Big Metallica Show Headed For A Sellout
Attention, Metallica fans, I have an … excuse me, could you turn down the music for a second? I have an announcement you may want to hear.
Don’t wait much longer if you want to purchase tickets to the big Metallica show at the Arena on May 16. Nearly 6,000 tickets sailed out of the box office during the first two days of sales and demand has been strong and steady in the ensuing two weeks.
Jack Lucas of G&B Select-a-Seat said all 11,000-plus tickets will sell out. This monster show is causing quite a sensation nationwide. A recent Detroit-area show was the top-grossing concert in the nation.
Lucas had a chance to see Metallica’s stage setup when he was down in Denver recently.
“It’s the largest setup I’ve seen in 17 years in this business,” he said.
The stage is 156 feet long, and will take up most of the Arena floor.
A New York Times reviewer said this of a recent show: “Flash pots exploded at the perimeters of the round, two-ring stages; gas jets spit curtains of fire; enormous light banks on jointed arms raised and lowered, threatening to crush the front rows.”
Who would want to miss that kind of fun?
Passing the Tesh
On the other hand, don’t worry about being too late for those John Tesh tickets (June 27, Spokane Opera House).
Plenty of good tickets remain.
Priggee goes comical
Milt Priggee, The Spokesman-Review’s own editorial cartoonist, is taking over half of the nationally syndicated comic strip “Us & Them.”
This strip runs in 100 papers, including The Spokesman-Review (which runs it on Sunday, but not daily). This strip alternates between a woman’s point of view, written and drawn by Susan Dewar , and a man’s point of view, originally by Wiley Miller.
Miller is dropping out of the strip because his other comic panel, “Non Sequitur,” has been a big success and demands all of his time. Miller, who knows Priggee, contacted him and asked him if he wanted to take over.
“This is what I’ve always wanted to do,” said Priggee. “When I first got out of college, I wanted to do a comic strip.”
Events led him into editorial cartooning instead. Now, he will do both, writing and drawing the strip after his editorial duties are finished. Because he alternates days with Dewar, the daily grind is actually only an every-other-day grind.
Priggee takes over on March 31. His first strip in The Spokesman-Review will be April 6.
The Hutchings saga
The April issue of Men’s Journal magazine includes a huge (10-page) story about the Donald Hutchings ordeal in Kashmir.
This well-written and chilling story, by Sebastian Junger, chronicles the events from the day a band of militants kidnapped Hutchings, a Spokane neuropsychologist, and three other trekkers. Hutchings has not been heard from in more than a year.
The story also includes an extensive interview with his wife, Jane Schelly.
Hope still remains.
A brand new ‘Baby Doe’
When personal reasons forced Karen Beardsley to withdraw last month from the Uptown Opera’s May production of “The Ballad of Baby Doe,” it looked as if the entire production might be in jeopardy. The part of Baby Doe Tabor is demanding.
Fortunately, the Uptown Opera has discovered a new Baby Doe: Camille Kowash, a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music’s Opera Program. The show will go on as scheduled, May 23-31 at The Met.
The Hernandez update
Speaking of opera, the career of Spokane’s Frank Hernandez is rolling along at a presto pace.
This month, he will sing the role of Papageno in the primary cast of the Houston Grand Opera’s “The Magic Flute.” That is the same role he once sang with the Uptown Opera.
Hernandez has also been invited to sing with the Berlin Philharmonic during the upcoming season. He was a winner of last year’s Pavarotti Competition.
The bride of Frank
One more Hernandez note: Frank will return to the Uptown Opera in September to sing the role of Gugliemo in Mozart’s “Cosi fan Tutte.” The role of Despina will be sung by Jan Grissom, a singer with whom he has a particular rapport.
Grissom and Hernandez will be married in Tupelo, Miss., in May.
Norton on the harp
Harmonica master Norton Buffalo will preside over a harp clinic Monday at 6 p.m. at the Fort Spokane Brewery in Spokane.
No sign-up is necessary, but a $10 fee will be collected at the door.
Buffalo will perform at the Waterin’ Hole in Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday, and at the Bayou Brewing Co. on Thursday.
Gifts to the Children’s Museum
This isn’t a bad way to kick off a fund-raising drive: three big grants.
The Children’s Museum of Spokane recently received a $10,000 grant from Foundation Northwest; a $1,000 grant from the Carl Hansen Foundation; and a grant from the Women Helping Women Fund, amount to be announced.
The Children’s Museum wants to raise $500,000 to open a permanent museum by the end of 1997.
Civic’s 50th Gala
The Spokane Civic Theatre held its 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner Party on March 1 at the Crescent Court, and it turned out to be a moving and entertaining tribute to some of the veterans of Spokane theater.
Betty Tomlinson performed a monologue from “The Skin of Our Teeth”; Homer Mason performed a scene from “Death of a Salesman”; and Byron Swanson performed “The Impossible Dream” from “Man of La Mancha.”
All of these scenes were first seen decades ago on the Civic stage by these same people.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo
MEMO: To leave a message on Jim Kershner’s voice-mail, call 459-5493. Or send e-mail to jimk@spokesman.com, or regular mail to Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.