Bag & Baggage Productions
Encyclopedia
Bag & Baggage Productions is a professional theatre company based in Hillsboro
, in the U.S. state of Oregon
. Founded in 2005, the non-profit group presents about four productions per year. Their home theater is the Venetian Theatre
, a 370-seat venue in downtown Hillsboro on East Main Street.
. Other venues included the Hotel Oregon in McMinnville
and the Withycombe Theatre in Corvallis
, among others.
Through May 2008 the company had put on nine productions. In September 2008, Bag & Baggage became the resident theater company at the Venetian Theatre in Downtown Hillsboro. They opened their new season with Steel Magnolias
. The Venetian had opened in June of that year in the space that had been a movie theater, but had sat vacant since 1996.
Season ticket sales stood at 220 for the 2007 to 2008 season, and grew to 450 for the 2008 to 2009 season. At the end of 2008 Bag & Baggage was only the second professional group for live theater in Washington County, the other being the Broadway Rose Theatre Company of Tigard
. For Christmas in 2008, the theater company produced The Eight: Reindeer Monologues with four shows held at the Venetian.
In July 2009, the company put on the first outdoor Shakespeare production by professionals ever held in the city. Held at the plaza in front of the Hillsboro Civic Center
, the play was Romeo and Juliet
, with the production paid for in part by the city. In December 2009, they produced an adaptation of Charles Dickens
’ A Christmas Carol
.
Bag & Baggage produced William Shakespeare
’s The Taming of the Shrew
and John Fletcher
’s retort to that play, The Woman's Prize
, in a combined play in February 2010. Theater critic Bob Hicks, writing about the performances for The Oregonian
, said “... Bag & Baggage's doubleheader is more engaging in concept than onstage. As stimulating as the idea is, and as fun as the whole thing is in fits and starts, the carry-through can get tedious... ...too many balls in the air, not enough ease in the juggling...”. Their version of Tennessee Williams
' The Glass Menagerie
later that year received a positive review by Holly Danks of The Oregonian.
Bag and Baggage hosted an Oscar party in March 2010 to show the 82nd Academy Awards
live at the Venetian Theatre. The company hoped to make it an annual fundraiser and become an official Oscar party sanction by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
.
in Hillsboro, the group also performs at venues around Washington County including the fairgrounds, the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse, and the Kingstad Center (now closed), among others. Productions staged by the company have included The Importance of Being Earnest
, Infinite Variety, Death of a Salesman
, and others.
Bag and Baggage primarily puts on classic American and British dramas. The non-profit group is governed by a fourteen-member board of directors. The artistic director is Scott Palmer and Audra Petrie Veber serves as the production manager. They adopted the name of the company due to their early history as a traveling troupe. Bag and Baggage also helps educate local students about theater, including providing tickets to county high school students.
Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...
, in the U.S. state of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. Founded in 2005, the non-profit group presents about four productions per year. Their home theater is the Venetian Theatre
Venetian Theatre
The Venetian Theatre is a movie theater, performing arts venue, and restaurant in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Formerly the Town Theater, the building re-opened in 2008 after more than a decade of inactivity and revitalization plans...
, a 370-seat venue in downtown Hillsboro on East Main Street.
History
The company was co-founded in 2005 by several actors, including Scott Palmer, who graduated from Hillsboro High School in 1986. In the early years Bag & Baggage was a traveling theater group, making stops in communities around Oregon. Performances in Hillsboro were held at the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse and the Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Arts CenterGlenn & Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center
The Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center is a multi-use arts and performance venue in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Opened in 2004, it is housed in a red-colored stone building completed in 1949 as a Lutheran church...
. Other venues included the Hotel Oregon in McMinnville
McMinnville, Oregon
McMinnville is the county seat and largest city of Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. According to Oregon Geographic Names, it was named by its founder, William T. Newby , an early immigrant on the Oregon Trail, for his hometown of McMinnville, Tennessee...
and the Withycombe Theatre in Corvallis
Corvallis, Oregon
Corvallis is a city located in central western Oregon, United States. It is the county seat of Benton County and the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 54,462....
, among others.
Through May 2008 the company had put on nine productions. In September 2008, Bag & Baggage became the resident theater company at the Venetian Theatre in Downtown Hillsboro. They opened their new season with Steel Magnolias
Steel Magnolias
Steel Magnolias is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross that stars Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah and Julia Roberts....
. The Venetian had opened in June of that year in the space that had been a movie theater, but had sat vacant since 1996.
Season ticket sales stood at 220 for the 2007 to 2008 season, and grew to 450 for the 2008 to 2009 season. At the end of 2008 Bag & Baggage was only the second professional group for live theater in Washington County, the other being the Broadway Rose Theatre Company of Tigard
Tigard, Oregon
Tigard is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. The population was 48,035 at the 2010 census. As of 2007, Tigard was the state's 12th largest city. Incorporated in 1961, the city is located south of Beaverton and north of Tualatin, and is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
. For Christmas in 2008, the theater company produced The Eight: Reindeer Monologues with four shows held at the Venetian.
In July 2009, the company put on the first outdoor Shakespeare production by professionals ever held in the city. Held at the plaza in front of the Hillsboro Civic Center
Hillsboro Civic Center
The Hillsboro Civic Center is a government-built, mixed-use development in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. The development includes the city hall for the county seat of Washington County, located west of Portland, Oregon. Covering , the Civic Center has a total of over in the complex...
, the play was Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, with the production paid for in part by the city. In December 2009, they produced an adaptation of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
’ A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
.
Bag & Baggage produced William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
’s The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
and John Fletcher
John Fletcher (playwright)
John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
’s retort to that play, The Woman's Prize
The Woman's Prize
The Woman's Prize, or the Tamer Tamed is a Jacobean comedy written by John Fletcher. Its initial publication occurred in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647, though it was obviously written much earlier...
, in a combined play in February 2010. Theater critic Bob Hicks, writing about the performances for The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
, said “... Bag & Baggage's doubleheader is more engaging in concept than onstage. As stimulating as the idea is, and as fun as the whole thing is in fits and starts, the carry-through can get tedious... ...too many balls in the air, not enough ease in the juggling...”. Their version of Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
' The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
later that year received a positive review by Holly Danks of The Oregonian.
Bag and Baggage hosted an Oscar party in March 2010 to show the 82nd Academy Awards
82nd Academy Awards
The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2009 and took place March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. The ceremony was scheduled well after...
live at the Venetian Theatre. The company hoped to make it an annual fundraiser and become an official Oscar party sanction by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
.
Productions
Bag & Baggage usually produces four plays each season, though they have had as many as seven in a single season. Although the resident theater company at the Venetian TheatreVenetian Theatre
The Venetian Theatre is a movie theater, performing arts venue, and restaurant in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Formerly the Town Theater, the building re-opened in 2008 after more than a decade of inactivity and revitalization plans...
in Hillsboro, the group also performs at venues around Washington County including the fairgrounds, the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse, and the Kingstad Center (now closed), among others. Productions staged by the company have included The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
, Infinite Variety, Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was the recipient of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. Premiered at the Morosco Theatre in February 1949, the original production ran for a total of 742 performances.-Plot :Willy Loman...
, and others.
Bag and Baggage primarily puts on classic American and British dramas. The non-profit group is governed by a fourteen-member board of directors. The artistic director is Scott Palmer and Audra Petrie Veber serves as the production manager. They adopted the name of the company due to their early history as a traveling troupe. Bag and Baggage also helps educate local students about theater, including providing tickets to county high school students.