MISC.

First Thursday

It’s Thursday, June 4, at galleries in the Pearl District and other areas of Portland.

Rose Festival

It’s the big week in Portland’s celebration, including the Queen’s Coronation, 8:30 a.m. Saturday, June 6, followed by the Grand Floral Parade at 10 a.m.; CityFair at Waterfront Park, opening 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday, June 4 and 5, and 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 6 and 7, closing at 11 p.m.; the RoZone Concert Series’ 1980s celebration “Rock the Roses,” featuring Great White, Slaughter and Vixen, 7:30 p.m. June 5 ($25, $30 day of show), as well as the band Walk Off The Earth playing during KINK on the Waterfront, 5:30 p.m. June 6 ($25, $30 day of show);

Fleet Week ships start to arrive around 9:30 a.m. June 4, and stay until Monday, June 8; 127th annual Spring Rose Show, 1 p.m. June 4, Lloyd Center; Dragon Boat Races, 8 a.m. June 6 and 7; the annual Knighting Ceremony by the Royal Rosarians, 10 a.m. June 5, Oregon Square Courtyard, 825 N.E. Multnomah St. For complete info: www.rosefestival.org.

STAGE

‘HMS Pinafore’

Mock’s Crest Productions, a summer professional theater company supported by and staged at the University of Portland, celebrates its 25th anniversary with the Gilbert & Sullivan comedic operetta. It’s set on a satirically named royal ship and lampoons the social class system as Josephine has to choose between her true love and the person of her father’s choosing.

7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, June 5-June 28 (also 7:30 Thursday, June 25), Mago Hunt Center Theater, 5000 N. Willamette Blvd., magohuntboxoffice@up.edu, $32, $27 senior/students

CoHo Summerfest

Heads up: CoHo Productions continues its summer programming with the fourth year of the event, curated by Philip Cuomo, producing artistic director, and featuring local and touring performances by bold, original theater artists: Gordy Boudreau; Butt Kapinski (aka L.A.-based comedy artist Deanna Fleysher); the Wonderheads; Shaking the Tree; Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble and “The Journey Play is the Whole Thing.”

7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays, June 11-July 12, Coho Theatre, 2257 N.W. Raleigh St., www.cohoproductions.org, $55 Summerfest pass, $15 per show

‘The Rake’s Progress’

Another heads up: The opera, based on William Hogarth’s 1733 eight-painting chronicle, inspired Igor Stravinsky to compose a musical homage to Mozart (“The Rake’s Progress”) in 1951. Later, in 1975, David Hockney created costume designs for the opera at England’s Glyndebourne Festival. This year, the combined genuis of Hogarth, Stravinsky and Hockney comes together in the staging accompanied by a Portland Art Museum exhibition of Hogarth’s paintings and Hockney’s drawings.

7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, June 11-12, 2 p.m Sunday, June 14, Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay Ave., www.portlandopera.org

MUSIC

Dolly Parton Hoot Night

The 10th annual event put on by Siren Nation, which bolsters women’s performing and arts careers, will feature some of Portland’s best musicians paying tribute to one of the great singer-songwriters.

8 p.m. Saturday, June 6, Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 N.E. Alberta St., www.albertarosetheatre.com and www.sirennation.com, $12, $15 at door

Sufjan Stevens

The singer-songwriter and great concert musician has produced some eclectic albums, including the recent “Carrie & Lowell.”

8 p.m. Monday, June 8, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1111 S.W. Broadway, www.portland5.com, $50

June arts

(Note: The Tribune will highlight some gallery openings and other arts happenings in the first edition of each month to coincide with First Thursday — this month, it’s Thursday, June 4)

• Portland Japanese Garden, 611 S.W Kingston Ave., presents a timely exhibit, “Kizuna: the Rebirth of Mashiko Ceramics,” June 6 through July 5, about the community of Mashiko, Japan, a historic pottery town, rallying from a devastating 2011 earthquake; Nepal has been hit hard twice by quakes. There’ll be 13 Mashiko artists’ work. Info: www.japanesegarden.com.

• The work of Portland artist and sculptor Mel Katz will be shown at Laura Russo Gallery, 805 N.W. 21st Ave., June 4 through 27, concurrent with museum exhibitions at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University in Salem (info: www.willamette.edu/go/hfma). An opening reception at Russo will be 5 p.m. First Thursday.

• The Columbia Center for the Arts will host a two-month art show celebrating the best art from mid-Columbia River Gorge residents — “The 2015 Best of the Gorge,” June 5 through Aug. 2 at Columbia Center for the Arts, 215 Cascade St., Hood River. Jennifer Zika, curator of Portland Art Museum sales and rental gallery, serves as juror for the show. It opens at 6 p.m. Friday, June 5.

• The “40 Reasons” exhibit at p:ear gallery, 338 N.W. Sixth Ave., features the art of 40 of Portland’s top professional artists and p:ear youth — p:ear works with homeless and transitional youth — with the theme being the artist’s interpretation of their favorite album art. It opens at 6 p.m. First Thursday and goes through July 30.

• The Museum of Contemporary Craft, 724 N.W. Davis St., and Pacific Northwest College of Art have a big exhibit coming up: “State of Oregon Craft,” opening June 5 and going through Aug. 15. It’s a survey exhibition presenting more than 50 works by 15 artists, makers and craft-based companies from around the state, making spruce root baskets and leather saddles to conceptual jewelry and kinetic glass and sound sculpture. It takes stock of how Oregonians make and live with handmade objects. Curators Nicole Nathan and Namita Gupta Wiggers traveled the state with a documentary crew to make the exhibition.

• For information on galleries: First Thursday, first thursdayportland.com; Portland Art Dealers Association, www.padaoregon.org.

Bikes serve as metaphor for life in musical comedy

While Pedalpalooza starts rolling, the musical comedy “The Bicycle Men” rolls out onstage, June 5 to 7 at the Winningstad Theatre.

Created by fellows from Second City Chicago, Joe Liss and John Rubano, it’s the fictional tale of an American named Steve, who crashes his bicycle while on a tour in France and then has to endure a hellish night with locals while waiting for it to be repaired. When he leaves the town, he gets hit by a truck and dies, and the cycling demigod “L’homme du Bicyclette” that protects the little town makes Steve into a bicycle.

“Am I happy or upset?” Steve asks. “I’m a bicyclette. Such a lesson I’ve learned today. What it is, though, I cannot say.”

Sounds like Portland’s kind of show.

“We use the bicycle as a metaphor for life,” Rubano says. “He is riding a bike and encounters many deranged locals.

“Also, it’s a cautionary tale of being the ugly American in a foreign land.” (Hmm, or kind of like being a noncyclist in Portland?).

Liss, Rubano and two others star in “The Bicycle Men.” Liss spent time in France, and Rubano calls himself an avid cyclist.

Well, an avid cyclist visiting Portland? It’s like a kid in a candy store.

“I’m out of my mind about it,” says Rubano, a Durango, Colo., resident, of cycling. “I grew up outside Denver, and it was a fringe sport, a hippie sport. A guy down the street was a hippie and into cycling. He had this old mail truck he turned into a camper and went to races every weekend. I saw him in the driveway, loading bikes, and I was fascinated by it. He started giving me his old French cycling magazines. I’d look at the pictures and be mesmerized.”

He has been to the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, and world championships several times. Unfortunately he won’t find much time to ride in Portland, but he knows the city’s reputation. “It’s huge,” he says.

So, what does a comedian, actor and musician — he sings backup for Jim Belushi and the Sacred Hearts, and The Blues Brothers with Belushi and Dan Aykroyd — think of the current bicycling scene?

On Tour de France: “Unless an American is winning the Tour de France, no one cares about the Tour de France in this country. There, it’s the fabric of life. Every July ... it’s the largest spectator sporting event in the world; over the course of a month, millions of people see it. They may see the race for a total of 20 seconds, as it goes by their house, but they are out there all day and make it a family and festive and food thing.”

The U.S. culture: “In major metropolitan areas, people are becoming aware of the fact that the bike could be the answer. Much like Amsterdam. It could cure a lot of ills in major metropolitan areas. What the United States needs to do is move beyond the concept of many people seeing it as a toy from their youth. They don’t see it as a functioning transportation device. It needs to become more vital and important for a healthier populace and ecosystem.”

Car vs. bike: “No doubt about it, there’s this romance that the United States has with its cars. That will be very, very hard to break. Look at your own life. You get your first car, you remember things you do in your car, it’s a thing that gives you freedom. People often forget that what first gave you freedom away from your home and neighborhood was your bicycle.”

