Here Comes Helen Reddy, Sans Singing
Helen Reddy is coming to The Met, but this will be the acting Helen, not the singing Helen.
She’ll be performing “Shirley Valentine,” the one-woman play by Willy Russell about an unhappy British housewife, on Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. It’s part comedy and part drama, but in no way a musical.
Most of us remember Helen Reddy as the singer of such woman-power anthems of the ‘70s as “I Am Woman” and “Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady.” She had 12 other Top 40 hits in the ‘70s, including “Delta Dawn,” “Angie Baby,” “Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)” and “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” (giving Andrew Lloyd Webber his first chart hit).
Her acting was limited to a starring role in a Disney movie about a lovable dragon (“Pete’s Dragon”).
However, since then Reddy has forged quite a successful stage career. She just concluded an acclaimed run in London’s West End as the star of the smash “Blood Brothers,” also by Willy Russell.
In any case, ticket-buyers so far seem happy to see Reddy in her non-singing mode. Tickets for “Shirley Valentine” are already flying out of the box office, according to Met manager Michael Smith. Get them through G&B Select-a-Seat (325-7328).
311 is indeed coming
The band 311 is, absolutely, coming to Pullman on Nov. 6 as scheduled.
A radio station has been incorrectly reporting that the show has been canceled. Apparently, a DJ somewhere got 311’s American tour confused with their European tour, which was cut short.
Not only is the Pullman show still on, but a Missoula show is scheduled for Nov. 7. It will be at the University of Montana’s Adams Field House, also within easy striking distance of Inland Northwest fans. Both shows are at 7:30 p.m., and both feature Sugar Ray and Incubus as opening acts.
For tickets to the Pullman show at Beasley, call (800) 325-7328. For tickets to the Missoula show, call (888) 342-4830.
‘Love Always’ reviews
The national reviews for the Spokane-filmed “Love Always” are beginning to trickle in, and - The critics don’t love “Love.”
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it “no more than a minor accomplishment” and says that the well-done ending makes “what has gone before seem all the more mediocre.”
Lawrence Van Gelder of the New York Times calls it “a long time on the road to nowhere.”
William Arnold of the Seattle P-I calls it a “dim-witted Gen-X road movie.”
Ouch.
There have been some favorable reviews, too, including one from Jeffrey Lyons of WNBC in New York, who used the words “utterly charming.”
The fate of the movie may be settled by Monday or Tuesday, when the box office results come in. It opened Friday in limited release in 12 cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. If it does well in those cities, it should go into wide release. If not, this “Love” will be anything but “Always.”
Big-time cabaret names
Dempsey’s Brass Rail Cabaret has lined up some of the top names in the cabaret business for its upcoming shows.
Susannah Mars, who arrives Oct. 22-23 at 8 p.m., is a Portland singer and actress who recently played Danny’s Skylight Room in New York, prompting a gushing review in Backstage magazine.
Then comes Paula West, Nov. 11-14 at 8 p.m., who is truly one of cabaret’s stars. She is a regular at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, and she recently played a celebrated engagement at the center of the cabaret universe, the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel in New York.
Call 747-5362 for reservations.
Welcome back, Joe
A voice from the past is back on the air at KPBX-FM (91.1), Spokane Public Radio.
Joe Zupan has returned as a reporter and local host of “All Things Considered.” Zupan was gone for two years while he worked in the South Pacific with the Peace Corps.
This is actually Zupan’s fifth (fifth!) go-round with KPBX. He first started there as a jazz host in the early 1980s.
News alert!
Did anyone else think KXLY-4’s breaking news bulletin on Monday Night Football last week was a bit odd?
We waited, adrenaline pumping, to see what calamity had occurred. Was Clinton assassinated? Did Sadaam attack? Then we saw a reporter breathlessly saying that a Spokane police officer had been stabbed. She also said something about his “body” being loaded on an ambulance.
Meanwhile, the visuals showed the officer, alert and speaking, on the ambulance gurney.
His injuries were not critical. The next day’s paper contained a brief story on page B3.
I understand that in TV these decisions must be made on the run, but maybe it would be wise to get just a little more information before getting us viewers all agitated.
, DataTimes MEMO: Spotlight is weekly column of news and commentary on the arts and media. To leave a message on Jim Kershner’s voice-mail, call 459-5493.