Miracle Insider
Volume 11 Issue 17, October 25, 2012

This time of the season — the days leading up to Día de los muertos — are always the most thrilling at Milagro. On any given day, there’s something to celebrate during this holiday season. We just opened Raíz, this year’s Day of the Dead show, along with our companion exhibit of Day of the Dead altars  and an art exhibit featuring the work of José Carlos, Maria Luisa Baragli, Pepe Moscoso, Alejandro Ceballo, Jaime Sanchez Nava and Roberto Herrera.  If it looks like Adrienne has her hands full in this picture, it’s because there’s a lot going on!

But just as the Día de los muertos holiday reminds us, it’s important to pause now and then to remember what brought us here. We were reminded of that Tuesday when the Oregon Cultural Trust shared a video about its recent visit. Milagro has received multiple grants from the Trust, and now we were chosen as one of only a dozen or so organizations from around the state whose important work is featured in a new series of videos.  Olga Sanchez, Enrique E. Andrade and Pablo Saldana each share their personal relationship to the theatre and the impact the organization has had on their lives. You can watch the video online here.

This year’s Day of the Dead is a lively experiment
If you’ve already attended Raíz, then you know how bold and unique this production is from past seasons.  Arturo Martinini, an Italian director making his U.S. debut, has created a very physical, movement-based interpretation that tells the story of Aztec gods who, feeling neglected, search for a way to re-establish their relevancy by reuniting a clown with his former partner on Día de los muertos. Every few years, we shake up the style in which we share the Day of the Dead holiday, and this year’s version will definitely leave you with lots to talk about with your friends and family, just like these guests who attended opening weekend …

“It was amazing!!!” — Jennette Hall on Facebook

“Spectacular!! So many of the scenes still resonate with me.” — Laura Stegner Pessolano on Facebook

“All the culture of Día de los muertos is seen in a lively and spirited way. You’ll feel the drum beating under your feet, and really become a part of the show itself.” — Maya Barbon, reviewer for PDXKidsCalendar.com

“This year's offering, directed by Arturo Martinini, is rooted in the notion that ‘life is a dream, and death is a passage to an awakening consciousness of reality,’ as the director's notes put it. These lofty themes are presented via three interlocking stories … The most engaging moments in Raíz are provided by Zoe Rudman and Enrique Andrade as a pair of Charlie Chaplin-inspired clowns; Rudman, in particular, demonstrates a huge gift for physical, nonverbal comedy. … Those scrappy clowns are delightful.” — Alison Hallett, reviewer for Portland Mercury

Watch for another review any day now on Portland Stage Reviews and next Wednesday in Willamette Week. Meanwhile, check out these links:

• Read a preview of the show in The Oregonian or Portland Society Page
• Check out our study guides in English and Spanish.
• Read notes from the director.
• Look at production photos on Flickr.
• Like the artcard? Find out more about the artist Jesus Kobe.
• Go behind the scenes with news, reviews and interviews on our blog.
• Looking for discounted tickets? Read this handy guide.

Don’t be late for dinner
This is your last chance to get one of the 10 remaining tickets to ¡Viva Milagro! — our annual fundraising dinner on Tuesday, Oct. 30 right here in our Zócalo among our Día de los muertos altars.

For this special event, Milagro couldn’t be more excited to have our friend Javier Hurtado of Cha Taquería catering the four-course meal. Javier has had a lot of success with his restaurants, part of which is due to his strong fiscal management that he owes to his background in finance. However, the real secret to his success as a restaurateur is the fresh, locally sourced food he serves. Javier has his own cattle ranch in Estacada and is hoping to expand the ranch and also raise their own produce. He also has his own private label wine in partnership with Eola Amity Vineyards. From the farm to the table, you always know that your meal at Cha is as fresh as it can be, and the prices are great, too.

Throughout the evening, you’ll have also have the opportunity to bid on unique Day of the Dead-themed artwork, and enjoy the camaraderie and hospitality of friends old and new as we celebrate the holiday Milagro style. Plus, we have a few surprises planned, too! So don’t miss out — call today to get your tickets! Only $75 per person with proceeds to benefit Miracle Theatre Group. Call 503-236-7253 today!

Vote Yes on 26-146!
Ballots have arrived in mailboxes and Portlanders now have the opportunity to make an enormous impact on our children and our city. We urge you to Vote YES on Measure 26-146 to restore arts and music education to our schools and bring arts and creativity to life citywide.
 
