Stage

Whitworth University will welcome performance poet and film producer Natasha T. Miller as its latest scholar-in-residence for the seventh annual Diversity Monologues, a program that showcases the diverse stories of Whitworth students. Miller will emcee the event at 7 p.m. Thursday in Cowles Auditorium.

Harry J. Riley – Local comedian best-known for winning Spokane Valleyfest PG Comedy Competition twice. Riley also was featured on "Z Nation." Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague Ave. $5. (509) 318-9998.

If you're feeling lucky, take a shot at the "Hamilton" lottery. Producer Jeffrey Seller and WestCoast Entertainment will have a digital lottery for "Hamilton" tickets in conjunction with the Tony Award-winning musical's run May 3-22 at First Interstate Center for the Arts.

There has never been a comic like Gilbert Gottfried. The diminutive humorist wasn't even like the abrasive and daring persona he created. Gottfried, who passed away at 67 due to muscular dystrophy in New York on Tuesday, was a brilliant comic, an exceptional voice actor and a surprisingly laidback, soft-spoken gentleman.

The flash sellout of tickets for Paul McCartney’s April 28 concert at Spokane Arena illustrates that you can’t always get what you want when it comes to watching rock legends perform live, but for some fans, a tribute band is the next best thing.

Greg Fitzsimmons had a flashback when Will Smith recently slapped Chris Rock during the Academy Awards. While performing in Boston in 1993, a member of the audience jumped onstage and assaulted the veteran comic. "This guy ... came up and challenged me (verbally)," Fitzsimmons recalled. 

Individual and group tickets to Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre’s 2022 production of “Mamma Mia” are on sale now. Opening July 1, the show will run through July 10 at the Schuler Performing Arts Center at North Idaho College. Single-ticket buyers can now apply the cost of any single ticket toward a season ticket package.

To repeat what is a cold take by now, for a show titled “Funny Girl,” the story is a remarkably sad one. Set in New York City before and following World War I, “Funny Girl” is a semi-biographical musical account of the life of Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice and her loving but ultimately toxic relationship with Nicky Arnstein.

Ben Bailey – Host of the six-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning "Cash Cab" and has appeared on late-night TV shows, daytime talk shows and hosts a podcast titled "Tall But True." Showtimes April 22 and 23, 7:30 and 10 p.m. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague Ave. $22-$33. (509) 318-9998.

LOS ANGELES — Gilbert Gottfried, the actor and legendary standup comic known for his raw, scorched voice and crude jokes, has died. He was 67. Gottfried died from a rare genetic muscle disease that can trigger a dangerously abnormal heartbeat, his publicist and longtime friend Glenn Schwartz said in a statement.

Multiple Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor Maria Schneider joins forces with the Whitworth Jazz Band to perform several of Schneider’s original jazz compositions. Rescheduled from late 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, this event marks the university’s 33rd Annual Guest Artist Jazz Concert.

Tickets are now on sale for Laura Little Productions’ 10th annual “Traditions of Christmas” holiday show. Performances will run from Dec. 9-22. Auditions are Aug. 15-16. Full of dance numbers, holiday medleys and various tributes, “Traditions of Christmas” is a Radio City Music Hall-style show.

Shen Yun – Shen Yun is a brilliant artistic revival and celebration of China’s rich cultural heritage. Each performance consists of about 20 pieces quickly moving from one legend, region or dynasty to the next. Themes range from the delicate elegance of Tang court ladies to the battlefield heroics of valiant generals.

About a decade ago, a drunken heckler who was verbally abusive from the start of Bob Saget's set stood up and walked toward the stage. Fortunately, the disruptive member of the audience was immediately corralled by security and ejected from the suburban Philadelphia venue.

Born to a pair of “huge opera fans,” Seattle-based stage director Dan Wallace Miller’s childhood was filled with the artform in a host of ways. Following Dawn Wolski, Miller will take on the role of artistic director at Inland Northwest Opera in the coming season. “I was dyed in the wool pretty early,” he said.

Penn & Teller, the longtime entertaining magicians and scientific skeptics, will finally make up their 2021 date at Northern Quest Resort & Casino on Friday. Teller, 74, the smaller and silent member of the veteran duo, called from Las Vegas to discuss his start in magic, how he selects guests to join the duo onstage and more.

Directed by Jake Schaefer with musical direction by Henry McNulty, Spokane Civic Theatre’s production of “Funny Girl” opens Friday at 7:30 p.m. Delayed one week by material shortages and other supply chain issues, the show will run through April 24. The story plays out in a flashback by Fanny Brice (Kalla Mort).

Tim Allen – A night of standup with the star of “Last Man Standing" and "Home Improvement" and the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the “Toy Story” movies. Friday, 8 p.m. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. $49-$112. (509) 279-7000.

NEW YORK — Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars provoked intense opinions online, especially from comedians who felt it was an assault on their art. “Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a comedian,” Kathy Griffin wrote on Twitter.