STAGE

21A

Arts Equity's Portland Premiere is a meaningless one-man trifle by Minnesota playwright Kevin Kling about a few very strange moments aboard the bus that runs between Minneapolis and St. Paul. The driver and all of the passengers—an off-kilter old woman carrying a load of cat food from Trader Joe’s, a drunken bum wearing an empty case of Bridgeport IPA for a helmet, and an overzealous advocate for public transportation, among others—are played with moderate success by Joey LeBard. With the strained accents and self-consciously goofy sensibility, 21A resembles an episode of “Guy Noir: Private Eye” written the morning after Garrison Keillor’s latest bachelor party—weird and menacing, but still a feel-good piece in the end. Like the passengers on the stationary bus, you’ll probably wonder when the damn thing is going to go somewhere. It never does. BEN WATERHOUSE. Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont St., 360-695-3770. 8 pm Fridays-Saturday, 2 pm Sundays. Closes July 26. $17-$20, sliding scale Thursdays and Sundays. Map

Annie Warbucks

John Monteverde directs this Christmasy sequel to Annie, starring Hayley Rousselle. World Trade Center, 121 SW Salmon St., tinpanalleypdx.com. 8 pm July 18, 23-24, Aug. 1, 6 and 8-9; 7 pm July 27; 2 pm July 20, 27, Aug 2-3 and 9. $10-$20. Map

Bitchin'tella! The Cajun Puppet Musical

Shae Uisna's bayou bonanza is pretty self-explanatory: Papa Fork, Mama Spoon and all their tableware children have some wild puppet adventures. Portland State University, 1825 SW Broadway., 727-3307. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, July 17-19. $12-$18. 18+. Map

Camp Placid

Tobin Gollihar's Spring 4th Productions presents a new, partially improvised musical about a totalitarian summer camp. Shoe Box Theater, 2110 SE 10th Ave., 989-5621. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays. Closes July 19. $12 in advance, $20 at the door. Map

ClownSnotBombs Secret Cirkus

The respected hobo clown show, best known for touring the country in a vegetable-oil-powered bus, returns to Portland with the usual antics, with music by the old-timey troubadors of the Sour Mash Hug Band and The Crow Quill Night Owls. Fez Ballroom, 316 SW 11th Ave., 221-7262. 8 pm Thursday, July 17. $5. 21+. Map

JAW 2008: Commission! Commission!

Portland Center Stage's annual fundraiser, in which 10 playwrights, all of them JAW alumni, are auctioned off and forced to write for the highest bidder. The plays are produced the same evening, and this year the performance is free and open to the public. Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., 445-3700. 9 pm Friday, July 18. Free. Map

JAW 2008: Week 2

Portland Center Stage's 10th annual playwrights festival continues. On Saturday the fun kicks off at 9:30 am with a writing workshop with 2004 JAW alumnus Carlos Murillo, followed at 11:30 pm by a theater fair on Northwest Davis Street at which Portland companies will promote their seasons and some of our most interesting artists will perform site-specific work in and around the armory. Constance Congdon hosts a playwriting workshop at 1 pm. The readings of this year's workshop plays begin at 2 pm with Storm Large's Crazy Enough, followed at 4 pm by Colin Denby Swanson's A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits and, at 8 pm, Constance Congdon's Paradise Street. Sunday begins with a directing workshop with Jason Neulander, founder of Salvage Vanguard Theater, at 9:30 am. This year's Playwright's Slam, a sneak peek at new plays being performed around Portland in the next year, begins at 12:30 pm. The readings begin at 2 pm with a reprise of Crazy Enough, followed at 4 pm by Sally Oswald's Pony and at 8 pm by Carson Kreizer's Enchantment. Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., 445-3700. 9:30 am-10 pm Friday-Saturday, July 19-20. Free. Map

The Jewish American Princesses of Comedy

Middle-aged Jewish women rejoice! Francine Raften and Wendy Westerwelle's comedy revue is back for another go. The CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 239-5919. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays. Closes July 19. $18-$23. Map

