Civic Theatre loses another staff member
THE TURMOIL CONTINUES at the Spokane Civic Theatre. Deborah McCandless, the theater’s director of operations and marketing, submitted her resignation on Wednesday, two days before the opening of the 58th Civic season.
“The board and I have differing views on management and the rebuilding of the theater,” said McCandless. “I love what I do, and I love the people I do it with, but my vision is very different from theirs.”
She said she could not go into any further detail.
Her resignation takes effect Oct. 20. McCandless will be at least the sixth staff person to leave in the past five months. The Civic has a paid staff of about nine.
She and interim artistic director Jack Delehanty have been running the theater as a two-person “executive management team” after longtime head Jack Phillips was forced out in May.
Delehanty is still doing his interim job —but often from afar. Delehanty, contacted Thursday by phone in upstate New York, said he and his wife are purchasing a bed-and-breakfast and are in the process of moving there permanently. He said he is in and out of Spokane and doing the rest of his work long-distance, an arrangement made with the theater when it hired him.
The Civic has issued a nationwide posting for the job of permanent artistic director, with a salary in the $40,000 range. The posting will close Oct. 15. Delehanty said he hopes for a replacement by mid-November.
There is no word on a replacement for McCandless.
“This just happened so suddenly, we haven’t had time to digest it,” Denny Lordan, the president of the Civic’s board of directors, said Friday. “We haven’t even had a chance to discuss it.”
Schupman off to Chicago
Another local theater has also lost a top staff member. Tamara Schupman has quit as executive director of Interplayers. She took the job in June, but she returned to Chicago recently to take a job as general manager of Bella Voce, a professional chorus.
Ron Wasson has already been hired as Interplayers’ new executive director. He’s a former executive director of the Festival at Sandpoint and director of operations and education for the Spokane Symphony.
The spark of Ignite!
Meanwhile, a new local theater, Ignite! Community Theatre, has arrived on the scene.
It is already planning some theater workshops for the fall and has a fund-raiser scheduled for late October. It does not yet have a building and its first season is planned for next year.
The president is Lisa Caryl, the vice president is Rebecca Cook and the volunteer coordinator is Shirley Deranleau. All three are former Spokane Civic Theatre staffers.
They want your blood
Ballet Spokane will be performing “Dracula” on Oct. 30 and 31. But in the meantime, it’s partnering with the Inland Northwest Blood Center for a blood drive with a Transylvanian theme.
On two separate dates, blood donors will be greeted by the show’s Count Dracula. Donors will then be given a free ticket to the ballet as a thank-you for donating blood.
“We thought it would be great fun to use our Count Dracula as the perfect poster child to raise awareness of the vital services provided by INBC,” said Ballet Spokane’s Janet Wilder.
The two blood drives are Oct. 11 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the INBC regional headquarters, 210 W. Cataldo Ave., and Oct. 23 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the mobile blood unit which will be parked at the Ballet’s new performance location, the Valley Performing Arts Center, 821 S. Sullivan Road.
For information about the blood drive, call INBC at 624-0151 or (800) 423-0151. For ticket information about the “Dracula” performances, call Ballet Spokane at 922-4962 or (877) 922-4962.
New KPBX host
KPBX-FM has hired Tom Bacon, a veteran radio news reporter, as the new local host of “All Things Considered.”
Bacon was news director of KENR in Houston from 1976 to 1981 and a reporter and editor at KTRH-AM in Houston from 1988 to 1996. The station won Edward R. Murrow and Peabody Awards during his tenure there.
He and his wife now live in Post Falls.
‘Killer Tomatoes’ on the way
CenterStage’s “Worst Midnight Movie Series Ever” begins next Saturday with the classic schlock-fest “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.”
Yes, a bushel of evil tomatoes leave a path of sauce and destruction in their wake.
If this gets your appetite going, CenterStage will have popcorn, snacks, beer and cocktails available.
The tomato paste hits the fan at midnight on Saturday at CenterStage, 1017 W. First Ave. Tickets are $3, available by calling 747-8243 or at the door.
‘Cows With Guns’ benefit
Also at CenterStage, don’t forget the benefit “Cows With Guns” show featuring singer-songwriter Dana Lyons on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Lyons is a sharp and clever satirical songwriter whose song “Cows With Guns,” about a cow uprising, has been an underground hit.
The show is a benefit for The Lands Council and Thin Air Radio (KYRS-FM). Tickets are $8, with light appetizers and cocktails available. Call 747-8243 for ticket info.
The Spokane Dinner Club
The Spokane Dinner Club, formerly known as the Spokane Knife and Fork Club, is seeking charter members for its new incarnation as a dinner club with an emphasis on local programs.
The club is a group of people who gather once a month at the Spokane Club, dressed formally, for an evening of dinner, entertainment and stimulating conversation.
This year’s programs include a wine presentation by Mike Scott of Lone Canary Winery; a murder-mystery evening with Jone Campbell Bryan and Patrick Treadway; a historical talk about the Great Spokane Fire by Nancy Compau and many other programs.
First program will be Oct. 12. Call 838-2744 for membership information and reservations.
‘Forbidden Hollywood’ in Sandpoint
Here’s a Panida event worth the trip, even for those of us who don’t live in Sandpoint.
The live satirical musical revue “Forbidden Hollywood” arrives at the Panida on Oct. 13 at 7:30 p.m. A cast of four gifted mimics perform a send-up of Hollywood songs and movies, including “Shrek,” “Lord of the Rings” and “Cabaret.” It skewers Hollywood stars from Keanu Reeves to Audrey Hepburn.
After seeing the show’s cousin, “Forbidden Broadway,” I can assure you: The audience will be howling.
This is part of the Pend Oreille Arts Council’s Performing Arts Season. Tickets are available by calling the POAC office at (208) 263-6139 and at various Sandpoint stores.