A New Collaborative Outdoor Art Space
Zidell Yards, Portland
July 21 – August 29, 2021
Welcome to Old Moody Stages—a collaborative outdoor art series brought to you by some of Portland’s most innovative arts organizations who bring live performance back to the city in a fresh new way! Innovative dance concerts, provocative theater performances, and heartwarming musical moments take place throughout the summer at Old Moody Stages at Zidell Yards in Portland’s South Waterfront. The series will run July 21 – August 29, 2021 and will be presented in accordance with local, state, and federal health guidelines. Be safe and feel alive this summer at Old Moody Stages!
Live Performance is Back!
Festival Lineup
MOMENTUM: a mini festival
Dance is for everyone and that means you!
With so many different styles of dance in Portland, there’s a lot to explore and something to pique everyone’s interest. Let your dance curiosity come out to play!
August 25th—You are invited to an evening filled with top-notch live dance performances. One stage. One night. Performances in ballet, Bhangra/Bollywood, Popping, contemporary, Transcultural Fusion, Rueda de Casino, Mexican Folkloric and fire dance. Dance Wire brings the community together in this unique and unforgettable dance experience! This event closes out Dance Wire’s mini-festival: MOMENTUM.
(Nothing compares to the energy of live performance, but for those feeling extra cautious or unable to make it in person, there will be a donation-based virtual option.
Lark Opera
Humperdinck’s beloved fairytale opera, Hansel & Gretel, is a favorite of young and old alike. The story follows the two children as they laugh, fight, and play... but ultimately, they must trust each other, and their wits, to outsmart the witch who intends to eat them. The characters are relatable and engaging. The complex, Wagner-inspired music carries listeners through diverse moods and atmospheres: from jovial to dreamy, from innocent to suspenseful. (Performed in English, with piano accompaniment.)
Performances on August 24 and 26 at 7:00pm.
Approximately 2 hours, including intermission.
Performances are family friendly.
Best ticket pricing if you buy early.
Portland Opera
Join Portland Opera to continue the celebration of live music and performance under summer skies at Old Moody Stages with a series of special events called Songs for Summer!
Performances on August 27th and 28th at 7:30pm and August 29th at 2:00pm will feature the beautiful ensemble singing of the Portland Opera Chorus. The performance on August 28th will feature local Portland Opera Resident Artist alumni Antonia Tamer, Hannah Penn, Jasmine Johnson, and Matthew Grills.
These three performances are free to attend, but registration is required in advance, due to limited capacities.
The Tarot Show with Kate Mura
The Oldest Profession by Paula Vogel
At Old Moody Stages, Profile Theatre will present the final play in our Paula Vogel series: The Oldest Profession by Paula Vogel, directed by Jamie M. Rea. What is the retirement plan for the oldest profession? As Ronald Reagan enters the White House, five aging practitioners of the oldest profession are faced with a diminishing clientele, increased competition for their niche market, and aching joints. With wit, compassion, and humor, they struggle to find and learn new tricks as they fight to stay in the Life.
push/FOLD
Join push/FOLD to celebrate our final performances in Portland before our first international tour, traveling to perform Early at the National Center for the Arts in Mexico City, Mexico!
Featuring an all-female cast of four dancers, Jordan Kriston (former dancer with Pilobolus), Heather Hindes, and Ashley Morton join founding member Briley Jozwiak. Originally performed by artistic director Samuel Hobbs, Jordan steps into Samuel’s role in a non-stop performance of solos and duets, slipping between butoh-like movement and Samuel's signature fast-paced movement-partnering style in this tacit reflection on the human condition.
Sweeping visuals and palpable acoustics ebb and flow “...its mood like a modern-day Haydn” (Bob Hicks, Oregon ArtsWatch).
Approx. 60 minutes without intermission.*
Performances are Family Friendly.*
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
Third Rail Repertory Theatre is proud to be Portland's home for National Theatre Live, the National Theatre’s groundbreaking project to broadcast the best of British Theatre live from the London stage to cinemas across the UK and around the world. As part of Old Moody Stages, we present Cyrano de Bergerac
by Edmond Rostand, in a new version by Martin Crimp, directed by Jamie Lloyd
, and captured live at the Playhouse Theatre in London. James McAvoy (X-Men, Atonement) returns to the stage in an inventive new adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, broadcast live to cinemas from the West End in London.
