Carolyn Lamberson

Forget the movie. That’s what George Green will tell you if you’ve only seen the 2007 Tim Burton-Johnny Depp version of “Sweeney Todd.”

For those about to rock, “Rock of Ages” salutes you. The hit Broadway musical comes to Spokane’s INB Performing Arts Center today for a four-day run as part of the Best of Broadway series.

A one-man show coming to Spokane on Wednesday will tell the story of legendary performer and African-American civil rights activist Paul Robeson. Robeson will be portrayed by Nigerian-born playwright and actor Tayo Aluko.

Sure, James Arness and Kelsey Grammer are in the record books for playing the same characters – Marshal Matt Dillon and Dr. Frasier Crane – for 20 years. Joe Bithorn has them both beat.

I remember when the building first went up, a few years ago. With its elaborate brick exterior and rounded front wall, it stood out on a patch of asphalt between a Taco Time and a music store on Fourth Street in Coeur d’Alene, just north of the freeway. When a sign went up announcing an Italian deli was coming soon, I waited in anticipation. And waited. Soon, the Italian deli sign went down, and the real estate signs went up. And the brand new building sat empty.

If you missed the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Spokane in November, you have a couple of chances to catch it in the Idaho Panhandle. The festival will be screened at the Panida Theater in Sandpoint at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Then it comes to the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Coeur d’Alene at 6 p.m. Jan. 27 and 28. Tickets are $14 in advance and $15 at the door.

He’s won an Oscar, two Emmys, five Golden Globes and five Grammys. He’s Mrs. Doubtfire. Garp. Genie. He’s Robin Williams, the notorious motor mouth, the man whose standup routines garnered acclaim for their off-the-wall craziness and their ability to change course in an instant. Mostly though, he’s a guy who’s been making us laugh since the late 1970s, when he donned a red spacesuit and said “Nanu nanu.”

This past week, the Fine Arts Gallery at Spokane Falls Community College opened its door to a full exhibit. Packed full.

K2 is a mountain, second tallest in the world, that lies on the border between China and Pakistan. “K2” is also a play, written by Patrick Meyers, that will open Friday at Lake City Playhouse in Coeur d’Alene.

Long before Billy Gardell landed on the CBS hit sitcom “Mike & Molly,” he paid his comedy dues on the road, spending two decades playing comedy clubs and opening for performers such as George Carlin and Dennis Miller. Or, has he put it: “It only took 23 years to be an overnight success.”

“Cool Yule,” Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre’s holiday cabaret show, will take on a new spin after Christmas. “So if you enjoyed it before Christmas, come back because it’s been changed to ring in the new year,” artistic director Roger Welch said in a news release. “Our cast still performs many of the favorite holiday tunes, but new ones have been added to keep the show fresh.”

This past spring, Mt. Spokane High School English teacher Bruce Holbert published his first novel, “Lonesome Animals,” with Counterpoint Press. Since then, the Western detective story has garnered good reviews from readers at amazon.com and critics at papers such as the Oregonian and Seattle Times, drawing comparisons to Larry McMurtry and Cormac McCarthy. Times critic Adam Woog called it “a brilliant and utterly compelling debut.” The book is getting some end of the year love, too. Woog put “Lonesome Animals” on his list of the year’s best mysteries, along with Dennis Lehane’s “Live by Night” and Peter Robinson’s “Before the Poison.”

It’s been more than month since the Spokane Symphony Orchestra sat upon the stage at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox. Their four-week labor dispute has been settled just in time for the annual Holiday Pops concert on Saturday and Sunday. The symphony, and resident conductor Morihiko Nakahara, warmed up this past weekend with “The Nutcracker,” accompanying the State Street Ballet from the Fox’s orchestra pit. Nothing like a little P.I. Tchaikovsky to get a group of musicians warmed up for holiday classics such as “Dance of the Tumblers” from “Snow Maiden,” “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Gloria.”

Iron Mike is coming to Spokane. Mike Tyson, former heavyweight champ – he of the “Hangover” cameo, facial tattoos, a prison record, and the ear incident – has performed a one-man show in Las Vegas and on Broadway. He’s now taking it on the road for a 36-city tour, and a stop at the INB Performing Arts Center on March 15 is on the agenda.