All remaining performances have sold out! Please join us this summer for West Side Story!

A Delicious Comedy

Inspired by the books of Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson, including the best seller Growing Up Lutheran Written by Jim Stowell and Jessica Zuehlke Music and lyrics by Drew Jansen

April 14 – May 15, 2016

In rural Minnesota, 1965, the ladies of the local church fortify their flock with love, wisdom and, of course, the food they prepare in the church’s basement kitchen. Inspired by the best-selling book Growing Up Lutheran, Church Basement Ladies mixes together delightful original music, endearing characters, and side[dish]-splitting scenes to yield a deliciously funny musical comedy.

Performance run time is approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission.

Performances held at the Broadway Rose New Stage, 12850 SW Grant Ave., Tigard.

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Cast

Matthew Belles as Pastor Gunderson 

Matthew Belles (Pastor E. L.  Gunderson) is thrilled to return to Broadway Rose after making his debut here in Oklahoma! as Cord Elam. Other past credits include Storefront: The Babes are Back!! at triangle productions!, 9 to 5 (Joe), It’s a Wonderful Life (Harry Baily) and Rent (Gordon/Ensemble) at Stumptown Stages; South Pacific (Buzz) at Lakewood Theater, The Last 5 Years (Jamie) and Children of Eden (Adam/Noah) at Capital Playhouse, and Putting It Together (Man 2) at Western Washington Summer Stock. Matt just back from Boston, MA, where he played Roger Davis in Rent with Fiddlehead Theater Company.


Kymberli Colbourne as Mavis 

Kymberli Colbourne (Mavis) is beyond thrilled to be making her Broadway Rose debut in Church Basement Ladies. Kymberli has a B.A. in Theatre Performance from Scripps College and earns her keep as a full-time actor and voice talent. She toured with The National Theatre of the Deaf and has worked for numerous companies including Seattle Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Book-It Rep, and Oregon Cabaret Theatre, to name a few. When not on stage, she can be found behind the mic in her studio. Check out her voice-over work at www.kcvoice.com. Locally, she was most recently seen as Dorothy Quimby in Ramona Quimby for Oregon Children’s Theatre and as Ahab in Bag&Baggage Production’s Moby Dick – Rehearsed. Happy to be back on dry land for a little singing and dancing, Kymberli sends out thanks to her friends and family – as well as the swell crew here at the Broadway Rose for this great opportunity!


Debbie Hunter as Karin 

Debbie Hunter (Karin) is absolutely delighted to return to Broadway Rose, where she last appeared  as Carrie Innes in Whodunit…The Musical. You also may have seen her in the first productions of G.I. Jukebox/G.I. Holiday Jukebox, as well as A Christmas Survival Guide, The Gifts of The Magi, and Some Enchanted Evening.  Debbie has appeared in a variety of roles, both musical and non-musical at several other area and regional theaters. Some of her favorite roles include Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (Portland Center Stage (u/s), Dallas Theater Center, and Lakewood Theater), Maria in The Sound of Music, Yum Yum in The Mikado, and Laurey in Oklahoma! (Musical Theater Company), Fiona in Brigadoon (Lakewood Theatre Company), Laura in The Goblin Market (Stark Raving Theater), Rose in Ruddigore, Tessa in The Gondoliers and Charlotte in A Little Night Music (Mock’s Crest) for which she was honored with a 2010 Drammy Award. She is a founding member of Quintessence Language and Imagination Theater, where she has appeared as Anne Elliott in Persuasion, Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Ophelia in Hamlet, Imogen in Cymbeline, Celia in As You Like It, Malcolm in Macbeth and Katherine in Henry V. Debbie has entertained aboard several riverboats, performed with the Oregon Symphony, and was chosen to participate in the International Cabaret Conference at Yale University. She also released a CD of jazz standards called Love is in the Air. Debbie received her B.F.A. in Music Theater from Illinois Wesleyan University.


Lori Paschall as Vivian

Lori Paschall (Vivian) is delighted to be treading the boards at Broadway Rose again. She was last seen here at Broadway Rose in Bingo – The Musical. Some of her favorite roles included Mme. Thénardier in Les Misérables with Broadway Rose, Penny in Urinetown with Stumptown Stages (where she won a Drammy Award for Best Supporting Actress), and Mother Superior in Nunsense also at Broadway Rose. She would like to dedicate her performance to her Father. Miss you Pops!

