INTERVIEWS

PORTLAND RADIO PROJECT 

Discussing prop making for 'Wild and Reckless' over the air at Portland Radio Project: http://prp.fm/portland-center-stage-bringing-stories-life/ 

KATU NEWS

Giving a tour of 'Oregon Trail' props during the TV channel's morning show: https://vimeo.com/192027904

OREGON PUBLIC BROADCASTING

Featured in a TV segment about the making of 'Astoria' for OPB's Oregon Art Beat: http://watch.opb.org/video/2365947675/

BROADWAY WORLD 

Featured in a video of the making of the Audrey II puppet for 'Little Shop of Horrors': http://www.broadwayworld.com/portland/article/STAGE-TUBE-Behind-the-Scenes-on-the-Making-of-Audrey-II-Puppets-in-Portland-Center-Stages-LITTLE-SHOP-OF-HORRORS-20160914

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PROPS FOR PROPS

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS 

"But there's only one true star in a creature feature. "Jaws" had its great white. "The Thing" its thing. "The Devil Wears Prada" its Miranda Priestly. Made in-house — because homegrown is always better — Audrey II, the chomping, singing, cursing plant-monster rockets this production to nearly "Wicked"-sized spectacle and must-see status... Often theater companies rent their Audrey IIs from prop manufacturers, or they cobble together the mean, green monsters from a tiny budget. The results can be cheap and cheesy-looking. (There's even a blog dedicated to the saddest Audrey II attempts.) Tufts of grass to indicate hair, big, festering bumps on the pods — these are some of the well-hatched details you catch in Portland Center Stage's botanical beauties." 

- Lee Williams, The Oregonian  http://www.oregonlive.com/art/index.ssf/2016/09/little_shop_of_horrors_at_port.html

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"THE OTHER AUDREY IS MASSIVE AND AMAZING: Little Shop is nothing without its trash talking, vine-waving, face-snapping plant, Audrey II—named, of course, for Seymour’s paramour. PCS’s in-house props team has outdone itself with the trio of plants they’ve created, including a towering, rainbow-warted, full-grown behemoth that lends major shock and awe to the show’s second act."

- Kelly Clarke, Portland Monthly  http://www.pdxmonthly.com/articles/2016/9/27/little-shop-of-horrors-is-a-bloody-good-time 

 

"Backstage at 'Little Shop of Horrors': 10 things we learned at Portland Center Stage" - Article highlighting the making and puppeting of Audrey II 

http://www.oregonlive.com/art/index.ssf/2016/09/backstage_at_little_shop_of_ho.html

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LIZZIE 

"Best moments: At the end of the first act, a hatchet descends from the ceiling on a wire, spurting blood. Remindful of comic strips and slasher films, the device portends of thing to come, and as Lizzie clutches it fearfully yet triumphantly the song "Somebody Will Do Something" explodes onstage."

- Holly Johnson, The Oregonian  http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2014/05/lizzie_rocks_the_walls_with_gl_1.html

 

"...[T]here’s something to be said – so I’ll say it – in favor of the sheer comic Grand Guignol of an oversized ax spewing fake blood all over a stage."

-Bob Hicks, Oregon Artswatch  http://www.orartswatch.org/40-whacks-and-a-bad-attitude/

 

"A word of warning, though, you might not want to sit in the front row because of a very clever prop device. Can’t tell you more but if you’ve ever seen a stage show with Galliger, you might get the idea, only it’s not watermelon juice that will be coming at you."

-Dennis Sparks, DennisSparksReviews  http://dennissparksreviews.blogspot.com/2014/06/lizzieportland-center-stage-nw-portland.html

 

"TB: So the pigeon thing was that this dad, in an effort to somehow subjugate Lizzie and her sister, they had pet pigeons and he cut off their heads. And that's what really kinda started the spiral.

RP: So what was it like for you holding the pigeon-like bloody things? 

TB: Well it was exciting, I was one of two people that got to don the rubber glove and hold one of the pigeons. And I've never held a real pigeon but... to me it felt very lifelike. And they did use duck feathers for the outside of the pigeon. It was pretty cool to hold something that was a prominent part of the story because pigeons were very important to Lizzie.

RP: I think one of the songs... that really brought everyone to their feet [was] 'Why Are All These Heads Off?'"

-Teri Briggs and Robert Parish, Portland Radio Project podcast   http://prp.fm/lizzie-borden-media-sensation-musical/

 

THE LAST FIVE YEARS

"Also helping bring the stories together is director Nancy Keystone's effective use of small but important props and trinkets that factor into the couple's relationship: a circus pinwheel, a silver wristwatch, a wool scarf, and a wedding ring. The subtle visual cues connect the audience to each character's path, uncovering layers to their relationship, which we know ends badly from the get-go."

-Grant Butler, The Oregonian  http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2014/05/portland_center_stages_the_las.html

 

A SMALL FIRE

"Furniture, establishing the locations of the scenes, slides in and out efficiently and silently from the left and right wings, and this coming and going of the accoutrements of the characters’ lives neatly suggests the fleeting nature of what we take for permanent and real."

-Richard Wattenberg, The Oregonian  http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2014/03/a_small_fire_at_portland_cente.html