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May 3, 2019
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The newsletter didn't go out last week because I was in Oklahoma for my father's 90th birthday celebration. Last summer he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and the past few months have wrought unpleasant changes. He knew I was his daughter, but at his party when he started to introduce me to a friend, my father said, "I don't know what to call you." Throughout my life, he has called me many things--some cruel and unkind, but I learned to forgive him many years ago, so I choose to remember that he once called me his "baby girl."
Before owning the theater I volunteered with hospice for several years and the immediacy of illness and death forces us keep our priorities straight about what is truly important in life. When someone you love is dying, it's hard to give a hoot about whether or not the AG showed up for a hearing. The never-ending barrage of bad news makes me feel powerless, so I try to focus on what I can do to make things a bit better. Tonight we have our annual celebration of Pete Seeger's life and legacy (and if you haven't already gotten a ticket, sorry, it's sold out), and Pete has always served as an inspiration as someone who dedicated his life to righting the wrong, and remarkably doing it with a smile on his face, strumming his banjo, and he invited us all to sing along.
Sometimes I simply need to find something concrete that I can do to feel like I'm making forward progress, whether it be opening up the Clinton as a space for the arts and activism, or simply holding my sweet great-grandbaby while he's sleeping. I found a remarkable website recently that I want to share: Americans of Conscience. Each week they send an email checklist of simple things we can do to make a difference, along with much-needed words of encouragement. "Friend, if you are under the illusion that you are just one person who wants things to be better in our nation, think again. You are among many. You are among thousands. Your voice blends with countless others to remind the powerful and well-connected that their power has its limits. Our persistent, non-violent insistence reminds those in power that they are still accountable to the people. To us."
Hold on to the knowledge that we are in this together. Watching the news with all the angry arguing only brings me to hair pulling and handwringing. Not much forward movement with that. We don't know what the future holds for any of us. But we can't stop doing our part, no matter how small it might be. The only option I have is to continue to show up for you, trusting that you will show up for me. And, if we're lucky, someone like Pete will be there to lead us in a song!
Magpies Recognize Themselves in the Mirror
Kelli Russell Agodon
The night sounds like a murder
of magpies and we’re replacing our cabinet knobs
because we can’t change the world, but we can
change our hardware. America breaks my heart
some days, and some days it breaks itself in two.
I watched a woman have a breakdown in the mall
today and when the security guard tried to help her
what I could see was all of us
peeking from her purse as she threw it
across the floor into Forever 21. And yes,
the walls felt like another way to hold us in
and when she finally stopped crying,
I heard her say to the fluorescent lighting, Some days
the sky is too bright. And like that we were her
flock in our black coats and white sweaters,
some of us reaching our wings to her
and some of us flying away.
WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS WEEK
PLOEY
Today at 3:30pm, we've got some after-school family fun with the animated feature PLOEY. In this tale of love, longing and survival, a plover chick has not learned to fly when his family migrates in the fall. He must survive the arctic winter, vicious enemies and himself in order to be reunited with his beloved one in the spring. Tickets $5 suggested, no one turned away.
IN THIS CORNER OF THE WORLD
This award-winning Japanese anime feature is screening at 1 & 3:30pm both Saturday and Sunday. Set in Hiroshima during World War II, an eighteen-year-old girl gets married and now has to prepare food for her family despite the rationing and lack of supplies. As she struggles with the daily loss of life's amenities she still has to maintain the will to live. The folks at rogerebert.com wrote, "An elegant reminded that we can never forget what life during wartime does to the human soul." $7-10 suggested, no one turned away.
Portland Storytellers' Guild presents
WHAT MATTERS
We all have a storyline that arcs through our lives. But how does that storyline connect us to what is important to ourselves and to each other? In “What Matters,” the monthly storytelling showcase this Saturday, May 4th @ 7:30pm, storytellers Howard Adler, Maura Doherty, Wink Harner and Brian Rohr detail a series of funny, touching and heartbreaking adventures that helped them discover what really matters to them. Tickets $15 at the door, $10/$12 in advance.
ONCE UPON A SUPERHERO
This independent sci-fi feature is having its Portland Premiere here at the Clinton Street Sunday, May 5 @ 7:30pm. Director X.S.E.S. will be here for a Q&A after the screening. This film shares the story of a homeless wanderer named Solar Flare, who proclaims to be a real superhero from the Sun. Solar Flare has been exiled to live on Earth without his superpowers for 189 days. From the personal discovery of why he was sent here (to save this planet from an apocalyptic solar flare), to the array of bizarre characters that misguide him, we follow the lost 'superhero' on what quickly becomes a downward spiral journey into the underbelly of Hollywood...a place he comes to realize is not worth saving. Tickets $7-10 suggested.
 LIAR LIAR
Make plans to join us on Monday, May 6th for this Resistance fundraiser for Self Enhancement, Inc., an organization that works with schools, families, and partner community organizations to provide support, guidance, and opportunities to achieve personal and academic success. SEI brings hope to individual young people and enhances the quality of community life.
This comedy feature is about an attorney who can't tell the truth. However, when his much-neglected son's birthday wish comes true, Fletcher Reed (played by Jim Carrey) is forced to live 24 hours without telling a lie. While designed to show off a warmer and more likable side of Jim Carrey's personality, Liar Liar still revels in the broad physical comedy that made Carrey a star in Ace Ventura, Pet Detective. Duane Byrge of the Hollywood Reporter writes, "Carrey has never been better - that is to say funnier, or more controlled. He's reached a higher performance plateau here, playing a real human being we care about rather than a goon figure."
