Spring theater kicks off in the Portland area with a high-stepping movie adaptation (“Tootsie”) and a first-century dancer bringing sexy back (“Salome”). Later, a trio of Black voices weave uniquely American histories grounded in three different decades. As the season winds down, behold the return of some fierce ruling queens — both Tudor and drag (“Six” and “Darcelle: That’s No Lady”). Here’s your full list of can’t-miss picks.
“Tootsie” — Stumptown Stages
Stumptown Stages’ founder and producing artistic director Kirk Mouser said he’s excited to portray the “narcissistic, arrogant, temperamental and destructive character of Michael Dorsey,” a.k.a Dorothy Michaels, the title role in “Tootsie.”
The 2019 stage adaptation updates several aspects of the 1982 movie. But Dorsey, the actor who dons a dress and wig thinking he’ll get more work (and realized flawlessly by Dustin Hoffman in the film), is still a lech. At first.
“The payoff is the lesson learned that to be saved, you can’t live in a lie,” Mouser said.
Tapping into this dual role allows Mouser to bring out “the best and worst in an industry that seems indifferent, and where unemployment is the norm,” he added.
“But when all is said and done, hopefully we can laugh at the journey, live in our truths and celebrate the person who’s looking back at us in the mirror.”
March 21-April 13; Winningstad Theatre, 1111 S.W. Broadway; stumptownstages.org.
Kirk Mouser plays Michael Dorsey in Stumptown Stages' production of "Tootsie" through April 13.Owen Carey
“Grease” — Broadway Rose Theatre Company
Funhouse Lounge in Southeast Portland rocked local fans recently with its camped-to-the-max stage version of one of the worst movie sequels of all time: “Grease 2.”
Here’s a chance to catch the more highly regarded first chapter featuring the O.G. Rydell High School romancers, Sandy and Danny. The show gleefully bunny hops through its 1950s nostalgia: bobby socks, hand jives, leather jackets, pre-RuPaul drag racing and apparently, a really difficult cosmetology curriculum.
April 10-May 18; Broadway Rose Theatre New Stage, 12850 S.W. Grant Ave., Tigard; broadwayrose.org.
“Salome” – Imago Theatre
Before “Showgirls” there was Salome. The original dirty dancer, Salome’s lusty lap dance at King Herod’s court left John the Baptist gasping for air. Alas, she couldn’t turn a prophet, so she ordered him beheaded.
Too hot for its own time, (the play was censored and banned in the 1890s), Oscar Wilde’s still-racy-today work twerks right in with Imago Theatre’s soft-“R”-rated season. (More than steamy, Imago’s recent revival of “A Streetcar Named Desire” produced an atmospheric condition.)
Particularly intriguing: How director Jerry Mouawad plans to choreograph “Dance of the Seven Veils,” the sensual centerpiece for this biblical Britney Spears.
April 11-27; Imago Theatre, 17 S.E. Eighth Ave.; imagotheatre.com.
Jaiden Wirth as Salome in Imago Theatre's production of "Salome."Ahmad Daniel Santos
“The Brothers Size” — Portland Center Stage
Tarell Alvin McCraney continues to surprise.
The scribe won an Oscar for co-writing the simmering coming-of-age film “Moonlight” and penned “Choir Boy,” a poignant stage drama punctuated with a cappella spirituals (emotively realized by Portland Center Stage two years ago).
McCraney’s “The Brothers Size,” a tale of two estranged brothers reuniting in the Louisiana Bayou, is much more than a study in sibling rivalry.
McCraney’s dynamic three-character composition also features a cappella music — and so much choreographed movement it could have earned a spot on our spring dance picks as well.
April 20-May 18; U.S. Bank Main Stage at the Armory, 128 N.W. 11th Ave.; pcs.org/the-brothers-size.
“The Storyteller” — Artists Repertory Theatre
So why exactly does Artists Repertory Theatre need to finish the multimillion dollar, years-under-construction renovation of its Southwest Morrison venue? Their shows this year — all mounted in the building’s lobby — have crackled with edgy energy, partly due to the scrappy performance space.
Sara Jean Accuardi’s “The Storyteller” promises to be equally electric. Accuardi’s take on “The Tempest” resets the Bard’s final play into modern times, and from an island in the Mediterranean Sea to a houseboat on the Columbia River.
April 22-May 18; Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 S.W. Morrison St.; artistsrep.org.
“Groundhog Day: The Musical” — Lakewood Theatre Company
Opening oddly on Arbor Day, Lakewood Theatre Company’s production of “Groundhog Day: The Musical” plants itself smack in the middle of spring as the most-overlooked movie adaptation of the season.