More car vs. bike: “There are some people who I’ve met in all the cities I’ve lived in, ‘I’m on a bicycle, I’m on a morally higher ground than somebody in a car.’ I was run over in Chicago by a car and dragged by the car, I understand what a car can do to you, and how much respect you have to have for a car. But it goes two ways; people don’t show respect to cyclists that they deserve most of the time when in their car. They see them as faceless and anonymous people. A lot of things cyclists do outrage people, like blasting through stop signs and stoplights. Rules of the road are rules of the road.”

Bicycle personalities: “It’s a person-powered vehicle, they’re going to be different than a lazy fat slob sitting behind a wheel as they drive away. The fact that they’re just outside makes them a little more free and open. The fact that it takes longer to get places ... allows somebody to slow down and think and contemplate the journey in general. It’s kind of what the play does, too.”

Tickets are $27.25 and $32.25 for “The Bicycle Men,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 5 to 7 at Winningstad Theatre, 1111 S.W. Broadway. For info: http://www.portland5.com.

Not that Portlanders or anybody in the metropolitan area need incentive to get on their bicycles and go ride, but Pedalpalooza starts Thursday, June 4, “bringing people together for bike fun in Portland, Oregon,” as its theme says.

Yes, the World Naked Bike Ride, June 27, gets all the attention.

But there are rides for everybody, with a variety of themes. Just take a look at the Pedalpalooza calendar at shift2bikes.org.

“See what days you’re free, align with what you want, go alone or make a friend,” says Rhienna Renée Guedry, the event’s media representative.

“It’s not as daunting as it sounds. You start at a location, you small-talk for a half hour, the rides tend to be slow because people pull sound systems or ride tandem or tall bikes or kids’ bikes or skateboards. You go half the speed you expect to go and stop often; you ride a mile or two at the most without stopping. You might stop under a bridge and do a dance party.”

There are 242 bicycle events listed on shift2bikes.org. It’s a lot of people putting on a lot of events.

You might want to find out where ghosts are, or ride to urban gardens or photo booths or up Rocky Butte for a picnic.

The World Naked Bike Ride is meant to allow people to be free — from clothes, from oppression, from oil dependence, from the bounds of vehicles, whatever. It is such a huge event now, that just planning for police detail, volunteers and medics takes months. It starts at Col. Summers Park, at Southeast Belmont Street and 20th Avenue.

“It’s a beautiful thing when you have a city like Portland that allows you to protest peacefully and bond together,” Guedry says.

There are other rides just as fun, and you get to keep your clothes on.

On the shortest night of the year, June 21, the Solstice Ride (meeting at Peoples Co-op, 3027 S.E. 21st Ave.) and Goth Ride (meeting at Portland Opera, 211 S.E. Caruthers St.) goes from sunset to sunrise, taking surprise routes.

There are political rides, of course, and one of the more meaningful ones should be Save The Humans, meeting at Oregon Park, Northeast Hoyt Street and 29th Avenue, on June 23, to protest the increasingly unsafe conditions on Portland streets, as well as greenways and bike routes.

On June 26, Team Bowie — rider fans of David Bowie — meet at Col. Summers Park, while rider fans of Prince — Team Prince — meet at Sewallcrest Park at Southeast 31st Avenue and Stephens Street. Dressed up like Bowie and Prince, they cruise around and dance to the music, and eventually meet each other.

The Multnomah County Bike Fair will be held on the final day, 2-7 p.m. June 27, at Paz, 1625 S.E. Woodward St. Then the World Naked Bike Ride takes place around 8 p.m.

Again, all the extensive information can be found at www.shift2bikes.org. Pedalpalooza also will be actively communicating on Twitter and Facebook.

“This is community put on, no sponsorship. We try really hard to be free and about community,” Guedry says. “You show up with a bike and have some fun, and leave when you want.”

jvondersmith@portlandtribune.com

Crazy for it or just curious, drinkers are choosing 'hard juice'

Now the size of small apricots, the apples growing at the McMenamins Edgefield property in Troutdale are just at the start of their farm-to-glass journey.

The 16 heritage estate varietals grown there — with industrious names like Breakwells, Brown Snow and Summer Rambos — will mature throughout the summer and be harvested by September.

They’ll then head to Ryan’s Juice in Hood River, the facility that blends, mills and cold-presses them with other estate varietals into pure apple juice.

The juice then is brought back to Edgefield and stored in 5,000-gallon tanks, where the Edgefield’s winemakers — who double as cider-makers — begin their labor of love.

They’ll ferment the juice, then add the juice blend back, filter it, carbonate it and, finally, fill kegs that go out to 58 of their properties across the state every day.

So it goes, the quest to quench the thirst of local cider devotees as the craft beverage explodes in popularity each year.

If there is a granddaddy of cider, it’s McMenamins, one of the first cider makers in the Pacific Northwest in 1992.

They were experimenting with apples long before there were cider bars, cider weeks or dozens of local cider brands sold in six-packs at the grocery store.

“It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster ride,” says Clark McCool, manager of distilleries for McMenamins. “This community gets it, for sure.”

Thanks, in part, to the flourishing artisan scene, abundance of fresh local apples and produce, and insatiable thirst for meaningful connections to the land in food and beverage choices, Oregon’s cider boom continues its rapid ascent.

Here’s a look at some of the growth:

• Oregon’s 4th annual Cider Week, June 18 to 28, has expanded to encompass the whole month. It’s a showcase for Northwest cider on special menus, happy hours, tap takeovers and other events.

• The Northwest Cider Association, which sponsors Cider Week, formed in 2010 with just a few members. It’s now grown to include 70 cider-maker members, including nine in Portland: Alter Ego Cider; Cider Riot; Hopworks Urban Brewery Cider; New West Cider; Portland Cider Company; Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider; Swift Cider; Square Mile Cider Co.; and McMenamins, in Troutdale.

• Between 2010 and 2013 — cider’s golden years, if you will — U.S. production shot up from 10.5 million to 37 million gallons per year, with exponential growth each year.

There isn’t hard data on production in Oregon or the Pacific Northwest, but industry leaders have begun efforts to collect that data.

“Oregon has an incredible cider community that rivals anywhere in the world,” said Sherrye Wyatt, executive director of the Northwest Cider Association. “This is the best time for everyone who’s either cider crazy or cider curious to taste and learn what this rapidly growing industry is all about.”

Wyatt says she expects her membership to grow from 70 to 100 by the end of the year.

She knows that because she works with a group of “cideries in planning,” who take workshops and courses on

cider making that are constantly full, with waiting lists.

Wyatt says she’s developing an industry toolkit for the startups: “Some of the veterans are getting a little worn out with all the phone calls. It’s complex to learn so much.”

And with all the growth comes an evolution.

The Northwest Cider Association also has a trial orchard underway in Mt. Vernon, Wash., with several unique varieties of apples being grown for testing.

In the meantime, Wyatt says, local cider makers are looking forward to a new federal law that would change the definiton of cider, called the CIDER Act. Co-sponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, it would raise the alcohol by volume content limit from 7 percent to 8.5 percent, include pears, and raise the carbonation limit before it’s taxed as a champagne, at $3.40 per gallon.

Blumenauer spoke about the CIDER Act at the national conference of cider makers — nicknamed “CiderCon” — earlier this year in Chicago.

In February, CiderCon 2016 will be held in Portland for the first time.

Edgefield’s history

At Edgefield’s winery in Troutdale, the pomegranate cider is a deep golden hue and the cherry is a sparkly garnet. When people see you carrying it around the pub, they’ll inevitably get the question: “What’s that?”

That’s exactly why the McMenamins team decided to start a seasonal cider program last year — to raise awareness of the beverage, which is now approaching 10 percent of their alcohol sales.

That’s a far cry from two decades ago, when founding partner Mike McMenamin first purchased some old

cider-making equipment from a small maker in McMinnville on a whim. There was a “grundy” tank and in-line carbonator — but it wasn’t put to use for a while. “We put it in a corner; it stayed in the corner,” McCool says.

It wasn’t until two men came along in 1992 that they pulled the equipment out of storage and came up with the original cider recipe.

Rich Cushman, the company’s consulting winemaker, and Kevin McCarver, the assistant winemaker, made the cider with an apple concentrate at 7 percent alcohol by volume, like a fruit wine, and it was poured in a wine glass.

The next incarnation came in 2009 when cider maker Davis Palmer came on board.

