ARt sparkles with ‘Dazzle’

I cannot do my annual “best-of” local theater picks this year, mainly because I stayed entirely theater-free during a recent two-month sabbatical.

That means I missed a number of shows and – who knows? – I might have missed the season’s best plays and performances. For example, everybody I have talked to (including fill-in critic Jamie Tobias Neely) raved about Interplayers’ “Of Mice and Men.”

However, I did not want the 2005-06 season to pass without mentioning one show which I considered not only exceptional for this theater season, but which ranked amongst the best work I have seen in 17 years of reviewing in Spokane: “The Dazzle,” at the Actor’s Repertory Theatre in January.

When the curtain closed on this comedy-drama by Richard Greenberg about two reclusive New York brothers, I immediately began to ask myself: Is this the best play I have ever seen in Spokane?

“The Dazzle” remains extraordinarily vivid in my memory: the cluttered townhouse set; the brilliant but off-balance brother Langley; the brilliant but desperately unhappy brother Homer; the literate and cutting dialogue; the eccentric humor of the first act; and the Greek tragedy of the second act.

Michael Weaver’s direction was inspired and note-perfect, the natural culmination of years of experience and talent. Lead actors Tralen Doler and Mathew Ahrens fully inhabited their roles. If this wasn’t the best play I’ve ever seen in Spokane, it ranks in the Top Three, up there with “Wit” at the Spokane Civic Studio Theatre in 2002 and “Keely and Du” at Interplayers in 1994.

By the way, I must give a full-season achievement award to the Actor’s Repertory Theatre. Founders Weaver and Grant Smith have established it as thoroughly professional, artistically ambitious and dedicated to the highest ideals of theater.

The season featured a string of successes: “Mrs. Warren’s Profession,” “Absurd Person Singular,” “Born Yesterday” and, of course, “The Dazzle.” Spokane is fortunate to have ARt as a new part of its cultural life.

Nicks in mix

Stevie Nicks, the former Fleetwood Mac singer, has been added to the Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers concert Aug. 1 at the Spokane Arena.

Nicks and Petty fit well together, as proven in the 1981 hit duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” Audiences will hear that song, as well as a few others when Nicks joins Petty and the Heartbreakers for a “handful of songs,” according to the promoters. She is what they are calling a “surprise guest.”

Well, so much for that surprise.

Tickets are $59.50, $45 and $35, through TicketsWest outlets (509-325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).

City arts awards

Speaking of awards (real ones), nominations are being accepted for the annual City of Spokane Arts Awards in the categories of artists, arts organizations, philanthropists, business supporters, arts educators and “thankless martyrs.”

E-mail the Spokane Arts Commission at arts@spokanecity.org or call 625-6079 for a nomination form, or pick one up at the Chase Gallery in the lower level of Spokane City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.

The deadline for nominations is Sept. 1 and the awards will be presented in October.

A year of Ignite

Ignite Community Theatre, which has developed a loyal following in the Cajun Room at the Rendezvous Event Facility, 1003 E. Trent Ave., has announced its 2006-07 season.

The lineup:

•”The Mousetrap,” by Agatha Christie, Sept. 22-30.

•”Harvey,” by Mary Chase, Nov. 10-18.

•”Plaza Suite,” by Neil Simon, Feb. 23-March 3.

•”See How They Run,” by Philip King, April 27-May 5.

Season ticket prices are $40 for adults, $35 for seniors, students and military; call 993-6540 or e-mail info@ignitetheatre.org. Check out the Web site at www.ignitetheatre.org for more information.

New community theater

Also on the community theater front, Spokane’s new Christian Community Theatre makes its debut this week with a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at Spokane Community College’s Lair Auditorium.

This theater is not entirely new, however. The Christian Community Theatre is an all-ages division of the Christian Youth Theatre, which as been training kids and staging productions in Spokane since 1998.

This new entity was formed to give a chance for adults to share the stage with their kids. Of the 63 actors cast by director Nickle Van Wormer and musical director Michael Muzatko, eight are parents of children in the show.

Showtimes are 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. on Saturday and next Sunday. For tickets call 487-6540 or go to www.cytspokane.com.

Touring with Gino

Barry Aiken, a Coeur d’Alene keyboardist and music teacher, has joined Gino Vannelli’s tour this summer.

Remember Vannelli? He’s the Montreal-based singer-songwriter who had hits in the late ‘70s-early ‘80s with “People Gotta Move,” “I Just Wanna Stop” and “Living Inside Myself.” (No, he has no connection with Milli Vanilli.)

Aiken is taking time out from his own performing and teaching to play a series of dates in Canada and the U.S. Check out his Web site atwww.baremicmusic.com.

Ring-a-ding-ding

Just a reminder: The July Carillon Concerts at St. John’s Cathedral continue Thursday with master carillonneur (that’s what they call him) Peter Langberg from Denmark. David Johnson from St. Paul, Minn., will perform July 27.

The concerts begin at 7 p.m. You can hear these free concerts over a wide area, but the best place is probably on the grassy lawns of the cathedral, 12th Avenue and Grand Boulevard. The carillon rings out from the cathedral spires.