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By the Boss, Tuesday, June 19, 2007 9:11 pm

Springfield, Oregon, just across the Willamette River from Eugene, hasn’t been known in the recent past for much more than an excess of meth users and strip clubs.

That’s changing, though, on a couple fronts.

One is, a resurgence of the arts in the small city’s happily un-redeveloped downtown, which has retained much of its brick building mid-20th century Our Town architectural character. So, within a couple downtown blocks not far from the strip clubs, you’ve got a new community-based Emerald Art Center; the Springfield Museum, a small venue for some pretty good art shows; and, most amazing, the new Wildish Community Theater, a gutted and rebuilt movie house that has 285 seats, a small stage and gorgeous acoustics for classical musicians from chamber orchestras to opera singers.

Opera in Springfield? Who knew?

And the other front: Well that would be the national Springfield competition going on right now among the 14 U.S. towns named Springfield to host the premiere of “The Simpsons Movie” on July 26. Matt Groening, creator of “The Simpsons,” is from Oregon, so perhaps Springfield, Oregon, has a slight home-court advantage, even though it’s lacking a nuke plant.

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By the Boss, Monday, June 18, 2007 1:45 am

Here’s The Real Oregon’s guide to the new outdoor offerings at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The three new plays opened this weekend:

The Tempest: One of Shakespeare’s last plays, it’s all about magic. This production, sadly, isn’t magical at all, with a ponderous Prospero played by Derrick Lee Weeden. Directed by Libby Appel, the soon-departing artistic director at OSF. Through Oct. 6.

Buy the script: The Tempest (Folger Shakespeare Library

We say give this one a miss and hie yourself instead to…

The Taming of the Shrew: Bright, lively, witty and fun. Shakespeare’s paean to the battle of the sexes was never so well fought as in this fast-moving version, directed by guest director Kate Buckley. Through Oct. 7.

Buy the script: The Taming of the Shrew (Folger Shakespeare Library)

Romeo & Juliet: Through Oct. 5.

Absolutely terrific new take on a love story everyone already knows. Rauch, at left with Kate Buckley, is smart and funny and manages to play around with the Shakespeare standard and liven it up without screwing up the essential tragedy.

Buy the script: Romeo and Juliet (Folger Shakespeare Library)

And while you’re there, check out these plays that are already open:

Gem of the Ocean: There’s plenty more than Shakespeare at OSF. The festival has long been a supporter of the late August Wilson; this season his Gem of the Ocean, which starts off his 10-play American cycle, runs in the indoor Bowmer Theatre through Oct. 27 and packs the house with magic and mystery and the incredible richness of Wilson’s writing. See it.

Buy the script: Gem of the Ocean

Rabbit Hole: We hated it. This tale of a grieving yuppie couple sounds like a dreary educational presentation of the stages of grief. We have to admit that others have quite liked the show, which took this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama. But what do the Pulitzer judges know? Wraps up in the New Theatre on June 22.

Buy the script: Rabbit Hole

On the Razzle: Tom Stoppard is as funny as a French farce, and if the Oregon Shakespeare Festival knows how to do anything right, it’s farce. You’ll laugh your head off and then walk out wondering about the jokes you might have missed. In the Bowmer through Oct. 28.

Buy the script: Tom Stoppard: Plays 4: Dalliance, Undiscovered Country, Rough Crossing, On the Razzle, The Seagull (Faber Contemporary Classics)

Buy tickets to the shows: www.osfashland.org