Mr. Scatter becomes a lobbyist (with a laptop)
As the old joke goes, tonight’s the night!
Art Scatter regulars might have noted that it’s been Philip Glass Week in Portland, and tonight at Keller Auditorium his 1993 opera Orphee opens in its West Coast premiere, performed by Portland Opera. Reports are promising: Glass liked the dress rehearsal so much that he whipped up a deal to have all four performances recorded and turned into a CD for Orange Mountain Music. It’ll be this opera’s first full recording.
And sitting in the lobby, along with his laptop and four other local members of the blogospheric chattering class, will be Mr. Scatter, there to file a continuing stream of instant analysis, much like a pontificating television face on a national election night:
“Orpheus has been caught on camera looking over his shoulder, and that could spell serious trouble for Eurydice’s chances in the tensely fought Afterlife race. At stake is control of a sprawling district that runs from the far shores of the River Styx to the lush meadows on the surface end of the cave opening. We’ll update you as we learn more. But this could be bye-bye to a once-promising career. Over to you, Storm.”
Here are my owlish teammates, and where you can follow their instamusings:
Storm Large. The rock diva and musical-theater star of Cabaret and Crazy Enough will post at www.stormlarge.com. You’ll recognize her. She’s the tall good-looking one, and her posts will probably be littered with Words Not Ordinarily Associated With Art Scatter.
Byron Beck. If Portland’s a town, Byron’s the man about it. He knows just about everybody, and just about everything, and dishes it out when and where the mood strikes. www.byronbeck.com
Jim Withington. The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art has been one of Glass Week’s sponsors (it has a long relationship with Glass) and Jim will be blogging on PICA’s Urban Honking.
Cynthia Fuhrman. Portland Center Stage’s resident marketing genius is very smart and very funny and no doubt will be a lot of fun to read. She’ll be posting on the PCS blog. Rumor has it that while the other bloggers will be sipping beer as they type feverishly away, la Fuhrman will be pampered with cocktails, no doubt with colorful little paper umbrellas to pretty them up. It’s rigged. Florida election here, folks.
Marc Acito. BONUS PICK. The witty Portland novelist (How I Paid for College; Attack of the Theatre People) and playwright (Holidazed) actually has a role in the opera. But when he’s backstage he’ll be blogging on the show at The Gospel According to Marc. Amazing exploit!
That’s all, folks. Until tonight. News at … oh, 6:30, 7, 7:15, 8, 8:30 ….
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PHOTO: This is not Mr. Scatter. Not by a long shot. It’s Storm Large. Credit: Laura Domela
November 6th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
And what, Mr. Scatter, are you planning to WEAR? Your tuxedo jacket with your red plaid pajama pants? I’m not going until Sunday, so you’ll have to tell me!
November 6th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I’m not sure. I may opt for a respectable Republican cloth coat.
November 6th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Mr. Scatter, your envy is showing. Umbrellas indeed. Cynthia, as we both know full well, is a Portlander through and through. She doesn’t need no stinkin’ umbrellas — and certainly not in her cocktails. Till tonight…
November 7th, 2009 at 12:29 am
George, a delight to meet you tonight! Martha, you’ll have a great time. I was completely engaged beginning to end, even when I was fighting not to cough.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
I’ve just noticed that Miss Laura addresses herself to both George and Martha in a single comment. Up next for Portland Opera: the world premiere of Philip Glass’s new musical adaptation of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
November 11th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
First, Miss Laura, it was indeed a delight to meet you as well.
Second, sorry it’s taken so long to respond, but Mr. Scatter’s George and Martha observation knocked me back on my heels, trying to imagine a Philip Glass version of WAoVA. I finally went scurrying to find my copy of the script, and, yep, I think it could work. Albee begins the play with short, minimalist phrases and ends it with even shorter, highly repetitive ones. Of course, between those scenes, the approach seems more, I don’t know, Wagnerian.
BTW, I haven’t read any mention of the portrait at stage left on the Orphee set. Surely it was meant to suggest a work by Chuck Close, who’s “painted, drawn or made prints of the composer Philip Glass so many times that even he has lost count.” (http://www.robintroy.com/nyt/glass.htm)