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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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A&E >  Entertainment

Putting a special touch on a holiday staple

It’s become as reliable a tradition as any: Every year around Christmas, like clockwork, P.I. Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet “The Nutcracker” is performed all over the world. The State Street Ballet, which is based in Santa Barbara, Calif., has toured internationally with its version of the holiday favorite, and next week marks its third consecutive year performing with the Spokane Symphony. We spoke with three people who are involved in the Symphony’s upcoming production about their personal relationships with “The Nutcracker” and why it remains important as a Christmas tradition.
A&E >  Entertainment

‘RED 2’ has too much to live up to

Antiheroes are featured in this week’s new DVD releases. • “RED 2,” C-plus: There was a playfulness to the 2010 action film “RED,” directed by Robert Schwentke, that elevated it above the standard action film offering.
A&E >  Entertainment

Seasoned actors at their best in Pinter, Beckett

NEW YORK – For those who crave more than a single dose of ennui onstage, rejoice: The theater gods have given you two inscrutably postmodern classics this season. They’ve also been so kind as to throw in a pair of theater gods. An existential double bill of “No Man’s Land” by Harold Pinter and “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett opened Sunday at the Cort Theatre, offering two knights at their peerless best: Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart And the two supporting actors – Billy Crudup and Shuler Hensley – each have Tony Awards.
A&E >  Entertainment

10 under $10

1 Festival of Fair Trade 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Community Building, 35 W. Main Ave. Handcrafts, clothing, jewelry, pottery and more directly from the producers in Nepal, Mexico, Guatemala and Chile. There will also be a screening of “Moving Beyond Paralysis: Steps for Making Positive Change,” at 2 p.m. Saturday at The Magic Lantern. A discussion will follow. Proceeds benefit Power of 5, which raises money to help girls stay in school in Nepal, a country where a girl’s education is often the lowest priority due to poverty and cultural expectations. (509) 448-6561. Admission: FREE, with suggested donation of $5 for film screening 2 The Coeur d’Alene Resort Holiday Light Show 5 p.m. Friday, Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second St., Coeur d’Alene. Includes a lighted parade through downtown, Christmas carols, candle lighting and a expansive fireworks show over Lake Coeur d’Alene. (208) 765-4000. Admission: FREE
A&E >  Entertainment

7 Nights Out

1 Pearl Jam Seattle-based rock band hits Spokane on its latest 24-date tour, in support of the new album “Lightning Bolt.” With fellow Seattle rockers Mudhoney.
A&E >  Entertainment

Alive … and well

As the Seattle rock band Pearl Jam marches to the end of its latest U.S. tour, the reviews are in. And the reviews say fans lucky enough to score tickets to Saturday’s sold-out show at the Spokane Arena can expect a rockin’ and raucous night.
A&E >  Entertainment

Mother-daughter-produced Cowgirl Caramels make holiday debut

Heat things up this winter with a little habanero in your Christmas caramels. Cowgirl Caramels, made by Alyson Paredes and her daughter Demi Paredes, are now for sale at the temporary To Market kiosk in River Park Square in downtown Spokane. The holiday kiosk opened Nov. 1 and keeps mall hours through Dec. 31.
A&E >  Entertainment

On sale

Tickets to see the following shows go on sale Monday through TicketsWest: • Keb’ Mo’ , pictured above, May 3 at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman. $17, $27 and $34.
A&E >  Entertainment

10 under $10

1 “The Fantasticks” Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Eastern Washington University, EWU Theatre, Cheney. The narrator, El Gallo, asks the audience to use imagination and follow him into a world of moonlight and magic. The boy and the girl fall in love, grow apart, and finally find their way back to each other after realizing the truth in El Gallo’s words that “without a hurt, the heart is hollow.” (509) 359-2459. Admission: $10 2 Spokane Symphony Mini “Nutcracker”  Performance 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and Nov. 30-Dec. 1, River Park Square, 808 W. Main Ave., Nordstrom corridor. Musicians from the Spokane Symphony will help usher in the holiday season with music from “The Nutcracker.” (509) 363-0304.
A&E >  Entertainment