 


Zoe Randol as Signe 

Zoe Randol (Signe) is so excited to be a part of the wonderful creative team at Broadway Rose! Portland credits include Pandemonium Playhouse Presents: Doomageddon! (Action/Adventure Theatre) Blood on the Books, or The Powell’s Play (Northwest Theatre Project), Anything Goes (Lakewood); Macbeth (Portland Actors Ensemble), Soul Harmony and It’s A Wonderful Life (Stumptown Stages). L.A. credits include Over the Hedge (Dreamworks), LincolnHeights (ABC Family), and performances at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, West Coast Ensemble, and the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble. Zoe is a graduate of Whitman College with a degree in Theatre and English Literature. Special thanks to her parents and her husband Misho for all their love and support.

Show Dates
All remaining performances have sold out! Please join us this summer for West Side Story!

Thursday, April 14, 7:30 PM PREVIEWSOLD OUT
Friday, April 15, 7:30 PM OPENING NIGHTLimited Availability
Saturday, April 16, 7:30 PMSOLD OUT
Sunday, April 17, 2:00 PM—SOLD OUT

Thursday, April 21, 7:30 PM—SOLD OUT
Friday, April 22, 7:30 PMSOLD OUT
Saturday, April 23, 2:00 PM—SOLD OUTPost show talk-back*
Saturday, April 23, 7:30 PMSOLD OUT
Sunday, April 24, 2:00 PMSOLD OUT

Thursday, April 28, 7:30 PM—SOLD OUT
Friday, April 29, 7:30 PMSOLD OUT
Saturday, April 30, 2:00 PM—SOLD OUT
Saturday, April 30, 7:30 PMSOLD OUT
Sunday, May 1, 2:00 PMSOLD OUT

Thursday, May 5, 7:30 PMSOLD OUT
Friday, May 6, 7:30 PMSOLD OUT
Saturday, May 7, 2:00 PMSOLD OUT
Saturday, May 7, 7:30 PMSOLD OUT
Sunday, May 8, 2:00 PM—SOLD OUT

Wednesday, May 11, 7:30 PMSOLD OUT
Thursday, May 12, 7:30 PMSOLD OUT
Friday, May 13, 7:30 PMSOLD OUT
Saturday, May 14, 2:00 PMSOLD OUT
Saturday, May 14, 7:30 PMSOLD OUT
Sunday, May 15, 2:00 PM—SOLD OUT

*Talk-backs are free and open to the public.  They begin immediately following the first Saturday matinee performance of the mainstage production, and are held in the theater.  You do not have to attend the Broadway Rose production in order to attend the talk-back.

Creative Team

Directed and Choreographed by Jacob Toth
Music Direction by Jeffrey Childs

Set Design by Chris Whitten
Costume Design by Grace O’Malley
Light Design by Rose Etta Venetucci
Prop Design by Liz Carlson
Sound Design by Elizabeth Wyatt
Wig Design by Jane Holmes
Stage Manager Jessica Junor

News & Reviews

Add a Lutheran ‘hotdish’ to our virtual table
by Barb Randall
Lake Oswego Review, May 13, 2016
Does art imitate life, or is it the other way around – life imitates art? You may have to ponder that; this week we are adding the virtual dinner plate of our Lutheran friends from Minnesota to our table. I was inspired by Broadway Rose Theatre Company’s production, ‘Church Basement Ladies’...Read more. 

Broadway Rose’s Latest Light Fun? This is Most Certainly True!
by Tina Arth
Westside Theatre Reviews, Apr. 20, 2016
The solos sparkle, but it’s the harmonies that make the evening – mostly smooth and rich, but with occasional flights of spine-tingling inventiveness… Read more.

Stand the heat, get into the kitchen: Church Basement Ladies takes a fond musical look at a fading slice of Midwest American pie
by Christina Morletti McIntyre
Oregon ArtsWatch, Apr. 19, 2016
..this musical is a devotional act that gives us a lens to experience and dig into a heartfelt piece of American pie…It’s a prairie celebration of an important segment in our culture… Read more.

Church Basement Ladies @ Broadway Rose by Kristopher Haines Crippled Critic, Apr. 19, 2016 There is no denying that “Church Basement Ladies”is a fun show. There is a variety of humor in the show, from lighthearted to unexpectedly dark, delivered with a smile… Read more.

‘Church Basement Ladies’ ham it up in real church
by Barbara Sherman
Beaverton Valley Times, Apr. 1, 2016
On the kitchen counter were the various colorful dishes the guild ladies had made for the photo shoot that included pineapple upside-down cake, banana cream pie, red Jell-O with cream cheese, brownies, a green gelatin concoction with carrots around the edges… Read more.

Here’s How to Enjoy ‘Church Basement Ladies’
Regal Courier, Apr. 1, 2016
Audience will be transported to mid-1960s’ Minnesota where church ladies ‘fortify the flock’… Read more.

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