Extra Week Added For ‘Phantom’

“Phantom of the Opera” has been extended for a fourth week at the Spokane Opera House.

The initial three-week run, from Feb. 23 to March 12, is already nearly sold out. Only 2,500 tickets remain out of 62,000.

This strong response convinced the Cameron Mackintosh/Really Useful Theatre Company, Inc., to open up the fourth week, which has been held in reserve at the Opera House.

The fourth week will begin on March 13 and run through March 18.

As of now, the tickets for this fourth week are available only to “Miss Saigon” patrons and Best of Broadway season subscribers. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Jan. 21, 10 a.m., through G&B Select-a-Seat and Ticketswest.com.

This development comes as vindication for both Cameron Mackintosh’s company and Best of Broadway. Both took considerable risks bringing a show of this size and cost (tickets range up to $67.50) into a market this size.

Now, if the fourth week sells out, the total audience for Spokane’s “Phantom” run will exceed 82,000 - this, in a city with a population of about 190,000.

KHQ scores a sweep

Nielsen has released its November sweeps ratings and the news is good, good and good at KHQ-6.

KHQ-6 leads in all three of the major news slots - make that four if you count the increasingly important early morning news.

However, the more tantalizing question concerns a different time slot altogether: Who’s winning the 10 p.m. news battle?

This is the first ratings period to pit Fox News at 10 on KAYU-28 against KSKN-22’s 10 p.m. news, produced by KREM. KSKN wins the first round, although as you can see by the numbers below, viewers are still not exactly flocking to either newscast.

Here are the numbers, based on total households, courtesy of Nielsen:

6 a.m.

KHQ: 4.8 rating, 30 share.

KXLY: 3, 18.6.

KREM: 1.4, 8.9. 5 p.m.

KHQ: 11.2 rating, 24.7 share.

KREM: 10.4, 22.9.

KXLY: 6.6, 14.4. 6 p.m.

KHQ: 9.8 rating, 19.3 share.

KREM: 8.6, 16.9.

KXLY: 6.1, 12.7. 10 p.m.

KSKN: 1.6 rating, 4 share.

KAYU: 1, 3. 11 p.m.

KHQ: 6.2 rating, 28 share.

KXLY: 4.5, 20.1.

KREM: 4.3, 19.6.

In other time slots, KREM’s Noon News has a 3.8 rating, 17.5 share, compared with KHQ’s “Debra Wilde’s Circle of Friends,” with a 0.7 rating, 3.5 share.

KXLY’s 11 a.m. news pulls a 2.6 rating and a 13.5 share.

KHQ’s 4:30 p.m. news had a 5.5. rating and a 18.4 share.

Clear to quit

Richard Clear, local afternoon talk show host, has submitted his three-month notice at KGA-AM, according to KGA’s Matt Sherman.

Clear intends to leave the station in March, possibly to pursue his political ambitions. Clear has spoken in the past about taking on Rep. George Nethercutt for Congress.

“He decided he had a better shot at Congress than in staying in radio the rest of his life,” said Sherman.

Sherman said the station is already looking for a local afternoon replacement for Clear, although not necessarily someone in Clear’s mold.

Mickey Rooney rescheduled

The Mickey Rooney musical vehicle, “Two for the Show,” has been rescheduled for March 29 at the Spokane Opera House.

Apparently, the 79-year-old legend isn’t recovering quite as quickly from a November surgery as he had hoped. The Spokane show was originally scheduled for Jan. 15.

However, he should be in good shape for the March 29 date. Here’s hoping he can hoof like he did in the old days.

Tickets for the original date will be honored on the new date. For those who prefer, refunds may be obtained at the point of purchase.

A `Pippin’ of a show

Another rescheduling note: The Spokane Civic Theatre has canceled “Chicago” as its season finale in May and replaced it with “Pippin.”

The rights for “Chicago” have been pulled nationwide because the show will be going on national tour.

So the Civic is going with another musical from the Bob Fosse canon. “Pippin” is a 1972 hit Broadway show about the life of Charlemagne’s son, played out as a series of vaudeville-like sketches. It was a Tony-winning smash which introduced Ben Vereen, Jill Clayburgh and John Rubinstein to Broadway audiences. It was one of Bob Fosse’s major hits as a director and choreographer. The music and lyrics are by Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz.

The Civic production will run May 19 through June 17.

Seattle Music Tour

The Spokane Symphony Associates have an intriguing road trip planned for arts lovers.

Their Seattle Music Tour, Feb. 11-13, includes a bus trip to Seattle, two nights at the Seattle Hilton, dinner at Benihana, brunch at the Space Needle. and tickets to the Seattle Symphony, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the new preBroadway musical “Martin Guerre.”

If this sounds like your idea of a dream weekend, get your deposit of $200 in by Jan. 15. The total cost is $653 per person single occupancy, $533 double occupancy and $493 triple occupancy.

Call the Symphony Associates at 326-3136 and ask for Cheryl Carney.