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Saturday, July 19, 2008

Artsy Storm Large at JAW

Posted by Alison Hallett on Sat, Jul 19, 2008 at 6:44 PM

I think it's fascinating how the Portland Center Stage marketing machine has convinced its audience base that Storm Large is a celebrity. It's kind of hilarious to hear theater boosters explaining to one another that, you know, Storm was on that reality TV show... Supernova? About the rock band? It was funnier, of course, around the time of Storm's turn in Cabaret--now that she's got that perfectly servicable performance under her belt, she's gained some theater cred (which is very, very different from street cred).

I'm not in any way implying that the Storm/Chris Coleman alliance is creating a buzz where none is deserved. Quite the contrary: They've taken a chance with her, it's commendable that they've invested so much in a local(ly based) talent, and if the workshop production of her one-woman show that I saw this afternoon is any indication, their investment is going to pay off in a huge way.

Storm is currently workshopping Crazy Enough at JAW--I'm going to post my thoughts on it after the break. If you're already planning on going to tomorrow's (free) performance at 2 pm, you might not want to read on until after you've seen it, but know that today the line started forming about 3 hours before the show (or so I was told). Apparently the "Storm message boards are buzzing" about this one. Yikes. More after the jump

The show is still a work in progress--and while by no means perfect, it's really very good, with a ton of potential.

(I should maybe preface this by saying that I like Storm: I went to her Dante's show a few times circa 2005 or so, and always enjoyed it. Plus, I like it when hot women are vulgar, it paves the way for the rest of us.)

What the JAW audience saw today was a workshop version of a show that will get a full production in PCS' 2008-2009 season. It was just Storm, in a black tank top and jeans, and a piano player, reading and occasionally singing the story of her life. Storm's story offers a lot to work with -- growing up with a suicidal mom in and out of mental institutions, fucking around at an early age, becoming a junkie and so on-- but far more interesting than the story is the way it is told. There's much less Crazy! Storm! Large! than I'd expected; the self-mythologizing is kept to a minimum. It's also far lewder than I'd expected-- I hope the final version is as crude as this one was.

Anybody else get a chance to see it? Thoughts?
Crazy Like That runs tomorrow, 2 pm, Ellen Bye Studio at the Armory, FREE

 

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Comments (5) RSS

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1
Interesting interpretation Alison. But I don't see the marketing folks at PCS convincing anyone that Storm is a celebrity. Rather PCS is capitalizing on established demand. Cabaret was sold out for almost every performance; when her headliner status at the Red Dress party was announced, tickets went through the roof; and there was a line around the block to get into a workshop reading of a new musical. Storm's celebrity status in THIS town is bonafide.
Posted by cultureshock on July 20, 2008 at 5:18 PM · Report
2
She was incredible in Hood River in Hood River last night, closing music act at the Gorge Games. I've been around a long time, including actually being at Woodstock, and her show (plus Paul Thorn at the Blues Festival) are the summer's two best for me, by far. I know talent when I see it, and Storm IS a star. Also, I've been a journalist for 35 years, and the opening sentence in the above review is .... catty. Fascinating? You mean something else, Alison, say it.
Posted by morgan on July 21, 2008 at 6:28 AM · Report
3
It IS fascinating, though. At what point did she go from having a successful weekly act at a mid-sized venue to being a full-fledged cult icon? As far as i can tell, it was a combo of her appearance on Supernova + local media coverage of that—and PCS has kept that ball rolling, and sort of batted it onto a new playing field. I do think it's taken some work to introduce her to the theater set--the crowds at the opening night of Cabaret looked a little different than those I remember from the Storm & the Balls shows at Dantes'. (I'm making some assumptions here, obviously. Maybe the PCS crowd is way more into Tommy Lee-hosted reality TV shows than I'm giving them credit for.)
Posted by Alison Hallett on July 21, 2008 at 10:04 AM · Report
4
i thought the crudeness was not that helpful to the work overall. it came off as kind of infantile and made her appear unsympathetic. i mean, yeah it's supposed to be about her nutty mythology but she shifts from fragile wounded child to hardened drug-addled sexpot as if they're distinct personas. for the play to work i think they should be more interlinked... overall i liked it though. the songs were pretty good (except that 8 mile vagina one)... it seems that pcs needs to trumpet her celebrity, however meager, as a means of creating some type of buzz or expectation but i agree w/ you that it seems a bit much
Posted by brian padian on July 21, 2008 at 4:33 PM · Report
5
Just because u r naive about the extent of Storms fame and celebrity doesnt mean ur right. She has fans all over the USA and the world. I believe this songbirds talents would generate a large fan base where ever she choose to land. She is raunchy and real, like a new millenium Mae West or Bette Midler.
The Love Clown, A Storm fan from San Francisco
Posted by tlc on July 31, 2008 at 11:10 AM · Report

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