Thanksgiving may be over, but theaters are providing audiences with abundant reasons to be grateful. For those who feel their joy flagging this holiday season, PassinArt, Portland’s oldest Black theater company, has brought back its production of Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity: A Gospel Songplay, which is a two-hour visual and aural sunburst.
Also here to inspire us is Fezziwig’s Fortune, a play by Josie Seid and Sara Jean Accuardi that acknowledges grief while also uplifting audiences.
Finally, for feminists who are feeling especially discouraged these days, Veronica, In Bed, a work-in-progress by Briana Ratterman Trevithick with Renaissance music by Musica Universalis, explores the life and work of a 16th century Venetian courtesan and poet who boldly spoke up for other women in an age when women were supposed to stay silent and sequestered inside their homes.
Check out the listings below for these and other shows, and find a production that sheds some light on even the darkest December day.
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Review: Black Nativity: A Gospel Song-play
Whether you’ve attended PassinArt’s production of Black Nativity in previous years or are seeing it for the first time, get ready for a dazzling infusion of joy. The play, which tells the nativity story from an African-American perspective, is a rapturous blend of color, pattern, music, and movement that audiences don’t merely watch, but experience.
Every performer in the production, which is directed by Jerry Foster and is now in its 13th year, exudes a palpable, infectious passion, with full-hearted singing and beautifully choreographed dancing that’s all the more powerful because it seems to rise organically from the moment. With radiant faces and resonant voices, the entire ensemble shakes the rafters of a space that’s been transformed into a holiday-season church, thanks to poinsettias and shiny Christmas trees as well as projected images such as a manger and a stained glass window.
While Black Nativity, which was written by the poet Langston Hughes and opened on December 11, 1961, was inspired by the story of Jesus, PassinArt’s production opens its arms to everyone – believers and nonbelievers alike. In fact, the cast literally gestures to the audience throughout the show, encouraging them to sing and clap, and even welcomes those who are so moved to dance with them in the end. A man sitting in front of me at the Dec. 1 matinee was not only dancing in his seat but also calling out to one of the soloists, “Come on, come on, girl!” which added to the spirit of exultant oneness in the Brunish Theatre.
Besides the sheer pleasure of the impassioned voices and rhythmic dance moves, the costumes, designed by Wanda Walden, are stunning, with performers wearing bright African prints in the first section of the play and later, even more spectacular finery — such as the men’s colorful tunics that are embellished with intricate gold stitching and the women’s fluted skirts and sleeves, plus African halo hats — that, in this context, calls to mind European paintings of medieval saints.
It would be enough if the production were solely a heartfelt spectacle, but the show also weaves in ideas that give it emotional layers. In particular, the griot-style storytelling blends the tradition of ancient oral histories with the traditionally fervent preaching from Black American pulpits. In the first section of the play, Kimberly Black tells the story of Jesus’ birth between each song. Dressed in a sparkling white hat and long white embossed gown, she’s an elegant presence who’s part angel, part reverent believer who’s eager to share the news about Christ with the congregation. After intermission, Foster takes over as the narrator, and with phenomenal vocal and physical zeal, amps up the energy even more.
Kemba Shannon’s choreography also weaves together rows of ensemble members who thread around each other across the stage. And as the laboring Mary, Latoya Lovely doesn’t just ride into Bethlehem on a donkey. Her path to find shelter braids through the singers as she leans heavily on her husband (Kenneth Dembo) whenever her body is gripped by a new contraction. In this sense, Mary is more than a heavenly being: She’s also a woman who experiences decidedly earthly suffering.
Similarly, Black Nativity fuses traditional Christmas songs with gospel and jazz music, which is fitting for a play that Hughes was commissioned to write for Karamu House, the oldest U.S. producing Black theater company. Dr. JerMichael Riley, who began as a vocalist in PassinArt’s annual show and became its music director during the pandemic, said in a recent newsletter that his goal is to “inspire and uplift.” With new choreography this year, as well as songs, the show does just that. “We all need this,” he said. “We need to know we’re gonna be okay. We’re gonna get through.” Amen to that.
Black Nativity, will be onstage at the Brunish Theatre through Dec. 15.
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Hope Floats: Fezziwig’s Fortune, presented by Twilight Theater Company, creates a heartrending but inspiring backstory for Ebeneezer Scrooge’s boss.
Portland actor/writer/director Josie Seid, who’s directing Fezziwig’s Fortune at Twilight Theater this month, was once a shy awkward “little peanut” who felt invisible. “I was always small,” she said in a recent phone conversation. “I mean literally from elementary school until I hit high school people called me ‘little Jocelyn’ – my teachers, my friends, everybody, because I was this tiny person.”