Fierce with a pen and notorious in combat, Cyrano almost has it all—if only he could win the heart of his true love Roxane. There’s just one big problem: he has a nose as huge as his heart. Will a society engulfed by narcissism get the better of Cyrano—or can his mastery of language set Roxane’s world alight?
Run time: 3 hours, including intermission
"Kate Mura’s THE TAROT SHOW tonight was, well, magical. Truly... sitting and centering with a group of (mostly) strangers...cards pulled by the audience...what was pulled was astounding...with the insights Kate shared from the cards, the group path that was so very clear...I'm pretty positive every person in that room was blown away." Nicole Lane
What happens when Kate Mura gives a tarot reading to an entire audience?
Find out! Every show is different, as every tarot reading is different. Stories, anecdotes, conversation, philosophy, questions, history, herstory, and ourstory come out specifically for your audience, your day, your season. Tarot reader and theatre artist, she weaves these parts of her life together intentionally, for the first time every time.
August 22nd at 7:30pm
Collaborators
Dance Wire
Old Moody Stages performance dates:
July 21–24, August 25, 2021
Dance Wire is the hub of Portland dance. Our mission is to enhance the prosperity and visibility of dance in Portland while inspiring more people to get involved. Everything we do ties back to our mission pillars. PROSPERITY – We don't believe in the glorification of the starving artist. All our prosperity programs help dance organizations and artists thrive, not just survive. Our on-demand professional coaching services give artists and organizations the tailored help they need to advance their careers and grow their businesses. VISIBILITY – Visibility is the lifeblood of the dance sector. We provide a centralized network of dancers, companies, studios, venues, choreographers, teachers, students, and audiences. This serves to connect and strengthen the entire dance ecosystem. INSPIRATION – One concept that drives all of our work is that dance offers something for everyone. You don't have to be pursuing dance as a career to get involved and there is no such thing as too old, too fat, too poor, too shy, too inflexible or too uncoordinated to enjoy dance!
Portland Opera
Old Moody Stages performance dates: August 27–29, 2021
Portland Opera gathers and inspires audiences, artists, and collaborators to share opera experiences that enliven and connect us all, enhancing the cultural landscape of the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Since 1964, Portland Opera has contributed to the cultural, artistic, and economic landscape of the city and region that we love. We celebrate the power of performance, storytelling, and song with performances that take place around the region, as well as at the Keller Auditorium, Newmark Theatre, and the Gregory K. and Mary Chomenko Hinckley Studio Theatre at the Hampton Opera Center. Portland Opera also shares programming on the company's digital channel, Portland Opera Onscreen. Learn more about who we are and how we celebrate the amazing world of opera by visiting portlandopera.org.
Portland Opera is delighted to support the creation of this new collaborative outdoor art space. We know that a healthy arts ecosystem is a key part of reopening, and we're proud to be a partner. We look forward to sharing vocal performances with the community and sharing the stage with other arts organizations!
Portland State University
Located in the heart of Portland’s performing arts district, the School of Music & Theater at Portland State University is an extraordinary place to realize your potential as a performing artist. Our world-renowned faculty of performers, composers, and scholars is deeply engaged with the community and dedicated to student success. We will challenge you to grow and excel personally and musically as we prepare you to be the next generation of world-changing teachers, performers, scholars, composers, and arts advocates
Profile Theatre
Old Moody Stages performance dates: August 5–15, 2021
Profile Theatre’s mission is to produce a season of first-class productions and community engagement activities centered around a season-long Featured Writer whose vision broadens our perspective on the world and deepens our collective compassion. Each year we use a master artist’s unique vision as a lens to examine our shared world, asking the most urgent questions of our time and exploring the intersection between art and our local community. Our four signature programs are our main stage season of large-scale professional productions; our innovative In Dialogue programs of lectures and concert stagings; our Community Profile program, which uses the practice of writing to create networks of support and resilience; and our Playwrights Residency, which embeds the featured writer in our theatre to develop new work, give a public talk from the stage and lead community workshops.
