Spotlight: Impressive lineup set for Sandpoint
A swanky cocktail lounge. A dance with Mr. Jones. A trip into the danger zone.
All this and more are on tap this summer as the Festival at Sandpoint celebrates its 30th year.
The festival will kick off Aug. 2 with an appearance by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the legendary male a capella chorus from South Africa, and Johnny Clegg. Also from South Africa, Clegg – dubbed Le Zoulou Blanc (White Zulu) – is a singer, songwriter, dancer and activist who blends Zulu and English words in his lyrics.
On Aug. 3, Alison Krauss + Union Station bring their signature country-bluegrass-gospel sound to the Idaho Panhandle. Joining them will be multi-Grammy winner Jerry Douglas on dobro, and rising star Kacey Musgraves.
On Aug. 4, the Barenaked Ladies will perform their lighthearted pop rock – with hits such as “One Week” and “If I Had $1,000,000” – and will be joined by LeRoy Bell & His Only Friends. Bell was a finalist on the recent season of “X Factor.”
The annual Family Concert, on Aug. 5, will feature the Spokane Youth Orchestra and Sandpoint’s Studio One Dancers.
If you prefer your lounge pop served shaken, not stirred, Pink Martini might be the ticket on Aug. 9. The orchestra from Portland plays a blend of classic, jazz and old-fashioned pop, served on the rocks with Latin rhythms and other global accents.
Counting Crows, who scored a big hit in 1993 with “Mr. Jones” and nabbed an Oscar nomination for “Accidentally in Love” from “Shrek 2,” will headline on Aug. 10. The show also features We are Augustines, Kasey Anderson and The Honkies, and Field Report.
Aug. 11 will bring Kenny Loggins to the festival stage. From “Footloose,” “I’m All Right,” and “Danger Zone,” it seemed you couldn’t have a hit movie soundtrack in the 1980s without Loggins, who got his start as half of Loggins and Messina. Also on the bill are Stephen Ashbrook and local favorite Doug Bond.
The festival ends on Aug. 12 with a French-themed concert by the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gary Sheldon. Guest soloists Jonah Kim, cello; Camille Miller, violin; and Rhonda Bradetich, flute; will join in performing Georges Bizet’s Suite No. 1 from “L’Arlesienne,” Cécile Chaminade’s Concertino, Jules Massenet’s Meditation from “Thais,” Camille Saint-Saens’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso and Bacchanale from “Samson and Delilah,” Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero,” Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme and Jacques Offenbach’s Suite from “Gaite Parisienne/Dances and Can Can.”
Tickets are on sale now in The Festival at Sandpoint office in the Old Power House, 120 E. Lake St., Suite 207 in Sandpoint, by phone through the festival office, (208) 265-4554 or toll free (888) 265-4554, online at www.festivalatsandpoint.com or through all TicketsWest outlets, (800) 325-SEAT or www.ticketswest.com.>
Lake City Playhouse in Coeur d’Alene is offering an evening of sneak peeks on Thursday: Check out progress on the theater’s renovation and catch “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” before the official opening. The doors will open at 6:30, and the show will begin at 7:30. The $15 ticket price includes the show, appetizers and beverages. For details, call the theater at (208) 667-1323. The playhouse is located at 1320 E. Garden Ave. The show opens officially on Friday. Subscription sales are under way for Interplayers Professional Resident Theatre’s 2012-’13 season. The season includes: • “Always … Patsy Cline,” Sept. 13-Oct. 6, directed by Michael Weaver and starring Cheyenne Nelson, one of only four actresses approved by the estate of Patsy Cline to play the legendary country singer. • “Incorruptible,” Oct. 25-Nov. 10, is a comedy by Michael Hollinger about a medieval monastery in need of a miracle. Patrick Treadway directs and Weaver heads an ensemble cast. • “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play,” Nov. 29-Dec. 30, written by Joe Landry adapts Frank Capra’s 1946 holiday classic. Jeffrey Sanders will direct. • “Boom,” Jan. 24-Feb. 9, a comedy by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb is directed by Dawn Taylor Reinhardt. • “Sirens,” Feb. 28-March 16, is a comedy by Deborah Zoe Laufer and will star local opera favorite Dawn Wolski. Thomas White directs. • “Speech and Debate,” April 4-21, is a young adult drama by Stephen Karam and includes overtones of a 2004 Spokane sex scandal. Marilyn Langbehn directs. • “Seeds of Change,” by Spokane playwright Craig Rickett, will close the season May 9-26. This world premiere comedy will be directed by Reed McColm, Interplayers’ artistic director. Season tickets are available through the box office, 174 S. Howard St., (509) 455-7529, or through TicketsWest outlets. Individual shows go on sale Aug. 8. Want to show support for fresh-faced student musicians? Head out to the Spokane Arena on Tuesday for the annual Spokane Public Schools’ Fifth and Sixth Grade Band and Strings Spectacular. The concert begins at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public, although donations will be accepted. The show includes more than 2,800 students representing every elementary school in the district. District officials bill the concert as a way to celebrate music and thank the community for its support of schools. The Theater of Landscape and Community Visting Artist Lecture Series will conclude Wednesday with a workshop and lecture by street artist and activist Swoon. Her street works incorporate abandoned buildings and elaborate constructions. She’s participated in three collective projects to create rafts of scavenged and recycled material. With her Konbit Shelter project in Haiti, she’s is working with the community to build inexpensive, permanent and earthquake-safe structures that also function as works of art. The Brooklyn-based artist also is known for her oversized linoleum prints on paper. She will hold a workshop for Eastern Washington University and Spokane Falls Community College students only from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday in the SFCC Fine Arts Building 6. Then she will give a lecture at 6:30 p.m. that night in the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture Auditorium, 2316 W. First Ave. It is free and open to the public; a reception will follow. For infomation: Tom O’Day, (509) 533-3746 or tomo@spokanefalls.edu; Nancy Hathaway, (509) 359-7070 or nhathaway@ewu.edu.Remodeled ‘Business’
New season at Interplayers
Students take Arena stage
Swooning for art