Finding her voice as an artist, though, made a difference. Today, she says, “It’s less about who I am than what I have to say.” And thanks to her own experience as a child, she developed a need to tell stories about people “that are more than they seem and that are worth your time. Those are the most interesting to me.”
Fezziwig is one such character. She says young Ebeneezer Scrooge’s merry-making boss in Charles Dickens’ novella A Christmas Carol, always interested her, and “a million years ago,” when she was teaching for an elementary after-school program, she wrote a short play about him that revealed what might be beyond his jolly façade.
Then during the COVID lockdown, it hit her. Hearing about all the bodies piling up and the people who were losing loved ones, she knew that Fezziwig, too, had suffered a loss. Since she’d always been a fan of Sara Jean Accuardi, whose writing, she says, “can hold you in a moment and you don’t care if you never move again,” she figured it was a good time for a collaboration. “I reached out to Sara Jean, and I was like, ‘Hey girl, you want to work on that thing we always said we’d work on?’”
Together, Seid and Accuardi delved even further into Fezziwig’s world, creating more layers to his story. They realized that in addition to him being in mourning for his daughter, his business was failing. That, said Seid, explained his persistent cheer: It was a front for the sorrow he couldn’t show because, as she puts it, “You know how macho those cats were.”
Seid says the resulting play, which premiered in 2022 at Anonymous Theatre Company, is one of the best things she’s written so far, because of the importance of its message: “We consider this to be our love letter to people who feel like they have to hide during the holidays because they don’t know how to merry-happy-jolly.” She adds that the play is saying, “‘We see you and we know you’re not just standing in a beam of sunshine during this time.’”
For Seid, who loves putting magic in her plays and says, “Magic is my jam,” some of that magic for this production also comes from the Twilight community itself. When she started casting the play, she says, “I was in that mindset that I’m going to take who I can get and try to do something.” Instead, she found a phenomenal cast and crew, who, as she says, “have just the biggest hearts.” When Seid, who doesn’t write music, wrote the lyrics for a new song for Fezziwig, one cast member, Damian Lichtenstein, helped her figure out the harmonies without even being asked, and another actor, Olive Mazel, took the song home and “pecked it out on their piano” so the other performers could hear the notes.
“There’s people who when we did the auditions, we loved them so much. We didn’t have a role-role for them, but they were so good we wanted them to be part of the production, and so they’re stepping up and creating this ensemble that we didn’t have before that adds layers and environment and makes it feel like you’re somewhere and not just in a theater watching people on a stage.” Among everyone, she says, there’s a feeling of “‘how can I do more, how can I be better.’”
When the pastor of a church Seid sometimes attends asked her to talk about the arts and what they meant to her, Seid told her, “‘Being a performer, being an actor – and a director – but especially as an actor, it makes me honestly a better Christian because I have to spend time understanding what motivates people to do the terrible things they do.’” She says she does that in her own life, too. “I’m not always the best at it, but in lots of situations, my brain is like, ‘but why did that do that?’”
“I’m glad. I’m glad. I don’t want to go around the world being mad at everybody. That’s a burden. It’s so much better to be trying to figure out how to bring joy and understanding.”
Fezziwig’s Fortune will be onstage at Twilight Theater, Dec. 6-22.
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Sex Positive: The work-in-progress “Veronica, in Bed,” explores the life and work of a 16th century Venetian poet and courtesan, Veronica Franco, with music by Musica Universalis.
In the first days following our latest presidential election, feminists took to the Internet, sharing poems of sadness, hope and sisterhood with works including Emily Dickinson’s “After Great Pain a Formal Feeling Comes” and Amy Kay’s “Cats Have the Right Idea: Wake Up and Scream Your Little Face Off Until the World Gives You What You Need.”
Women, who historically have been denied political power, have been speaking through poetry for centuries. Veronica, in Bed, a new work-in-progress by Briana Ratterman Trevithick that features the music of Musica Universalis, focuses on one such writer, Veronica Franco, a Venetian courtesan and poet who lived 1546-1591.
If a young woman like Franco wanted to live comfortably, she had three choices: A) marry a rich man, B) become a high-priced prostitute (or courtesan), or C) become a nun. Franco tried the first two, with varied results. Her father managed to come up with her dowry (women had to pay for the privilege of having a legitimate partner), and Veronica entered an arranged marriage with a physician while she was still a teenager. When that didn’t work out, she chose option B.