‘American’ appeal

In 2004, the pop-punk trio Green Day proved they had more in them than songs about getting off and getting high. In their ambitious album “American Idiot,” the Berkeley-based trio – Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt – raged against the Bush administration, against apathy, against post-9/11 paranoia. As Pitchfork noted in its review, “For all its grandiosity, ‘American Idiot’ keeps its mood and method deliberately, tenaciously, and angrily on point.”
A&E >  Entertainment

CdA rolls out red carpet

Coeur d’Alene got a little taste of Hollywood on Nov. 13 during the red carpet world premiere of “Without a Ladder.” Tuxedo-clad gentlemen and ladies in their finest evening wear milled around the red carpet at Regal Cinemas Riverstone until the sound of drums alerted them that the film’s stars were on the way.
A&E >  Entertainment

Cummins draws from the dark side

On his latest album “Hear This,” comedian Dan Cummins recognizes how weird his job is. “The most common question I get is, ‘So, you gonna be funny tonight?’” he says. “If it was up to me, yes. That’s the horrible part of this job. I have to rely on a lot of other people to get it done every single time.” That gag seems to sum up Cummins’ stand-up persona: He’s a gleeful misanthropist, particularly perceptive at spotting the worst in others (example: blaming your audience for not laughing at your jokes), and his material, which combines the absurdist with the observational, frequently veers unexpectedly into darkness. It’s like Jerry Seinfeld by way of Mitch Hedberg or Steven Wright.
A&E >  Entertainment

Documentary pays tribute to ‘Calvin’ and strip’s creator

If, when you first heard about “Dear Mr. Watterson,” you feared it was going to be some grotesque exercise along the lines of stalking J. D. Salinger, you can relax. Joel Allen Schroeder’s documentary is a devoted fan’s earnest appreciation of the “Calvin & Hobbes” comic strip. It is not an invasion of famously reclusive creator Bill Watterson’s privacy.
A&E >  Entertainment

Drama adeptly tackles AIDS crisis

What’s been missing from all the movies about AIDS and the history of the AIDS crisis is that Matthew McConaughey swagger. And we never would have realized that if he hadn’t made “Dallas Buyers Club.” Here’s a film about the early years of the crisis packed with a healthy dose of evolving attitudes about AIDS and homosexuality and good-ol’-boy get-’er-done optimism. And if McConaughey and his co-star Jared Leto don’t earn Oscar nominations for “Buyers Club,” I’ll eat my 10-gallon hat.
A&E >  Entertainment

Flavorful throwback

Volstead Act doesn’t have the old-school ambiance of a bygone era. The new downtown Spokane bar, named for the law that launched Prohibition, has a look that is semi-industrial and elegant, but – by design – not pretentious.
A&E >  Entertainment

‘Games’ installment far from fiery

It begins with a 90-minute fashion show masquerading as a sci-fi epic, and ends abruptly. Because “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” is the most female-friendly/runway ready sci-fi franchise ever, and the latest film in the four-film trilogy is meant to be a cliffhanger, after all.
A&E >  Entertainment

‘Hunger Games’s’ Lawrence stays grounded as her career takes off

LOS ANGELES – Last year, during an interview to promote “The Hunger Games,” Jennifer Lawrence talked about how blessed she felt to ride the Batman roller coaster at Six Flags after the park had closed. Though she had earned an Oscar nomination for “Winter’s Bone,” Lawrence was not yet a household name. That happened when “The Hunger Games” was released in March 2012.
A&E >  Entertainment

Meat Puppets bring enduring punk sound to the Hop

In the years he was in the spotlight, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain brought attention to a number of artists who might not otherwise have received notice. The Vaselines, the Raincoats, the Wipers, Daniel Johnston – they all benefited from Cobain’s cheerleading. None of them took the rock scene by storm the way Nirvana did, but there’s no question that Cobain played an integral part in their indie popularity.
A&E >  Entertainment

‘Planes’ lacks originality, but fun enough for DVD

Animation and comedy are part of Tuesday’s new DVD releases. • “Planes,” B: The film draws on a common theme of Disney movies: A young dreamer longs for a bigger life. In this case, it’s Dusty, a crop-dusting plane (voiced by Dane Cook) who is in a tailspin over his ambition to race. Win, lose or get drawn, the journey is the most important part of the story.
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