Sue Mach
Vortex I
A new musical about State sponsored rock n roll!
Oregon is the only state that has ever paid for and sponsored a rock festival. In August 1970, the American Legion held its annual conference in Portland and invited Richard Nixon to be its guest speaker. In May of that year, thirty-one activists were hospitalized after protests took place in the Park Blocks near Portland State University. These protests were not only a reaction to the Vietnam War, but also to the death of four students at Kent State and the proposed shipping of nerve gas to the Umatilla Army Base. The FBI warned then-governor Tom McCall that he should prepare for 25,000 Legionnaires and 50,000 protestors.
The group of activists leading the protest was known as The People’s Army Jamboree. A faction of this group called The Family approached Governor McCall with the idea of sponsoring a rock festival to encourage protestors away from the convention, yet still give them a platform to voice their concerns. McCall—with the encouragement with his chief of staff Ed Westerdahl—agreed to the plan, as he considered a festival to be the most viable option to prevent the very real threat of violence. This meant that law enforcement had to turn a blind eye to drugs and nudity and allow thousands of young people to camp out in a public park. A Republican who was up for re-election, McCall referred to his choice as “political suicide.” The festival, called Vortex I, took place in Estacada from August 28th through September 3rd. Attendance estimates range from 30,000 to 40,000. In the end, there was virtually no violence during the event and no violence in the streets of Portland during the Legion convention. McCall won a second term by a landslide, and some believe that Vortex marked a turning point in his tenure as governor because it made him a more decisive leader. Many of the unique characteristics Oregon is known for, such as the Land Use Planning Bill, the Bottle Bill, the Bicycle Bill, and Death with Dignity happened during McCall’s second term.
This musical is loosely based on the Vortex I story.
Book/Lyrics: Sue Mach
Composer: Bill Wadhams
Arranger: Reece Marshburn
TABLE|ROOM|STAGE (T|R|S) was established in 2015 and is Artists Rep’s new play program whose mission is to develop and produce new work that vividly expresses Artists Rep’s aesthetic values.
Sue Mach
Sue Mach has an MA in Playwriting from Boston University. Her first play, Monograms, was produced at Theatre for the New City in New York City, the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble in Bloomsburg, PA, Portland Repertory Theatre in Portland, OR, and the Icarus Theatre Ensemble in Ithaca, New York. The script, published by Rain City Press in Seattle, also received a Portland Drama Critics Circle Award. Her second play, Angle of View, was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award and received readings at Portland Repertory Theatre and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Her third play, The Shadow Testament, received a Woman Writers Fellowship from Literary Arts, Inc.
This piece has been workshopped by Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, OR, A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle, WA, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, and JAW/West. It was produced in 2011 by Portland World Theatre as part of The Fertile Ground Festival, and again in 2016 by Clackamas Community College. Her play The Difficult Season, a collaboration with renowned jazz pianist and songwriter Dave Frishberg, was workshopped at Artists Repertory Theatre. She was awarded the 2011 Oregon Book Award for Drama for her play The Lost Boy, as well as a fellowship from Oregon Literary Arts. The Lost Boy was part of Portland Center Stage’s JAW/West development series and received a full production in the 2012-2013 season at Artists Rep. Her adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper was produced at CoHo Rep in 2017 and was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Sue has been the recipient of grants from the Regional Arts and Culture Commission, the Oregon Arts Commission, and the Oregon Council for the Humanities. She currently teaches Literature, Composition and Creative Writing at Clackamas Community College.