Chamber Music Northwest Orion Quartet The Old Church Portland Oregon
Marty Hughley
Marty Hughley
Marty Hughley
Marty Hughley is a Portland journalist who writes about theater, dance, music and culture. His honors have included a National Arts Journalism Program fellowship at the University of Georgia, a fellowship at the NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater at the University of Southern California, and first-place awards for arts reporting in the Society of Professional Journalists Pacific Northwest Excellence in Journalism Competitions. In 2013 he was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame for his contributions to the industry. A Portland native, Hughley studied history at Portland State University, worked at the alternative newsweekly Willamette Week in the late 1980s as pop music critic and arts editor, then spent nearly a quarter century at The Oregonian as a reporter, feature writer and critic. His recent freelance work has appeared in Oregon ArtsWatch, Artslandia and the Oregon Humanities magazine. He lives with his cat, and dies a little with each new setback to the Trail Blazers.

DramaWatch: Our Town, the new Utopia

Bag & Baggage’s “Our Utopia” riffs on themes from Thornton Wilder’s classic. Plus openings, closings, and Bill Rauch’s debut with the new Perelman Center in New York.

DramaWatch: 52 ways to meet your lover

The heady shuffle of “52 Pick-Up” extends its winning hand. Plus: Good news/bad news in Oregon theater, CoHo Clown Festival, a little Sondheim music, openings and closings.

Artists Rep suspends its ’23-24 season

Financial problems stemming in part from the pandemic, an expensive construction project, lack of expected state funding and a national slump in theater attendance force a drastic step.

Nik Whitcomb, Hillsboro’s new bag man

As Bag & Baggage performs “Red Velvet,” his first directing show as the theater’s artistic director, the Omaha and New York transplant creates a tight bond with his new home town.

DramaWatch: Six sassy singing wives

Henry VIII’s wives take the stage in Portland in the musical “Six”; Bag&Baggage’s “Red Velvet,” Box of Clowns, stinky cheese, Shakespeare in Elgin, time out for kids’ shows, more.

DramaWatch: Send in the Clown Cohort

CoHo’s clowns tie a twister by the tail. Plus: a jukebox musical at Lakewood, a sketch comedy festival, Astoria’s “performathon,” seasons’ greetings, throwing the dice on “Six.”

DramaWatch: Comedy from the Gods

Clackamas Rep brings the ancients romping into the present. Plus: Broadway Rose’s “Dreamcoat,” new leader at Artists Rep, farewell to Book-It Rep and Sheldon Harnick, more.

DramaWatch: The (true) magic of theater

A little razzle-dazzle from “Shazam!,” PlayWrite’s 24-hour play fest, circus for Cutie, Cheryl Strayed in Astoria, Bill Rauch’s big adventure, last chance for a fistful of good shows.

DramaWatch: Son of the American Dream

Profile’s “How to Make an American Son” tells a generational family tale. Plus: Duffy Epstein & friends head for “California,” openings, closings.

DramaWatch: At PSU, a Kabuki farewell

The premiere of a fresh Kabuki adaptation of a 1685 Japanese puppet play is Laurence Kominz’ swan song. Plus “Afropolitical Movement,” openings, closings.

DramaWatch: Beyond grit in ‘Mary Jane’

Endurance, warmth and strength in Amy Herzog’s play; clawing the walls at Shaking the Tree; the casting controversy; is “who wrote Shakespeare” the wrong question?

DramaWatch: Profile and the playwrights

At Profile, a gathering of contemporary voices. Plus: Clowning around at Milagro, Corrib’s gritty solo show, last days for “Come From Away,” Portland Playhouse’s new season and more.

DramaWatch: A new limb on the Tree

Shaking the Tree adds a bright new expansion, Le Salon Rouge takes a bow, cheerleader werewolves land on Earth, “Hairspray” hits town, and more.

DramaWatch: An American road trip

Lauren Yee’s “Young Americans” at Center Stage takes on the issues of immigration and belonging. Plus: Corrib’s Irish “Trade,” openings and closings.

DramaWatch: Re-seeding Fertile Ground

The Portland new-works festival is at a crossroads, seeking to ensure its future. Plus: a new/old face at Center Stage, hip-hop from Profile, “Mad” teens and more.

DramaWatch: America, and other experiments

PETE’s “The Americans” is as contradictory as the nation itself. Plus Pearl Cleage, the Temptations, Tammy Wynette, giant beavers, Ronald Reagan and AIDS, Lava Alapai and more.

DramaWatch: Big shakeup in Ashland

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, beset by pandemic and environmental troubles, slashes leadership and other jobs – and Artistic Director Nataki Garrett adds more duties.

DramaWatch: American hoop dreams

Artists Rep’s premiere of Kareem Fahmy’s “American Fast” does a fast break on sport, faith, and culture. Plus: Sondheim for a new generation.

DramaWatch: An ‘Overlord’ unmasked

Kristina Wong’s “Sweatshop Overlord” is a sharp and heartwarming look behind the politics of Covid. Plus: The Shakespeare Festival’s big gift.

DramaWatch: A wild ride with the Yees

Profile’s “King of the Yees” takes an imaginative trip through split cultural identities. Plus “Jagged Little Pill,” openings, closings.

DramaWatch: A sideways tale of Hamlet

Scott Palmer returns to Bag & Baggage with the “Hamlet” riff “The Last White Man”; ripples & waves from Artists Rep and Center Stage; Richard Thomas in “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

The Bird Boys’ Swan Song

As dance presenters Walter Jaffe and Paul King move into their 25th season of running White Bird, the elite company they founded, they prepare to pass the torch.

City of Hillsboro Walters Cultural Arts Center Raye Zaragoza Hillsboro Oregon
Sherwood Center for the Arts Chopin and Liszt with Pianist Darin Niebuhr Sherwood Oregon
Kalakendra Performing Arts A Tribute to Pt. Rajan Mishra First Congregational Church Portland Oregon
Portland Opera The Marriage of Figaro Keller Auditorium Portland Oregon
Corrib Theatre Woman and Scarecrow Portland Oregon
City of Hillsboro Community Mural Dedication M&M Marketplace Hillsboro Oregon
Local 14 Art Show and Sale World Forestry Center Portland Oregon
Oregon Repertory Singers All-Night Vigil Portland Oregon
Chamber Music Northwest Orion Quartet The Old Church Portland Oregon
Seattle Opera, Alcina, Handel's Story of Sorcery, McCaw Hall, Seattle Washington
Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts Biennial, Willamette University, Salem Oregon
Hallie Ford Museum of Art at 25, Highlights from the permanent collection, Willamette University, Salem Oregon
Portland Playhouse Roald Dahl Matilda the Musical Portland Oregon
Literary Arts Presents the Portland Book Festival Portland Oregon
NW Dance Project Sharing Stories Newmark Theatre Portland Oregon
Maryhill Museum of Art Columbia Gorge Washington
Portland State University College of the Arts
Oregon Cultural Trust tax credit donate
Arts Education series
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