 Me And Kaminski (Ich und Kaminski)
Wednesday, May 8 @ 7pm, the monthly German film tells the story of Germany in the 90s where art critic Sebastian Zöllner is on the hunt for glory. He wants to write a tell-all book about Manuel Kaminski, a once prominent, now almost forgotten painter, pupil of Matisse and friend of Picasso, who’s retreated to a chalet in Graubünden and has long been blind. Zöllner hopes that Kaminski dies soon, so that he can cash in, but he soon discovers that the old man might have the upper hand. Tickets $10 general admission and $8 students and seniors.Sirens of Coos Bay
Thursday, May 9 @ 8pm starts a 6-show run of the newest production from The Broken Planetarium. Hans Christian Andersen's mermaid tale gets transported to 1990s Coos Bay, Oregon, where a former mermaid navigates a town undone by the spotted owl controversy and the clash of the fishing generation with the new male-dominated grunge music scene. Peppered with the magical, some distortion, ripped t-shirts, the most beautiful plastic castle, Rebekah Stiles's innovative choreography, and playwright Laura Christina Dunn's quirky humor, this play asks, how do we find agency in divisive times even when we have lost both voice and home? Tickets $15-25 sliding scale; Arts For All accepted at the door.
COMING SOON
Clinton Street Resistance Series: THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS, May 13; LOST IN TRANSLATION, May 20; SEVEN SAMURAI, May 27; LA LA LAND, June 3.
Nothing is permanent, not even death.
The Portland Circuit presents PHOENIX, OREGON on Tuesday, May 14 @ 7pm. Defying the haze of mid-life, two friends seize an unlikely opportunity to reinvent their lives, quitting their jobs to restore an old bowling alley and serve the “world's greatest pizza." Filmmakers will be in attendance to provide an introduction and a Q&A.
On Friday, May 17, join us for playwright/director/actor Justin Gauthier's one-man performance celebrating the book release of Hope Cry Laugh Die: A Guide To Surviving The 21st Century. Stand-up comedy, motivational speaking, and personal anecdotes come together to form a fast paced, one of a kind experience full of surprises. It's simultaneously thought provoking and entertaining from start to finish.
The last Highbrow Hangover presentation on Sunday, May 19 is the marvelous production of ANNA KARENINA MUSICAL. "Lavish...Dynamic...Daring", says the Moscow Times. "Drama is present in every song", writes Russia Beyond the Headlines. Moskvaer tells its readers, "Be Amazed!" Captured on film before a live audience from the Moscow Operetta Theatre.
 
The Invincible Czars are coming!! The Invincible Czars are coming on Tuesday, May 21st!! Hailing from Austin, Texas, the Czars head west with their out-of-the-ordinary version of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. They provide a live score for this silent film classic, performing their own blend of riff rock, classical music, lounge-y grooves, spacey klezmer, country shuffles, and circus-y polka in hopes of moving the mind as much as the bee-hind.
The April KILLER QUEEN show was a blast and this month promises to be even better as we celebrate host, producer, & starlet Violet Hex’s birthday with all things DEEE-gorgeous, DEEE-lectible, DEEE-licous, DEEE-lovely, DEEE-vine, DEEE-groovy & DEEE-LITE! OOH LA LA, LA LA LA LA LA LAH! The queens will be paying tribute to Deee-Lite, Wigstock, and Lady Miss Kier by performing DEEE-LITE’s first studio album “WORLD CLIQUE” (1990) in it’s entirety & original track listing! With a few of other very fav DEEE-LITE hits thrown into the mix, for your pleasure! Don't miss it!! May 24 @ 9pm.
Lilac days in the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens starts April 20th and goes through to Mother's Day May 12th. It's only a hop, skip and a jump up the I-5 north.
Want to do something nice for the "mom" in your life? Take them on a three hour scenic excursion along the Oregon Coast. The excursion offers breathtaking views of the Tillamook Bay, Pacific Ocean, and Nehalem Bay, and enjoy a catered lunch along the way.
Aurora Chorus sings of the critical state of humanity’s relationship with Earth on Sunday, May 19 @ 4pm. Join them as they honor our Mother and hold on to a hope of a better world for future generations. Featuring the West Coast premiere of director Joan Szymko’s setting of Wendell Berry’s poem “Look Out.”
Rose Festival Opening Night Fireworks is Friday, May 24th when the sky gets dark. You can hang out at the City Fair when it opens at 5pm.
Celebrate the Goonies in Astoria June 7th - 10th.
The 91st Annual Portland Scandinavian Midsummer Festival on Saturday, June 8, 2019 from 11 AM – 6 PM has everyting you want--Music, Dancing, Games, Nordic Food, Vendors, Beer Garden, Kids Area & More!
Celebrate the 35th annual Tigard Festival of Balloons June 21-23, 2019!
July is Oregon Craft Beer Month, so make plans to attend the Portland Craft Beer festival, a big outdoor party at the Fields Neighborhood Park. You'llfind the broadest selection of local beers, ciders and wine, all originating from Portland, Oregon.
When you're facing an opponent over a broad front, you don't aim for the opponent's strong points, important though they may be. Pick a little outpost that you can capture and win. And then you find another place that you can capture and win it, and then you move slowly toward the big places.
— Pete Seeger
Don't be a stranger. Come see us soon.
Kind regards,
Lani Jo
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