He reformed the cider with fresh juice, and brought down the alcohol level and sweetness. They started pouring it in pint glasses in 2004, with hopes to sell more. It worked. “We were selling it as a wine, but it’s more in the beer category,” assistant cider maker Nate Wall says.

Then two years ago, McMenamins began the next phase in the evolution, with their seasonal cider program. So far they had only been offering one cider, now known as their “regular” cider.

They did trials with raspberry apple juice from Ryan’s, took it around to folks, and people loved it, McCool says. So they made a couple batches, tested it slowly, and finally decided to convert one tap at each of their locations to the rotating seasonal cider.

That opened the door to a brand-new level of experimentation, but nothing too “crazy,” McCool says. Each still has a base of fresh-pressed apples, with fruit from Oregon, Central Washington or California.

The first year saw a hop cider, spice cider and cherry cider. Last year brought a ginger pear (Ginger Perry) with fermented Anjou pears, a slightly tart pomegranate, the cherry and a blackberry.

McCool expects that rotation to roll into next year. “We’re expanding the category,” McCool says. “People want an alternative to heavy beer.”

Some test vehicles impress right away and others sneak up on you. When I first started driving the 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe, I thought it was a good family hauler — quiet, smooth riding and enough room for six with the optional captain's chair second row of seats. But because of a scheduling mix up, I had to make a quick trip across town one morning. The Santa Fe sliced through downtown traffic and made easy work of the freeway leg, allowing me to make my appointment with minutes to spare. It was only after I parked and stepped out that I remembered I was driving a full-size SUV, not a sportier compact.

It's not the Santa Fe hides its performance potential. The styling is much sleeker than most other three-row crossovers, which tend to be boxy. But it only comes with a 3.3-liter V6 and a six-speed automatic transmission, while some competitors offer turbocharged and even V8 engine options. Hyundai engineers have figured out how to maximize the potential of such a conventional power train, however, and the handling is more precise than you might think under speed.

The interior is also well designed, especially the refreshingly simple dash that features a limited number of knobs and large buttons that are easy to find and operate. The quality of the materials is surprisingly high for a vehicle not made by a luxury manufacturer, and the ride was almost as quiet as much more expensive premium models.

Our test Santa Fe also came with all-wheel-drive, a desirable option in the wet Pacific Northwest. Although not designed for serious off-road driving, it included a button for locking the center differential electronically, which helps even more in heavy snow and muck.

Just a few years ago, only the largest SUVs offered three rows of seats. Today, there are so many to choose from that consumers might feel a little overwhelmed. In addition to the Santa Fe, affordable options include the Chevy Traverse, GMC Arcadia, Dodge Durango, Ford Explorer, Kia Sorento, Nissan Pathfinder, and Toyota Highlander, among others.

To make matters even more confusing, Hyundai also sells the Santa Fe Sport, a five-passenger compact crossover that is basically a short wheelbase version of the Santa Fe that is available with a punchy turbocharged inline 2.4-liter engine. And strangely, Jeep, which only makes SUVs and is setting all kinds of sales records, doesn't have a model with a third row of seats, although something is rumored to be in the works.

The 2015 Santa Fe is definitely one to consider, however, especially if you can afford the top-of-the-line Limited version, like the one I drove. It included an aptly named Ultimate Package that helped pack it with every conceivable options, including a panoramic sunroof, rear parking sensors, a heated steering wheel, ventilated front seats, heated second-row seats, driver memory settings, a navigation system, 8-inch touchscreen and a 115-volt outlet and a 12-speaker Infinity surround-sound system. That pushed the price to over $41,000, although base two-wheel-drive versions can be had for around $25,000 and still come with a lot desirable features.

2015 Hyundai Santa Fe

Base price: $24,950.

Price as tested: $41,875.

Type: Fullsize SUV.

Engine: 3.3-liter V6 (290 hp, 252 lbs-ft).

EPA estimated mileage: 18/24.

Overall length: 193.1".

Curb weight: 4,084 lbs (as tested).

Final assembly: West Point, Georgia.

Alpenrose's Dairyville opens Sunday, June 7, with just as much historical charm as ever

Written on a chalkboard in the school house at Alpenrose’s Dairyville are a couple lines of faint lettering: Tracey Cadonau 5-14-90. The handwriting is neat and tidy, seemingly belonging to someone who’d fairly recently learned how to hold a pencil or a piece of chalk.

Scattered throughout Dairyville — the Western-themed town built at Alpenrose — and among the rest of the 52 acres that make up the dairy and the site’s varied attractions, other clues to the past remain. Stepping onto the property truly is like taking a step back in time, partly because of the historical integrity the Cadonau family — which owns and operates Alpenrose — has worked so hard to maintain, and partly because there’s something about this slice of land that will always be reminiscent of a time long gone.

“Originally, we had our Frontier Days down here,” said Tracey Cadonau McKinnon, 33, great-granddaughter of Alpenrose’s original owners and the current communications and events director (and whose 8-year-old-self authored the chalkboard note). “I think back then there was such a stronger sense of community. Things have changed. I mean, people have so many places to go now, and people are willing to drive half an hour to go to some event. But this has always been free here, and it’s always been something that people would come to to hang out.”

Frontier Days was a tradition decades ago, after Cadonau McKinnon’s grandfather Carl Cadonau Sr. built Dairyville in the 1960s. It was a project he and the dairy’s workers embarked on at the end of each day, creating it little by little with no real concept as to how it would turn out. Miraculously, Dairyville still stands today and will open for summer’s Sunday Fundays beginning June 7 from 1 to 4 p.m.

“There was no real plan for anything; it just kind of materialized,” Cadonau McKinnon said. “I have some of the sketches, and they’re literally just drawings of, like, three buildings together. So they kind of eyeballed it and then built it.”

And the idea behind it wasn’t necessarily grandiose in scale. Carl Cadonau Sr. was a community man, his granddaughter said, and Dairyville was one more way to provide an outlet for the greater community. Just like it always has been, visiting Dairyville is completely free.

“It’s a way to bring people together and families together. There’s just not many things that people can do for free anymore,” said Cadonau McKinnon, with two of her children, 3-year-old twins, standing nearby. “We take our family of six out, and you can’t do anything fun for under $50. So to be able to come out here and give people options and fun things to do, and kind of take people through history — I mean, this isn’t new stuff, it’s all old — it’s kind of fun for people to see that.”

And she’s right. Dairyville isn’t new, at least if the 25-year-old chalkboard note is any indication. But it’s the years of history that make it so special, and that give it a feeling that’s hard to name. Yet buildings and artifacts aside, it’s the people who bring Dairyville’s history to life. Continuing to help run Oregon’s oldest family-owned dairy are Cadonau McKinnon and many other family members, all who grew up using and enjoying one aspect of the property or another.

While Cadonau McKinnon spent her days in the barn and riding horses, her brothers spent many a hot summer afternoon playing baseball on one of the site’s three fields, which have been home to the Little League Softball World Series for more than two decades. The first of those fields was made for Cadonau McKinnon’s father and uncles after they continuously trampled their grandmother’s rose gardens, and the quarter midget race track was built for similar reasons. Today, Cadonau McKinnon’s youngest children explore the property while she works, while her oldest son and his cousins spend their summers helping maintain the grounds.

“It’s everybody’s first job, it seems like,” she said. “It’s part of the family.”

Even with times changing as they do, the Cadonau clan has managed to keep Dairyville — and the rest of the Alpenrose legacy — up and running. While Dairyville might not be the only summer Sunday event anymore, it’s still a community staple, with plenty of history, ice cream and stories to be shared within the little western town that was built on a whim.

“Things are definitely much different, obviously, than they were back then,” said Cadonau McKinnon. “But things change, people adapt — it’s different, but it’s fun.”

And as her twins sit in the ice cream parlor, perfectly content while eating their scoops of mint chocolate chip, it’s easy to see that some things do stand the test of time.

They let me out of the office this week to go talk to a group. That doesn’t happen too much, not only because I’m a lousy public speaker (which I am), but also because nobody with any sense really wants to sit and listen to some old newspaper guy talk about his job.

It’s kind of like if they asked one of those emaciated guys down in the belly of a ship to put down his oar, go out in the bright sunlight and give a speech to people who are more or less used to being out there all the time.

First, there’s the matter of the tattered rags one wears down the in hole (and in your typical newspaper office). You have to spiff up a bit, flick the dried gruel off your sleeves, put on some decent duds — and then, of course, one needs to give some thought to what you’re gonna talk about to these jokers.

