UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Performing and Fine Arts

UP Theatre Presents: “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (30 plays in 60 minutes)” (Nov. 13-23)

Every night’s a different show with Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (30 plays in 60 minutes), as the audience gets to pick the order in which scenes are performed and the actors must get through the whole performance before the clock strikes zero. In other words: beautiful chaos.

Presented by the University of Portland, this excerpt from the ongoing show devised and performed by the Neo-futurist Ensemble in Chicago is an exercise in audience participation, stretching the bounds of theater, and letting loose.

Show Times:

  • Wednesday-Saturday, November 13-16 | 7:30 p.m.
  • Sunday, November 17 | 2:00 p.m.
  • Wednesday-Saturday, November 20-23 | 7:30 p.m.
  • Sunday, November 24 | 2:00 p.m.

Performances will be held at the Mago Hunt Theater | Directed by Andy Christensen

Purchase Tickets

Pre-Play Reception & Panel: “You Can See All The Stars” (Oct. 5)

Ticket show holders for You Can See All The Stars, a story by local playwright E.M. Lewis, are invited to join us for a complimentary small bites reception and expert led pre-show panel discussion.

Saturday, October 5, Brian Doyle Auditorium (DB004).

Reception at 6:15 p.m. – Panel Discussion from 6:45-7:15 p.m – Show at 7:30 p.m.

Co-sponsored by the Garaventa Center.

Performing & Fine Arts Presents: “If Music Be the Food of Love” (Oct. 5)

You are cordially invited to a Fall choral concert featuring the UP Chamber Choir, Bel Canto and Singers. This literary inspired event features musical settings of Shakespeare by Verdi and others, as well as additional music by Clara Schumann, Morten Lauridsen, Sarah Quartel and Portland’s own Judy A. Rose

Saturday, October 5, 2:00 p.m. – Buckley Center Auditorium

Admission is FREE and we hope to see you there!

Music at Midweek: Spring Performances

Please join the UP Music Program for our weekly Music at Midweek performance class held on Wednesdays from 12:30-1:25pm in the Mago Hunt Recital Hall unless noted otherwise. All performances and presentations are free and open to the public, and all members of the UP community are invited and encouraged to attend.

Our remaining performances and guest presenters for the rest of the semester are as follows:

    • February 28 – Noted jazz historian Ashley Kahn will discuss spirituality and the music of John Coltrane.
    • March 20 – Recital with guest violinist Kevin Lefohn and UP faculty member Susan McDaniel on piano.
    • March 27 – UP music students will perform a recital of music studied over the course of the semester.
    • April 3 – UP music students will perform a recital of music studied over the course of the semester.
    • April 10 – UP Jazz Ensemble with guest artist Shirazette Tinnin (Chiles Center)
    • April 17 – UP music students will perform a recital of music studied over the course of the semester.
    • April 24 – UP music students will perform a recital of music studied over the course of the semester.

Please contact Dr. Don Norton (nortond@up.edu) with any questions

UP Chamber Orchestra Performance: Vivaldi and Piazzola (Feb. 11)

Come hear the UP Chamber Orchestra perform Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” and Piazzolla’s “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher at 4 p.m.

The concert will feature the UP Cello Quartet and student soloists: Yoshimi Lin, Amber Senkin, Marshall Zhang.

We hope you will join us to hear our student musicians perform—you won’t want to miss this incredible performance!

Email hansonr@up.edu with questions.

UP Art Faculty Exhibition (Oct. 30-Nov. 23)

Works by members of the University’s Fine Arts faculty will be featured in an exhibition in the Buckley Center Gallery. The show invites viewers to experience artwork by seven members of our diverse and talented faculty.  

Artworks by:

  • Elaine Powell-Ascroft

  • Karen Esler
  • Mylan Rakich
  • Kowkie Durst
  • Mark Ghyselinck, CSC
  • Jose Velaszco

  • Edward McDonald

On view October 30-November 23, 2023, at the Buckley Center Art Gallery

Authenticity, Connection, & Play Workshops (Nov. 3-15)

Authenticity, Connection & Play—immersive playshops to help us deepen our connection to each other. 

This workshop series will combine tools from theater, performance art, authentic relating, and psychodrama to create an opportunity for students, faculty, and the wider UP community to deepen their connections with each other through authentic games and theatrical play. These practices will use movement, spontaneity, and expression to help us open ourselves more fully to each other and explore parts of ourselves that typically remain hidden and concealed.

o Friday, Nov. 3, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
o Monday, Nov. 6, 5-7 p.m.
o Wednesday, Nov. 15, 7-9 p.m.

Hosted in Franz Hall Room 120

The workshops are free, and all are welcome to attend. You are encouraged to bring an open mind and heart

“Peter and the Starcatcher” (Nov. 10-19)

You are cordially invited to UP Theater’s second production of the 2023-24 school year.

Based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, Peter and the Starcatcher, by Rick Elice, takes the audience on a fanciful adventure into the backstory of Peter Pan. When a band of motley heroes join forces aboard the Neverland ship, the characters learn about love, friendship, and forging unbreakable bonds. With staging devised collectively by an ensemble of twenty-four UP students from across the University, this imaginative romp is a delight for audiences of all ages.

The Mago Hunt Theater will host matinee and evening performances throughout November.

Evening performances will be held November 10-11 and 15-18, at 7:30 p.m.

Matinee performances will be held November 11, 12, and 19, at 2:00 p.m.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students.

Faculty and staff are eligible for half-price tickets with the promo code: HALF4FACSTAFF

Students are eligible for free student rush tickets on Wednesday, November 15, starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Box Office window.

Tickets may be purchased through our online box office at the link below.

Purchase Tickets

Go to up.edu/theater for more information.

Mago Hunt Center—50 Years of the Arts

The Mago Hunt Center was officially dedicated 50 years ago on October 17, 1973, and marked the beginning of a new era for performing and fine arts at UP. After moving around from space to space on campus for many years, the construction of Mago Hunt Center provided, at long last, a permanent home for theater and music. To commemorate this milestone, Archives and Artifacts has created an anniversary post on PortLog with some history and photographs.   

Follow this link to see more: https://sites.up.edu/museum/mago-hunt-center-50-years-of-the-arts/

A companion display with photographs, set designs, sketches, posters, and more, from Archives & Artifacts and Performing and Fine Arts, is available in the display case on the lower level of Clark Library for all community members to view throughout the semester.

For more information, contact Carolyn Connolly, museum@up.edu, or 8038.

UP Theater Presents: A Workshop Reading of “TBA” by Carla Ching (Oct. 4–7)

You are cordially invited to UP Theater’s first production of the 2023-24 school year, a workshop reading of TBA by Carla Ching. Carla is an exciting up-and-coming voice in the theater, who has also written for several TV shows like Graceland and Fear the Walking Dead. She describes herself as being drawn to writing “plays that interrogate why people do terrible things to people they love.” TBA follows a young man named Silas who hasn’t left his apartment since being dumped and spends his time writing visceral stories that no one reads. When a literary agent surprisingly offers Silas a book deal, he believes he’s close to becoming “the next big thing.” But when Silas’ adoptive brother Finn shows up at his apartment, Silas’ stories start to change. TBA asks probing questions about self-fashioning and identity in our modern world.

Performances are October 4-7 at 7:30 p.m. and October 8 at 2:00 p.m. in the Mago Hunt Theater. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students. Faculty and staff are eligible for half-price tickets with the promo code “HALF4FACSTAFF”. Students are eligible for free student rush tickets on Wednesday, October 4 starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Box Office window.

Tickets may be purchased online HERE. Go to up.edu/theater for more information.