Huckleberries: ‘Crucible’ boasts political players; ‘Sweeney’ superb

Ron Lahr, president of Kootenai County’s Reagan Republicans, tells Huckleberries that he speaks four words in “The Crucible.” Which is the intense play about the 1692-’93 Salem witch trials in Massachusetts that’ll be performed at the Jacklin Arts & Cultural Center, 405 William St., Post Falls, Thursday through Saturday and March 14-16. Jared Helm directs. Tongue firmly cheeked, conservative Ron said: “The subject matter appealed to me.” Two other Reagan Republican board members are also involved in the production: Jeff Ward and Lora Gervais. Lahr smiled when Huckleberries asked whether the Reagan Republicans had taken a position on witch trials … Speaking of local plays, director George Green had two instructions for the audience prior to the Lake City Playhouse production of “Sweeney Todd” on Feb. 22: “If you like the play, tell others.” And for those who didn’t? “Tell them that you did anyway.” But there was no need to fib. “Sweeney,” which closes today, is superb, as is the job Green is doing at Lake City Playhouse. … Among the Lake City Playhouse audience that night were John Travolta’s sister Ellen and her hubby, Jack Bannon.

It smells like …

Credit Sid Frederickson and his Merry Men at the Coeur d’Alene wastewater treatment plant with that tongue-in-cheek sign on the west fence along the Centennial Trail – you know, the green one with a red bull’s-eye that reads: “For additional aromatherapy, press here.” Double dog dare you to do it … A transient who’d set up camp 20 feet behind the Dumpster at I-90’s eastbound Huetter rest stop discovered that the state of Idaho can’t spare a square. He was visited by gendarmes for taking “things” from the restroom Tuesday … After learning that a country-western bar will replace the seedy Torch/Rendezvous bikini bar on Coeur d’Alene Avenue, Councilman Dan Gookin deadpanned: “So now instead of people throwing up on the sidewalk, they’ll be throwing up on the sidewalk while wearing a cowboy hat” … That blog comment prompted former city financial whiz John Austin to joke: “A termite walks into the bar and says ‘Is the bar tender here?’ ” Think about it.

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: “More frightful than zombies/whose open sores fester,/the sharp slashing fangs of/the dreaded Sequester” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“D.C. Nightmare”) … The court will decide whether Larry Craig was on official U.S. Senate business – and eligible to use campaign contributions for his legal defense – when he toe-tapped his way into a national punch line in that Minneapolis airport restroom. But the statute of limitations on Craig bathroom jokes will never run out … Dunno whether to send Larry Kenck of Post Falls congratulations or condolences for being named chairman of Idaho’s superminority Democratic Party … How bad were road conditions on U.S. Highway 95 over Mica Hill, south of Coeur d’Alene, Friday afternoon, Feb. 22? One ISP trooper advised a buddy trying to get to the scene of a multivehicle accident: “You’re not going to make it up unless you’re moving.” To which the second trooper responded: “I’m not sure I can make it up (Mica Hill) even if I am moving” … Scanner traffic heard by Alison Boggs in Spokane newsroom: “Is that Cruise as in Penelope (Cruz) or Tom (Cruise)?”

Parting shot

Joe Rickey Hundley’s alleged slap and racial epithet of a toddler on that Delta flight into Atlanta has been heard around the nation – courtesy of AP, UPI, YouTube, ABC News, Fox News, Daily Kos, Huffington Post, the Onion, Smoking Gun, columnist Leonard Pitts. And et cetera. However, the Coeur d’Alene Press notes that the Onion failed to mention that Hundley is from Hayden. Of such oversights are silver linings constructed.