A LETTER FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Lauren Weedman is not
someone you should invite
to your board meeting unless
you are ready for a ride.
But that is how this began. In 2011,
Lauren was in town to perform her
show Bust — about her adventure
volunteering in the L.A. County
women’s prison — and I invited
her to stop by our monthly board
meeting so I could interview her.
She did. Stop by. And I’m not sure if
I actually interviewed her, or if she
just took over the room, but what
happened in the next ten minutes
was that Lauren began telling
stories about her time in Portland.
And we started laughing. And we
sort of couldn’t stop.
And I thought ... hmmmmm.
Could this be a show?
Could you develop a piece about
this storyteller from Los Angeles
being plopped down in our fair and
drizzly city, and trying to find a way
to fit in?
Lauren’s M.O. was to walk up to
strangers on the street and ask
them what she should experience
in Portland. And they offered her
ideas. This is what transpired.
Hang on.
I first met Aaron Posner when he
reached out about his idea to adapt Ken
Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion. Clearly
I was intrigued by the idea, as anyone who
saw the stage incarnation will remember. We
subsequently produced his adaptation of Chaim
Potok’s The Chosen, and next year will produce
his hilarious take on Chekhov’s The Seagull,
appropriately titled, Stupid F**king Bird.
Aaron trained at Northwestern University
outside Chicago, and studied with the renowned
director and adaptor Frank Galati (who became
most famous for his adaptation of The Grapes
of Wrath that played at Steppenwolf and
then on Broadway). Aaron has made a career
for himself as a gifted director, adaptor and
author of new plays. He and Michael Hollinger
have worked together for almost 25 years,
beginning when Aaron was artistic director for
the Arden Theater in Philadelphia. Michael
you’ll remember as the author of Opus, the
wonderfully smart, witty play he crafted about a
famous string quartet.
Aaron came up with the idea of creating a
re-translated version of Rostand’s Cyrano de
Bergerac with a much tighter cast than the
original (the sheer size of the cast makes it
hard to produce with today’s economics), and
Michael, “who is a great and poetic soul, a great
playwright with a real sense of musicality and
speaks fluent French,” was Aaron’s first and only
thought as a collaborator.
They have streamlined the piece into a nineactor romance, with equal dashes of swordplay,
wit and panache. Sit back and prepare to
be wooed.
–Chris Coleman
COVER ART: Lauren Weedman photo by Patrick Weishampel/blankeye.tv. Cyrano art by Michael Buchino.
INSIDE: Illustration of Lauren Weedman by BT Livermore with art direction by Michael Buchino.
Portland Center Stage operates under an agreement among the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), Actors’ Equity Association, the Union
of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States, and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. PCS is a member of
LORT, Theatre Communications Group, Portland Business Alliance and Travel Portland.
Portland Center Stage is a participant in the Audience (R)Evolution Program, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and
administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the professional not-for-profit American theater.
The Scenic, Costume, Lighting and Sound Designers in LORT are represented by United Scenic Artists
Local USA-829, IATSE
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