Thursday, August 16, 2012

Portland Center for the Performing Arts plans celebrations for 25th ...

On Aug. 28 1987, the Portland public got introduced to a new entertainment showplace. "More than art, Friday's unveiling of the two new theatrical links in the chain that is the Portland Center for the Performing Arts was spectacle," wrote Jonathan Nicholas, then a columnist for The Oregonian.

Over the years since the opening of what was then called the New Theatre Building ? now Antoinette Hatfield Hall ? the PCPA's calling card hasn't been spectacle so much as art of many sorts, from Shakespeare to rock and roll, literary lectures to ballet to puppet shows.

It still can feel fancy, if that's what the producers or the patrons want on a given night. But by now the place has acquired the kind of familiarity that breeds comfort. So the upcoming celebrations of the PCPA's 25th anniversary, fittingly, are to be both fancy and comfortable.

Fancy comes first. On Sept. 12, founding board members, major donors, architects and others who played a big part in the center's creation will gather for a private reception in the rotunda lobby of Hatfield Hall.

But the more representative event, considering the role the center has played in the cultural life of the city, will be a public celebration on Sunday, Sept. 16. From noon to 5 p.m. that day, the rotunda lobby ? and the plaza created by closing the adjacent section of Southwest Main Street ? will be a place for families, with free performances by Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre, Portland Taiko, Portland Opera To Go, and Festival Brass. Plans for the event still are being finalized, but will include free tours of Hatfield Hall (which houses the Brunish, Winningstad and Newmark theaters) and the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall across Main Street.

PCPA executive director Robyn Williams said that the PCPA Foundation, which raises money for major maintainence and capital projects, is considering a gala benefit concert in the spring as an additional anniversary celebration.

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2012/08/portland_center_for_the_perfor_1.html

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