Les Misérables

[SOLD OUT] Broadway Rose, Tigard’s accomplished but modestly funded summer musical theater company takes on Claude-Michel Schönberg’s record-smashing musical and delivers the sort of unforgettable evening of theater we’re lucky to experience once a season. Douglas Webster (Jean Valjean) sings with tremendous strength and passion; Leif Norby brings a tragic empathy to the role of Javert, saving the totalitarian policeman from being just a stern voice in a succession of ridiculous hats; the ensemble numbers are sharply directed and deeply affecting; and Darius Pierce and Lori Paschall as the ghoulish Mr. and Mrs. Thénardier are grossly hilarious. BEN WATERHOUSE. Deb Fennell Auditorium, 9000 SW Durham Road, Tigard., 620-5262. 8 pm Wednesdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes July 20. $20-$30. Map

Lone Star and Laundry & Bourbon

New Century Players presents two plays about love and marriage in 1970s Texas by Louisiana playwright James McClure. Rex Putnam High School Black Box Theater, 4950 SE Roethe Road, Milwaukie., 367-2620. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Fridays, 2 and 7:30 pm Saturdays. Closes July 26. $10-$12. Map

Man to Man

Experimental British performers the Kelman Group bring their latest show to Portland: a one-woman adaptation of German playwright Manfred Karge's survey of 20th-century European history through the experience of Ella Gericke, a German cross-dresser. Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St., 971-212-2554. 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays, July 18-Aug. 2. $8-$10. Map

Murder at the Bistro

Interactive murder-mystery dinner theater. Food by Timothy Fuhrman, murder by Eddie May. Pine Street Bistro, 221 SW Pine St., 524-4366. 7:30-9:30 pm Saturdays. $60 per person. Map

Pinocchio

A children's musical production wholly unrelated to Disney's version, directed by Karen Boettcher-Tate for Broadway Rose Theatre Company. Deb Fennell Auditorium, 9000 SW Durham Road, Tigard., 620-5262. 11 am Wednesday-Saturday, July 16-19. $6. Map

Pippin

Dogging the work of hard-working amateurs feels like wanton cruelty, but it has to be said: Don't bother with this snoozy and incoherent production of Stephen Schwartz's  meta-musical. Tin Pan Alley Theatre Company's debut effort has the look and feel of a competent performance by a rural high school, with play-trunk-modern costuming, shadowy lighting, a Burtonesque devotion to black eyeshadow and a young cast of players, most of whom look barely beyond commencement. There are some nice voices in the chorus, but all have spent too much time practicing their singing faces in the bathroom, and the leads are weak. The Lead Player, normally a male role, is played by Stevie Boothe, the company's Managing Director, who has difficulty singing the lower notes of the score. University of Portland sophomore Connor Bond brings a touch of Elijah Wood's bewildered hobbit to the title role, and while Ron Harmon shows off his impressive pipes as Charlemagne, his delivery is stiff passionless. The biggest problem here, though, it the show: the book, written by Roger Hirson, hobbles Schwartz's fine score with pretentious silliness about the nature of theater. If you're going to start a new musical theater company, pick a show that you can lean on—The Music or My Fair Lady—not one you'll have to overcome. BEN WATERHOUSE. World Trade Center, 121 SW Salmon St., tinpanalleypdx.com. 8 pm July 25-26 and 30, Aug. 2 and 7. 7 pm Aug. 3 and 10. 2 pm July 26 and Aug. 10. $10-$20. Map

Repeat After Me

Hand2Mouth's wild orgy of Americana through popular song, from "My Country 'Tis of Thee" to "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" by way of Neil Diamond and 2 Live Crew, was a hit at last year's TBA festival. The company brings it back for one night. If you haven't seen it yet, go now. Oregon Casket Building, 403 NW 5th Ave., 235-5284. 8 pm Friday, July 18. $10. Map

Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka

A musical adaptation of Dahl's creepy-wonderful children's novel, performed by both adult and child casts as part of New Moon Productions' summer musical theater workshop. Washington Park Rose Garden Amphitheatre, 400 SW Kingston Ave., newmoonproductions.org. Adult cast: 6:30 pm Tuesdays-Sundays, July 16-27. Child cast: 10 am and noon Saturdays and Sundays, July 19-27. Free. Map

See How They Run

Clackamas Repertory Theatre starts its summer season with Philip King's classic British farce involving a vicar's wife, a cockney maid, a lance-corporal and a bishop. Clackamas Community College—Osterman Theater Clackamas Community College—Osterman Theater, 19600 South Molalla Ave., 657-6958. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2:30 pm Sundays. Closes July 27. $11.50-$21.50. Map

Summer in Brodavia

The Brodys bring back their long-form improv show just in time for the lazy days of summer. The Brody Theater Studio, 3314 SW 1st Ave., door on Southwest Gibbs Street., 224-0688. 9 pm Saturdays, July 19-Aug. 23. $10, $7 students. Map

The Three Musketeers

Lakewood finishes off its season with an Oregon premiere of Ken Ludwig's adaptation of the Dumas novel. Don Alder directs. Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S State St., Lake Oswego., 635-3901. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 and 7 pm Sundays. Closes August 24. $26-$28. Map

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

Portland Actors Ensemble kicks off its summer season of free Shakespeare al fresco with the most accessible of the Roman plays. Washington Park Lewis & Clark Memorial, Southwest Park Place and Lewis and Clark Circle., 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays. Closes July 19. Free. Map

Troilus & Cressida

No one ever performs this problematic tragedy/romcom set during the Trojan War, because audiences don't know what to make of a raucous and bawdy story of death and heartbreak. We can only assume Grant Turner and Northwest Classical Theatre Company are determined to finish Shakespeare's complete canon. More power to them. Take this opportunity to see the play other Portland theaters won't touch for decades. It won't cost you a cent. Woodlawn Park, Northeast 13th Avenue and Dekum Street., 3 pm Saturdays and Sundays, July 19-Aug. 10. Free. Map

W.B. Yeats at Stonehenge

Keith Scales directs a pair of short plays by the Irish poet—The Cat and the Moon and At the Hawk's Well—at the Stonehenge Memorial in Goldendale, Wash., in conjunction with the Maryhill Museum exhibit of Warhol portraits. Don't question it. Maryhill Museum, Maryhill Museum Drive, Goldendale, Wash., 509-773-3733. 7 pm Saturday, July 19. Free. Map

Who Stole My Dead Husband?

Lou Pallotta’s Italo-sploitation family dinner theater, starring Jim Caputo. Madison's East Wing, 1125 SE Madison St., 800-966-8865. 7:30 pm Fridays-Saturdays. Open-ended run. $64-$69, dinner included. All ages. Map

CLASSICAL

Jess Fest

One of the summer’s most intriguing events showcases the multifarious creations of an important but too-little-known Beat generation artist called Jess. Sculpture, collage, painting, film, drawings and more—the San Francisco artist’s palette was as diverse as his imagination, and Reed’s “immersive exhibition” of 40 years of his work, From the Printed Page, includes a musical tribute by Portland composer Sarah Dougher, featuring the Portland Flash Choir and guitarist Marisa Anderson. Dougher’s Caesar’s Gate draws its lyrics from the 1955 poetry-collage collaboration of the same name between Jess and his life partner, the poet Robert Duncan. The performance is followed by a lecture on Jess and then reception accompanied by a trio (jazz adventurer Tim DuRoche, the great Andre St. James, and Michael York), which drummer DuRoche describes as a “jazz-informed, pulse/swing-inclined free trio” that will undertake “an assemblage/collage deployment of jazz strategies (theme, variation, swing, velocity, danger, and melody) that complements the West Coast Beat sensibility of Jess, George Herms and Wally Berman.” BRETT CAMPBELL. Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., 715-6731. 7 pm Saturday, July 19. Free. Map

