Uncovering Latino-Jewish Culture
Panel discussion
Wed., April 23, at 7 p.m.
PSU Studio Theatre, Lincoln Hall
FREE
No longer is the Latino-Jewish dialogue silent. For the first time in Portland’s history, The Miracle Theatre Group announces its new Spring 2003 Arts and Lecture Series, Unveiled Spirits: The Shared Heritage of Latino Jews.
“Spirits of the Ordinary” is a play about 19th-century Mexican Crytpo-Jews, adapted from Northwest writer Kathleen Alcal퀌�’s novel that won the 1998 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Book Award. In 1992, it was also the top summer pick of Alan Cheuse, host of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
“Spirits of the Ordinary” is a fictional account based on historical research impelled by Alcal퀌�’s personal discovery of her own Crypto-Jewish lineage. “The religious syncretism exposed in the play demonstrates the multi-faceted richness of the Catholic, Jewish and indigenous influences on Mexico’s religious heritage,” she said.
Uncovering Jewish-Latino Culture will feature a panel discussion by professors Richard Wattenberg of Portland State University and Matthew Warshawsky of the University of Portland. They will explore the history of the Inquisition and its impact on New Christians in Hispanic America.
On May 4, following the matinee performance of “Spirits of the Ordinary,” playwrights Kathleen Alcal퀌� and Olga S퀌�nchez join dramaturge Karin Magaldi of Portland State University for Page to Stage, a lively discussion of how they adapted Alcal퀌�’s novel, written in the tradition of magical realism, for the stage.
In addition to theater, the series includes an evening of Latino song and Sephardic poetry written during the Golden Age of Spain, various lectures on the Inquisition, Conversos and Crytpo-Jewry, and a photography exhibit on the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico.
Gebbia, Goodheart, Powell
Friday, April 18, at 8 p.m.
Community Music Center
3350 S.E. Francis, Portland
$15/$12 members
Legendary sax phenomenon Gianni Gebbia, and San Francisco own Matthew Goodheart (piano) and Garth Powell (drums) perform their version of “hypno-imaginary folk music with continuous breath and post-free kaleidoscopic flights.”
A native of Palermo, Gianni Gebbia has a list of musical credits including taking first place in the 1990 Top Jazz Poll in Musica Jazz Magazine to a discography spanning close to 20 years.
“I’m lucky,” the saxophonist explains, “because I was born a listener. As a kid, I would spend all day long going to record stores and listening to all kinds of music.” Listen he did, from everything to progressive pop to James Brown.
“The Improvisor” touts that the saxophonist “plays with finesse, integrity and authority that virtually commands the audience to listen with rapt attention.
“His multiphonic control of the instrument was such that he played like a pianist.”
Pianist Goodheart has also earned his accolades. Embracing a true sense of freedom, Goodheart “possesses an acute, sublime, sense of dynamics, and libidinal jazz with an African-based pulse.” Describing his own work as “exploring the relationship between the Creative Music Tradition and Post-Cage developments in acoustic music,” Goodheart’s music ranges from open-form improv structures to fully notated chamber pieces.
Percussionist Powell’s daring sense of “timbre, wave and pulse” have been beacons of creativity, attracting such talents as Eneidi, Douglas Ewart, Vinny Golia, Greg Goodman, Mats Gustafsson, Phil Gelb, Henry Kaiser, Peter Van Bergen and The Jackson Krall Drum Quartet.
These three great musicians are sure to be the ingredients for a wonderful, relaxing evening of nothing but great music.
Liminal premieres “Three Plays, Five Lives”
April 17-May 17
8 p.m., Liminal Space
403 N.W. Fifth Ave. at Flanders
Tickets: $12 (half price on Thursdays)
503-890-2993
Three simultaneous plays, three stages, five performers
The Liminal Performance Group proudly presents “Three Plays Five Lives,” an original new work by Alex Regan. Arranged in a counterpoint, three different stories unfold simultaneously.
“Three Plays Five Lives” features five actors who travel upon three sharply raked stages. The passage of time reveals a subtle connected synchronicity, being removed from each other in place but connected by experience.
This play highlights the characters in the prime of their lives. It’s a snapshot of individuals on the brink of decadence, standing at the edge a terrifying abyss.
Interesting in its concept, the story proves to be as interesting as the stages where it takes place.
-Nancy Rae Glass