Redemption!

Hallelujah! After the god-awful show on Friday night, the rest of the Front Page shows went off pretty well this weekend... made EVERYONE feel a lot better to hear the audience laugh again :)

My parents came down to see all three Festival shows over the weekend. It was nice to be able to hang with them for a long time this time... far too often, our weekend visits consist of either them or us driving all day (they live near Blaine, WA, a mere 275 miles away), seeing each other for an evening and morning, and then driving back. This time, however, they stayed through Monday morning and we had a nice long time together.

One ironic thing about this year's festival: we've gotten more complaints from the audience about The Front Page then we have about Talking With. There was a little trepidation from some people on the Mt. Hood Rep board about staging Talking With... it is a bit "edgier" than some of the past shows The Rep has done (Check out the "Past Performances" section of The Rep's web site to see what I mean), and since it was written in the 80's the language is a little rougher. The audiences have universally loved that show, however (or at least haven't been vocal about their displeasure). The Front Page, by contrast, has gotten a little heat about its use of language (particularly "GD")... and it was written in 1928!!

It just goes to show... once you think you know your audience, they're bound to surprise you.

Hey, if you're in the Portland area and you have a chance to see these shows, you really should. The Front Page is one of those big-cast shows that you just don't see anymore on Portland stages (it costs a LOT to pay 22 actors, not to mention build a set that can hold them all), and Talking With features some of the strongest actresses in town. You'd be doing yourself a disservice to miss them!

Of course, I might be biased...

-Harold