Spokane will be ‘Home of the Brave’

Spokane will be the site of a major motion picture shoot this spring: “Home of the Brave,” starring Samuel L. Jackson.

The director will be Irwin Winkler, best known as the producer of the “Rocky” movies and the Martin Scorsese-Robert DeNiro classic “Raging Bull.”

“Home of the Brave” is a drama about three returning veterans of the Iraq war. Other names that have been connected with the project are Eva Mendes (“Hitch,” “2 Fast 2 Furious”) and Brian Presley (TV’s “Port Charles” and “General Hospital”).

A few war scenes will be filmed in Morocco, but the vast majority of the movie will be shot in Spokane. The city will be specified as Spokane – it will not masquerade as Philadelphia or Washington, D.C., as it has in earlier film shoots.

Locations are still being scouted, but one possibility is the Anthony’s Homeport restaurant, with its stunning views of the falls, according to those involved in the production.

Details of the shooting dates are still being worked out.

Contrasting windows

The Met hosted a controversial battle of the display windows last week.

First, the local producers of Saturday’s production of “The Vagina Monologues” created a window display that included a number of euphemisms (some of them vulgar) referring to the play’s title subject.

Meanwhile, the Christian Youth Theater is planning a production of “A Year with Frog and Toad” at The Met from Feb. 24-March 5. The Met suggested they might want to wait to decorate their adjoining window until after the “Vagina Monologues” window was taken down.

But the CYT decided to go ahead with their display in the name of balance as well as promotion. Bliss Lanier of the group said the theater wanted “to support the Spokane community’s strong family values.”

So last week, pedestrians on West Sprague were treated to one window with numerous vagina references, next to another with cute images of frog and toad.

What a world.

Gonzaga game on KREM

Why has Monday’s Gonzaga University vs. University of Portland men’s basketball game been switched to KREM-2, a station which isn’t normally the home of GU basketball? (Or should we say, not one of the several homes of GU basketball?)

The short answer: The game broadcast is controlled by the home team, the University of Portland. The school chose the UPN affiliate in Portland to produce the game, and then sold the local rights to KREM.

CdA Summer Theatre alums

Several alumni of the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre are making a splash on the national scene, including:

Steven Booth: The Coeur d’Alene native has taken on one of the lead roles in the hit Las Vegas production of “Avenue Q,” the raucous, Tony-winning puppet-centric musical.

Cheyenne Jackson: After starring in Broadway’s “All Shook Up,” Jackson’s next role is in the film “Flight 93,” about the ill-fated flight that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001. He plays Mark Bingham, the rugby player and one of the flight’s heroes. The movie is scheduled to open April 28.

Kasey Graham: This former Whitworth College student and musical whiz is the musical director and conductor for the national tour of “Oklahoma!” which arrives in Spokane in April. And he’s only 25.

Lauralyn McClelland: This Coeur d’Alene actress is with the international tour of “West Side Story” in Asia.

Mark Cotter: This New York cabaret artist just happens to be returning for a Valentine’s Day dinner-cabaret at the Davenport Hotel, Tuesday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $65 per person and include dinner. Call 789-6808.

By the way, guys, if you are looking for a Valentine’s Day present, you could do worse than buying her a pair of season tickets to the CdA Summer Theatre. Call (800) 423-2849 for tickets.

A Paul Allen grant

The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation of Seattle has awarded a $50,000 grant to the upcoming touring exhibit, “Jumpin’ With the Big Bands: When Swing Was America’s Popular Music.”

This is a joint project of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture and the University of Idaho International Jazz Collection. It will open at the MAC and the Prichard Art Gallery in Moscow in 2008.

Free symphony concerts

The Spokane Symphony will play free concerts at three high schools this week as part of the symphony’s Educational Outreach Program.

There will be two concerts on Wednesday at University High School in Spokane Valley, two concerts on Thursday at Post Falls High School and one concert on Friday at Lakeside High School in Nine Mile Falls.

Among the selections: “Finlandia” by Sibelius, “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Louis Prima and “Also Sprach Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss.