STAGE

8 Views Towards Center

A new play about the meaning of womanhood, by Portlander Francesca Sanders. Integrity Productions at Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont St., 286-3456. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 4 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 4. $15.

Cabaret

Let's get this out of the way right now: This is the finest, most enjoyable production of a musical we've seen from PCS, and director Chris Coleman, to date. Storm Large is electric as Sally Bowles, monopolizing the audience's attention no matter how hard Wade McCollum, the ominous and menacing Emcee, tries to steal focus. Acting is good all around with the exception of NYC import Romain Frugé, who makes a dull straight man (sort of) in the character of Cliff Bradshaw. There's a lot of sex and a lot of pain in this show, but it's (rightly) more grotesque than sensual, and the heat only really rises during Storm's solos. You can't tamp that fire. Fun aside, this story is now more timely than ever—the last scene of Coleman's production, in which the Kit Kat Club performers huddle together as Hitler screams over the radio, is a warning: Don't let this happen again. Portland Center Stage at the Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., 445-3700. 7:30 pm Tuesdays-Saturdays, 2 and 7:30 pm Sundays, 2 pm Oct. 20, noon Oct. 18. Closes Nov. 4. $18.50-$63.50.

Chocolate Confessions

A veritable gorgefest of saccharine sweetness and ooey, gooey cocoa-cuteness, Freed's Chocolate Confessions delivers the type of vaudevillian corniness and banana-peel humor aimed to please the palates of those who delight in groan-inducing puns and jazz hands. The mostly middle-aged (and older) audience loved it, gobbling up Freed's painful gags and antics like, well, you know. After numbers like "The Biggie Wiggie Chocolate Boys," "It's Still Rocky Road to Me" and "Craving 9 to 5" (not Dolly! Is nothing sacred?), Freed launches into "The Candy Bar Wrap Rap," complete with backward baseball cap, wiggidy-wack dance moves and the lyrics, "Yo, fool!/ Whatcha gonna do/ when ya wanna try and score some chocolate?" You have to admit that Freed is skilled at what she does—she sings! She dances! She writes original tunes as tributes to Betty Crocker, and she transforms classic songs like "Mrs. Robinson" into ditties about a 31-flavor ice-cream empire!—but this much sugar is bad for you. ANNIE BETHANCOURT. World Trade Center Theater, 25 SW Salmon St., 784-6220. 7:30 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 18. $29-$31.

Kimberly Dark

[ONE NIGHT ONLY] Everyone's favorite overtly political, queer spoken-word performer stops in Portland for one gig. Many Horses Productions at In Other Words Books, 8 NE Killingsworth St. 7 pm Friday, Oct. 19. $5-$8 suggested donation.?

Double Feature

[NEW REVIEW] Imago co-founder Jerry Mouawad goes on a rare writing bout and splits the theater in two with two one-acts: Serial Killer Parents and The Father-thing. The former, about a couple of aging magicians whose son happens to be a murderer, offers plenty of entertaining stage play—fairly impressive magic tricks undermined by an ongoing marital spat—and an uncommon opportunity to see Mouawad on stage with his creative partner, Carol Triffle. The latter is a sci-fi/horror farce inspired by a Philip K. Dick story, which is worth seeing more for its inspired physical antics than the creepy-crawly plot. BEN WATERHOUSE. Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th Ave., 231-9581. 7:30 pm Thursdays, 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays. Closes Oct. 27. $15-$22.

The Fall of the House

[OPENS THURSDAY] It's back! After a successful run in April, Portland's only live, improvised sitcom/soap opera is returning with an expanded cast for a second, um, season of four "episodes" (one each week). Action/Adventure Theatre at Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont St., 358-8646. 10:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays. Opens Oct. 18. $10 per episode, $24 for all four.

Grace

Third Rail's hyperbolic success may owe less to the ensemble's many talents than it does to its infatuation with witty big-ideas playwright Craig Wright. This nuanced theological argument disguised as a domestic tragicomedy reverently dissects faith, loyalty and the problem of evil through the terrible confluence of a freeway accident, a financial disaster and a war crime—and it's the best show I've seen on any Portland stage since The Pavilion, Third Rail's last Wright production. Grace is at turns desolate and hilarious, specific and universal. Everything about the production is extraordinary: Damon Kupper, Stephanie Gaslin, Leif Norby and Doug Mace give superb performances; Tim Stapleton's set and Michael Mazzola's lighting are stark and frightening; Jen Raynak's ambient sound is a broadcast from a mechanical inferno. You get the idea? Drop whatever you're doing and order your tickets now. You don't want to miss this one. Third Rail Repertory at Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, 5340 N Interstate Ave., 235-1101. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Oct. 27. $16-$25.

Honk! The Ugly Duckling Musical

Surely there is a great musical comedy that some Portland company can mount to showcase the shining vocal and comic talents of our very own James Wesley Peppers. Honk!, which Peppers handily walks away with, is not that show. Winningly committed to every winking line of dialogue and each sappy song in the dual role of duckling daddy Drake and chief goose Greylag, Peppers adds needed heat to an otherwise lukewarm new English musical adaptation by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe—stretched here to two and a half kiddie attention-span-testing hours—of the Hans Christian Andersen fable (Stephen Alexander, stage and music director). Promising work from young Connor Weil as Ugly, stage vet Kristi L. Foster as a warm-voiced Ida and pint-sized Lea Zawada in several small roles. STEPHEN MARC BEAUDOIN. Northwest Children's Theater and School, 1819 NW Everett St., 222-4480. 7 pm Fridays, 2 and 7 pm Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Oct. 28. $16-$20.?

Night of the Living Dead

[OPENS FRIDAY] John Monteverde's annual Halloween tribute to George Romero returns. Blue Monkey Theater at the Valley Cinema & Pub, 9360 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, Beaverton, 593-2466. 10 pm Fridays, 10 pm and midnight Saturdays, 10 pm Wednesday, Oct. 31. Opens Oct. 19. $12.?

Play It Again, Sam

[OPENS FRIDAY] Poor Allan Felix is haunted by the ghost of Humphrey Bogart. The North End Players at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, 7600 N Hereford Ave., 286-3679. 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Opens Oct. 19. $10.

Six Degrees of Separation

[NEW REVIEW] A promising start to Profile's season of John Guare plays, this unbearably uncomfortable retelling of an incident in which several rich New Yorkers were conned by a young man claiming to be the son of Sydney Poitier weds a large, talented cast with Guare's trademark wit and one enormous Kandinsky. Particularly worthy of note are Dennis Mosley, who beats the pants off Will Smith as Paul the lunatic imposter, and the chorus of embittered adult children (Aron Farrer, Nathan Julias Carson, Brooke Lynn Fletcher, Christopher Woolsey). Gripes: long, almost motionless phone conversations; the left side of the house sees mostly behinds. BEN WATERHOUSE. Profile Theatre at Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont St., 242-0080. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 11. $12-$28.?

Sometimes Toilet Water

A new show for children "written mostly by kids and performed mostly by adults." The CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 380-3516. 2 pm Saturdays. Closes Nov. 17. $10, $5 children.?

Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing

[OPENS SUNDAY] Judy Blume's opus of juvenile angst, live. Oregon Children's Theatre at the Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, 228-9571. 11 am and 2 pm Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Opens Oct. 21. $13-$24.?

Thoroughly Modern Millie

[CLOSES SUNDAY] Young Millie Dillmount's coming-of-age story in modern Manhattan may be tricked out with all the necessary musical-comedy baubles—bob cuts and flapper dresses, happy tappers and Jeanine Tesori's pleasant jazz-tinged score—but the characters in Rich Morris and Dick Scanlan's wisp of a book, which is both less entertaining and burdened with more race-baiting than the 1967 movie on which the musical is based, rarely register as more than smiley cardboard cutouts. In the title role, Kelly Stewart hits her marks and taps with enthusiasm; she gets competent assistance from Sarah Dresser (as Mrs. Meers), Amanda Valley (Muzzy Van Hossmere) and Sammuel Hawkins (Trevor Graydon). STEPHEN MARC BEAUDOIN. Lakewood Theatre Company at Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S State St., Lake Oswego, 635-3901. 8 pm Thursday-Saturday, 7 pm Sunday, 2 pm Oct. 21. Closes Oct. 21. $26-$28.?

Twilight Tales

[OPENS FRIDAY] An homage, in four one-act tales of mystery and terror, to The Twilight Zone. Northwest Children's Theater and School at the Northwest Neighborhood Cultural Center, 222-4480. 10 pm Fridays-Saturdays. Opens Oct. 19. $10, $6 youth with student ID.?

The Underpants

[OPENS FRIDAY] Steve Martin's rewrite of Carl Sternheim's pre-World War I German sex farce, Die Hosen. Portland Center Stage at the Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., 445-3700. 7:30 pm Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 7:30 pm Saturdays-Sundays, noon Thursdays. Opens Oct. 19. $16.50-$43.50.

Waiting for Lefty

[CLOSES SATURDAY] A 1935 protest play studded with songs from the finest days of the labor movement. Joye Otto at Performance Works NorthWest, 4625 SE 67th Ave. 8 pm Friday-Saturday. Closes Oct. 20. $10.?

Who Stole My Dead Husband?

[EXTENDED RUN] Lou Pallotta's Italo-sploitation family dinner theater, starring Jim Caputo, continues through December. Madison's East Wing, 1125 SE Madison St., 800-966-8865. 7:30 pm Fridays-Saturdays. Closes Dec. 22. $60-$69, dinner included.

COMEDY

Brody Theater, Theatresports improv

Nine months after losing their basement home to gentrification, the Brodys are back in the Northwest with a six-week run of their signature participatory improv at the CoHo Theater. 2257 NW Raleigh St., 224-0688. 10:30 pm Saturdays. Closes Oct. 20. $6-$8.?

CLASSICAL

Normal Leyden 90th Birthday Big Band Bash

For many Oregon Symphony patrons of a certain age, Norman Leyden is the very definition of easy-listening elegance. A former arranger for the Glenn Miller Orchestra and longtime—we're talking three decades plus—Oregon Symphony associate conductor and Pops series music director, Leyden returns to the Schnitz stage for the first time, sax in hand, in over three years for a raucous Ellington- and Gershwin-infused 90th birthday bash. He's abetted by a non-symphony big band and vocalists Renee and Aubrey Cleland and Rod Lucich, as well as mystery dancers. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 228-1353. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Oct. 17. $20-$97.

Portland Guitar Duo

Classical guitarists James Manuele and Foti Lycouridis have been strumming together for eight years, and offer a mixed-bag program with a few musical guests. Arts Equity at the Main Street Theatre, 606 Main St., Vancouver, 360-695-3770. 8 pm Thursday-Saturday, 2 pm Sunday, Oct. 18-21. $12-$16.

Kavafian Shifrin Schub Trio

The Boston Globe calls them "hypervirtuosos." Chamber Music Northwest artistic director David Shifrin on clarinet, pianist André-Michel Schub and recent Seattle Symphony co-concertmaster-appointee Ani Kavafian on violin burn through Bach, Bruch, Stravinsky and Fauré. Kaul Auditorium at Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., 294-6400. 8 pm Friday, Oct. 19. $10-$43.

Vivaldi 3 + 11

He may be 200 years dead, but Antonio Vivaldi is a hot-shit composer right now, no question. From virtuosic violin concerti to a spate of intriguing, recently exhumed operas, he's proving himself to be much more than a one-trick pony (remember "The Four Seasons"?). Violinist Monica Huggett leads her Portland Baroque Orchestra charges in Opus 3 and 11 Vivaldi concerti as soloist in yet another season opener. First Baptist Church, 909 SW 11th Ave., 222-6000. 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday, Oct. 19-20; Kaul Auditorium at Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., 222-6000. 3 pm Sunday, Oct. 21. $15-$39.

