Drama Desk Award Winner Benjamin Scheuer's THE LION Plays Portland Center Stage This Month

On Sunday night, Benjamin Scheuer was selected as the recipient of a 2015 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance in The Lion. Scheuer, who also received a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Lyrics, is currently performing The Lion to packed houses in Portland Center Stage's Ellyn Bye Studio through June 14.

Sunday marked the 60th annual Drama Desk Awards ceremony, celebrating excellence in Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway theater productions. Another artist nominated for Outstanding Solo Performance, Mona Golabek, will perform her stunning show The Pianist of Willesden Lane on Portland Center Stage's U.S. Bank Main Stage next season, with previews beginning April 2 and performances through May 1, 2016.

Scheuer's Drama Desk Award joins a number of other recent honors. Last month, he was one of only two artists selected to win a 2015 Theater World Award in the Off-Broadway category. He also received a nomination for the 2015 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Solo Performance, and he was the recipient of the 2014 Off-West End Award for Best Musical, the 2013 ASCAP Foundation Cole Porter Award for songwriting, and the 2013 Musical Theatre Network Award for Best Lyrics.

The Lion is Scheuer's true story of love, loss, loyalty and the redemptive power of music. Regular tickets start at $40. Rush tickets are $20. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays (excluding June 2, 9, 14); 2 p.m. matinees on select Saturdays and Sundays; and matinees at noon on select Thursdays. Tickets can be purchased at pcs.org or 503.445.3700. A complete schedule can be found at www.pcs.org/lion/.

Writer and performer Benjamin Scheuer's gripping coming-of-age tale told through music has been hailed as "the best new musical" by The Huffington Post and "absolutely the best original musical of the year" by The Stage in London. The New York Times noted that "Mr. Scheuer seems to have found a measure of redemption by exposing his own heart, with a directness and good humor that only the hardest-hearted could resist," and Time Out London said "it's hard to take your eyes off Scheuer, with his unassuming intensity and messy wave of a quiff, as he makes his guitars whisper, laugh or roar alongside the ebbing roll of his singing. The effect is spellbinding." TalkinBroadway.com hailed it as "a genuine knock-'em-dead show, The Lion ... far and away the best new musical in town." Find out more at thelionmusical.com.

Portland Center Stage inspires our community by bringing stories to life in unexpected ways. Founded in 1988, PCS is the city's leading professional theater and one of the top 20 largest regional theater companies in the U.S. PCS attracts more than 150,000 theatergoers annually with its blend of classical, contemporary and premiere works, along with its summer playwrights festival, JAW. PCS also offers a variety of education and community programs tailored for patrons of all ages.

The Gerding Theater at the Armory houses the 590-seat U.S. Bank Main Stage and the 190-seat black box Ellyn Bye Studio. It was the first building on the National Register of Historic Places - and the first performing arts venue - to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification. The Gerding Theater at the Armory opened to the public on Oct. 1, 2006.

Portland Center Stage's 2014-2015 season is funded in part by Season Superstars Tim and Mary Boyle and Lead Corporate Champion Umpqua Bank; Season Sponsors the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Regional Arts and Culture Council, Work for Art, Oregonian Media Group and Season Supporting Sponsor KINK FM. The Mark Spencer Hotel is the official hotel partner for Portland Center Stage. 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.

Photo Credit: Patrick Weishampel

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