artistsrep.org
Here’s a video about Artist Repertory Theatre:
More about Artists Repertory Theatre:
ARTISTS REPERTORY THEATRE’S mission is to produce intimate, provocative theatre and provide a home for a diverse community artists and audiences to take creative risks. Artists Rep gratefully acknowledges our theatre rests on the traditional lands of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla and many other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River. Artists Rep is Portland’s premiere mid-size regional theatre company and is led by Artistic Director Dámaso Rodríguez and Managing Director J.S. May. Founded in 1982, Artists Repertory Theatre is the longest-running professional theatre company in Portland. ART became the 72nd member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) in 2016 and is an Associate Member of the National New Play Network (NNPN). Artists Rep’s 2019/20 season can be found here.
Artists Rep has become a significant presence in American regional theatre with a legacy of world, national, and regional premieres of provocative new work with the highest standards of stagecraft. The organization is committed to local artists and features a company of Resident Artists and professionals of varied theatre disciplines, who are a driving force behind Artists Rep’s creative output and identity.
Portland, September 14th, 2013. The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has awarded a total of $1,745,354 in grants to 48 local arts organizations. Portland Art Museum the received the biggest grant, a total of $194,396. Awarded annually, these grants provide general operating support to 501(c)(3) arts organizations that deliver year-round programs and have at least $80,000 in annual revenues.
“RACC is honored to invest public and private dollars in these outstanding organizations,” said executive director Eloise Damrosch. “They make significant and varied contributions to the cultural and economic vitality of the region, including Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties.”
Grant recipients are selected in a rigorous application review process that includes a panel of community volunteers and RACC staff. Applicants are evaluated on artistic excellence and fiscal responsibility, and must demonstrate broad community support including a stable base of audiences and donors. The $1.7 million total is a slight increase over last year because of an increase in contributions through RACC’s workplace giving program, Work for Art.
Organizations receiving RACC general operating support in 2013-14 are:
Artist Repertory Theatre, $57,576
Bag & Baggage Productions, $11,600
Blue Sky Gallery, $13,890
Bodyvox, $25,546
Broadway Rose Theatre Company, $36,740
Cappella Romana, Inc., $13,350
Chamber Music Northwest, $53,450
Children’s Healing Art Project, $12,760
Do Jump! Extremely Physical Theatre, $30,396
Ethos Music Center, $17,700
Friends of Chamber Music, $21,796
Hollywood Theatre/Film Action Oregon, $17,970
Imago Theatre, $30,406
Independent Publishing Resource Center, $12,136
Lakewood Center for the Arts, $37,320
Literary Arts, Inc., $45,726
Live Wire!, $12,710 Metropolitan Youth Symphony, $30,986
Miracle Theatre Group, $30,646
Northwest Children’s Theatre, $28,390
Northwest Dance Project, $16,000
NW Documentary Arts & Media, $12,136
Oregon Ballet Theatre, $85,900
Oregon Children’s Theatre, $60,936
Oregon Repertory Singers, $26,630
Oregon Symphony Association, $144,516
PHAME Academy, $12,136
Playwrite, Inc., $17,386
Portland Art Museum, $194,396
Portland Baroque Orchestra, $25,500
Portland Center Stage, $91,216
Portland Chamber Orchestra, $15,710
Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra, $14,090
Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, $16,790
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, $29,656
Portland Opera, $140,716
Portland Piano International, $15,630
Portland Taiko, $37,420
Portland Youth Philharmonic, $31,706
Profile Theatre Project, $23,360
Tears of Joy Theatre, $31,966
The Portland Ballet, $19,166
Third Angle New Music Ensemble, $11,500
Third Rail Repertory Theatre, $13,400
White Bird, $52,116
Wordstock, Inc., $15,436
Write Around Portland, $20,796
Young Audiences of Oregon & SW Washington, $28,050
RACC receives funding from a variety of public and private partners to serve artists, arts organizations, schools and residents throughout tri-county region. The City of Portland provides the majority of support at nearly $1.1 million, with additional funding from Work for Art donations as well as Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington Counties.
These 48 organizations have combined purchasing and payroll power of $86.7 million and an extended economic impact of $151 million annually, including all of the audience-related spending that occurs before and after an arts event. Their total combined attendance last year was 2.9 million, including 679,000 K-12 students.
Organizations interested in participating in the 2015 grant application process can visit www.racc.org/grants for information including guidelines, application deadlines, and additional contact information.
A note on the City of Portland’s Arts Education & Access Fund
The City has not yet distributed to RACC any proceeds from the new Arts Education & Access Fund, so these grant awards do not include any “arts tax” money. RACC funding from all sources currently represents 2% of the grantees’ annual revenues, including an average of 1.3% funding from the City of Portland general fund. RACC expects to receive its first proceeds from the Arts Education & Access Fund next spring, and at that time can begin working toward the goal of providing qualified arts organizations with 5% public support. Funded organizations will still rely on ticket sales, contributions, and other income to make up the other 95% of their budgets.
About RACC
RACC provides grants for artists, nonprofit organizations and schools; manages an internationally acclaimed public art program; raises money and awareness for the arts through workplace giving; convenes forums, networking events and other community gatherings; provides workshops and other forms of technical assistance for artists; and oversees a program to integrate arts and culture into the standard curriculum in public schools throughout the region through “The Right Brain Initiative.” For more information visit us online at www.racc.org.
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