I got the privilege of seeing Storm Large's one-woman show at Portland Center Stage again earlier this week. I loved it the first time, and I loved it the second time. I even got a mention in artistic director Chris Coleman's blog, after the glowing e-mail I sent him.
This week they extended the show again, to August 16. It's the longest-running show in Portland Center Stage's history. So for those of you who live in Portland, you have NO EXCUSE if you have not yet seen this show! The Oregonian calls it the "theatrical sensation of the year."
I am so unlike Storm Large. Here's a true-false quiz of the crazy facts in her life--those of you who know my goody two-shoes history know how different it is from this kind of life! She's got man-size hands and feet, is akin to an Amazonian woman, and has lived an insanely out-there life--doing drugs, losing her virginity at the age of 12, and swearing like a longshoreman. I cannot imagine how she gets up there on stage and tells her difficult life story over and over again. I feel emotionally spent each time I see it...and all I'm doing there is sitting there watching and listening.
I went to the show this time with my parents, who enjoyed it as well. I wasn't sure what my dad's reaction to "My Vagina Is Eight Miles Wide"would be...but he handled it well! (Although he didn't sing along when she had the men singing...) It just shows how hip my parents are!! Especially given the frequent F-bombs Storm drops throughout the show...
I am not the type of person who sees movies a second time or rereads books (unless there is a several-year lapse)...and I wouldn't typically see a play a second time either. However, this play is jam-packed with fantastic music and Storm Large's phenomenal, large voice. It's like a rock concert within a play. In addition, it's a wonderful testament to female power and loving yourself for who you are.
I would go again for the third time--it's that moving. On second thought, if you're easily offended and a true goody two shoes, maybe you would not like it so much...
This week they extended the show again, to August 16. It's the longest-running show in Portland Center Stage's history. So for those of you who live in Portland, you have NO EXCUSE if you have not yet seen this show! The Oregonian calls it the "theatrical sensation of the year."
I am so unlike Storm Large. Here's a true-false quiz of the crazy facts in her life--those of you who know my goody two-shoes history know how different it is from this kind of life! She's got man-size hands and feet, is akin to an Amazonian woman, and has lived an insanely out-there life--doing drugs, losing her virginity at the age of 12, and swearing like a longshoreman. I cannot imagine how she gets up there on stage and tells her difficult life story over and over again. I feel emotionally spent each time I see it...and all I'm doing there is sitting there watching and listening.
I went to the show this time with my parents, who enjoyed it as well. I wasn't sure what my dad's reaction to "My Vagina Is Eight Miles Wide"would be...but he handled it well! (Although he didn't sing along when she had the men singing...) It just shows how hip my parents are!! Especially given the frequent F-bombs Storm drops throughout the show...
I am not the type of person who sees movies a second time or rereads books (unless there is a several-year lapse)...and I wouldn't typically see a play a second time either. However, this play is jam-packed with fantastic music and Storm Large's phenomenal, large voice. It's like a rock concert within a play. In addition, it's a wonderful testament to female power and loving yourself for who you are.
I would go again for the third time--it's that moving. On second thought, if you're easily offended and a true goody two shoes, maybe you would not like it so much...
I went four or five times. I don't remember for sure. My friend Loretta went to at least a dozen shows in her electric scooter - she's Storm's biggest fan, really. My wife was one of Storm's volunteer fan club leaders, we had planned to use about a dozen tickets seeing the show between us and gifts for friends. My wife didn't make it though, she committed suicide with an overdose a month before the show opened. I so wish she could have seen Storm perform this with the rest of us, but I know she was still there watching, although not through the physical eyes we knew. Storm was just Crazy Enough to live, and my wife was Crazy Enough to die, but it's not my place to judge who's right or wrong... what's past is past, and I don't need condolences... that's just how life worked out. I've been going by myself to everything from PCS this year still, and everything Storm is doing, and checking out others she has worked with. All that really matters anyway is the love in our hearts and in our hugs right now.
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