For Immediate Release August 7, 2002
Media Contact: Bryan Markovitz, 503 890 2993, bryan@liminalgroup.org
Liminal Stages Avant-garde Cabaret at Popular Portland Dance Club
Portland, Ore.—From August 29 to September 28, Liminal Performance Group will present an electronic adaptation of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brechts classic 20th Century Modern opera, The Seven Deadly Sins. Performances will take place at Portlands quintessential late-night dance club—Panorama—on Thursday through Saturday nights at 8:30 PM. Two shows nightly will be performed on August 29, September 5 and September 26 at 8:30 PM and 10:30 PM.
Within Panorama’s 12,000 square foot space, this adaptation of Brecht/Weills epic opera becomes an electronic cabaret of sensory-overload, merging the best of Liminals ironic avant-garde performance styles with the raw sensuality of a meat-market dance floor. Liminals singers will perform the libretto in its original German (because it sounds better that way) with projected subtitles of Liminals original translation by Emily Ford. The Seven Deadly Sins features mezzo-soprano diva Lyndee Mah, a chorus of singers, a retro-80s synthesized sound score, live piano from Stephen Alexander, Catherine Egan’s movement direction, a full cast of characters, saturated video projections and cocktail bars. Audiences will be free to sit or move throughout the space that surrounds the performance runway, and may stay after the show to dance late into the night.
“We want to make The Seven Deadly Sins the most decadent theatrical experience you can get in Portland,” says Director Bryan Markovitz. We invited Panorama to be our presenting sponsor because we wanted to perform the show outside of a traditional theatre setting. We are very excited to be working with them. Our goal is to blur the distinctions between high art opera, multimedia performance, voyeur peep-show and rave debauchery. These elements are in constant tension with each other during the performance, leading to a unique experience that is smart, critical, fast, aggressive, straight up and full of attitude.
The Seven Deadly Sins is about two sisters who leave home to make enough money to build a small house for their family in Louisiana. Anna I, the singer, is the manager. Anna II, the dancer, is the artist. Anna I is the saleswoman, Anna II is the object for sale. The show is divided into episodes where the sisters tour seven cities, making money in an ever-changing marketplace. Throughout their travels, Anna II must resist her sinful desires so that her family may profit. Finally, the sisters return home to their family on the banks of the Mississippi River.
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS AT PANORAMA
341 SW 10th and Stark
August 29-September 28
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8:30 PM
Second shows on Thursdays—8/29, 9/5 and 9/26, 10:30 PM
Tickets $16 (includes first well drink or domestic beer), 21 and over
Tickets available starting August 19 at Jackpot Records and at the door
For reservations or information: 503 890 2993
Liminal is an ensemble of artists collaborating through live performance to discover new disciplines that merge theatre, the fine arts, and multimedia technologies. For the past year, the company has been working on The Seven Deadly Sins as well as an original new work that will premiere in November.
Liminal is pleased to announce Panorama as our presenting sponsor. Originally a gay dance club on the Stark blocks, Panorama became infamous in the 1990s for its mix of queer culture and sex-hungry college students. After a short closure, Panorama reopened last fall as Portlands best rated all-night dance space with music from a weekly lineup of DJs and special events like their ever-popular foam parties.
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