The jokers in this case were a group of folks in Lake Oswego who meet regularly at the Adult Community Center to discuss “learning and technology,” according to the gentleman who invited me.

Now, technically, I can’t say for sure how it went when I appeared before that group on Monday morning (because, due to the magic of technology, this is being written several days before my talk) but, based on previous occasions (in which I’ve dreaded going before a bunch of strangers only to find out later nobody attacked me or made fun of me), I’m going to go out on a limb and say it went pretty well.

If it turns out I’m wrong, you can bet I’ll follow up with a pithy piece on how shabbily I was treated at the Lake Oswego Adult Community Center, but for now, let’s just say it was peachy.

In fact, it always turns out that way.

A while back, I was asked to come and speak to the Gresham Lions Club. That was really scary because I don’t go to Gresham that much. Why would I? The place is known as “The Birthplace of the Winds,” after all, so I’m always worried that the gorge wind is going to mess up my hair or tip over my little SUV as I’m taking a corner too fast.

Oh, wait. That’s not right. I think Adak, Alaska, is the official “Birthplace of the Winds,” so forget what I said about Gresham.

Anyway, they treated me very nicely in Gresham, fed me breakfast (for free!) and even laughed at my jokes. What more could you want, right?

But the time I got the most outrageous amount of laughs was a few years back when I spoke to the Lake Oswego noon Rotary group. That was really scary for me because who knew members of the Lake Oswego Rotary even a had a sense of humor?

Personally, I suspected the whole thing was a setup because the man who invited me even specified he’d like me to talk about writing a column. That was very suspicious because nobody ever asked me to talk about that before.

I’ve talked about how to get your group’s news in the paper, how to make the most of your community newspaper, how to write a good press release, how to get a letter to the editor printed — even given tours of the office (hundreds of them, actually) to Cub Scouts who didn’t actually know there WAS such a thing as a newspaper before arriving at our office.

What I found at the LO Rotary talk was that it pays to steal from the best. I recalled a couple of appearances I’d attended by writer David Sedaris. All he did was read some stuff he’d written. Talk about easy. Of course, it helps that the things he read were brilliant. And hilarious.

So that’s what I did.

No, I didn’t read excerpts from David Sedaris books (although I have indeed resorted to after-dinner readings at home from “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” and it killed!). No, I shared some bits and pieces from my own columns. And when I closed with what I consider one of my best (“Real men can drive until they pass out”), one guy who’d shared a table with longtime LO mover and shaker Dee Denton rushed up to me and said, “I thought for a minute there you’d killed Dee! She was gasping and choking so bad we thought we were gonna have to call 911.”

Turns out, though, she was just laughing.

Just guessing here, but I’m pretty sure there weren’t lots of laughs at Monday’s Learning and Technology Meeting. But you can rest assured that if there was any way to wring a giggle out of that group, I will have done it. It is, after all, what I do.

Former managing editor of several community newspapers, including the Woodburn Independent, Lake Oswego Review and the Times papers, Kelly is chief of the central design desk for Community Newspapers and the Portland Tribune, and he contributes a regular column.

Lake Oswego actress makes movie debut in 'San Andreas'

Americans love disaster movies, and Marissa Neitling is hoping they love “San Andreas.”

This is a big week for the young actress from Lake Oswego because “San Andreas” is her movie debut, and lots of her friends and family will be able to see it because it is now playing at the Lake Theater in Lake Oswego and Regal Cinemas Bridgeport Village.

This is not just a film by an amateur with a camera but a potential Hollywood blockbuster with big name actors like Archie Panjabi, Emmy Award winner for “The Good Wife”; Paul Giamatti, one of the cinema’s most renowned character actors; and the inimitable action-hero Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The film will not only feature fine actors but a massive earthquake.

For Neitling, it has all been a ball working with such an illustrious cast on a movie with such potential.

“It was wonderful,” she said. “I spent two and a half weeks in Gold Coast, Australia, and I feel so blessed that this was my first film experience. It was also a very ‘coming full circle’ experience for me as an actor.”

Neitling has certainly come a long way as an actress over the past couple years, since earning a master’s degree at the Yale School of Drama. Her first big break came when she got a role on the TNT series “The Last Ship,” playing the role of Lt. Kara Foster, and now “San Andreas.”

Explaining the plot, Neitling said, “I play Phoebe, a grad student under the tutelage of Paul Giamatti at Cal Tech. The plot centers around the major earthquake that California is 50 years overdue on with the San Andreas Fault. Dwayne Johnson is a distraught father who, along with his ex-wife, is searching for his daughter.”

Will “The Rock” be buried by rocks? Not if scientist Phoebe can find a solution in time.

Neitling has proven that good things happen for those who work hard. Especially if you are beautiful and talented. And also get lots of help from your family. Her home town has been lucky for her.

“I was cast for ‘San Andreas’ off a self-tape that I made while visiting my family home in Lake Oswego,” Neitling said. “Both of the jobs I have booked (including ‘The Last Ship’) have come from an initial self-tape, which is a testament to how the industry is changing.”

While having fun with her mother and sister, Neitling was notified by her manager that she needed to put an audition on tape as soon as possible for “San Andreas.”

“So with the help of my mom and sister (mom reading opposite me while sister Mackenzie manned the camera) I recorded about six different scenes,” Neitling said.

To simulate an earthquake during the taping, Marissa and Mackenzie shook the table. It worked. Now, Neitling is eagerly awaiting for the reviews and box office returns to come in. She is optimistic but cautious.

“If I’ve learned anything the past two years about this business, it’s that artistic careers are never linear,” Neitling said. “You always hope that the show you’re part of does fabulously and is seen by millions of people worldwide. You also never expect anything. The truth is I don’t know what this movie will do for my career. But I have my first film experience under my belt, and that is a place to start.”

Contact Cliff Newell at 503-636-1281 ext. 105 or cnewell@lakeoswegoreview.com.

Last week, June 5

"Entourage"; "Spy"; "Saint Laurent"

This week, June 12

"Jurassic World" (Universal), PG-13, 124 minutes

About — The prehistoric animals had won at last sight of the "Jurassic" story, but years later a dinosaur theme park inhabits Isla Nublar. To boost waning interest, organizers bring in a new attraction, and things go badly. Stars — Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins, Judy Greer. Director — Colin Trevorrow.

Next week, June 19

"Inside Out"; "Dope"; "Heaven Knows What"

Home rentals

The latest top 10 digital movie purchases based on transaction rate, by Rentrak:

1. "Kingsman: The Secret Service"

2. "American Sniper"

3. "Still Alice"

4. "Focus"

5. "Interstellar"

6. "The Wedding Ringer"

7. "Jupiter Ascending"

8. "Taken 3"

9. "Mortdecai"

10. "Top Five"

Other favorites recently: "Selma"; "The Homesman"; "Wild"; "The Gambler"

Doc spotlight

Kurt Cobain documentaries

The life of the troubled, but supremely talented late frontman for Nirvana is examined in two documentaries, the newest being "Soaked in Bleach," in which an investigator (Tom Grant) hired by Courtney Love gives his take on Cobain. It's directed by Benjamin Statler. Watch for it in a theater, or DVD or streaming. An earlier HBO release, "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck," by Brett Morgen, uses Cobain's personal archives to tell the story. The daughter of Cobain and Love, Frances Cobain, served as an executive director. It'll likely be available via streaming or on-demand.

Upcoming events

• By Northwest Film Center and Institute for Judaic Studies, the 23rd Portland Jewish Film Festival takes place June 14-28 at Whitsell Auditorium, 1219 S.W. Park Ave. ($9, $8 students/seniors, nwfilm.org). It'll feature 18 films, including: "East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem," a documentary about Israeli musician David Broza and his efforts to build a bridge between Israelis and Palestinians; "The Mystery of Happiness," director Daniel Burman's delightful hybridization of buddy movie/detective film/romantic comedy; "Magic Men" on opening night (7 p.m. Sunday, June 14), a road trip comedy pairing an aging atheist Holocaust survivor with his estranged Hasidic rapper son; and "Dough," a comedy about a failing bakery in which intergenerational and cultural solutions just might be the answer. For complete info: www.nwfilm.org.

• The nonprofit Columbia River Theatre Organ Society, in partnership with the Hollywood Theatre, will put on the Douglas Fairbanks Sr. Silent Film Festival, starting with "The Black Pirate," 2 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at Hollywood. There'll be live accompaniment featuring the Beverly Ruth Nelson memorial organ. The other movies: "The Mark of Zorro," 2 p.m. July 25; "The Thief of Bagdad," 2 p.m. Aug. 22. For info: www.hollywoodtheatre.org.