While wives were cloistered, uneducated paragons of virtue whose sole reason for existence was to be an obedient spouse and devoted mother, courtesans had more intellectual freedom. In fact, Franco, the most famous of the Venetian courtesans, was a published poet, proto-feminist and, with the help of patronage in high places, welcome at elite literary salons.
Although she gained fame through her poetry, as a female prostitute she was still on shaky ground. Venice was a busy port city, and according to USC’s Veronica Franco Project, “The celebrated practice of courtesanship supplied the island-republic with an exotic flare that set Venice apart from many other European cities.” Still, the Catholic Reformation had put increasing pressure on women to remain chaste, and in this atmosphere, a frankly sexually active woman was seen as someone who danced with the devil.
Franco, for all her material and literary success, still had to fend off public insults and legal accusations, something she did with the aplomb of a practiced lawyer. In 1580, she was tried twice by the Inquisition, which allowed neither witnesses nor defense counsel, for allegedly performing heretical incantations in her home. Keeping a cool head, she told her inquisitor she had performed superstitious rituals, but hadn’t taken them seriously, and the trials were suspended.
Besides defending herself, Franco wrote in support of other prostitutes and women in general. When a jealous male client of another courtesan threatened to slash the woman’s face, Franco, writing in the terza rima rhyme scheme that Dante had invented for The Divine Comedy, confidently chastised the man in her poem Capitolo 24, saying, “…if we are not as strong as men, / like men we have a mind and intellect.”
Directed by Štěpán Šimek, the workshop performance of Veronica, In Bed combines Trevithick’s script with historical texts by Franco and features the Renaissance music of Musica Universalis (Laura Kuhlman, Esther Saulle, Paul Martin Beck, and Jeffrey Reynolds), Joellen Sweeney, Madeline Ross, and Duffy Epstein. Also using puppetry and media elements, the show promises to transport audiences across eras to explore “power and survival, as well as the persistent desire for influence.” The audience is invited to stay after the show for a brief discussion to share their thoughts.
Veronica, in Bed will be performed at Shaking the Tree Theatre in Portland, Dec. 6 & 7.
ALSO OPENING
Scenes of the Season, at Rose City Book Pub, Dec. 2-20.
This immersive show presented by Northwest Theatre Workshop features classic characters including Clarence the Angel, Yukon Cornelius, Hans Gruber, and Krampus. The audience is in the middle of the action as performers play out tales inspired by iconic holiday stories. The original work, written by six local playwrights and lyricists, includes more than 20 actors, musicians, and technicians.
G.I. Holiday Jukebox, Dec. 5-15.
Written and arranged by Rick Lewis, this holiday revue by Bridgetown Conservatory of Musical Theatre is a salute to the WWII Stage Door Canteen and features four fictitious Hollywood stars who put together a string of 1940s hits and holiday music to entertain “the boys” at the front. The show will be presented Dec. 5-8 at the Bridgetown Black Box in Portland and Dec. 12-15 at The Verona Studio Theatre in Salem. (See David Bates’ ArtsWatch story about Bridgetown’s new second location in Salem.)
Shake&Pop performs Hamlet in Milwaukie, Dec. 5-21.
The first production from this new theater company sounds like a doozy: Hamlet, with a script re-imagined by Isabella Buckner to focus on addiction and recovery. Directed by Veronica Everett. See it at Samaritan Lodge #2 in Milwaukie. Masks are optional but encouraged for audience members.
Hard-Boiled Eggnog: A Christmas Noir at Bag&Baggage, Dec. 5-22.
In this fresh holiday story, an aspiring elf detective gets his big break when Santa is found murdered just days before Christmas. Inspired by classic Rankin-Bass stop-motion holiday specials such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the family-friendly Hard-Boiled Eggnog, which was written by Zack Peercy and is directed by Nik Whitcomb, will be performed at Vault Theatre in Hillsboro. According to B&B, tickets are selling so fast they’ve added an extra performance.

ZooZoo returns to Imago Theatre, Dec. 13 – Jan. 1
Touring internationally since 2009, this family-friendly show is back in Portland for the holidays. As its press says, the production is full of “bugeyes, hippos with insomnia, arrogant anteaters, introverted frogs, paradoxical polar bears, acrobatic worms, self-touting accordions and tricky penguins.” Recommended for ages 4-plus.
The 12 Songs of Christmas: A Christmas Cabaret, Dec. 6.
Becca Berger-Howe’s winter cabaret performance features choral music, jazz classics, and holiday musical showstoppers. Special guests include members of the Portland Revels Chorus, Sophie Ledingham, and Krampus, the Christmas Devil, who will be available for photos after the show. Catch the show at Resound NW in Portland.