Measure 26-146 will fully fund elementary arts teachers for all six Portland school districts and provide approximately $1.6M to schools and non-profits to make arts supplies, arts programs and arts field trips freely available to K-12 students citywide.  It will also fund teachers on special assignment to coordinate arts education opportunities for every K-12 student in Portland’s six school districts.
 
In addition, Measure 26-146 will increase access to the arts for every Portland resident by supporting non-profit arts organizations like ours that provide free access to the arts in every classroom and community.
 
We believe every child deserves equal access to educational opportunities and studies show that access to arts education increases school attendance, performance in math and science, high school graduation rates and success in college.
 
As Portland Association of Teachers President Gwen Sullivan states, “Measure 26-146 is good for schools, good for kids, good for citizens and good for the city. And our kids are counting on it and us to come through.”
 
Please join us in strengthening our schools and our city by voting YES on Measure 26-146.  It’s about our kids and it’s about time.

In the news: "A cultural gem"
What a wonderful and heart-warming surprise to see in The Oregonian this letter to the editor  ...

A cultural gem 
Last month, we walked under a glorious full moon to the little Miracle Theatre (Teatro Milagro) and heard a classical guitar performance worthy of any high-end venue on the West Coast. For about $20 a ticket, we listened to Alfredo Muro, a Peruvian artist whose credentials include a special concert for Pope John Paul II and an invitation as a featured artist at the Kennedy Center.  

There were fewer than 100 people in the audience, and yet the cheers and clapping at the end of the performance were so loud and persistent that we were gifted with three encores.  

This is our second year of attending a selection of festival performances as part of La Luna Nueva, an annual two-week festival of Hispanic arts and culture. Last year we saw Be Careful! The Sharks Will Eat You! a one-man show worthy of Broadway. 

With all the articles on what there is to see and do in Portland, we cannot believe this little gem of theater does not receive more coverage. 

NANCY FORMAN
Beaverton 

Thanks, Nancy, for your support of the Miracle. With dwindling arts coverage in print, it's been increasingly difficult to share news about all the wonderful and exciting cultural opportunities at intimate venues like Milagro. We encourage consumers of not only The Oregonian (which, incidentally, was a media sponsor of La Luna Nueva as well as our Day of the Dead celebration Raíz and next spring's production of Guapa) but all media to express their desire for greater and deeper editorial coverage of arts and culture in Portland and around the state.

Incidentally, if you missed Alfredo’s concert in September, you have another chance to hear his amazing music when Portland Classic Guitar presents Alfredo and Victor Villadangos in concert at the First Congregational Church on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 8 p.m. For more information, call 503-654-0082.

Program Partners: Grand Avenue Florist and Equal Exchange
Marketing Assistant Stefanus has been busy getting to know who’s who among all the Milagro supporters. Today, he checks out Grand Avenue Florist and Equal Exchange …

One day at Miracle Theatre, I came into the office with the usual felicitous stride and unbeknownst to me an elaborate vase of quartz, beige, vibrant red colored flowers had been placed on my table.   What was going on?  Was it my birthday?  No, can’t be that because that falls on April 25 (hint, hint).  I gazed at the calendar that read September 14, opening night of La Luna Nueva.  Bingo!  La Luna Nueva.  Shucks, it was sort of pleasant surprise to receive a garden of magnificent flowers.  I bet if muralist Diego Rivera gave more of these to Frida Kahlo, their rocky relationship would have been better.  If you watch Frida, un retablo, onstage in January at Milagro, you will understand what kind of torrid relationship they had.  Moral of this story: Get flowers from Grand Avenue Florist, which has been family-owned for 60 years and going, and a patron of Milagro for many seasons.

Which reminds me of family … What is family? To me, family is a unit which empowers me to go beyond my limit and to always strive the best, sustains me to be grounded and to stay firm on my beliefs that will benefit the people around me, and supports me during inclement times and moments of unforeseen events.  Take for instance, in our upcoming show Guapa, Roly, a single mom burdened by life’s hardship, becomes inspired by a new addition to her family: Guapa, a natural-born athlete with a fiery desire to excel as an international soccer star. Here at Milagro, we believe in family because it incites bright, revolutionary, mind-blowing ideas and brings togetherness, camaraderie, unity. So we are elated that Equal Exchange is a part of our family — not only advertising in our programs, but supplying many of the wonderful beverages available at our concessions.  Their slogan "Small Farmers, Big Change" reveals the type of product, quality and service you can expect by choosing delicious delectable from Equal Exchange.  Their ongoing discovery to unearth the best method to support local farmers to develop a better food system while coordinating with co-operative farmers is amazement itself.

Please support our advertisers because they support the Miracle!

