ENTERTAINMENT • EDUCATION • INSPIRATION
Of the many female personalities in August Wilson’s plays, Ruby in Seven Guitars is the woman who has the men standing beside themselves. Men who will shoot somebody and go to jail over her, for example. “She is a commanding character,” says Tyharra Cozier, who’s playing Ruby in PassinArt’s production of Seven Guitars. “When she […]
When the lights go up for PassinArt’s forthcoming production of Seven Guitars, it will be lights Sophina Flores designed, illuminating a set that she helped build. Seven Guitars is Flores’ third production with PassinArt. She designed lights and built sets for A Song for Coretta, and worked as master electrician on Black Nativity. “I’m really […]
During his 26 years with PassinArt: A Theatre Company, Kenneth Dembo has worn pretty much all the hats: actor, director, board member, stage manager, production manager. He’s bringing these last two talents to PassinArt’s current production of Seven Guitars by August Wilson. “I love watching people excel at what they do best,” he says of […]
Some people are born singing. They make making music look easy. Shoushane Ray, PassinArt’s Music Director for Seven Guitars, is one of those people. “When you’re given a gift, you’re blessed,” the multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist says. “It’s your job, then, to bless other people with your gift.” The gifts Ray brings to this […]
Imagine taking a black sheet of paper and using white chalk to draw something. This is Kristeen Willis’ basic perception when she’s designing theater lights. “It starts with seeing,” she says. “We tend to see shadows. It’s important to reverse that. You have to see light as a character.” Willis is designing the sets and […]
James Dixon’s portrayal of Canewell in PassinArt’s forthcoming production of Seven Guitars, will be his third role with Oregon’s longest producing Black theater company. And it will be his second written by August Wilson. His first, playing Sterling in Two Trains Running, ” was life-changing for me,” Dixon says. “A rite of passage.” Two Trains […]
The story has it that August Wilson wrote the early versions of Seven Guitars for an all-male cast. Then, Vera arose in his creative consciousness to tell her part of the story. That August Wilson carefully wrote Vera’s story down inspires Taylore Mahogany Scott as she plays Vera in PassinArt’s production of Seven Guitars. “It’s […]
Read More… from Seven Guitars Profile: Taylore Mahogany Scott
Telvin Griffin is channeling David Ruffin as he plays Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton in PassinArt’s production of Seven Guitars by August Wilson. Ruffin, one of the Temptations’ classic five, had such a captivating, charismatic style. “We call it swag now,” Griffin says. “It’s what makes people want to take that ride with you. Floyd wants you […]
William “Bill” Earl Ray has the challenging task of playing Hedley in August Wilson’s Seven Guitars, a mystery and mediation on seven Black lives in Pittsburgh in 1948. Unlike the other characters, Hedley isn’t recently arrived from the Deep South. He’s from Haiti, roots that result in a different perspective from the others. “If all […]
Read More… from Seven Guitars Profile: William “Bill” Earl Ray
Assistant director and choreographer Jill Giedt contributes a unique set of focused skills to PassinArt’s coming production of Seven Guitars by August Wilson. Along with a directing degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago, she brings 13 years of experience teaching musical theater – and yoga! – to teens at Park Academy in Lake Oswego. Giedt’s […]