A Great American Musical from Portland By Liz Cope, Content Manager Review by Alice Greenwald, PhD.

There is a style of musical (pre-dating the golden age of musicals slightly) that’s was called “the musical play” as opposed to musical comedy. It is a solid and serious piece exploring important social content through a book that could stand alone and music that complements the mood and the players. ThreePenny Opera heads a list of this type that would include Lady in the Dark, Showboat, Pal Joey, and Cradle Will Rock (I’ll include Carousel as well). This type of musical play is all but extinct in my eyes.

Until now.

A Symphony For Portland deftly explores a post-pandemic America forced to resort to drastic means to survive. A world that looks uncomfortably like depression-era America. We meet a cacophony of working homeless (those individuals that have jobs and academic lives but go home to an abandoned building or shelter), unwilling sex-workers (the fodder for every exposé on sex-trafficking) and those middle class parents who are sure this cannot happen to their children – until it does.

 One might digest this synopsis and shy away for fear of sitting through a dower declamation. You’d be wrong. A Symphony for Portland is a joyous, uplifting inspiring evening of exquisite writing coupled with an old-fashioned opera-into-musical theatre score and some genuine and exuberant performances.

 Christina Hemphill gives us a harsh scenario but well-peppers it with genuine faith and perseverance in her words and music. Strains of her lilting melodies stick in your head as you find yourself feeling for each character as if you knew them well. Her journey into the operetta style musical was daring, but bountifully paid off.

Jay Michaels, a familiar name on many fronts in the New York theatre scene, directed the 90-minute opus with clever subtlety in conveying the messages of play and characters but handed us just enough of his trademark physical humor and “schtick” allowing the message to shine while handing the audience necessary moments of humor and customary musical theatre catharsis.

The main plotline involves Starr and her father, a busy businessman unable to love his daughter due to the death of his wife. Starr falls in with the wrong crowd (of course) in the form of Jesse, a smooth talking flesh-peddler and Nick, a good old-fashioned malcontent – crooked cop and dealer in all things illegal. Coming to her rescue are a gaggle of good-natured indigents including Jordan, an abandoned son who has now found God; his lover, Aaron, a wild-haired free-sprit who always hears music. They are the leaders of a “Hair”-like tribe of sex-workers, bible thumpers, and fellow homeless. The ending is predicable, how they get to it will make you cry.

Kristen Smith and Demetrius Kee well-inhabited the role of disinterested dad and innocent child. Smith’s beautiful voice and wide-eyed wonder made her interactions with deadpan dad humorous. Kee found his stride after Starr goes missing and his odyssey of search and song became heartbreaking.

Mathew Cohen and Jamiel Burkhart as unlikely lovers were quite brilliant – together and separate. The bespeckled Cohen kept us grounded with a solid, thoughtful performance while Burkhart was a singing dancing ray of sunshine culminating with an 11:00 number worth the price of admission alone.

Isaac Williams was simply perfect as Jesse, the flesh peddler. Williams’ stage presence allowed the audience to hate him and feel for him at the

same time. He also packs a powerful voice. The number “Love in the Rain” showed the power of his and Smith’s voice as well as the beauty of Hemphill’s lyrics. And to have the number done amid a sea of umbrellas enhanced the mood perfectly.

Ashlyn Prieto as the obligatory nun endeavoring to help those around her was a bright spot among bright spots. A superb voice and flawless comic timing made her a joyous addition to any scene. She was shadowed by a do-good-or-at-least-trying novitiate sweetly played by a silent Sarah Rosa. Caitlyn Sommerville and Lauren Rathbun offered a look into the souls of ladies-of-the-night with two diverse and truly engrossing performances. Adding Ava Tyson as another sex-worker who, simply by reaction, told both their stories deeply, enhanced all their performances.

 John Stillwaggon as the bereaved parent of the abandoned Jordan never left the stage, allowing us to see the events through his eyes, solidly rooting us to the message. An excellent asset to the proceedings. Hannah Bonnett as a homeless woman who showed signs of mental illness become a powerful social commentary and – believe it or not – great comic relief.

Musicals of this nature must have an irredeemable character. Ross Pivec as Nick, who sets all crime in motion, handed us the great villain of yesteryear with glee. I was waiting for him to twirl his mustache

Larry Daggett conducted and coralled a chamber group of musicals so smoothly as to make us feel as if the artists were sharing their thoughts, not singing. Not an easy task in such a space. Another not-so-easy task is lighting such a box. Kudos to Zach Dulny for mood and visibility.

With that in mind, Jay Michaels should be praised for stuffing so much action into such an intimate space. With Covid rules still in effect, even staging needed to be paired, yet, we, in the seats, felt like we were sitting in the abandoned warehouse with a group of pure-souls. And pure they were. When the prostitutes discuss prayer; when the homeless give what they have to others; when those in the dark see the light, you cannot help but feel uplifted. This was another gauntlet thrown before Christina Hemphill. Religion is not fashionable anymore but, in this play, Hemphill lets us believe that souls can really be saved.

A Symphony for Portland runs one more weekend, closing August 28. If Heaven is listening then it needs more time and a bigger space.