Based on the 1993 sleeper hit, the 2017 musical earned terrific reviews and seven Tony Award nominations, but ran for less than six months on Broadway.
It’s a fresh deja view of the Sisyphean screwball comedy, which starred Bill Murray as a weatherman who repeatedly experiences the same distressful day. Or what we now call “life.”
April 25-June 8; Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S. State St., Lake Oswego; lakewood-center.org.
“Boeing Boeing” — Experience Theatre Project
Like an over-served air traffic controller, swinging 1960s playboy Bernard tries to juggle his relationships with three flight attendants in this fast-flying French farce, adapted for American stages. It’s a house of cards set upon a shaky tarmac, then turbo-blasted into hilarity. Presented by ETP immersively, all the bed-hopping, door-slamming shenanigans abound around you.
April 25-May 25; Experience Theatre Project, 18850 S.W. Alexander St., Aloha; experiencetheatreproject.org.
“Six” — Broadway in Portland
Just in terms of score, storytelling and sheer guts, “Six” is the best new musical since “Hamilton.”
Fitting, since Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rapping historical remix gives limited space to its few female characters while blockbuster British import “Six” is all queens reclaiming their time.
It’s a simple format: Henry VIII’s half-dozen wives reveal their side of her-story in a rafter-raising concert confessional. For a modern twist, playwrights/composers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss modeled each queen on a contemporary musical icon.
During the show’s first tour stop at the Keller Auditorium in 2023, all six queens killed, though Catherine of Aragon, a fierce Beyoncé clone; Anna of Cleves, inspired by Lizzo; and Jane Seymour, who gave Celine Dion a run for her money notes, might have been crowned crowd favorites.
April 29-May 4; Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St.; portland5.com.
“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” — Portland Playhouse
For seven years, Herold Loomis was shackled to Joe Turner’s chain gang. The bounty hunter captured Loomis and other freed slaves, forcing them to work in post-Abolition South. Stepping into a Pittsburgh boarding house in 1911, Loomis is still haunted, broken — and spiritually sapped.
With its soul-stirring arc of redemption and joy, this second entry in August Wilson’s 10-play “Century Cycle” is a divine fit for Portland Playhouse’s digs — the former Highland Congregational Church. “Joe Turner” marks the Northeast theater company’s eighth production in Wilson’s decalogue chronicling Black American lives.
April 30-June 8; Portland Playhouse, 602 N.E. Prescott St.; portlandplayhouse.org.
“Precipice: re-membering, forgetting and claiming home” — Third Rail Repertory
Honoring three generations of Black Portlanders, “Precipice” is a personal show-and-tell for theater maker Damaris Webb.
In her ancestral monologue, written by Chris Gonzalez and conceived and performed by Webb, she challenges definitions of belonging and legacy using objects from her family’s house in Vanport, Oregon, as reflective touchstones.
Thousands of homes perished in the 1948 Vanport flood, many owned by Black Oregonians. Prior to a production of “Precipice” this past May at the Vanport Mosaic Festival, Webb told The Oregonian: “Our concern, especially when looking at history of a place like Vanport, is ‘What is home?’ and ‘Who gets to define what home is?’”
May 16-June 1; CoHo Theatre, 2257 N.W. Raleigh St.; thirdrailrep.org.
“Mother Russia” — Profile Theatre
Lauren Yee’s newest work will have audiences setting aside their Chekhovian expectations of dreary Russian gentry. In Yee’s post-Cold War comedy, two Soviet-era spies take a bodyguarding gig for a fallen singer whose borscht days are behind her. Written as a farce, the playwright’s themes of transition, lost identity and the search for purpose invade your consciousness as subtly as a “special military operation,” but Yee strikes the right balance between political upheaval and dark optimism.
June 5-22; Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 S.W. Morrison St.; profiletheatre.org.
The story of Walter Cole, aka Darcelle XV, is told in the upcoming production of 'Darcelle: That's No Lady."Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian/2019
“Darcelle: That’s No Lady” — Triangle Productions
Triangle Productions’ founder Don Horn revives his dazzling tribute to his longtime friend, Walter Cole, aka drag icon Darcelle, who died in 2023 at age 92.
I wasn’t hyperbolizing when I said Horn’s 2019 musical “crystallizes into a finely focused, Broadway-ready production rivaling the … jukebox musicals that have played Keller Auditorium in recent years.”
The original cast reunites for this celebratory biography, including Kevin Loomis as Cole, and James Sharinghousen as Cole’s life partner, Roc “Roxy” Neuhardt.
June 5-28; The Sanctuary at Sandy Plaza, 1785 N.E. Sandy Blvd.; trianglepro.org.
— Lee Williams, special for The Oregonian/OregonLive