Friday, January 21, 2011
When you work hard for years to achieve artistic nirvana — and you have to do it in close cooperation with three other intense, creative, emotional people ... well, Opus is about a lot more than just guys in tuxedos sawing away on stringed instruments. It's about collaboration, generosity, friendship, and striving for perfection while keeping one's life in balance. For Interplayers' rendition of Michael Hollinger's Opus, opening night is tonight at 7:30, along with Sat 7:30 and Sun 2 pm. Watch our slideshow preview with voiceover by director Jadd Davis (right).
A Night in the Theater is a play within a play — or rather it's about two couples watching a play. In Lawrence Casler's 1993 comedy, we watch a quartet of friends chattering and gossiping about themselves as they (supposedly) are watching a performance of Hamlet. Ignite! Community Theater will present three performances: tonight at 7 pm at GU's Foley Center; Sat. 7 pm at St. Mark's Lutheran, 24th and Grand; and Sun 2 pm at the Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland Ave. Call 330-1066.
Of Mice and Men at Lake City Playhouse: Sure, it's just a little community theater in a small town. But in the central roles of George and Lennie, George Green and David Gigler are delivering remarkable performances, and the story by John Steinbeck (pictured) about fighting against long odds still packs emotional wallop. And you've only got until Jan. 30 to see it. Read a review. Performances Fri-Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 2 pm.
In Don't Dress for Dinner at the Civic, infidelity plots and role-playing get piled so high that you can't figure them out. All you can do is laugh. Director Thomas Heppler's production continues (right across the street from the Arena) on Fri-Sat 7:30 pm and Sun 2 pm. Call 325-2507. Read a review.
And as always, the improv comedy is freshly brewed on the spot at the Blue Door Theater: Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 9 pm. Call 747-7045.
Tags: theater , Interplayers , Spokane Civic Theatre , StageThrust , Image
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Michael Hollinger's play about the emotional turmoil of a classical string quartet, Opus — one of America's most frequently produced plays last year — arrives in Spokane tonight, continuing at Interplayers through Feb. 5.
In this slideshow of production photos, director Jadd Davis discusses issues of teamwork and professionalism — in other words, why you might be interested in this play even if you're not a fan of classical music — and how actors work at resembling musicians even when they're not.
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Tags: theater , interplayers , slideshow , StageThrust
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Here are the questions that we hear most often about Interplayers: "Are they still open?" "Are they gonna make it?" "Is the board going to start doing some actual fundraising and marketing? And are they going to stop interfering with Reed [McColm, the artistic director]?"
Well, with David Mamet's Race replacing Cotton Patch Gospel this April, and with the slate of plays that McColm announced at last Thursday night's fundraiser, the folks at Interplayers are obviously planning on keeping the doors open. Better yet — despite pressures logistical, political and economic — McColm is going ahead with some adventurous programming.
First the new season, then some comments.
Sept. 15-Oct. 1, 2011
The Boys Next Door, by Tom Griffin
Directed by Troy Nickerson
Oct. 20-Nov. 5
The Receptionist, by Adam Bock
Nov. 23-Dec. 10, 2011
Sisters of Swing: The Story of the Andrews Sisters
By Beth Gilleland and Bob Beverage
Jan. 19-Feb. 4, 2012
Tuna Does Vegas, by Joe Sears, Jaston Williams and Ed Howard
Directed by Patrick Treadway
Starring Bill Marlowe and Michael Weaver
Feb. 23-March 10
Mauritius, by Theresa Rebeck
March 29-April 14
An Infinite Ache, by David Schulner
May 3-19, 2012
Taking Steps, by Alan Ayckbourn ---
The Boys Next Door: A social worker jokes and suffers with the four mentally impaired men who live in a halfway house under his supervision.
Nickerson, the Civic's resident director, is branching out to other theaters: He's directing Rent at Lake City next season along with this show at Interplayers. (Wasn't Troy involved with the 1994 production at the Civic?)
The Receptionist: The title character is just dealing with ringing phones and office gossip — until you find out just what kind of business her company is engaged in.
Tuna Does Vegas: This production of the fourth Tuna show reunites the director (currently playing Dorian in Opus at Interplayers) and the cast (the director of drama at SFCC and the former Actors Rep artistic director and Interplayers favorite) who have performed a couple of Tuna shows in Spokane before. The premise here is that Arles Struvie and Bertha Bumiller are driving to Vegas to renew their wedding vows — and everybody from the third-smallest town in Texas joins 'em.
Mauritius: A play about stamp collecting? Actually, it's not a snore, and not even primarily about stamps. Mom dies, leaving behind a rare and valuable collection (including one from the obscure title nation). One daughter wants to cash in, one doesn't — and then the rapacious con men move in, hoping to make a kill.
