Theatre scene evolves in Central Oregon

Actor and singer Christie Capucci has lived in Terrebonne for many years, but her story began in Los Angeles where her dad, Joe Ramirez, recently passed, worked as a professional musician. He toured the world and played the house band in Caesars Palace in the 1970s.

"I don't remember ever not wanting to be on the stage," Capucci says. Yet she left the West Coast's hotspot of acting in 1992 and moved to a small city called Bend, Oregon, which was then unknown to most people outside the state.

Photo provided

At the small but mighty Greenhouse Cabaret in Bend, John Kish and Christie Capucci make a splash in the musical "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."

Here she captured plum roles such as Spider Woman in "Kiss of the Spider Woman." Recently she relished co-starring as Yitzhak with John Kish in the genderqueer rock musical "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."

Capucci thinks back to her early days in Bend. Back then, Central Oregon Community College produced works for the public, beyond children's theatre. There she played Abigail Williams, a demanding lead role in Arthur Miller's unnerving classic "The Crucible."

Community Theatre of the Cascades - now Cascades Theatrical Company - provided another strong local presence.

These days, a new era of theatre is blossoming in Central Oregon.

"The most noticeable change is the type of shows that are being produced - more dark, saucy, and racy shows with adult themes," she elaborates. "More shows that deal with real issues, whether it be suicide, mental illness, or LGBTQ themes."

The Greenhouse Cabaret exploded onto the scene with 2022's "Hedwig & The Angry Inch." Cabaret founder Kish had the vision of creating a performance space under the same roof as his dream plant shop.

The result is a delightful, unexpected experience for the audience: an intimate black-box theatre with good sight lines and a sense of connection to the actors, in a deeply aesthetic space where every corner feels creative: plant shop, lobby, and wildly painted bathrooms included. It doesn't hurt that the acting, directing, and scenography are spot-on.

Kish grew up in Philomath, Oregon, then studied theatre in New York, where he gained a coveted spot in Broadway Rising Stars. Despite his successes, the city didn't feel like home to Kish. At age 26, having a hard time in his personal life, he moved to Bend to stay with his sister for a while.

"I fell in love pretty quickly with the community, with the nature," he said. "I had a couple years of healing. During that time, I was able to do a lot of good theatre in town - a lot of people who retired here were phenomenal."

Kish remembers the Bend theatre scene of 2015 as booming, when talented artists and singers began to migrate in.

"It was a really cool time."

The beloved scene dissolved, according to Kish, around 2017–2018.

"There was a lot of political stuff," he says. "The divisiveness of our country affected our theatre community."

A lack of venues contributed to the decline, says Kish: The Tower Theatre downtown become too expensive for most local companies to rent, and an unsavory scandal took down the Second Street Theater.

"Bend was changing, too," says Kish.

Tourism increased, along with intense marketing of Bend to potential visitors.

"Art was not used as the draw. It was beer and sports," says Kish. "A lot of money was being funneled away from the arts."

Rising costs of housing and potential venue spaces didn't help.

"Many people who were really talented left town," he recalls.

That dynamic affects the current theatre and arts scene, which lacks financial support compared to other cities, in Kish's estimation.

"A lot of retirees or business moguls don't donate in this town," he laments.

Kish decamped to Portland for a while, where "the community felt cold... not a good fit." He missed the community here, but also Central Oregon's immersion in the outdoors.

"Nature is my creative muse," he says.

The professionalism and high quality of plays staged at The Greenhouse Cabaret are inspiring to Capucci; she appreciates that the company compensates its actors appropriately, unlike volunteer roles at community theatre groups.

Photo by Jerry Baldock

Regional theatre companies perform in a variety of venues around Central Oregon. The Belfry in Sisters, pictured, provided a stage for one-act plays produced by Silent Echo Theater Company.

"Community theatre has a place, always," says Kish. "But I also think there needs to be theatre business. We are showing through example what can be achieved even in a small, 1000-square-foot space. We're constantly striving to create new art - to elevate it, polish it, do something new, and have the audiences take chances on it."

As a result, Greenhouse productions attract a new - and often younger - crowd, along with more mature audiences and established theatre-goers.

Capucci believes the overall quality of theatre produced in Central Oregon has "absolutely improved" in the last few years.

"There's so many talented people here," she says. As a performing arts center takes shape in Bend, with Kish serving on the board, there's a lot to look forward to.

"You always wonder, what if I'd stayed in LA or gone to New York? But I don't regret it," Capucci says. "I love it here. It's beautiful, I have good friends, and there's plenty of theatre to do now. Central Oregon is getting better and better for the arts."