Willamette Concert Opera: Opera Double Bill

With no-frills, on-book concert performances of operas you won't hear anywhere else in town, Willamette Concert Opera soldiers on with a double bill of Gian Carlo Menotti's melodramatische The Medium and lesser-heard-from Franco Leoni's L'Oracolo. Sherman Clay/Moe's Pianos, 131 NW 13th Ave., 775-2427. 6:30 pm Saturday, Oct. 20. $15.

Oregon Chamber Players

Works from a forgotten Czech (Johann Stamitz), the "Father of the Symphony" (Franz Joseph Haydn) and an Anglo-Welsh critic-composer who died young (Philip Arnold Heseltine, a.k.a. Peter Warlock) in the Chamber Players' 13th season opener. All Saints Episcopal Church, 4033 SE Woodstock Blvd., 224-8499. 7:30 Saturday, Oct. 20. $12-$15.

Ensemble Galilei with NPR's Neal Conan

Say this about Ensemble Galilei: The members of this all-lady classical and Celtic band look like they have fun. Just look at their promo photos. There's Ensemble Galilei, hair windswept, on the beach! There's Ensemble Galilei kicking their heels up (literally) in an unnamed concert hall! There's Ensemble Galilei disembarking from a small plane! OK, OK, we get it already. You're super hip. And in Friends of Chamber Music's "Not So Classic Series," they're offering a program called First Person: Stories from Around the World. National Public Radio personality Neal Conan reads adventure stories. National Geographic Society photos are displayed on a screen. Ensemble Galilei plays Bach, Telemann and traditional Irish and Scottish music. Yawn. Kaul Auditorium at Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., 224-9842. 7:30 pm Saturday, Oct. 20. $14-$37.

Dvorák's Symphony No. 9

Oregon Symphony's user-friendly "Inside the Score" series opens with context for and concert of the Dvorák 9, Carlos Kalmar conducting. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 228-1353. 2 pm Sunday, Oct. 21. $15-$85.

Florestan Trio Plays Mendelssohn

Portland's indefatigable Florestan Trio offers an all-Mendelssohn afternoon in Celebration Works' series-opening concert. First Presbyterian Church, 1200 SW Alder St., 228-7331. 3 pm Sunday, Oct. 21. $8-$10.

Wood'N'Flutes in Concert

Oh, you crazy Danes! Seattle recorder player Vicki Boeckman teams up with Danish instrumentalists Gertie Johnsson and Pia Brinch Jensen in a rock-quality concert spanning at least five centuries and as many styles, from old-school rockers like Perotin and Dufay to new arrangements of centuries-old Danish melodies. Don't even consider missing this concert. Eliot Chapel Hall at Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., 771-1112. 7:30 pm Monday, Oct. 22. $15-$20.

DANCE

Ghaile Windeck

Enchantment Layer One is Windeck's one-woman contemporary dance piece, but it's hardly an austere outing. In seven dances, each with a different theme, she reverses the natural order of storytelling by starting at the end, and weaves in images and film by Will Mahoney-Watson and photography by Greg Kozawa. Conduit, 918 SW Yamhill Ave. #401, 710-1799. 8 pm Friday-Saturday, 7:30 pm Sunday, Oct. 19-21. $14-$15.

Agnieszka Laska Dancers

The contorted body language of the war (think Abu Ghraib) has burned itself into our retinas. Now Laska, aided by Luis Arreguin, has translated that language to movement and moving pictures in The Fall '01. The 45-minute video, shot last September in Mexico, captures Laska's multimedia treatment of torture and violence and will screen at libraries around town this month before the piece makes its official debut in November. Midland Library, 805 SE 122nd Ave., 233-0512. 7 pm Tuesday, Oct. 23. Free.