OCT’s Blog

Same great classes, same great teachers, exciting new location.

Our Acting Academy studios and administrative offices are moving from our longtime downtown home in the Galleria building to vibrant inner NE. We will be open for business at the new location the week of January 9th. We can’t wait to welcome you to our beautiful new space. Our mainstage plays will continue to be held downtown at the Newmark and Winningstad Theatres.

OCT ACTING ACADEMY'S NEW ADDRESS: 1939 NE SANDY BLVD

Nestled between the Laurelhurst and Buckman neighborhoods, and the Lloyd District; and just minutes from downtown, our new location features:

• 2 beautiful, custom-built acting studios
• 1 media studio dedicated to film/camera work, vocal work, and coaching
• A 100-seat black box theater
• Free parking
• Secure check in and check out
• Parent waiting rooms
• And more!

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Have you seen Pinkalicious: The Musical? What did you think? Use the comments section to let us know what you thought, your favorite parts, etc. We appreciate your feedback!

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Do you have a question for Pinkalicious? Ask it here in the comments section and we'll select a few to have her answer on stage. Everyone who asks a question will be entered to win a $20 gift certificate to Cupcake Jones!

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Have you seen the play? Let us know what you thought! We appreciate your feedback.

READ THE COMMENTS SECTION  BELOW FOR AUDIENCE REVIEWS.

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READ THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW TO FOLLOW OUR PROGRESS AND JOIN US!

Week #5 (Jan 31 – Feb 4)
Once per week challenge. We have a lot of bike commuters at the office, but for those of us who don’t bike to work, the weekends are also great times to get out of the car. We’re committed to biking or walking to a destination at least once this week.

Maybe that means walking to the grocery store for a few items, or pulling out the bike for a jaunt to Sunday morning breakfast! Just once this week would be a success!

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Have you seen Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly? Let us know what you thought by commenting on this post.

CLICK ON THE COMMENTS LINK BELOW TO READ REVIEWS!

Reviews from Ticketmaster

Posted 02/01/2011
First time at this theatre and seeing a play from the OCT. Great first experience. My 4 yr old son and husband loved it, as did I. The cast, set and music were wonderful. My son was glued to the stage and characters. Would highly recommend seeing this play.

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Steel piping from an unused structure unearthed from Keller Auditorium storage. Repurposed set pieces from Ramona, Miss Nelson is Missing, and Charlotte’s Web.

Shadows cast onto the backdrop show us what things look like from a bug's perspective!

Used bicycle tires and used real estate signs for textured facade.

Cyclorama (backdrop) made from six used vinyl billboards and painted white on the front side. This is a view from backstage.

"Dirt" is made from crumpled up paper!

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THE COSTUMES

Even the costumes are environmentally friendly! Designer Sarah Gahagan selects used clothing, everyday household objects, and natural fibers whenever possible.

• Fly: Wings are made from car headlight covers found at the Manzanita Recycling Center on the coast and a steamer basket from Sarah’s house. The main costume body is made from recycled fleece, natural cottons, and wool. Additionally, the wood buttons are sourced from a friend’s plum tree, and the costume is padded with padding from a mattress pad!
• Worm: The main body of the costume is made from recycled fleece made from pop bottles.
• Spider: The fur on the hood is from a different hooded jacket. The shirt and shorts were found, and then tailored and custom embellished.
• After the show the costumes will go into OCT’s costume stock, which is housed at Portland Community College.

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SEE COMMENTS SECTION FOR UPDATES -- WE HOPE YOU'LL JOIN US TOO!

(Jan 17 – Jan 21) Join us in keeping plastic bags out landfills....Worm, Spider, Fly, landfills, and oceans will thank you.

The reusable grocery bag thing has officially caught on. Not only are they better for the environment, but they actually hold groceries much better. Now it’s time to take it up a notch. This week we are committed to bringing our own bags on all our shopping trips and errands. Places like Target, Home Depot, the pharmacy, you name it!

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What did you think of the show? Your comments are helpful for others who are considering buying tickets, and we value your opinion!

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Costume design by Sarah Gahagan.

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Photos by Owen Carey

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ALICE & WONDERLAND CASTING INFORMATION

Auditions June 5^th and 6^th
Saturday starting at 10am (2-hour sessions)
Sunday starting at 12pm (2-hour sessions)

Download audition sheet here.

Music Tracks

• Track_02.mp3
• Track_06.mp3

Written in 1975 – This show is Rockin’. Reminiscent of HAIR, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, and THE WIZ
Looking for 14 singer/dancer/musicians

Roles

Alice: Mezzo rock/pop sound – good movement skills
White Rabbit: Baritone-tenor/lead guitar – good movement skills
Caterpillar: Mezzo/bluesy/rock diva
Cheshire Cat: Mezzo/Keyboards
Humpty Dumpty: Baritone – good movement skills
Tweedle Dee: Baritone-tenor – dancer
Tweedle Dum: Baritone-tenor – dancer
Mock Turtle: Baritone-tenor/bluesy/big personality – good movement skills
Mad Hatter: Baritone/wild man – dancer
March Hare: Baritone-tenor/big personality – dancer
Door Mouse: Soprano/big personality – dancer

Chorus - 6 dancer/singers: Looking for gymnastics, Bollywood, contemporary jazz, ballet, and good partnering skills

Bring resume, headshot, 16 bars of music and be ready to move. Call for an appointment beginning May 3rd.

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Over this spring term, a group of journalism students from the University of Oregon has been working with our staff to develop strategies to boost public awareness of all that we do.  Part of their project involves researching and writing new posts for this blog. The following is their first contribution.  Look for more behind-the-scene peeks in coming weeks.

What sets Oregon’s Children Theatre apart?

There is much more to Oregon’s Children Theatre (OCT) than meets the eye. At OCT, not only do we present fully professional performances in world-class venues, we pride ourselves in our contributions to the community we serve. We strive to enhance the theater experience by using the best actors, designers and technical crews. We cater to young audiences to provide age-appropriate, contemporary material, presenting plays with production values that rival those of any other theater company in the region. Oregon’s Children’s Theatre is also recognized nationally based on our work in developing original scripts with acclaimed authors such as Lois Lowry and Louis Sachar.

Beyond our live performances, OCT creates partnerships with schools, teachers and social service agencies, such as Boys & Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Friends of the Children and St. Mary’s Home for Boys, because we believe that every child should have the opportunity to experience the performing arts.  Last season alone, OCT provided nearly 8,500 free and discounted tickets to students and teachers from economically disadvantaged schools to ensure access to students who would otherwise not be able to participate. Also, last season, OCT provided free services to almost 1,500 disadvantaged children through workshops, Acting Academy scholarships and other exclusive events.

To maintain our position as Oregon’s flagship performing arts institution for young audiences, we will continue to commission new scripts, expand partnerships with organizations serving disadvantaged youth to ensure our programs have maximum impact, focus on the highest quality theatre and improve the overall audience experience any way we can. Thank you for your continued support!

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