STAGES PERFORMING ARTS YOUTH ACADEMY

by Krista Garver - April 01, 2026

Boublil and Schönberg's LES MISÉRABLES stormed back to the Keller Auditorium last night. I went in wondering how a show about a failed anti-monarchist uprising in 1832 might land differently now, on the heels of the third national 'No Kings' protest, than it did when it was last here in 2018. ...

by Krista Garver - March 30, 2026

DEAR EVAN HANSEN, now running at Broadway Rose, is a multiple Tony Award-winning musical about an anxious, depressed, and profoundly lonely high schooler who gets swept into an extraordinary situation when a classmate named Connor Murphy dies by suicide. ...

by Dawn Sellers - March 25, 2026

What did our critic think of ALMA DE LUNA at HART Theatre? Invisible Friends Productions presents a World Premiere production written by local playwright David Fuks and directed by Humberto Mugnai, now playing at Hillsboro Artists' Regional Theatre....

by Dawn Sellers - March 22, 2026

What did our critic think of ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS at Twilight Theater?...

by Krista Garver - March 19, 2026

ATHENA, now running at the tiny but mighty 21ten Theatre, is a keenly observed comedy about two high schoolers training for the Junior Olympics. They are, by turns, practice partners, rivals, and almost-friends. Gracie Gardner's play understands that the last of those is by far the most difficult ch...

by Krista Garver - March 10, 2026

When seeing a new-to-me play, I typically try to walk in knowing as little as possible. I love the joy of discovery. That approach has never served me better than it did for A MIRROR, Sam Holcroft's gripping play now running at Third Rail Repertory Theatre. ...

by Krista Garver - March 09, 2026

If you had told me I would cry my eyes out at a musical about a young man with green, scaly skin who only leaves his apartment once a year to go on a Grindr date, I would have given you the side eye. But there I was on opening night of LIZARD BOY at Portland Center Stage, completely undone by this i...

by Krista Garver - March 09, 2026

As the Trump administration works to erase trans people from public life (literally removing the 'T' from LGBT on the government's website about the Stonewall Uprising, a movement to which trans people were central), it becomes urgent to understand that these events don't happen in a vacuum. They ar...

by Dawn Sellers - March 03, 2026

Few plays in theatrical history have achieved the enduring success of The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie. Since its premiere in 1952, the production has continued its celebrated run in London, earning its place as the longest running show of any kind in the world. ...

by Krista Garver - February 19, 2026

Portland Playhouse is not known for playing it safe, so it's fitting that their latest production centers on a woman, Anna Campbell, who built her entire legend on one audacious act. ...