Aboriginal paintings speak across cultures in PICA exhibit

At one time, the media for painters wasn’t canvas — for the Aborigines of Australia, it was the ground or rock.

The artists really didn’t make the transition until Westerners showed them how, and brought them canvas. The “No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting” exhibit, June 20 through Aug. 20, hosted by the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, gives the public an idea of such ancient artistry and the dynamic painting movement.

“There’s controversy over it, and conversation,” says Kristan Kennedy, PICA visual art curator, of Aboriginal art on canvas. “As far as ethics and intent, the show was organized with great respect, and it involved the artists and tribes. It’s an interesting way to connect to such a unique notion of time and indigenous communities that we’ve wandered away from.”

The major national exhibit will be shown in four cities nationwide, and it’s the first opportunity for U.S. audiences to view the work of several Aboriginal Australian artists in depth.

An opening reception will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. June 20 at Mason Erhman Building Annex, 467 N.W. Davis St., and there’ll be regular gallery hours from noon to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. For info: www.pica.org.

There will be nine artists featured, only one of them living, Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri, believed to be in his late 50s. The others were born before World War II. The paintings, 75 of them to be shown in Portland, were created between 1992 to 2012 — late in the artists’ lives, and during a time of experimentation and innovation among Australian Aboriginal artists, who transformed traditional iconographies into more abstract styles of mark making.

The artists featured in Portland were each known as a senior Lawman, a respected individual with knowledge of Aboriginal ceremonial traditions — exposed to the deepest tribal education, a developed person with unique style.

“It’s a contemporary artform in its own right,” Kennedy says. “They started painting late in life because that’s when they learned to paint.

“The work is really exceptional, and it defines itself outside the boundaries of Western art history, which is very pervasive, and it isn’t like jumping a tradition of modernism and post-modernism.”

The works are drawn from the collection of Debra and Dennis Scholl, Miami collectors and philanthropists. A filmmaker, scholar, and winemaker in Australia, Dennis Scholl made several trips to Northern Australia, and he and his wife changed their collecting focus after encountering the wealth of talent in the region.

“The artists all have a common thread,” Dennis Scholl says. “Each had reached senior status in their communities and had become abstract painters who transcended the expectations of both the community and the art world.”

The late artist Paddy Bedford once told him that after having painted all of their mother’s “countries” (or territories) and father’s “countries,” the artists simply chose to paint.

Adds Scholl: “These painters have gone far beyond the boundaries of their community, their ‘country,’ and the very idea of their work as merely ethnographic. They are simply painters — some of the finest abstract painters this planet has ever seen.”

Exhibit organizers scheduled PICA as one of its destinations, and basically “an old warehouse” in Chinatown. Interesting choice, Kennedy says, choosing to work with the smaller nonprofit PICA and considering the other venues, all museums: Nevada Museum of Art, Pérez Art Museum in Miami and Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History in Detroit.

The show took four years to organize.

“It’s going next to Pérez, a star architect’s building and a much-lauded museum,” Kennedy says.

“The collectors are some of the most voracious contemporary art collectors in the United States, and some are disenfranchised with where contemporary art is going, where the market is pushing it. Having PICA be one of the venues was a conversation about what makes something contemporary and have it contextualized in a new and emerging way. Even though it’s the same work, it’ll look different (at PICA), each incarnation is different.”

Kennedy loves the artistry.

She says: “To me it was really significant. When I saw the work it’s like my body exploded. It’s beautiful, it’s bombastic, gorgeous work. You see contemporary abstraction, emerging trends, and this work battles it one-on-one and you feel reconnected. What does abstraction mean? Looking at this work gives you potent answers. It’s a very diverse show, and each artist has a distinctive style.”

Epic show traces roots of aesthetics

A title doesn’t get much more epic than “Gods and Heroes.”

But, it aptly describes the upcoming exhibit at the Portland Art Museum, a collection of paintings from école de Beaux-Arts, the original school of fine arts in Paris and repository for work by Europe’s renowned 17th-century artists.

Opening June 13 and closing Sept. 13 at the Portland Art Museum, 1219 S.W. Park Ave. (www.portlandartmuseum.org), the exhibit of some 140 paintings, sculptures and works on paper date from antiquity through the 19th century, and it focuses on themes of courage, sacrifice and death.

Featured works include paintings by Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Anne-Louis Girodet and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, sculptures by Antoine-Louis Barye, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Jean-Antoine Houdon and Francois Rude, and drawings by Simon Vouet, Antoine-Jean Gros and Théodore Géricault.

You’ll look at art and be transported back in time, with the carefully delineated anatomy, expressive faces and convincing architectural and landscape settings — the tenets of success for painters, sculptors and sketch artists at école, an ideology rooted in the study of idealized human form.

Deeds of gods and heroes are depicted, from Biblical times and the works of Homer, in which academicians drew inspiration.

“’Gods and Heroes’ will offer unique insight into the development of an aesthetic ideology that fostered some of the western art’s most magnificent achievements,” the Portland Art Museum states.

The exhibition also will feature works that served as models for the students, including ancient sculpture, a drawing by Raphael and prints by Albrecht Durer and Rembrandt van Rijn.

To appreciate the exhibit more, Emmanuel Schwartz, guest curator from école, has written a major essay within a fully illustrated exhibition catalogue.

There’ll be public tours, starting this month: 3 p.m. June 13 and 14, June 20, June 28; and 1 p.m. June 25.

There is a Curator in Conversation talk scheduled for 2 p.m. June 14, involving Schwartz, as well as Dawson Carr, The Janet and Richard Geary curator of European Art at PAM, and Michelle Hargrave, curator of exhibitions for the American Federation of Arts.

Kathleen Nicholson, professor emeritus in the Department of the History of Art & Architecture at the University of Oregon, talks about female, art and academy influences in France in “Making a Case for Goddesses and Heroines,” 2 p.m. July 26.

There’ll be walking tours at 10 a.m. Aug. 1 and 8, and music by Chamber Music Northwest, noon July 2. The film “Jason and the Argonauts” will be shown in the museum’s courtyard at dusk July 16.

June 12

Luna-chick

The Grateful Dead inspired many a jam band to form, but if one seems to have captured, in particular, Jerry Garcia’s guitar stylings by incorporating them into their own sound, it’s San Francisco’s psychedelic roots-rockers Moonalice. (For starters, check out the live recording of “High Five” on YouTube).

Led by Roger McNamee, aka “Chubby Wombat Moonalice,” on bass, guitar and vocals, the band also features Pete Sears on bass, keyboards, accordion and vocals, Barry Sless on bass, guitar, pedal steel guitar and vocals, and John Molo on drums. Every Moonalice show has an original art poster, which is given free to all attendees.

Hailing from the Bay Area, Moonalice mixes a variety of genres and performances feature extended musical improvisations. They’ll be sharing the stage — and members — with former Garcia partner-in-crime David Nelson, whose band includes Molo, Sears and Sless, as well as Mookie Siegel, who’s played keys with Bob Weir’s Ratdog and Phil Lesh & Friends. Patchouli will be mandatory along with your ID.

David Nelson Band, Moonalice, 8 p.m. Friday, June 12, Alhambra Theater, 4811 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. $25. Info: 503-610-0640, www.alhambrapdx.com.

June 13

The gospel of Mark

Comedian and singer Mark Lowry, formerly of the Gaither Vocal Band and the man who wrote the popular Christmas song “Mary, Did You Know?,” was recently inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and is coming to town to do a show with The Martins and pianist Stan Whitmire.

Lowry met the sibling trio of Joyce, Jonathan and Judy Martin when they gave him a cassette tape at a national convention in 1992. Lowry and fellow Gaither Vocal Band-mate Michael English were so impressed they insisted Gloria Gaither listen to an impromptu audition of the group. She got her husband, Bill Gaither, to lend an ear, and the rest is history as the Gaithers helped introduce The Martins to the world.

Mark Lowry, The Martins, Stan Whitmire, 6 p.m. Saturday, June 13, New Hope Community Church, 11731 S.E.

Stevens Road, Happy Valley. $25, $30. Info: 800-965-9324, www.IMCconcerts.com.

June 14

The right to bare arms

In the days of yore, Tracii Guns formed LA Guns with Axl Rose, among other notables, and also belonged briefly to Guns ‘n’ Roses before Slash took his place. A bluesy rockin’ guitar monster, Guns has played with such outfits as Brides of Destruction and Contraband and will shred ears here along with bassist Rudy Sarzo of Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Quiet Riot and Blue Oyster Cult, as well as singer Keith St. John of Montrose and drummer Shane Fitzgibbon. The new band’s name is Gunzo, and they’re a pistol packin’ pack of power rockers ready to set your hair on fire and your heart ablaze while your head bangs and your fists fulminate.

