Celebrating Cirque Mechanics

I love my job. Now entering my fourth season with Portland Ovations I have been exposed to all forms of live performance. It was with Ovations that I saw my first opera, my first modern dance performance (2007’s presentation of Alvin Ailey – very hard to top), and now, with last night’s Birdhouse Factory, I’ve seen my first cirque. With all of these performances, it’s not just my own enjoyment of the novel spectacle before me that gives me satisfaction; it’s also the energy and varied reactions of the crowd.

For many of our shows, you can usually find me hanging around the rear of the Grand Tier. Smack dab in the middle of Merrill, I have a prime vantage point for both the stage and the audience. Last night, I could hear children and adults alike laughing at the buffoonish, yet poetic, antics of Jesse Dryden as he played the clown (and heart) of the stunning production; see mouths gape and eyes widen as one acrobat spun his German Wheel to preposterous and precarious angles or another balanced improbably atop a stack of wooden spools; or witness everyone’s glee as three troupe members bounded from stage floor to ceiling in a marvelously choreographed trampoline routine. I even got to watch the reactions of show creator Chris Lashua as he would duck in and out of the audience to make sure every detail of his obviously lovingly created piece was being executed to everyone’s satisfaction.

Cirque Mechanics: Birdhouse Factory was a marvelous night of theater, definitely one of the highlights of MY season. Thank you to all that entertained me, both on and off the stage

Laura A. Stauffer
Programming & Development Administrator