http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/index.php Portland and surrounding area community news and information http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=121018889116731800 The crowd at the fundraising Mad Hot Ballroom Gala this weekend will include some of the brightest points of light on the Portland map: well-known artists, philanthropists and CEOs. A black-tie affair with a $250-per-plate price tag, it will be hosted by Jamey Hampton, founder of the dance company ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=121035774392080000 The best part of White Bird's “4x4 The Ballet Project,” a kind of mini-festival that opened a two-night run on Thursday, was the sense of discovery. With four top West Coast ballet companies about to share one stage, the atmosphere at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall was filled with an ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=121018896728218500 FILM Zompire: The Undead Film Festival So, a zombie and a vampire walk into a bar. Suddenly, a radioactive meteorite crashes through the roof, releasing a virus from outer space. The result is Zompire, two nights dedicated to horror films including “Dawn of the Dead,” ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=121018886616302500 Apparently, Elmo loves the company of women. The most recognizable furry, red 3-year-old on the planet has a fish named Dorothy, a giggly best friend named Zoe, a bilingual friend named Rosita, and two female companions from decades past, Roxy Marie and Prairie Dawn. Now Elmo has a new girl ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=121018891582891200 There are some restaurants that find overnight success. A recent meander through the Pearl District indicated that the new Deschutes Brewery (210 N.W. 11th Ave., 503-296-4906, www.deschutesbrewery.com) has a good shot at being one of those places. May 2 was the grand opening and by 4 p.m. ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=121018901879353400 Like prizefighting and private detectives, horse racing, in my mind, comes out of a lost, gritty, and possibly sinister film-noir past. But Portland Meadows racetrack on May 3 was very much alive, and not just for the old-timers and habitual wagerers. A Kentucky Derby party drew family groups, ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=121018904298890500 At the start of Alan Bennett’s acclaimed comedy/drama, “The History Boys,” which won a record six Tony Awards on Broadway, it’s as if the play is almost too smart — swirling and surging with scholarly intelligence, the literary canon always at its command. Its ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=121018894160108200 COUNTRY Alan Jackson The relaxed tone and pace of Alan Jackson’s new album, “Good Times,” is no accident. Anyone who managed to release two platinum greatest hits records in the first 13 years of his career should have the confidence to wind through 17 original songs ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=121018906646574200 The pedigree of Heather Raffo’s “9 Parts of Desire” is beyond question. The one-woman play was both a critical and popular hit when it opened in New York in 2004, prompting The New Yorker magazine to call it “an example of how art can remake the world.” For ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=121018899461415400 THEATER ‘Nobody Here But Us Chickens’ Peter Barnes’ audacious play, three one-acts about people with mental and physical disabilities, comes with some subversively original thinking about human frailty. The result is a cast of characters that are precisely as ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=121010134355144100 Somewhere in the Blue Mountains of Australia, a small cluster of Wollemi pines is growing. The trees are so rare that their location is kept a secret. Their value in understanding evolutionary biololgy is inestimable: Scientists believe the trees have remained unchanged for 200 million ...