Oregon Children's Theatre Blog

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$9 RUSH TICKETS
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH
Saturday, 11/22 at 5pm
2nd balcony only
While supplies last, in person only.

Arrive at the theater one hour prior to the show and get $9 tickets (adults and children) to James and the Giant Peach. Offer only good for the 2nd balcony, which means, once the 2nd balcony is sold out, no more $9 tickets.

The Nemark Theatre is located at 1111 SW Broadway, downtown Portland.

An archived interview about Click, Clack, Moo. Click here to listen.

This is the last week for our production of James and the Giant Peach in the Newmark Theatre and we’ll be sorry to see this fun, spectacular show to close.  Before it’s gone, I wanted to write a few things about our costume designer extraordinaire, Sarah Gahagan. The costumes she designed, and which her talented team of stitchers constructed, are one of my favorite elements of the show.  Not to be missed are the exquisitely detailed dresses and wigs of the nasty and mean Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker (portrayed by Stephanie Cordell and Cecily Overman respectively and from left to right).

Sarah is relatively new to Portland, having received her BFA in Studio Arts and a BS in Theatre Art (with concentrations in fiber arts and costume design) at the University of Oregon in June 2007. She has designed costumes for several shows produced by Lord Leebrick Theatre Company in Eugene, and recently designed costumes for ART’s production of Eurydice this fall. In summer 2007, Gahagan represented the United States at the Prague Quadrennial, the 11th International Exhibition of Scenography and Theatre Architecture, based on her puppet and set designs for a stop-action animated video, Tailleur, which can be viewed on her website.  We’re proud to have her on the creative team for this show and are confident that we’ll be seeing more of her work on Portland stages.

For this production of James and the Giant Peach, Artistic Director Stan Foote pushed for a “steampunk” design, which Sarah captured well. According to Wikipedia’s definition, the term “denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne.”  You may have seen the style in such films as Brazil, The Prestige, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or many Tim Burton movies.

I first learned about the design trend from a Newsweek article that highlighted steampunk designer and builder Richard Nagy. Working under the moniker “Datamancer,” Nagy creates elaborate contraptions such as this modified laptop with Victorian flairs of wood, brass and leather — a fully-functional machine that looks like it hitched a ride on the H.G. Wells’ Time Machine.

In May, the NY Times ran an article on steampunk in its fashion section, describing it as “a subculture that is the aesthetic expression of a time-traveling fantasy world, one that embraces music, film, design and now fashion, all inspired by the extravagantly inventive age of dirigibles and steam locomotives, brass diving bells and jar-shaped protosubmarines.”

Over the past year, Oregon Children’s Theatre has been collaborating with the NW Film Center to guide participants in our Young Professionals program in the art of creating documentaries. Filmmaker Andy Blubaugh was the teacher and mentor for teenager Gabby Walti as she created Stitching a New Path for James and the Giant Peach, a short documentary about the costume design for James.

If you’re interested in seeing snippets of the actual production, as filmed and assembled by the truly amateurish auteur (me), watch this:

James and the Giant Peach will have its final public performances this Friday (7:00 pm), Saturday (2:00 and 5:00 pm), and Sunday (2:00 pm). Call the OCT Box Office (503-228-9571) today! You can also purchase tickets through TicketMaster or at the box office of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts at 1111 SW Broadway, which is also where James and the Giant Peach is performing.

Ross McKeen, Managing Director

Get a sneak at peak at how the cows, hens, and duck will come to life on stage in Janurary. Costume design by Dani Baldwin.

James and the Giant Peach photos are here! Get a glimpse of what you’ll be seeing on stage. Photos by Owen Carey.

Let us know what you thought of the play, and your experience. Adult AND children’s perspectives are welcome! Here are some topics to get you started.

• What was your favorite bug? Why?
• What did you think about the costumes?
• Who was the funniest character?

Thank you for contributing to our blog!

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