Gunzo, 8 p.m. Sunday, June 14, Bossanova Ballroom, 722 E. Burnside St. $12. Info: 503-206-7630, www.bossanovaballroom.com.

At last

A handful of Portland’s finest female singers will pay tribute to the late great Etta James with the annual “Tell Mama” tribute show this week. Duffy Bishop, Lisa Mann, LaRhonda Steele, Lady Kat and Rae Gordon will join the DK Stewart Sextet on stage with guitarist Chris Carlson (who’s also Bishop’s husband).

This annual event honors James, a multiple Grammy winner who was inducted into the Blues, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Rockabilly halls of fame. We’ve heard all these ladies live and can attest to their power, and Stewart, whose keyboard work has been a part of such bands as the Robert Cray, Paul deLay and Curtis Salgado groups, should make a fine conductor.

“Tell Mama: A Tribute to Etta James,” 8 p.m. Sunday, June 14, Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 N.E. Alberta St. $18 in advance, $22 at the door. $30 preferred seating. Parent/guardian must accompany minors. Info: 503-764-413, www.albertarosetheatre.com.

Quick hits

• Playing rockin’ blues, soulful ballads, originals and covers, Tracey Fordice & The Eight Balls earned the Cascade Blues Association 2014 Muddy Award for the Best New Blues Act. You can hear the band at 9 p.m. Saturday, June 13, at the Mock Crest Tavern, 3435 N. Lombard St. Info: 503-283-5014, www.mockcrest.com.

• Singer-songwriter Laura Gibson, whose voice betrays a hint of Bjork, and whose new folk music is eclectic and visionary, has moved from Oregon to New York, but returns here for a must-see show at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 13, at The Old Church, 1422 S.W. 11th Ave. $15 in advance, $18 day of show. Info: 503-222-2031, www.theoldchurch.org.

• Much like the Voidoids here in the U.S., UK Subs were distinguished from other punk bands in the late 1970s by the fact they actually could play. Led by the unstoppable Charlie Harper, they share what promises to be an insane bill with Millions of Dead Cops, Chartbusters and The Whiskey Dickers, at the Panic Room (formerly Tonic), 3100 N.E. Sandy Blvd., at 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 17. $15. Info: 503-238-0543, www.panicroomportland.com.

STAGE

CoHo Summerfest

CoHo Productions continues its summer programming with the fourth year of the event, curated by Philip Cuomo, producing artistic director, and featuring local and touring performances by bold, original theater artists: Gordy Boudreau; Butt Kapinski (aka L.A.-based comedy artist Deanna Fleysher); the Wonderheads; Shaking the Tree; Portland Experimental Theatre and “The Journey Play is the Whole Thing.”

7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays, June 11-July 12, Coho Theatre, 2257 N.W. Raleigh St., www.cohoproductions.org, $55 Summerfest pass, $15 per show

Tony Starlight

One of Portland’s hardest working nightclub acts has a busy June: June 12 with the Dean Martin Birthday Celebration and Show, in which he collaborates with Marianna Thielen and Jillian Snow Harris, who portray Ann-Margret, Peggy Lee, Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli; June 19, The Great Gentlemen of Song, as he and John Gilmore sing the music of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and much more; June 26, The Tony Starlight Show, with Starlight singing the Rat Pack and Neil Diamond and more. The venue: Tony Starlight’s Showroom, 1125 S.E. Madison St. For info: www.tonystarlight.com.

‘Two Houses’

The Brody Theater improvisation show returns as the audience casts two families and chooses two actors to portray a couple about to become engaged — and then sit back and watch the saga of lovers unfold.

8 p.m. Saturdays, June 13-27, Brody Theater, 16 N.W. Broadway, www.brodytheater.com, $12, $9 student/senior

Urban Tellers

The Portland Story Theater show of personal narratives includes a young man embarking on a life in theater, a woman searching for the truth of her father’s life, a yoga instructor learning to take her own advice, and a young woman starting her life over in Paris.

8 p.m. Saturday, June 13, Alberta Abbey, 126 N.E. Alberta St., www.portlandstorytheater.org, $15, $18 at door

MISC.

Rose City Book and Paper Fair

The ninth annual event will include thousands of books for sale by more than 40 independent booksellers.

2 p.m.-8 p.m. Friday, June 12, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, June 13, DoubleTree at Lloyd Center, 1000 N.E. Multnomah St., www.pauba.org, $3

Bourbon and Bacon Fest

Entercom Radio/Portland and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry team up for the first event, part of the OMSI After Dark program. It’ll include more than 30 vendors with a variety of bacon, bourbon, whiskey and brandy samples, as well as music, mixology lessons and local radio personalities.

7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 13, OMSI, 1945 S.E. Water Ave., www.omsi.edu (check for more info)

Buddhist Festival in the Park

“Peace in Oneself, Peace in the World” is the theme for the 12th annual event, which opens with 108 bells and incense.

11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday, June 13, Col. Summers Park, Southeast 17th

Avenue/Taylor Street, www.portlandbuddhistfestival.com, free

Portland Pride Festival

There are scores of events taking place during the annual festival, including the Portland Pride Parade, which starts at 11 a.m. Sunday, June 14, as well as the festival itself with exhibitor booths at Waterfront Park, noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 13 and 14 ($7 suggested donation). For complete info: www.pridenw.org.

MUSIC

‘The Rake’s Progress’

The opera based on the 1733 historic, eight-painting William Hogarth chronicle inspired Igor Stravinsky to compose musical homage to Mozart (“The Rake’s Progress”) in 1951. Later, in 1975, David Hockney created costume designs for the opera at England’s Glyndebourne Festival. This year, the combined genius of Hogarth, Stravinsky and Hockney comes together in the Portland Opera staging.

7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, June 11-12, 2 p.m Sunday, June 14, Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St., www.portlandopera.org

Astoria Music Festival

The big event is coming up — June 13 through 28, astoriamusicfestival.org — and, for the fourth year in a row, it kicks off with the Astoria Music Festival Portland Preview, which includes top-notch musicians, Sarah Kwak, Oregon Symphony concertmaster, among them.

7:30 p.m. Friday, June 12, The Old Church Concert Hall, 1422 S.W. 11th Ave., www.brownpapertickets.com, $18 general admission ($25 day of show), $30 reserved

‘Abbaqueen: A Royal Celebration’

Portland Gay Men’s Chorus stages its biggest hit ever during Portland Pride Weekend, with all the spectacle combining ABBA and Queen provides — and songs from “Voulez-Vous” to “Waterloo” to “Bohemian Rhapsody” to “We Will Rock You.”

7 p.m. Saturday, June 13, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 S.W. Broadway, www.portland5.com, $15-$48

Just as he performed his solo show “The Lion” at Portland Center Stage, New York honored Benjamin Scheuer.

Scheuer was awarded the 2015 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for “The Lion.” The Drama Desk Awards celebrate excellence in Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theater productions.

Last month, Scheuer was one of two artists selected to win the 2015 Theater World Award in the Off-Broadway category, among his many other honors.

“The Lion” is Scheuer’s true story of love, loss, loyalty and the redemptive power of music.

The Tribune’s Joseph Gallivan saw the show recently, and was moved to write:

“Writer/performer Benjamin Scheuer is mesmerizing in this 70-minute one-man musical, in which he changes guitars and seats, and probably the audience’s hearts. The story pulls in the familiar direction: the protagonist tells of trying to win the respect of his dead father, a mathematician and musician. He must learn to reconnect with the rest of his family and grow up. But Scheuer’s talking blues style has wonderfully original lyrics and an emotional immediacy that keeps everything fresh, even raw. Sit as close as you dare, and wear a brimmed hat for the bright lights and the saliva. Easily one of the best shows you’ll see all year.”

There are still shows left; see pcs.org/lion.

Another artist nominated for Outstanding Solo Performance, Mona Golabek, will perform her show “The Pianist of Willesden Lane” at PCS next season.

RACC proposals

The Regional Arts & Culture Council invites nonprofit organizations and artists from Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties to submit proposals for artistic projects and events for 2016. It’s the first step in applying for a RACC Project Grant. An “Intent to Apply” form can be found at racc.culturegrants.org. It’s due by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5.