About
Property owner Charlene Zidell has long had a vision for what she calls an “arts ecosystem” on the South Waterfront. Over the years, she and the Zidell family have converted the Old Moody office building (the former home of Zidell Companies) into a home for arts organizations, individual artists, artisans and entrepreneurs to find office space at a subsidized rate.
When the pandemic forced the cessation of live art and entertainment around the world, Charlene began to wonder how the 33-acre Zidell Yards might be activated as a COVID-safe outdoor site for arts and culture. In the winter of 2020–21, she brought together Emily Running of Dance Wire, Laura Hassell of Portland Opera and Josh Hecht of Profile Theatre, three of Portland’s leading arts organizations, to explore, and the idea for Old Moody Stages was born.
Old Moody Stages is a community-driven, grass-roots effort. Portland Opera has donated the two stages and lighting trusses; Portland State University has donated much of the lighting instruments; Profile Theatre has donated production services and took the lead raising $120,000 to bring the project to life; Dance Wire has taken the communications and curatorial lead; Fuller Events helped create the front of house infrastructure; and Oh! Creative has joined our collaborative as marketing consultant. Together, we have pooled our resources to bring a 6-week, multi-disciplinary performing arts festival to Portland’s South Waterfront.
We can’t wait for you to join us!
Press
Old Moody Stages Brings the Performing Arts to Portland’s South Waterfront
Conner Reed | Portland Monthly
Old Moody Stages comes to life
Jason Vondersmith | Portland Tribune
Festival Staff
Emily Running
Dance Wire Executive Director
Josh Hecht
Profile Theatre Artistic Director
Laura Hassell
Producing Director POA
Caleb Bourgeois
Profile Theatre Company Manager
Liz Bacon, Oh! Creative
Marketing Consultant
Maya Bourgeois
Web Designer
Jenessa Raabe
Festival Production Manager
Jeff Forbes
Festival Technical Director
Christina Fuller
Fuller Events
Charlene Zidell
Zidell Yards Owner
Alan Park
Zidell Yards Site Manager
FAQ
Where is the venue located?
We are located at 3121 S Moody Ave, Portland, OR 97239. Look for the large blue Barge building just north of the OHSU Tram.
Getting to Old Moody Stages via transit
There are great options for getting to Zidell via transit! We are located one block south of the South Waterfront/South Moody transit stations which houses the orange max lines, A, B, and NW loop streetcar lines and 35, 36, 9, and 17 bus lines.
COVID — What are your COVID guidelines?
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We are monitoring the guidelines put out by the CDC and Multnomah country. At this time, we are asking all guests to please wear a mask while inside the Barge Stage building. Masks are optional for the Outside Stage.
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We will have handwashing stations available throughout the site.
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Festival staff will be disinfecting chairs, handrails and restrooms throughout the event.
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Please stay home if you are not feeling well.
Is there parking available?
We have a small parking lot available for those who need ADA parking. Please let the company know that you will need ADA parking and seating when purchasing your tickets.
Public parking in the South Waterfront neighborhood is available, but limited. Obey all official posted parking signs, and please be respectful of the local neighborhood, residents and businesses. We encourage all attendees to use the ample public transportation available near our venue!
Is your venue ADA accessible?
Yes! We will have an ADA drop off location in front of our box office and ADA parking onsite. The grounds are paved and even. There are ADA bathroom stalls. When purchasing your ticket, please let the company know that you will need ADA seating.
What food is available nearby?
Please visit some of the neighboring restaurants nearby!
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Fit Foods — Patrons can pick up a $10 gift card to Fit Foods at the Box Office and get food across the street before they enter the venue. Link to fit foods
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Cha Cha Cha!
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Green Leaf juice bar
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Food cart pod at the corner of Gaines and Moody
Weather
All shows will happen rain or shine! In the event of extreme heat or smoke, cancellation information will be sent out from the individual companies.
Venue
Old Moody Stages features two performance spaces: the Barge Building Stage and an Outdoor Stage. The Barge Building Stages is a semi-outdoor space that is well ventilated and allows for social distancing. Seating is limited to approximately 95 patrons each night. The Outdoor Stage seats approximately 110 patrons each night.
Check out the photos and renderings below to get idea for the aesthetic!
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