Storm's newest path an act of bravery

Portland rocker will expose much on stage

By Eric Bartels

The Portland Tribune, Jul 20, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (9 Reader comments)

Portland rocker Storm Large is trying her act for a new audience. She has an original, autobiographical one-woman show at JAW: A Playwright’s Festival this weekend.

Courtesy of Laura Domela

To most, Storm Large is the image of fearlessness. Yet in recent years, the Portland lounge-rock star has gunned her career as an artist into a series of high-speed turns fueled by what frightens her.

The sprint continued when she offered an early glimpse of an original, autobiographical one-woman show at JAW: A Playwright’s Festival this past weekend. She performed before packed houses Saturday and Sunday at Portland Center Stage’s Ellyn Bye Studio.

“Success or failure, I’m taking a huge risk putting myself out there in this way,” Large says. “The fact that I’m doing it makes me feel good. It might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but I have to do it.”

The just-completed festival, in its 10th year, gives playwrights from Portland and elsewhere an opportunity to workshop new plays using input from Center Stage creatives and the skills of local actors.

‘Very intimidating’

Large, a long-time favorite on the Portland club scene as frontwoman of the band Storm and the Balls, rocketed to national attention when she competed impressively on the 2006 reality show “Rock Star: Supernova,” which auditioned singers for a rock supergroup.

Later came a high-profile turn as protagonist Sally Bowles in “Cabaret,” which launched the past season for Center Stage and artistic director Chris Coleman. Both Large and the play were big hits.

“At the end of ‘Cabaret,’ I talked to Chris briefly and he said ‘You should do a one-woman show.’ A month later, he said ‘How many musicians do you need?’ I said ‘What are you talking about?’”

Large says Coleman and Rose Riordan, the associate artistic director at Center Stage and the founder of JAW, saw the project as a winner from the outset, despite Large’s protestations.

“It seems like such a snotty thing to do,” says the charismatic Large, who stands six-feet tall. “Yeah sure, I had an interesting life, but everybody’s had an interesting life. I’m not Madonna. I’m not famous.

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