An Infinite Ache: Dating and the road not taken: What if, at the end of a so-so first date, you suddenly had a foretaste of all the happy and sad things that might happen to the two of you, if only you stayed together? Two twentysomethings see their potential lives flash in front of their eyes.
Taking Steps: A door-slamming farce, set in a three-story Victorian mansion — but with the gimmick, typical for Ayckbourn, that all three floors of the imaginary house are collapsed onto a single level. I still remember Michael Weaver in the 1994 production here, scampering "up" and "down" completely flat stairs (like a running back high-stepping through tires, the way they do in football drills). The idea with this "Interplayers Classics" slot is that the theater will revive, once each season, a hit from its past.
Tags: Interplayers , theater , StageThrust , Image
Monday, January 17, 2011
No, it's going to be performed at Interplayers. In Spokane.
The theater has announced that the show will open March 31.
Mamet is a major American playwright. Consider, for example, the '70s frankness of Sexual Perversity in Chicago (performed in the Civic's Studio Theater in 2006). The casting, as the Hollywood ingenue, of Madonna in the 1988 Broadway production of Speed-the-Plow. The attack on political correctness in the professor/student/sexual harassment drama, Oleanna (1992; performed at Interplayers in 2008). The Pulitzer in '84 for Glengarry Glen Ross. (Not to mention, among Mamet's many screenplays, The Verdict with Paul Newman and Wag the Dog with Dustin Hoffman.)
Plus, he's got a mouth like a drunken sailor, to go with his theorizing about acting. (It's all about conflict and action, baby — don't talk to me about character development.)
Race, which starred James Spader and Richard Thomas (yes, as in John-Boy), just had a run on Broadway. And it has a great premise: A law firm — one white guy (Spader) and one black — are trying to decide whether to take a sensational case involving a filthy-rich white man (John-Boy) accused of raping a much younger black woman. And the black woman who has just joined the law firm contributes, shall we say, some interesting perspectives on the case.
Race ran in New York from December 2009 to August 2010.
As for how he got the rights, Artistic Director Reed McColm has an amusing story.For various reasons, his theater had decided not to do the musical Cotton Patch Gospel, so he had a hole in his schedule. It was coming up soon — March 31 through April 16 — and he needed to get a director and cast in place, preferably something with panache and not too expensive — small cast, single set, but, you know, sexy.
So McColm calls somebody who knows somebody at Samuel French publishing house who knows somebody else. And pretty soon, he's on the phone with Mamet's agent, who's on the other line with ... David Mamet.
McColm describes his predicament. They have some questions. Now, where is Spokane again? Much shuffling of atlas pages and murmuring as the agent and Mamet confer.
Well, McColm was finally told, if Spokane is way out there, he can have the rights.
Mr. Mamet, however, will not be attending the production.
Tags: Interplayers , David Mamet , StageThrust , Image
Friday, January 14, 2011
Tonight, shows open at the community theaters in both Spokane and Coeur d'Alene. And next Wednesday night is your only chance to see the best touring show stopping in Spokane before Wicked in May.
In Don't Dress for Dinner (at Spokane Civic Theatre — Fri-Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 2 pm), Bernard is trying to get his wife, Jacqueline, out of the house so he can have an affair. But she's having an affair of her own. And pretty soon, the caterer is pretending to be Bernard's mistress (for a price, of course). Doors are slammed and high jinks ensue. (See our review next week.)
Of Mice and Men is, of course, the story of George and Lennie, migrant workers during the Depression, and of the sad and funny-bunny things that happen to them when they get hired on at a ranch in California's Central Valley. (This is the stage version of John Steinbeck's 1937 novella.) It's at Lake City Playhouse in Coeur d'Alene on Fri-Sat 7:30 pm and Sunday at 2 pm.
... and don't forget the rock musical about the consequences of sexual repression, Spring Awakening — for one night only, on Wed., Jan. 19, at 7:30 pm at the INB Center. Read our preview ("They So Horny") and then buy tickets.
Tags: theater , StageThrust , Image
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Here's what to look for during the last big theater weekend of the year. (You may have heard: The next couple of weekends have some major holidays.)
Tags: theater , Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre , StageThrust
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Only two weekends of theater left before Christmas ...
White Christmas continues its sold-out run at the Civic.
A Taffeta Christmas continues in Coeur d'Alene on Thurs-Sat 7:30 pm and Sun 2 pm at Lake City Playhouse. See our review.
At Interplayers, the Honky Tonk Angels Holiday Spectacular has a spectacular set, anyway: Read our review. Thurs-Sat 7:30 pm, Sat 2 pm (final weekend). Call 455-PLAY.
The Blue Door Theater presents improvised comedy with a "Season's Greetings" theme Friday at 8 pm. Call 747-7045. They're at 815 W. Garland Ave. in the Garland District, and they have Sat 9 pm "Safari" shows too.
