Stage

Whether you’ve only heard “Sympathique” ("Je ne veux pas travailler") or you know the words to every song (despite them being written in 25 different languages), a Pink Martini performance is not to be missed. And, as ticket sales for this Saturday’s show with the Spokane Symphony prove, it’s clear that locals agree. 

I was invited to a sneak preview and full rehearsal of the late Terrence McNally’s controversial 1998 play “Corpus Christi,” in which the life and crucifixion of Jesus Christ is reimagined as a young gay man named Joshua in Corpus Christi, at Stage Left Theater on Jan. 20.

Vanna Oh! is one of Spokane’s most vivacious and outrageous rock personalities. Her music has been the grindy, catchy vein of rock that you just can’t wring out of your head. It’s outright headbanging music with the crazy cool energy to match. Which is why the latest record from Vanna Oh! might come as a surprise. 

"The Play That Goes Wrong" – Welcome to opening night of the Cornley Drama Society’s newest production "The Murder at Haversham Manor," where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous, including an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead and actors who trip over everything.

As far back as her memory serves – from high school musicals to performing on international stages and on through the unexpected but rewarding challenge of running a regional opera company – music, and especially singing, has always been a part of Dawn Wolski’s life.

Jeremy Whittington, 50, cobbled together a team of fellow artists and community partners willing to push the limitations of theater past its traditional physical space and into the new world of virtual production. Stage Left Theater lit up once again, only with seats emptied and with masks and cameras on.

After nearly two years of pandemic-driven delays, Stage Left Theater marks its official return to live theater this weekend with the season-opener “Corpus Christi.” The controversial 1998 play by the late Terrence McNally draws upon the biblical narrative of the life of Jesus, but with a queer twist.

Jess Walter, if you're taking a break from writing your latest novel and have an hour to spare, you're cordially invited to catch Greg Warren over the weekend at Spokane Comedy Club. "My favorite author is Jess Walter," Warren gushed while calling from his St. Louis home. "I love that guy!"

The late Terrence McNally’s controversial play “Corpus Christi” kicks off Stage Left Theater’s 2022 season Friday night and continues through Feb. 6. Here are Stage Left’s other productions, alongside “Corpus Christi,” scheduled for this year through November.

The year's first installment of the Fox Presents: National Geographic Live series, “The Secret Life of Bears,” will feature carnivore ecologist Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant as she delivers a presentation on the behavior of bears. Wynn-Grant hopes greater understanding will enable humans and carnivores to coexist peacefully.

Quiero Flamenco: Clasica – an evening featuring both classical and Spanish music and dance, featuring flamenco performers from across the country. Saturday, 7 p.m. Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, Gonzaga University, 211 E. Desmet Ave. $21.50-$31. (509) 313-2787.

Comic and actor Pauly Shore will reflect on his fascinating career when he headlines Spokane Comedy Club on Friday and Saturday nights. The former MTV VJ will wax about his surreal childhood when it was common for comic icons such as Richard Pryor and Sam Kinison to be hanging in his living room in the wee hours.

You might expect an evening programmed with works by Richard Wagner and Anton Bruckner to fall on the heavier side, but, as Spokane Symphony conductor laureate Eckart Preu explained, you might be surprised. “There are all these preconceived notions of what these composers are like,” Preu said.

Jon "Polar Bear" Gonzalez – Jon "Polar Bear" Gonzalez is a standup comedian, podcaster and entertainer living in the heart of Texas. After getting involved in the local comedy scene, he quickly found success through the release of multiple comedy skits that went viral on Facebook and TikTok.

There is something comforting about "Fiddler on the Roof." For nearly 60 years, this musical comedy about an exasperated Jewish milkman in tsarist Russia who clings to tradition while facing monumental change has charmed audiences with its wit, heart and iconic music.

Growing up in the Philippines in the province of Cebu, Gatieh Nacario couldn’t remember a time in his life without art. His earliest memories, whether of spending time with family at home or with friends on the playground, are filled with creating. “My friends always asked me to draw things at recess,” Nacario, 48, said.

Adrienne Iapalucci, 43, cracks wise about female teachers having sexual relationships with their students. "And that happens so often that I think we have to ask men, 'What are you doing that these women are being swept off their feet by 13-year-olds?' "

“There’s something about this show (and) I've heard this from every director I've ever talked to about it,” Troy Nickerson said. Nickerson directed “Fiddler on the Roof” with Heather McHenry Kroetch at Spokane Civic Theatre in 2014, the last local production. “It's one of those shows where … it changes you.”

Preceded by “a pandemic, protests and economic jolts,” the “Roaring Twenties” may provide a series of lessons as we continue through the 2020s. Promoted by Humanities Washington, historian William Woodward will give a lecture on these lessons in an attempt to “shed light on ways for us to move forward.”