“A SYMPHONY FOR PORTLAND” in NYC:  A Review by JED RYAN: LAVENDER AFTER DARK (because life begins when the sun goes down…)

Written by Christina Hemphill, the smart and provocative modern‐day urban saga “A Symphony For Portland” kicks off with Here In This City, a musical advertisement for the virtues of the so‐called “The City of Roses”. As assorted citizens (a businessman in a suit, a nun with the unblemished face of a child, a worried father looking for his missing son…) carry on their daily business in Portland’s Waterfront Park, the cast sings lyrics like, “There is a city that we choose to live in; It’s the best city that we’ve ever known!”. The hilariously saccharine opener praises Portland’s progressive politics (“No city is righter… no, LEFTER than we!”) and its aesthetic appeal. The harmony of the cast– both musically and choreographically as they move around on stage– is no less than astonishing. And, again, this is only the opening number! But seeing through the patently skin‐deep lyrics, the audience gets the impression that there’s more than meets the eye beyond the Chamber of Commerce‐style tableau of Portland’s eco‐ friendliness and coffee houses. Not long after the sugary intro, we get some insight meet the OTHER side of Oregon’s biggest city: a makeshift family of young sex workers and other hand‐to‐mouthers living in an abandoned warehouse.

Dressed in variations of “Goth lite” and transgenerational anti‐fashion, these characters include Sarah (Caitlyn Somerville) and Breonna (Lauren Rathbun), who at times serve as something of a 2022 equivalent of a Greek chorus. But like the main characters in “A Symphony for Portland”, each also has their own story to tell later on. The members of this diverse tribe also include boyfriends Aaron (Jamiel Burkhart) and Jordan (Matthew Cohen), a couple who are unyieldingly dedicated to each other despite their vastly different personalities. We learn that the charismatic Aaron is accepted to a university in Indiana, but worries about having the resources, financial or otherwise, to attend. We learn that the socially conscious, intensely spiritual Jordan has run away from home. The pair’s current living arrangements– without plumbing or electricity– may be far from ideal, but it’s clear that the light of their youthful optimism isn’t ready to prematurely dim. Sure enough, there is a musical comeback to the saccharine sweetness of the opening number, named Here in the City, II. With a vastly different tone (“Here in the city THEY love…!”), it’s a far more cynical “tribute” of sorts to Portland’s hidden subculture. In the words of one character later on, “Beyond the sugar and spice, things are more naughty than nice!”

 In a parallel plot taking place in yet another corner of Portland, we meet Starr (Kristen Smith), a restless teenaged girl. Living with her no‐nonsense, controlling single father (Demetrius Kee), Starr is full of adolescent longing alongside very mature feelings of desire… but is not allowed to date. The teen gets even more restless when she is wooed by Jesse (Isaac Williams), a smooth‐talking low level drug dealer and “Romeo” (a code word for “pimp”), who offers to take Starr to her prom. The teen runs away from home, lured by the promise of Jesse’s forbidden love. Starr learns the hard way, however, that Jesse is not exactly a “free agent”. He’s under the thumb of crime czar Nick (Robert Pivac). Sadly, the naive girl gets caught in the crossfires of power. Starr’s distraught father spends the rest of the play looking for her, crossing paths with Jordan’s dad Isaiah (John Stillwaggon), who is looking for his runaway son. Will Starr and Jordan reunite with their parents? Can Aaron and Jordan carve out a life together? Without giving too much away, the climax of A Symphony For Portland is a real scorcher.

 Jay Michaels’ direction of A Symphony For Portland is brisk and fluid. Each of the main characters has several serious issues to deal with, yet all are given their chance to have their say. The cast is diverse, but they all have one thing in common: All are excellent singers, whether solo or together (Swan Song, in Act 2, is perhaps the finest example of the cast’s collective musical harmony.). No one stumbles on even the most challenging of notes. The songs feature many hard‐hitting ballads an such heart‐tuggers as I Want to Go Home, and most of the soundtrack boasts a very spiritual tone. It’s no exaggeration to say that the music really touches the soul. A particular standout in the cast is Kristen Smith as Starr, who exudes vulnerability alongside street‐smart sass in both her acting and singing. She hits some impressive heights many times throughout the show. It is absolutely impossible not to be moved by Smith’s yearning I Want to Have a Normal Family in Act 1, or the Act 2 number The Holidays, where a now pregnant and homeless Starr has been taken in by her new surrogate family. Similarly, it’s also impossible not to be moved by the characters of Dad and Isiah as they search for their missing children. Their Dear God is essentially a prayer set to music. In the pivotal role of Sister Kathleen, Ashlyn Prieto has many of the play’s funniest moments and also gets to hit some astonishingly impressive high notes when she sings. As Aaron and Jordan, Jamiel Burkhart and Matthew Cohen are also standouts. Their pairing may make for one of the most idiosyncratic same‐sex couples in musical theater, but their wide‐ eyed, youthful chemistry is very palpable, thanks to the skills of the actors.

A Symphony For Portland is a breakthrough musical in several ways. It’s certainly not the first musical to explore the uncensored side of urban life. The young characters’ struggles– especially the explorations of the day‐to‐day dehumanization of the sex workers– is not toned down by any means. That said, A Symphony For Portland is bolstered by its moments of humor and sense of optimism. The full cast of A Symphony For Portland includes Kristen Smith, Isaac Williams, Matthew Joshua Cohen, Jamiel Burkhart, Caitlyn Somerville, John Stillwaggon, Lauren Rathburn, Robert Pivec, Ashlyn Prieto, Demetrius Kee, Hannah Bonnett, Sarah Rose, and Ava Diane Tyson... Book, music, and lyrics are by Christina Hemphill. Angela Theresa Egic, serves as stage manager with lighting design by Zach Dulny. The production features musical direction by Larry Daggett and is directed by Jay Michaels.