Oregon Adventure Theatre’s A Christmas Carol, Dec. 6-15.
OAT’s returning classic will be performed in various locations in Portland and at the coast. The one-hour family-friendly show brings Charles Dickens’ story to life with song, puppets, and immersive practical effects, and features longtime OAT stars Kate Belden and Jenna Cady.
Annie, presented by Imagine Theater at the Milwaukie High School Auditorium, Dec. 6-15.
Imagine Theatre is “a place for youth and their families to create intentional community and belonging through theatre arts.” In this production, everyone’s favorite red-headed comic book orphan braves The Depression with help from her friends.
Decked at Ten Fifteen Theatre in Astoria, Dec. 6-21.
Described as “throwing It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol into a cocktail shaker with some bourbon and sleeping pills,” this all-female black comedy follows the story of Celia, whose only child announces on Christmas Eve that she wants to live with her dad and his much younger partner. Left alone, Celia turns to alcohol and pills, then wakes up in an alternate dimension where she and her eccentric sister review her past, present, and potential future.
Another Dialogue by Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble, Dec. 7.
This one-night showing has an intriguing premise: a looping late-night conversation that becomes “a meditation on the masks we wear, the people we wish we were, and the secrets buried beneath our personas.” PETE calls the play, which features a live score by musicians Mark Valadez, Cristi Miles and Elsa Dougherty, “an experiment in form and process.” See it at Now Serving in Southeast Portland.

Posada Milagro 2024, Dec. 15.
Milagro’s annual Latino Christmas celebration includes a performance with a pastorela, ballet folklorico dance, and music. Also on tap are a Christmas crafting table, piñatas, and tamales for sale. Performances will begin between 2 and 4 p.m. in the Milagro Theatre, and tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Admission is free.
The Moth Mainstage at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Dec. 10.
Literary Arts and The Moth are bringing a new lineup of storytellers to Portland for this live show, which features a musical act, a notable host, and storytellers who share true personal stories, without notes, which will be recorded for future episodes of The Moth Podcast and Moth Radio Hour. Recommended for ages 13 and up.
A Radio Christmas Carol at the Victorian Belle Mansion, Dec. 11.
Although their beloved artistic director, Sam Mowry, died this year, Willamette Radio Workshop continues with a live production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, performed as an old-time radio program with actors at microphones and live Foley effects onstage, as if they were in a studio doing a live broadcast. Oregon Food Bank will be on hand for donations. For tickets, visit victorianbelle.com.
Portland Panto Players’ The Wizard of Oz at McMenamins Mission Theater, Dec. 12 – 22.
The show, according to its press, is “a fun, interactive, family-friendly holiday event filled with slapstick, witty dialogue, great music, dancing, and a few wink-wink jokes for the adults.” Grab your tickets soon; performances are selling out.
God Is A Scottish Drag Queen Christmas Special, Dec. 14-15.
In this touring comedy starring Mike Delamont, God, dressed in a holiday power suit, entertains by “expounding on everything from Egg Nog to Saturnalia.” See it at Eugene’s Hult Center on Dec. 14 or at Southeast Portland’s Aladdin Theater on Dec. 15.

Cygnet Salon’s Seasons Readings! at Artists Repertory Theatre, Dec. 16.
The staged literary reading, Season’s Readings!, is billed as “an irreverent, funny and touching holiday mashup with stories and song.” The performance, which is produced and directed by Louanne Moldovan, includes live music by Dashiell LaSasso.
Experience Theatre Project presents A Drunk Christmas Carol, Dec. 20 & 21.
Part scripted, part improvised, A Drunk Christmas Carol: Volume IV: Mrs. Fezziwig’s Dirty Little Secret includes an actor who downs five shots of whiskey, then attempts to perform the role of Charles Dickens’ Scrooge. A troupe of professional improvisers tries to keep the classic story on track in spite of audience suggestions and the “Wheel of Fate” that could change the setting of the tale at any time. See the show at the Brunish Theatre.
Red Octopus Theatre Company’s The Christmas Show, in Newport, Dec. 20-22.
This reimagined version of the annual event features a brand-new, sketch-comedy-style show, written and directed by Darcy Lawrence and starring more than 30 local actors. Expect an appearance by Santa Claus, snow inside the theater, hot cocoa, and homemade Christmas cookies.