Orion String Quartet & Imani Winds

Besides Valerie Coleman’s new new “Nonet,” this splendid concert includes the “Trio for Three” that violist Eugene Phillips composed in 2006 for his immensely talented sons Todd and Daniel (the co-leaders of the Orion Quartet) and Todd’s wife, Cathy Cho. The three musicians start on violins and move, one by one, to violas in each succeeding movement. The Orions will also play Mendelssohn’s Op. 13 String Quartet in a minor, and Imani Winds will perform Samuel Barber’s appropriately and affectingly breezy 1955 “Summer Music.” BRETT CAMPBELL. Kaul Auditorium at Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., 777-7755. 8 pm Thursday, July 17. Catlin Gabel School, 8825 SW Barnes Road, 8 pm Friday, July 18. $10-$30. Map

Portland International Piano Festival

For four days, piano fans can indulge in an feast of some of the world’s greatest keyboard masters, but this year’s PIP dramatically—and commendably—stretches the boundaries far beyond the typical 19th century recital fare. The hottest name this year is Simone Dinnerstein, the one-time Juilliard dropout and competition bust who last year came out of nowhere with a self-produced, privately financed recording of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations that vaulted her to international acclaim. Her admirably wide-ranging Portland debut includes music from four centuries: one of Bach’s fetching French suites; Philip Lasser’s 2001 Variations on a Bach Chorale; Webern’s concentrated 1936 Variations; Beethoven's last piano sonata and the highlight—Aaron Copland’s revolutionary 1930 Piano Variations, which shocked and stimulated American music like few other single works. The best known pianist this year, Frederic Chiu, will play the most traditional menu—Chopin Etudes, a little Debussy and Ravel, some Prokofiev and Liszt’s transcription of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5—while the least-known, Marino Formenti, brings the most fascinating program: a tour of European musical history viewed through the peculiar lens of composer Gyorgy Kurtag, comprising five dozen (!) short works by the contemporary Hungarian master and his predecessors from medieval composer Guillaume de Machaut to Scarlatti and Bach to Beethoven, Chopin and Mussorgsky to 20th century modernists Boulez, Stockhausen and Ligeti. The most compelling concert of this altogether exceptional festival looks to be the barrier-busting duo of Anthony de Mare (a terrific performer of West Coast 20th century music) and Steven Mayer, who’ll play yet another unbelievably eclectic program: compositions pigeonholed as jazz by Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Art Tatum and the great Harlem stride pianists James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, plus contemporary “classical” music of the same period by George Antheil (his whirlwind 1922 “Airplane” and 1923 “Jazz” sonatas), Arnold Schoenberg, the great iconoclast Conlon Nancarrow, and several works by the living master Frederic Rzewski. BRETT CAMPBELL. World Forestry Center, 4033 SW Canyon Road., 228-1388. de Mare & Mayer: 7:30 pm, Thursday, July 17. Formenti, 7:30 pm Friday, July 18. Dinnerstein, 7:30 pm Saturday, July 19. Chiu, 7:30 pm Sunday July 20. $13-$32. Map

DANCE

Promenade: A (much) larger than life experience

Families and picnics are welcome at this event, created by choreographer Linda K. Johnson, visual artist Bill Will, sound artist Seth Nehil and lighting designer Bill Boese. This celebration of natural elements—specifically land, light and wind—involves 30 performers, from dance and pedestrian movement ensembles to a bike brigade that will sound off as part of the score. Linda Austin, Gregg Bielemeier and Margretta Hansen perform dance vignettes cued from Johnson’s Daily Movement Journal. Look, too, for a crane, a 50-foot sculpture, live sound and a collaboration with the moon. In keeping with the eco theme, costumes, props and art supplies have been borrowed or repurposed. South Waterfront, Southwest Moody Avenue and Curry Street., 971-998-4810. One hour before sunset, Saturday, July 19. Free. Map