When asked about the content of Brainman No Die, Morgan P. Salvo (aka, Wayne Newcome) tells me: “It’s a horror/slasher/comedy paying homage to the Grade-B driven horror flicks and all the Grade-Z exploitation films of the ’60s and ’70s. It’s basically a twist on the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story with the romance of […]
Jared Rasic
Film critic and author of food, arts and culture stories for the Source Weekly since 2010.
Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides
Home is Where the Art Is
Gavin Douglas returns to Bend for Summer Shakespeare
Bend native Gavin Douglas is an actor. A real one. The kind of actor that does not remember why he wanted to act in the first place because it’s what he has always done for as long as he can remember. “I did a play in kindergarten, and then did one every year because it […]
Posted inCulture
Cannibal: The Musical
2nd Street’s Sweeney Todd fills the belly
Sweeney Todd is just your average comedic/dramatic thriller about vengeance, insanity, murder and cannibalism. Yeah, as if that’s a genre! Actually, Sweeney Todd has always been one of the weirdest—and most enduring—shows ever to grace the stages of Broadway or the West End as it swings wildly between camp, comedy, drama and outright horror. Part […]
Posted inCulture
Whip It Good
Communicating Doors gets weird
I finally figured it out: the quintessential element absent from most theatrical productions. This mystery element is simple: a time-traveling dominatrix! I never knew I was missing it until I watched a rehearsal of Cascades Theatrical Company’s Communicating Doors. But now that I’ve seen it, I know that a bit of batshit insanity would make […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Shhhhhh! A Tasty Bit of History
Palmer’s Cafe is still Bend’s best kept secret
It is understood that all opinions are basically relative. I mean, for example, I am not a huge fan of eggplant, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that a dish with eggplant in it is atrocious. (But, let’s say it together: Yuck!) That said, all opinions aside, there are two absolutes when it comes to the […]
Posted inCulture
The Other 17 Percent
Oklahoma Poet Laureate Nathan Brown comes to Sisters
Nathan Brown attacks words like a man fresh from the desert stumbling into a buffet. That’s not to say he doesn’t choose his words carefully because the current Poet Laureate of the State of Oklahoma doesn’t waste a syllable either in his poetry or in conversation. His writing ranges from unpretentious intellectualism to matters of […]
Posted inMusic
The Sopranos
OperaBend brings the Bitter and the Sweet
Passion for opera never seems to wane too far from the cultural zeitgeist. Art forms like written and spoken word poetry and certain styles of theater seem to come and go, but opera never fully disappears. But since the Obsidian Opera closed down five years ago, Bend’s opera scene has been in a holding pattern; […]
Posted inCulture
A River Kind Of Runs Through It
DamNation plants some dynamite
Dam removal is one of those topics, like gun control, where a middle ground doesn’t seem to thrive. It seems like the arguments bounce between, “Dams equal jobs and if you get rid of a single one you’re a communist” and, “All dams must go, because Mother Nature shouldn’t be boxed in, man. Plus, I […]
Posted inCulture
We’ll Do It Live!
Jump into The Solo Speak Sessions
“I have been an actress since I was 10 years old but always felt frustrated with saying other people’s words,’” says Sharon “Shay” Knorr, who in 2008, after years of successful stage and TV roles, eventually wrote her own one-woman show and performed in the Portland Story Theater. It was then that she learned she […]
Posted inCulture
Blemished, A Musical
Another World Premiere at 2nd Street Theater
2nd Street Theater is now in the business of taking chances. When Maralyn Thoma first opened the theater, its slate of shows leaned toward safer fare, like Greater Tuna and Dracula. But when the space fell into dire financial straights several years ago, they threw caution to the wind and started experimenting. With Evil Dead: […]