See even more events in our calendar listings.
The Garment of Praise
Fri, Feb. 7 at 7 pm
Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center
Sometimes, the most beautiful things are the result of friendship. Take for example The Garment of Praise, a new opera composed by Gonzaga University Jesuit priest Father Kevin Waters. After plenty of visits to Waters’ office and moments spent bonding over their shared love of arts and music, Gonzaga leadership studies Professor Shann Ray Ferch wrote the libretto (text to the opera) to his friend Waters’ composition. The pair now have recruited a talented group of singers and dancers to perform the opera after working on it for seven years. The opera’s premiere takes place this Friday, and tells a story following John the Baptist’s parents as they navigate the difficulties of being unable to conceive. Waters, 91, is a world-renowned composer, and Ferch a prolific writer with many accolades, including an American Book Award. (MADISON PEARSON)
Kaleidoscope
Thu, Feb. 13-Sun, Feb. 16; times vary
Gonzaga Magnuson Theatre
Two years ago, Stage Left Theater sent a production of Pass Over westward to the Kaleidoscope festival in Tacoma. Their staging of Antoinette Nwandu’s sociopolitically charged play ended up taking top honors at the biennial statewide community theater competition. Pass Over’s success didn’t stop there. It quickly went on to win the regional competitive leg in McMinnville, Oregon, and finally the national round at the American Association of Community Theatre’s AACTFest in Louisville, Kentucky. More recently, the same production of Pass Over was selected to represent the United States at the noncompetitive World Festival of Amateur Theatre in Monaco this coming August. In hopes of repeating that journey toward national and even international accolades, theater troupes from across Washington state are converging on Spokane next week when Stage Left hosts this year’s Kaleidoscope. (E.J. IANNELLI)
Lunar New Year Fair & Show
Sat, Feb. 8 at 1 pm and 4 pm
The Fox Theater
Dig out your brightest red clothing, it’s time to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Though the holiday was officially observed on Jan. 29, the Spokane Chinese Association is hosting its annual cultural fair and performances this weekend, on Saturday, Feb. 8. Lunar New Year follows the lunar calendar based on the cycles of the moon, unlike the Western solar calendar that’s determined by Earth’s cycle around the sun. Commonly celebrated in Asian countries such as China, Vietnam, Thailand and Korea, each culture has its own traditions but largely follows the Chinese zodiac system. This year ushers in the Year of the Wood Snake, symbolizing wisdom, charm, elegance, intuition and transformation. Holding Lunar New Year celebrations locally since 2004, the Spokane Chinese Association aims to share its Chinese heritage with the Inland Northwest through a cultural fair and performances. (DORA SCOTT)
Kristin Robbins: Painted Frames
Fri, Feb. 7 from 5-9; also through Feb. 28.
Entropy
Funny haha, funny awkward, funny weird — find it all in artist Kristin Robbins’ idiosyncratic images of everyday people doing everyday things. Dead pet portraits on the wall of an elderly couple’s living room in a painting inspired by a documentary on pet cemeteries. A dollhouse-like painting inspired by Grey Gardens, a morose film about Jacqueline (Bouvier) Kennedy Onassis’ reclusive relatives living in squalor with their countless cats. A laundromat, but with tiny canvases painted to look like washing machine doors, and hinged so they open and close. Literally anything can be a jumping off point for the artist, whose solo exhibition at Entropy titled “Painted Frames” runs through Feb. 28. It just has to be funny, interesting or both. (CARRIE SCOZZARO)
