Review: PORT AUTHORITY at Imago Theatre
by Krista Garver - March 14, 2024
PORT AUTHORITY reels you in and makes you care deeply about simple, ordinary, broken people. If you’re a fan of monologues, this is one you’ll definitely want to see....
Review: WE WROTE THIS WITH YOU IN MIND at Shaking The Tree
by Krista Garver - February 21, 2024
The play, directed by Rebby Yuer Foster, is like a dream that exists in that space in between sleeping and waking. It speaks to the part of the brain that processes emotions and memory below the level of consciousness....
Review: THE DOUBLE-THREAT TRIO at Broadway Rose
by Krista Garver - February 01, 2024
In Adam Overett’s THE DOUBLE-THREAT TRIO, now playing at Broadway Rose, the question is, can three double-threats make it to Broadway?...
Review: WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME at Portland Center Stage
by Krista Garver - February 01, 2024
Especially in an election year, this play isn’t just a must-see, but a civic duty....
Review: THE LION KING at Keller Auditorium
by Krista Garver - January 12, 2024
The reason this musical is the third-longest running in Broadway history (and that its Portland tour stop is three weeks rather than the typical one week) is because it’s truly magical....
Review: DRACULA, A FEMINIST REVENGE FANTASY, REALLY at Portland Center Stage
by Krista Garver - December 15, 2023
If you don't want to hear another Christmas carol, DRACULA, A FEMINIST REVENGE FANTASY, REALLY may be the wild and refreshing alternative you’re looking for....
Review: SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE FALLEN GIANT at Portland State University Opera
by Krista Garver - December 08, 2023
Appropriate for opera newbies, opera aficionados, and all the rest of us in between, this classic detective-story-meets-fairy-tale opera composed by Evan Meier with libretto by E.M. Lewis truly has something for everyone....
Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Portland Playhouse
by Krista Garver - November 30, 2023
There is no better way to get into the holiday spirit than this beautiful production of a timeless classic....
Review: LIBERACE & LIZA: HOLIDAY AT THE MANSION (A TRIBUTE) at Portland Center Stage
by Krista Garver - November 22, 2023
This show, starring Portland’s fabulous Liberace and Liza Minnelli impersonators, David Saffert and Jillian Snow, is a delight not to be missed....
Review: SPIDER, from the Young Professionals Company at Oregon Children's Theatre
by Krista Garver - October 31, 2023
If you are a teenager, have a teenager, or want to know more about what it’s like to be a teenager right now, definitely go see this play....
Review: BLOOD WEDDING at Shaking The Tree
by Krista Garver - October 24, 2023
Every time I go to Shaking the Tree, I wonder what surprises, delights, and disturbances artistic director Samantha Van Der Merwe and her highly creative crew have in store for us. Federico García Lorca's BLOOD WEDDING, now on stage, has its fair share of all three....
Review: MATILDA THE MUSICAL at Portland Playhouse
by Krista Garver - October 20, 2023
This ambitious production – a cast of nearly 20, including 10 children! – is totally enchanting....
Review: MY BEDROOM IS AN INSTALLATION at Imago Theatre
by Krista Garver - October 13, 2023
What did our critic think of MY BEDROOM IS AN INSTALLATION at Imago Theatre?...
Review: HAIR at Portland Center Stage
by Krista Garver - October 12, 2023
Go for the nostalgia, the music, and above all the great performances....
Review: AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' at Broadway Rose
by Krista Garver - October 04, 2023
AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ is a great musical showcase, as well as a much-needed diversion. The hooting, hollering, clapping, and toe-tapping audience seemed to agree....
Review: HAPPY DAYS at Northwest Classical Theatre Collaborative
by Krista Garver - August 22, 2023
Samuel Beckett’s 1961 masterpiece HAPPY DAYS, now being presented by the Northwest Classical Theatre Collaborative, is a tragicomic meditation on how to hang onto our humanity as time marches us slowly toward death. It’s equal parts LOL funny and deeply depressing, and it’s eerily relevant to our cu...
Review: ROGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA at Broadway Rose
by Krista Garver - August 09, 2023
What did our critic think of ROGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA at Broadway Rose?...
Review: SIX at Keller Auditorium
by Krista Garver - July 27, 2023
Blending 16th century history with modern pop culture and music, SIX is a super-smart, high-energy celebration of women reclaiming the narrative of their own lives. Most of all it’s just really fun....
Review: CARDIAC ORGAN: A GOTH CABARET at Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble
by Krista Garver - June 28, 2023
CARDIAC ORGAN is excellent fun – not the good, clean type, but the vastly superior creepy, twisted type. Slither up to the bar for a Red Rabbit and enjoy the show....
Review: IN A DIFFERENT REALITY SHE'S CLAWING AT THE WALLS at Shaking The Tree
by Krista Garver - May 25, 2023
This wild play by Max Yu explores how technology isolates and then consumes us as it goes from being a tool we use to something we’re used by....
Review: MARY JANE at Third Rail Repertory Theatre
by Krista Garver - May 23, 2023
This beautiful play is a powerful lesson in staving off despair and loneliness through authentic connection with others....
Review: TRUE STORY at Artists Repertory Theatre
by Krista Garver - May 16, 2023
What did our critic think of TRUE STORY at Artists Repertory Theatre?...
Review: MYRA'S STORY at Corrib Theatre
by Krista Garver - May 12, 2023
MYRA’S STORY, a solo show by Brian Foster now running at Corrib Theatre, takes an unflinching look at the factors that resulted in a woman becoming an alcoholic and losing her home....
Review: COME FROM AWAY at Keller Auditorium
by Krista Garver - May 05, 2023
This beautiful musical, based on the true story of how a small town in Newfoundland opened their doors to 7,000 stranded “plane people” when U.S. airspace was closed following the terrorist attacks, is an antidote to skepticism, nihilism, and loneliness....
Review: HAIRSPRAY at Keller Auditorium
by Krista Garver - March 29, 2023
You will be hard-pressed to find anything more fun than this super sassy, high-energy celebration of self-acceptance, inclusivity, and, of course, big hair....