BUYER & CELLAR Comes to Portland Rep

Portland Stage is pleased to present BUYER & CELLAR by Jonathan Tolins, and Staring Dustin Tucker. Previews run Tuesday, February 28 - Thursday, March 2, and opening Friday, March 3 and running through Sunday, March 26, 2017.

And now a quick quiz about our upcoming show. Which of these statements is true?

A. John F Kennedy's middle name was Franklin.

B. Barbra Streisand has a shopping mall in her basement.

C. Walt Disney's head has been cryogenically frozen.

If you guessed B - You Win! Barbra Streisand does indeed have a shopping mall in her basement! A street of shops where she keeps her things. Now, what if an out-of-work actor was hired to man the private mall in Barbra's basement, with her as his only customer? The answer is Buyer & Cellar, a crazy comedy about the price of fame, the cost of things, and the oddest of odd jobs.

THE PLAY
In this one-man show, a star is born. Alex is a struggling actor in Los Angeles when he finds himself accepting a job to work in a shopping mall. The twist is, this isn't your typical job in a typical shopping center. In his most challenging role yet, Alex plays the shop boy bargaining with Barbra Streisand in her basement. With riotously sharp wit, Alex awaits a visit from the ultimate customer, the "Funny Girl" herself.

In Buyer & Cellar, by Jonathan Tolins, Portland Stage Affiliate Artist Dustin Tucker plays an actor who takes the bizarre job of working in a shopping mall that Barbra Streisand has built in the basement of her Malibu home.

Although what happens in the play is fiction, the private shopping mall - with its doll store, clothing boutique, and sweet shop - actually exists. "Instead of just storing my things in the basement, I can make a street of shops and display them," Streisand once told Harper's Bazaar.

Playwright Jonathan Tolins was inspired by Streisand's coffee table book, My Passion for Design, which includes an entire chapter devoted to her actual, real-life, underground arcade. "I studied that book and every picture very closely," says Tolins, "I became obsessed with it and made a joke about what it would be like to be the guy that works down there. A lot of people see the play and buy the book and are shocked at how little I made up."

This hilarious, fast-paced, one-man comedy has pleased audiences and critics alike. Buyer & Cellar is a must see play, and we have brought it to Portland Stage to beat back the winter blues.

THE PLAYWRIGHT

Jonathan Tolins is a writer and producer, known for The Twilight of the Golds (1996), Martian Child (2007) and Grease Live! (2016). Tolins lives in Connecticut with husband and fellow playwright Robert Cary and two adopted children.

Remaining 2016-17 Season

String Around My Finger by Brenda Withers, Clauder Gold Prize Winner
Apr 4 - Apr 23

Emma and Kip are preparing for their upcoming wedding when a medical emergency upends their plans. As they careen through the halls of the local hospital, they are joined by a bitingly funny nurse, a helpful relative who is ready to run their lives and the mysterious Mrs. Rizzo who offers sage advice. In a swirl of medical bills, Sinatra tunes, and cell phones, Emma and Kip try to make sense of their new reality.

Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar
May 2 - 21

Winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize, a high-powered New York attorney Amir has climbed the corporate ladder, while distancing himself from his Muslim roots. When he and his wife Emily host an Upper East Side dinner party, what starts as a friendly conversation escalates, shattering their views on race, religion, and each other.