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Catherine Garvin's Musical Debuts at Fertile Ground
Fighter Girl, an original musical co-written by Marylhurst music student Catherine Garvin, will debut January 22-24 at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, as part of the 10-day Fertile Ground festival.
Excerpt from an article by Ben Waterhouse and Kelly Clarke in Willamette Week, January 20, 2010:
Last January, the first ever Fertile Ground festival drew some 6,000 people to readings and performances of 36 world-premiere plays—all of them created right here in Portland by your neighbors and co-workers. Now the festival is back Jan. 22 through Feb. 2, bigger and broader, bringing dancers and comedians into the fold to present more than 50 performances involving just about every arts venue in town. The schedule for the festival is imposing—it is literally impossible to see all 17 of the participating full productions, let alone take in the dozens of readings, workshops and parties. With that in mind, here are six good jumping-off points.
Fighter Girl
Jan. 22-24 at Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway
What it’s about:
In this workshop of a new rock opera, a young musician named Sparrow grieves for her father (killed while on tour in Afghanistan), gets lost in the Shanghai tunnels and aspires to guitar heroics.
Who’s behind it:
Musicians Catherine Garvin and Arlie Conner, who developed the show over the past year with help from Duncan Sheik, Marv Ross and Portland script guru Mead Hunter.
Where you may have seen them:
Conner performing at Sellwood Public House; Garvin at Red Room, Gotham Tavern and elsewhere.
Why you should go:
It’s a show for teenage girls that doesn’t involve princesses and won’t drive parents mad. "If I saw this and didn’t know anything about it, I think I would be modestly amused," Connor says. "And I hope other people will say, 'This is the best thing I’ve ever seen.'"