In Burgertown: The Musical (which premiered in Chicago in 2005), a guy creates national franchising with his new Triangle Burger — until a femme fatale comes along and tries to replace the guy's girlfriend and take over the corporation. It's playing in Liberty Lake Thurs-Sat 6:30 pm and Sat 2 pm at Liberty Lake Community Theater, 1421 Meadowwood Lane. Visit libertylaketheatre.com or call 230-1789.
Bring a leg lamp to SCC's Lair Auditorium (Mission Ave. and Greene St.) for A Christmas Story on Sat-Sun at 1 pm, and also Sat 4 pm. Presented by Spokane Children's Theatre. Call (800) 325-SEAT for tickets.
This isn't Disney — this is a musical based on the original Hans Christian Anderson tale. Theater Arts for Children presents The Little Mermaid (she's Anemone, not Ariel, in this show) at 10814 E. Broadway Ave., Spokane Valley. Call 995-6718.
Kidnapping Christmas is dinner theater at a Victorian mansion called The Lion's Share at 1627 N. Atlantic St. Tickets: $45. It'll be performed Fri-Sat at 6 pm. Call 327-1113.
Annie plays in Newport, Wash., this weekend on Fri-Sat 7 pm and Sun 3 pm. Visit pendoreilleplayers.org or call (509) 671-3389.
In the mood for a Christmas farce? A guy works as a department store Santa, which works out fine until his wife, the "other woman," a hypnotist, a burglar and a cop show up in Sorry! Wrong Chimney! (Oh, also a gun-toting moll, the burglar's fiancee.) Done readers theater-style by Ignite! Community Theatre on Fri 7 pm at Gonzaga's Foley Center, and Sun 2 pm at the Blue Door (as above). (This show will also be produced at Lake City Playhouse a year from now.)
Tags: theater , StageThrust
Monday, December 6, 2010
They're only on their third show of this season, but Lake City Playhouse has already announced what they're doing next season.
The Coeur d'Alene theater has lined up three musicals, a couple of comedies and two American classics for 2011-12. Here they are, along with the months they open. (Local actors, set up your audition plans accordingly.)
Fiddler on the Roof (Sept. 2011)
A Streetcar Named Desire (Oct.)
Sorry! Wrong Chimney! (Dec.)
Rent (Jan. 2012)
Epic Proportions (Feb.)
Pete 'n' Keely (March)
Lost in Yonkers (April)
How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (May 2012)
LCP is currently showing A Taffeta Christmas. (See our review this Thursday.) The theater's next show, Of Mice and Men, opens Jan. 14.
[ Logo from Theatre of the Highlands in La Grange, Illinois. (The once and future history of How To Succeed: 1952 book; 1961 musical (seven Tonys, Pulitzer), 1967 movie (also starring Robert Morse); 1995 Broadway revival (Matthew Broderick); March 2011 Broadway revival (with Harry Potter, er, Daniel Radcliffe). ]
Tags: theater , Lake City Playhouse , StageThrust , Image
Thursday, December 2, 2010
So, sure, it's still nearly eight months away — but call 509-325-2507 soon, because (obviously) tickets for this show tend to sell extremely well. And can anybody remember an entire main-stage, large-cast musical around here being so popular that it was revived months later?
See our 9/29/10 review here. Tickets: $30; $28, seniors; $20, students and children. Dates are July 22-31, 2011, on Thurs-Sat 7:30 pm and Sun 2 pm. This summer production is billed as a fundraiser to help the Civic increase the height of its backstage fly space.
Tags: theater , Spokane Civic Theatre , StageThrust , Image
White Christmas continues its sold-out run at the Civic through Dec. 19.
The Honky Tonk Angels Holiday Spectacular offers a Motown Christmas medley, "Joy to the World" and a whole lot of Christmas-themed country-western tunes sung by a quartet of Angels at Interplayers, Thurs-Sat 7:30 pm and Sat 2 pm.
A Taffeta Christmas, a '50s girl-group show, opens at Lake City Playhouse in Coeur d'Alene on Friday at 7:30 pm. (See recent blog post.)
Bring your Red Ryder BB gun to the Spokane Children's Theatre production of A Christmas Story on Sat 1 pm and 4 pm, and Sun 1 pm; closes Dec. 12 at the SCC Lair, Mission Ave. and Greene St. Tickets: $12; $10, kids. Call 325-SEAT. (Don't actually bring your Red Ryder BB gun...)
In the musical version of The Little Mermaid presented by TAC, Ariel is named Anemone. (You'll still enjoy it.) Opens this weekend: Fri 7 pm, Sat 4 pm and 7 pm at 10814 E. Broadway Ave. Call 995-6718.d
Tags: theater , StageThrust , Image