About $600,000 is available for projects in 2016. Applicants can request up to $7,000, up from $6,000 last year.

A program overview and list of 2015 projects funded are available at www.racc.org/grants.

New mural

State Rep. Shemia Fagan (D-East Multnomah/Clackamas), Free Arts NW, and the Powellhurst-Gilbert Neighborhood Association are teaming up to bring a mural to East Portland on the newly built retaining walls along Southeast 136th Avenue between Mitchell and Raymond streets.

Fagan says the goal of the mural is to represent the various communities in East Portland and embody the aspects of the neighborhood. There’ll be community meetings about the artwork proposal, and ideas also are being accepted at www.eastportlandmural.com.

Portland Bridge Club

The club has joined hundreds of other bridge clubs in a nationwide event, “The Longest Day,” on June 21, to support Alzheimer’s research through raising money by playing in a daylong bridge game.

The American Contract Bridge League, the sanctioning body for the game of bridge, puts on the event and teams up with the Alzheimer’s Association.

“The Longest Day” symbolizes the challenging journey of people living with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers. The Portland Bridge Club members have vowed to play bridge from sunrise to sunset and will offer free lessons to the public.

Team captain Chris Wiegan wants to raise $1,000 for the cause. In two years, bridge clubs have raised more than $1 million for the Alzheimer’s Association.

For info: www.acbl.org.

Calling bad girls

The “Bad Girls Club,” a reality television show in which housemates get testy with one another (to put it mildly) and behave badly, will be holding a casting call in Portland. It’ll be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 13, at Grand Central Bowling Lounge, 808 S.E. Morrison St. Casting directors from Bunim/Murray Productions are looking for “show-stopping” sisters and twins “who are independent, spirited, opinionated, outspoken and endlessly entertaining,” for the new season. The show will bring together a cast of sisters to live in a beautiful mansion.

Bunim/Murray Productions also is the creator of “The Real World” and “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”

Applicants must bring a recent picture, photo ID and their sister (or sisters). The minimum age to apply is 21. Applications can also be submitted online; see bmpcasting.com/casting/bgc for info.

For more info: www.bunim-murray.com.

New digs

It’s official: Polaris Dance Theatre has moved to a new space in Northwest Portland, at 1826 N.W. 18th Ave., between Thurman and Upshur streets — just blocks from the Pearl District and downtown. It’s a 6,000-square-foot space with 19-foot ceilings. The bigger building will be renovated and will allow for more classes for youths, teens and adults. Polaris resided at 1501 S.W. Taylor St. for six years. For more: polarisdance.org.

The Circus Project also moved and celebrated with a gala on June 4. The 4,200-square-foot space at Northwest 17th Avenue and Pettygrove Street in the Pearl District represents the completion of the first phase of an expansion plan. The company now needs to raise $200,000 by Sept. 30 to expand social circus outreach and support new artistic work. For info: www.thecircusproject.org.

I was a little disappointed with the 2016 Mazda6 the first day I had it. Don't get me wrong, it's a good looking, well designed midsize sedan. And I was pleased to see it was getting good mileage. And it drive just fine, but seemed to lack that certain something from a company whose slogan is "Zoom-Zoom."

Then I noticed the little switch behind the transmission shifter on the console that said SPORT in tiny black letters.

As Homer Simpson would say, "D'oh!"

Flicked into the sport mode, the Mazda6 drove much more like a, well, like a Mazda — quicker and more responsive. Mileage dropped slightly over the next few days, but that's probably because I drove it more aggressively, since it was more fun to drive. The Sport mode for the six-speed automatic is new this year, giving drivers more choices for how they want their car to perform, since it also has a manual shift mode.

Other than that, the 2016 Mazda6 is largely unchanged from last year. My test version was the top-of-the-line Grand Touring version that features special 19-inch wheels, a rear spoiler, leather upholstery, an eight-way power driver seat with power lumbar support, a six-way power passenger seat and driver memory settings.

It also had a GT Technology package that includes an energy capture system called i-Eloop (for "intelligent energy loop") that improves mileage by capturing and storing energy during deceleration, which can then power air-conditioning, lighting and accessories. With that, the Mazda6 was EPA rated at 28 miles per gallon in the city and 40 on the highway, which makes it just about the most economic non-hybrid midsize on the market.

When it comes to style, the Mazda6 looks like a scaled down Jaguar sedan with a long nose and sloping roofline that rises into a subtle rear spoiler. The interior continues the theme, being far more restrained and tasteful than most competitors.

On the road, the Mazda6 has a supple ride that falls between too soft and too hard. Acceleration is smooth and, in the Sport mode, genuinely sporty. The overall feeling is one of nimbleness, making it feel smaller than it actually is.

The 2016 Mazda6 has only a few shortcoming that might make some potential buyers look elsewhere. It only comes with a single engine, a 2.5-liter inline 4. Those lusting for a turbocharged 4 or V6 might be disappointed, even though the available 184 horsepower and 185 foot-pounds of torque were more than adequate for most situations.

In addition, the 7-inch touchscreen is mounted on top of the dash instead of integrated into it, which looks a touch aftermarket. Most potential owners might not mind, however, since even some far more expensive cars, like a number from Mercedes-Benz, are similar.

The midsize sedan market is incredibly competitive these days, with manufacturers introducing all new or completely revised models every few years. That makes practically every one worth looking, but for those who value driving fun, the 2016 Mazda6 should be near the top of the shopping list.

2016 Mazda6

Base price: $24,950.

Price as tested: $33,395.

Type: Midsize sedan.

Engine: 2.5-liter inline 4 (184 hp, 185 lbs-ft).

EPA estimated mileage: 28/40 (as tested).

Overall length: 192.7".

Curb weight: 3,179 to 3,250 lbs (as tested).

Final assembly: Hofu, Japan.

Last week, June 12

“Jurassic World”

This week, June 19

“Inside Out” (Walt Disney), PG, 94 minutes

About — By Pixar and Walt Disney Pictures, it’s the animated story of a happy 11-year-old Midwestern girl who moves to San Francisco. Emotions get the best of her as she tries to adjust to her new city, house and school. Stars — Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling. Director — Peter Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen.

“Dope” (Open Road), R, 115 minutes

About — Malcolm survives as a geek, and his life takes off on an L.A. adventure. Stars — Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Kimberly Elise. Director — Rick Famuyiwa.

Next week, June 26

“Ted 2”; “Max”; “Big Game”

Home rentals

The latest top 10 digital movie purchases based on transaction rate, by Rentrak:

1. “American Sniper”

2. “Kingsman: The Secret Service”

3. “Whiplash”

4. “The Wedding Ringer”

5. “Interstellar”

6. “Still Alice”

7. “Taken 3”

8. “Jupiter Ascending”

9. “Strange Magic”

10. “Focus”

Other recent favorites: “Mortdecai”; “Top Five”

Doc spotlight

“Batkid Begins”

Watch for the theater showing, DVD or stream of the documentary about the city of San Francisco — and world, with nearly 2 billion people reached through social media on the subject — rallying to help 5-year-old cancer patient Miles Scott, who, thanks to the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation, dressed as “Batkid,” and how and why people rallied to his cause. For more info: www.batkidbegins.com.

Upcoming event

Who doesn’t love movies shown outdoors during warm summer nights? We’ll have more later, but Portland Parks & Recreation’s Movies in the Park begins in early July — with “Despicable Me 2” at Peninsula Park, July 8 — and continues into September. For info: www.portlandoregon.gov/parks.

PSU history professor takes first-hand look at tumultuous period

David A. Horowitz has been teaching history at Portland State University since 1968. Horowitz often would share his own experiences about growing up in America and being on the edge of various social movements with his classes. The anecdotes were so well received that his students encouraged Horowitz to put them down on paper.

Eventually, Horowitz decided to follow his students’ advice. Twelve years later, Horowitz has published his memoir “Getting There: An American Cultural Odyssey.” The memoir is Horowitz’s firsthand account of the tumultuous period between the 1950s and the early 21st century.

Horowitz has lofty goals for “Getting There” ($17.95, $3.99 Kindle, Inkwater Press, 429 pages).

“I’d like to encourage a world view that is not mechanistic in looking at society, that leaves room for mystery and surprise,” Horowitz says. “I want to encourage readers to appreciate some of the wonderful expressive culture that’s come out of American society. I particularly want to influence people whose sympathies are with the progressive communities to appreciate some of the richness of American culture and society and to understand some of those they disagree with.

