Cyndy Smith-English, Managing Director for the Clackamas Repertory Theatre
(CRT), noted that when the theater’s yearly gala fundraiser began sometime
around 2008, it was a very different format.

For the first five or six years, CRT offered a whole play for one night.
“It was a lot of work, but everybody had fun,” Smith-English said.
But when a new board member suggested changing things up to an auction
with a less intensive performance, the evening really took off.
This month, the yearly gala returns after three years off due to the
coronavirus pandemic, at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 15.

The evening, themed as “Dream the Impossible Dream,” will feature
complimentary wine with food, a silent auction, a live auction featuring two
actors (and a little improv) and performers David Saffert and Jillian Snow
Harris in a tribute to Liberace and Liza Minnelli.

“This year is going to be very fun,” Smith-English said. “They’re just fabulous.
He sounds like Liberace, he plays the piano so well.”

The evening will help fund the upcoming CRT season, which will offer Ken
Ludwig’s “The Gods of Comedy” from June 29 through July 23, “The Man of La
Mancha,” an award-winning musical inspired by Miguel De Cervantes’ “Don
Quixote,” from Aug. 3-27 and Laura Brienza’s “Old Love New Love” from Sept.
7 through Oct. 1.

“It’s a good deal to buy the season pass,” Smith-English added.
Tickets for the CRT Gala are $75 and can be purchased online at
clackamasrep.org. The gala will take place at the Niemeyer Center on the
Oregon City campus of Clackamas Community College, 19600 Molalla Avenue
in Oregon City.

For more information, visit clackamasrep.org or call 503-594-6047.

Readers Theatre evening
Reader’s Theatre Gresham presents a staged reading of “Cathleen ni
Houlihan,” by Augusta, Lady Gregory, and W.B. Yeats, at 7:30 p.m. Monday,
April 3, at the Center of the Arts Little Theatre, 333 N. Main Avenue in
Gresham. Tickets are $9 at the door, with tickets for Mt. Hood Community
College students available at half price.

Readings happen on the first Monday of every month through June.

The May reading will be “’Night Mother,” by Marsha Norman, on Monday, May
1, and the June reading will be “I Never Sang for My Father,” by Robert
Anderson on Monday, June. 5

For more information, visit www.readerstheatregresham.org or email
ReadersTheatreGresham@gmail.com.