FEATURED EVENT
DANCE
Bolero + Billie
Dec. 7–9, 7:30 p.m.
Lincoln Performance Hall
$34–58, all ages
NW Dance Project performs Resident Choreographer Ihsan Rustem’s Bolero and choreography inspired by the music of Billie Holiday.
Tuesday, Dec. 5
THEATER
The Humans
7:30 p.m. (through Dec. 17)
Artist Repertory Theatre
$25–60, all ages
Tensions boil over at a family dinner party in New York City. Read our review of The Humans here.
COMEDY
Comedy Prom
8 p.m.
Kelly’s Olympian
$10, 21+
Becky Braunstein, Jason Traeger, Chris Ettrick, Kate Murphy, Amanda Lynn Deal and Manual Hall compete in a prom-themed comedy challenge show, with one winner being crowned Winner of Prom.
Wednesday, Dec. 6
CHAMBER MUSIC
The Bodhi Trio
Noon
The Old Church
Free, all ages
Violinist Kevin Lefohn, cellist David Eby and pianist Kira Whiting perform Mendelssohn’s “Piano Trio in D Minor,” along with works by Kenji Bunch and other composers. The concert will begin with group meditation.
FILM
An Evening with Joanna Priestly
7 p.m.
Whitsell Auditorium
$6–9, all ages
Before studying at Cal Arts, Joanna Priestly used to make movies using sand and rubber bands. Then she learned about computer animation. Priestly screens a baker’s dozen of her short films.
HIP-HOP
Quincy Davis, SSL
9 p.m.
Jack London Revue
$5, 21+
Portland rapper Quincy Davis performs in support of his new album Remedy.
Thursday, Dec. 7
ARTIST TALK
In the Wake of Pearl Harbor
5:30 p.m.
Lincoln Hall #331
Free, all ages
Valerie Otani discusses her sculpture Voices of Remembrance, which is on display at Portland Expo Center. The talk is also related to Lincoln Hall’s Broadway Gallery exhibition, “Our American Eyes: Prints by Roger Shimomura.” There will also be a screening of Conscience and the Constitution (2000), a documentary about resistance to Japanese-American internment during WWII.
FILM
An Evening with Rose Bond
6 p.m.
Whitsell Auditorium
$6–9, all ages
PNCA’s Leader of the Animated Arts discusses and screens nine of her animated films, which are not to be confused with cartoons.
COMEDY
Late Night Laugh
11 p.m.
Jack London Revue
Free, 21+
Dan Weber, Ales Rios, and Adam Pasi tell jokes, with musical guests Saint Syndrome and Mel Brown.
Friday, Dec. 8
HOLIDAY FUN
The Great Figgy Pudding Caroling Competition
5:30 p.m.
Pioneer Square
Free, all ages
Registered teams will compete in singing Christmas carols for the chance to win $1,000 and what is really the ultimate prize: figgy pudding.
FILM
The Long Day Closes (1992)
5:30 p.m.
Whitsell Auditorium
$6–9, all ages
Even though he lives a comfortable existence in ’50s Liverpool, 11-year-old Bud (Leigh McCormack)’s life is dull, except for when he goes to the town cinema. The Long Day Closes turns 25 this year.
HOLIDAY MUSIC
19th Annual Gospel Christmas
7:30 p.m. (performing Dec. 9–10)
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
$35–115, all ages
The Oregon Symphony performs with the Northwest Community Gospel Choir for a night of high spirited Christmas carols.
FILM
Heroes For Sale (1933)
8 p.m.
Whitsell Auditorium
$6–9, all ages
After his WWI heroism is credited to a wealthy friend, Tom Holmes (Richard Barthelmess) becomes addicted to morphine, gets sober, and goes through another series of successes and setbacks that portrays a damning indictment of Depression-era America.
Saturday, Dec. 9
FOOD
PSU Farmers Market
8:30 a.m.
PSU Park Blocks
Free, all ages
Get some holiday shopping done and buy some fresh produce!
HOLIDAY MUSIC
27th Annual Tuba Christmas Concert
1 p.m.
Pioneer Square
Free, all ages
Almost 300 tuba players will take to downtown Portland for big, brassy renditions of classic Christmas carols. Participants pay $10 and rehearse day-of at Hoffman Hall at 9 a.m.
FILM
The Black Stallion (1979)
2 p.m.
Whitsell Auditorium
$6–9, all ages
Alec (Kelly Reno) and a wild horse named Black survive a shipwreck and bond.
DANCE
The Nutcracker
2 / 7:30 p.m. (through Dec. 24)
Keller Auditorium
$43–150, all ages
George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker has been staged at the Keller by Oregon Ballet Theatre for 14 years.
THEATER
Beauty and the Beast
2 p.m. (through Dec. 24)
Newmark Theatre
$25–55, all ages
The Broadway musical version of the animated Disney movie ends its national run after almost 25 years of continuous productions and tours.
SPEAKING
Dan Rather
3 / 7 p.m.
Powell’s City of Books
$22.95, all ages
The legendary former head anchor of CBS Evening News comes to Portland to speak to audiences and promote his new book What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism.
FILM
Ikiru (1952)
6:30 p.m.
Whitsell Auditorium
$6–9, all ages
Kanji Watanabe (Takashi Shimura) changes his outlook on life after his cancer diagnosis gives him less than a year to live. Ikiru turns 65 this year.
FILM
Kill, Baby…Kill! (1966)
9:30 p.m.
Whitsell Auditorium
$6–9, all ages
Dr. Paul Eswai (Giancomo Rossi Stuart) arrives in a 19th century Italian village, where his suspicions about the supernatural horror in the village is a conflict between science and religion.
Sunday, Dec. 10
AMERICANA
Lucy Kaplansky
6:30 p.m.
The Old Church
$20–25, all ages
The former Cry, Cry, Cry member comes to Portland as part of the Minor Key Concert Series, playing guitar, mandolin and piano.
FILM
Employee’s Entrance (1933)
7 p.m.
Whitsell Auditorium
$6–9, all ages
When his department store starts seeing sales slump, Kurt Anderson (Warren William) consults a man who is trying to decide between advancing his career and settling down with a coworker, while their other coworkers’ dramas unfold around them.
Monday, Dec. 11
EMPLOYER ON CAMPUS
Donor Development
10 a.m.
SMSU Lobby
Free, all ages
Learn how to get a job with Oregon Public Broadcasting’s donor development canvassing.
FOOD
Harvest Share
Noon
PSU Park Blocks
Free, all ages
Come get fresh produce from local farmers and orchards!
FILM
WR: Mysteries of the Organism (1971)
7 p.m.
Whitsell Auditorium
$6–9, all ages
A surrealist Serbian film about heterosexuality-as-all-sexuality and Communist values. Think if mother! was made using footage from other, unrelated movies.
FILM
Jewish Luck (1925)
8 p.m.
Lincoln Performance Hall #75
Free, all ages
One of the first Soviet Yiddish films to screen in the United States, the score for this silent film based on the writing of Sholem Aleichem is performed live by PSU School of Music students, directed by 2017 Artist in Residence David Spear.