“I sort of want an inspired view of life. I want people to have a sense of awe ..., not just some negative criticism. People need to keep up hope, because once you retreat into bitterness it’s a complete dead-end. You can’t go there because then you’re completely useless.”

A West Bronx and Long Island, N.Y., native, Horowitz was born into a family of writers.

“Everyone has always been a writer in my family,” Horowitz says. “Both of my parents were writing from when they were children. They were writing musical parodies and skits and theatrical pieces and poetry. They had a play produced Off-Broadway in 1953 that ran in a church basement. It got panned, but they got it on stage.”

Horowitz’s previous writing experience was publishing history books (“America’s Political Class Under Fire: The Twentieth Century’s Great Cultural War”, “The People’s Voice: A Populist Cultural History of Modern America”). Horowitz did have some experience in memoir writing, though.

“Years ago, we brought a speaker into Portland State to speak about writing,” Horowitz says. “He said that people have the most vivid memories from the time they’re between about 8 and 12 years old. He said once you turn 12 you get so self-conscious that your image of yourself interferes with your memory.

“He asked us as a writing exercise to write a page about what we remembered about that time period. That was the time I was growing up in the West Bronx. I started writing it, and I realized he was totally right. I had all these vivid memories. I later published a version of that in the early 1990s in a newsletter that was called ‘Back in the Bronx.’ ”

As he began working on “Getting There” in the summer of 2003, Horowitz began by examining the lives of his parents.

“I had so much material from my parents,” Horowitz says. “My dad had written a typed, unpublished memoir of his entire childhood up until he got married. My mother and father had desk-published poetry. I had my parents’ letters. When I started it, I started thinking, ‘God, my parents’ history is more interesting than my own.’ There was a lot of material on my family history.

“By the time the manuscript was ready to be submitted, I submitted it to one university press in the region and they asked me to cut it by a third. I had to cut out a lot of the family history. There was too much. It was another book. I wound up incorporating some of the family history in flashbacks, though.”

Pair's trip explores Oregon through lens of artisans' work, communities

They decided to take a craft tour of Oregon.

Portland’s Museum of Contemporary Craft curators Nicole Nathan and Namita Gupta Wiggers hit the road to meet new makers and build an exhibit of 21st-century Oregon craft. They brought along a film crew and documented the trip, conducting interviews with artists and capturing footage along the way.

More than 50 works by 15 artists and makers and craft-based companies from the across Oregon are represented in the State of Oregon Craft show, open now at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in the Pearl District. Exhibitors include individual artists and those who belong to guilds and collectives. From traditional craft forms to pieces that upend ideas of what craft can be, it’s all here.

“We pretty much cold-called the artists, but people were so welcoming, even as we descended upon them,” Nathan says.

The craft-hunters wanted to get off the beaten path, to dig into “the dry side” of the state. “We wanted to look at the state as a whole and get out into different places outside the I-5 corridor,” Nathan says. “We also wanted to really investigate place, and the effect that it has on the work.”

They were also keenly interested in how artists share information within their networks. Portland-based sculptor Eric Franklin has a mainly solo studio practice but has 5,000 followers on Instagram, Nathan says. His flameworked glass sculpture of a human skeleton made of Pyrex and filled with luminous krypton gas is being shown for the first time at the show.

Whatever form craft happens to take, “it’s usually based on communities sharing their skills and knowledge with one another,” Nathan says.

A highlight was a trip to Hamley and Co., a heritage leather works store that’s been in Pendleton since 1883.

“We knew that Hamley’s was in Pendleton and that they had been there a long time,” Nathan says. “And that they also have in-store workshops in leather and silver work that are like residencies.”

Parley Pearce, who owns Hamley’s, welcomed them with open arms, Nathan says. Two saddles and a pair of leather chaps made at Hamley’s have a prominent spot in the show.

The team also traveled to Warm Springs, where artist Natalie Kirk lives. A member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, she is a full-time curator at the Museum at Warm Springs. The day job informs her craft — she doesn’t have time to make materials from scratch — so she uses Walmart yarn and beads to craft small baskets using traditional Plateau methods. A small basket with loops, “Momo’s Wapus” is a very physical manifestation of a mother’s love. It’s made of buckskin, wool yarn and cut-glass beads.

They also visited East Creek Anagama, near the town of Willamina, where ceramics are made in wood-fired kilns modeled after centuries-old kilns from Japan and Korea. Anagama is Japanese for “cave kiln,” and one of the kilns there is the second oldest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.

“It was intense there,” Nathan says. “The process takes place over a few weeks, and then you stay up all night stoking fires that burn for three days. Seasoned ceramic artists work alongside high school students delving into ceramic studies, and they all come together over food, conversation and the kiln.”

Thirteen East Creek artists are represented in the show.

Studio Art Quilt Associatesis a 3,000-member group focused on the art quilt. Its members are primarily from Sisters and Sunriver. Wendy Hill’s “Autumn Textures” is made of cotton, batting and layers of zippers. SAQA’s other contribution to the show is a swirling, kaleidoscopic force of nature that also happens to be a quilt.

A quilt from the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show leads up to the gallery’s second level. Founded in 1975, the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show is the biggest show of its kind in the world, attended by more than 12,000 people. The quilt is a joyful paean to Central Oregon and depicts the snow-capped Three Sisters mountain range, sunbursts and ponderosa pines.

Craft is funny, too. Brightly glazed ceramic banks — an alligator, a pig — by Mudshark Studios are ready to display on shelves in the well-curated Oregon home. And the immaculately crafted ceramic growlers? That’s about as Oregon as it gets.

Often citied as the fastest-growing sport in North America, pickleball is taking up residence at Hillendale Park in Oregon City, one of the first public courts on the east side of the Willamette River.

Having obtained the approval of the Oregon City Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, the USA Pickleball Association this weekend will be restriping tennis courts at Hillendale Park to convert them into multiuse courts.

Described as a combination of tennis, badminton and pingpong, the game is played on half of a tennis court with a paddle and a wiffle ball. Although people of all ages have taken up pickleball, many active senior citizens are drawn to the game as it is quick to learn and gentler on the body than tennis.

Oregon City resident Rita Maynard and her husband, Robert Small, have led the effort to bring the sport here. They became hooked on pickleball immediately after being introduced to the sport last year. Finding no local pickleball courts, they put on a well-attended demonstration last year at Clackamas Community College, taping pickleball court lines on the tennis courts. That event gave them momentum to lobby Oregon City Parks and Recreation to transition tennis courts to include pickleball at a city park.

“There is now the ability to have five pickleball courts in active play,” Maynard said. “This is great news as many pickleball enthusiasts enjoy having scheduled play time so they can compete with different players. Pickleball is a sport that welcomes folks at all levels.”

At 9 a.m. Saturday, June 20, the group will launch the new Hillendale Pickleball Park with a free barbecure, prizes, refreshments and gifts. There will be coaches on hand with loaner paddles ready for new enthusiasts to learn the sport.

For more information, contact Tom Widden, pickleball district ambassador, at 503-718-4496, wibblecompany@msn.com, or call Robert Small 503-750-3167.

“J.A.W.Z. The Musical — In 3D” hits the stage at Alberta Rose Theatre the weekend of June 25-28 — the same weekend as the movie “Jaws” showed at the same venue, at 3000 N.E Alberta St., 40 years ago.

The Portland-based production last year played to packed houses at the Alberta Rose, in San Francisco and Hollywood, Calif., and at the Oregon Country Fair in Veneta. The upcoming Alberta Rose dates — 9 p.m. June 25-28, as well as July 2-3 — are being billed as the final encore performances, after three years of the staged comedy farce.

It’s directed by Noah Veil and Jason Wells, and produced by Wells. The Saloon Ensemble are the writers and performers.

Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. For info:

www.jawzthemusicalin3d.com and www.albertarosetheatre.com.

It’s recommended for people 18 and older.

The Saloon Ensemble has been entertaining crowds for 10 years with original, danceable and comedic musical productions. After its successful “The Nitemare B4 Xmas,” members studied “Jaws,” an all-time favorite of Wells’, and the seven musicians teamed up with actors and director Veil to put the show together for the Clinton Street Theater.

Says a news release: “Then, after four months of rehearsals, costuming, props, choreography, arranging, editing,and memorizing their lines, they birthed this all-original, multidimensional, sing-along-able, live musical-comedy which, though it follows the basic Peter Benchley story to satisfy die- hard fans, takes many unexpected twists and turns for a unique, hysterical and absurd experience of this legendary shark tale. It was a massive hit.”

The run at Alberta Rose and the Oregon Country Fair and in California followed. Now, it’s back.