The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show, Dec. 29
This year’s performance of the popular show promises “fabulous spectacle, whip-smart comedy, brand new songs, and annual favorites.” Starring BenDeLaCreme & Jinkx Monsoon. See it at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
CONTINUING SHOWS
Twelfth Night, Or What You Will at Portland Center Stage, Nov.24-Dec.22.
See Shakespeare’s tale of a shipwreck and mistaken identities on PCS’s U.S. Bank Main Stage. Read ArtsWatcher Darleen Ortega’s review here.

Corrib Theatre’s Waiting for Godot at CoHo Theare, Nov. 29-Dec. 15.
Billed by Corrib as a “tragicomic romp,” Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece, Waiting for Godot, is directed by Patty Gallagher at CoHo Theatre.
A Christmas Carol at Portland Playhouse, through Dec. 29.
Returning director Charles Grant also brings back familiar members of the cast, including Lester Purry, Benjamin Tissel, Delphon “DJ” Curtis, and Lauren Steele. The adaptation and original lyrics are by Rick Lombardo, with original music by Rick Lombardo and Anna Lackaff.
Broadway Rose’s Hallmark parody Five Golden Rings, through Dec. 22.
An affectionate parody of a ‘Greeting Card Christmas Show.’” Directed by Dan Murphy, with a book by Stephen Garvey, and music and lyrics by David Abbinanti. The show plays on the Broadway Rose New Stage in Tigard. Get your tickets soon, though: This one is selling out fast.

Stumptown Stages’ It’s a Wonderful Life, through Dec. 22.
This award-winning musical adaptation of Frank Capra’s classic film, with a book and additional lyrics by Janet Mouser, music and additional lyrics by Michael Allen Harrison, plus additional music and lyrics by Julianne Johnson, and lyrics by Alan Berg. The show, which plays at Portland’5 Winningstad Theatre at Antoinette Hatfield Hall, is for all ages.
Triangle Productions’ Little Shop of Horrors, through Dec. 21.
The zany horror comedy returns with its passel of good songs and its giant paper-mache plant named Audrey II, who eats people.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Gallery Theater in McMinnville, through Dec. 15.
This musical adaptation about a family and a flying car is recommended for ages 11 and up.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer at NW Children’s Theatre, through Dec. 29.
An encore performance of last year’s show, Rudolph is a musical adaptation of the TV special, featuring the shiny-nose reindeer and plenty of his fellow misfits. Rudolph runs for about 75 minutes at The Judy.
Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, at Pentacle Theatre in Salem, through Dec. 21.
Set two years after Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice ends, Miss Bennet features the sermonizing sister Mary as the protagonist this time. The show is recommended for ages 10 and up.
THEATER NEWS
21ten Theatre offers an acting workshop with Angie Tennant, Dec. 14.
This one-day workshop, “Analysis Through Action,” will focus on the essence of a character, rather than the words in a play. Led by NYC actor/teacher Angie Tennant, who was mesmerizing in the company’s 2024 production of Uncle Vanya.
Imago Theatre Company Announces Its New Lineup.
After a return of the company’s hit show ZooZoo, Imago will present Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire in January, Oscar Wilde’s tragedy Salome in April, and a new absurdist comedy called Happyness, by Carol Triffle, in May.
Rogue Theater Company’s New Season.
Ashland’s Rogue Theater Company recently announced the lineup for its new season, which includes John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning Doubt: A Parable, a reading of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, David Lindsay-Abaire’s Ripcord, and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.
RTC will also open the season with its annual Barry Kraft Shakespeare series on Feb. 8-9. This year, Kraft will lead audiences through Julius Caesar and As You Like It, offering new ways of looking at the classic plays, both of which are in Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s 90th anniversary season lineup next year.

Participants can join the workshops in person, via Zoom, or watch recordings. Kraft is a noted Shakespeare scholar who has served as dramaturg on nearly 50 Shakespeare productions. He has also acted in 86 full productions including all 38 of Shakespeare’s plays at OSF and other regional theaters.
All performances for the coming season are at 1 p.m. at the Richard L. Hay Center at Grizzly Peak Winery in Ashland.
Newport Performing Arts Center’s Grand (Re)Opening on Dec, 14
Oregon Coast Council for the Arts invites community members to the Newport Performing Arts Center to celebrate the grand (re)opening of the building’s backstage spaces. “We’re so grateful for the City’s involvement in this important work,” said Jason Holland, executive director of Oregon Coast Council for the Arts. “We’re fortunate to have local leaders who recognize the importance and incredible value of the arts.” The event begins at noon, and backstage tours, entertainment, and light bites will be included. Admission is free.
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