RAÍZ
Directed by Arturo Martinini
Sponsored by The Oregonian

Every year, the dead have been commemorated in Portland’s longest-running Día de los muertos celebration. This season, a cabal of Aztec gods, having fallen out of favor in the modern world, seek to revive their relevance by reuniting a young clown with his departed partner, Augustina. Time turns backward as we unearth the interwoven roots of pre-Hispanic customs and traditions found at the juncture of life and death. Are we but dreaming and awake only when we die? Through music, dance and legend, we explore that thin veil that separates our world from the realm of our indigenous ancestors.

Raíz plays through Nov. 11 at the Milagro Theatre (525 SE Stark St.). Performances are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 to $30 and can be purchased from 503-236-7253 or 425 SE Sixth Ave. weekdays 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., or online anytime from www.milagro.org.

Special Day of the Dead Activities
• An exhibit of Day of the Dead altars created by local Latino artists will be on display one hour prior to each performance in El Zócalo, a community space adjacent to the theatre lobby. Free.
• A post-play discussion with the director, cast and crew immediately follows the 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Oct. 21. Free.
• ASL interpretation Sunday, Oct. 28 (contact box office for seating).
• Los Porteños writers group will present original stories and poetry written for the Day of the
Dead prior to the matinee on Sunday, Nov. 4, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Free.

See Raíz for free — Be a volunteer usher!
Would you like to see our Día de los muertos show for FREE? Volunteer to be an usher! To see which dates are available and to sign up online, go to: http://vols.pt/6NUnWd

A different kind of holiday gift
Wow — look at all this hand-crafted Day of the Dead-themed jewelry in Milagro's mini gift shop open during our production of Raíz through Nov. 11. All proceeds to benefit the theatre. When you come to see the show, you might just leave bejeweled! Plus we have handmade lotería-decorated jewelry boxes, a children's book by José Carlos, sugar skulls and more!

“You can totally make that!”   
Join us this October for creative Día de los muertos-themed workshops at Milagro! This series is an offering to your crafty side as instructors Samuel Becerra and Estela Robinson each lead classes in making art traditionally found on the altars during the Day of the Dead. You can sculpt your own flauta de calavera (skull-shaped flute) with Samuel and then learn how to play traditional flutes and melodies. Meanwhile, an evening decorating sugar skulls can satisfy any need for sweets.  Here’s the schedule:

Sugar skull decorating with Estela Robinson
Wednesday Oct. 31, 6-8 p.m., $5

Flautas de calavera with Samuel Becerra
Saturday Nov. 3, 1-3 p.m., $10

Want to know more? Visit our blog to read more details about the classes and the instructors. Advance registration required: Sign up now by calling 503-236-7253 or visiting our offices at 425 SE Sixth Ave., Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Prepayment or credit card guarantee required at time of registration.

Turkish Star Wars … ¿en español?
Our friends at Filmmusik are at it again, this time applying their unique cinema experience to Turkish Star Wars — with a special presentation in Spanish (with subtitles in English) at 7 p.m., Friday Oct. 26 at the Hollywood Theatre.  In 1982, while the coup d’etat kept western movies out of Turkey, filmmakers set out to the deserts with a truck full of fuzzy costumes to recreate the most ambitious sci-fi ever made. In 2012, Filmusik presents this film dubbed into Spanish at the Hollywood Theater creating a new soundtrack for the film with an ensemble of live actors, a live orchestra and live foley artists! (Foley artists make live special effects — imagine a punch in the face with the sound of crushed lettuce!)  The cast includes many faces familiar to Milagro patrons: Mauricio Carvaja, director and producer at Univision; José González, founder and executive director of Miracle Theatre Group; Sofia May-Cuxim; artist and Spanish interpreter; and Joaquin Lopez; Latino arts and culture provocateur.
Visit www.Filmusik.com or www.HollywoodTheatre.org for tickets.  See the trailer at www.turkishstarwars.com

El 26 de octubre a las 7 p.m., Filmusik presentará la Guerra de las Galaxias a la Turca, una película de ciencia ficción de bajo presupuesto, filmada en Turquía.  Traducida al español, esta película será doblada, musicalizada con orquesta y proyectada con efectos especiales, todo en vivo. Con subtítulos en inglés, esta producción en español de Filmusik es producción de nuestro pariente de La Bonita Joaquín López; y con la participación de José González del Miracle Theatre Group, Mauricio Carvajal de Univision y Sofia May-Cuxim actriz y interprete.  Para más información y boletos,  visite www.filmusik.como www.turkishstarwars.com