‘Rabbit Hole’ tops Kershner Awards

The Tony Awards were doled out last week, which means it’s high time to present our own theater awards: the S-R Critic’s Choice Awards.

Note the use of the singular in “critic’s.” These are my opinions, and mine only, earned through attending 30-plus shows in the 2007-08 season.

Here are my picks:

Best Play: “Rabbit Hole,” Actor’s Repertory Theatre – This David Lindsay-Abaire drama, about a couple dealing with the death of a child, rang devastatingly true. Everything – the script, the acting, the sets, the unflinching direction by Tralen Doler – contributed to the most moving theatrical experience of the season. For long stretches, I forgot I was in a theater. I was in a living room with the main characters, going through the five stages of grief. Far from depressing, it was cathartic.

Best Musical: “The Full Monty,” Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre – I have never seen an audience so raucous – and so happy. This G-string-rated version of the story about an unlikely crew of male strippers was surprisingly funny, tuneful and endearing. The production was an exemplary demonstration of the CdA Summer Theatre’s high professional standards, under the direction of Roger Welch. (This was from last summer; the new season has just gotten under way.)

Best Actress: Page Byers in “Rabbit Hole,” Actor’s Repertory Theatre – Byers, as the mother of a child killed in an accident, dug deeply into complicated and contradictory feelings of guilt, resentment, anger and resignation. When she met with the teenage driver who caused the accident, Byers resisted the urge to play angry. Instead, she showed her character trying, heartbreakingly, to comfort him.

Close runner-up: Kathie Doyle-Lipe, who demonstrated her range as a dramatic actress as the grandmother in “Rabbit Hole,” while also displaying her unsurpassed comic talents as the hick grandma in the Spokane Civic Theatre’s “The Foreigner.”

Best Actor: Patrick McHenry-Kroetch in “Man of La Mancha” and “Laughing Stock,” both at the Spokane Civic Theatre – McHenry-Kroetch could not have been more commanding and dignified as Cervantes/Quixote; he also delivered a quality “Impossible Dream.” Yet he was also an absolute hoot as the preening leading man (portraying Vlad the Impaler) in the backstage comedy “Laughing Stock.” He was an intrinsic part of the flat-out funniest scene of the year.

Best Season: Actor’s Repertory Theatre (ARt), which delivered not only the Pulitzer-winning “Rabbit Hole” but also the monumental “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” and the lighter successes “Souvenir,” “All the Great Books, Abridged” and “Pete ‘n’ Keely.”

Hession renewed

The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture has extended former Spokane mayor Dennis Hession’s contract as interim CEO for another 18 months.

Hession has held the job since December. Now, he’ll remain in that position through 2009. The national search for a permanent CEO has been suspended until July 2009.

Sue Bradley, president of the board of trustees, said the board wants to “capitalize on Dennis’s strengths in management, administration and budgeting.”

In other MAC news, David Brukardt has been elected the new board president. He will succeed Bradley on July 1.

Browne’s Addition concerts

Here’s the lineup of free Thursday evening concerts at the Coeur d’Alene Park Gazebo in Browne’s Addition (which is in Spokane, not Coeur d’Alene, just to confuse you):

July 3: Groove Patrol

July 10: Side Track

July 17: Karli Fairbanks

July 24: Dead Man’s Pants

July 31: Dru Heller Trio

Aug. 7: Joliene Felice and Siamese Kats

Aug. 14: Community Band

Aug. 21: Simply Strings

Aug. 28: Chutzpah

They all begin at 6 p.m. and end at 8.

Johnson’s ‘Pop’ returns

John Johnson’s “Improbable History of Pop” on KPBX-FM (Spokane Public Radio, 91.1) returns July 5 after a six-month hiatus.

The first show, “Keep It in the Family,” will chronicle such family acts as the Cowsills, the Partridge Family and the Osmonds.

The program will continue at 10 p.m. every Saturday.

The show went on hiatus while Johnson was absorbed in a time-consuming project with his day job.

Caliendo booked

Frank Caliendo, the impressionist and comedian, has been booked into the INB Performing Arts Center for a show on Sept. 19, 8 p.m.

Caliendo, an alumnus of “MadTV,” is the star of his own sketch comedy show, titled “Frank TV.”

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. through TicketsWest outlets (509-325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).

‘Radio Law’

Here’s a new weekly radio show you might want to check out: “Radio Law,” hosted by lawyer and Gonzaga law instructor Terry Sawyer, beginning Monday at noon on KYRS-FM (Thin Air Community Radio, 92.3 and 89.9).

He’ll take calls from listeners and answer legal questions.