Spotlight: Here’s your ticket to great gifts
This is the time of year when, once again, I implore readers to take some tickets and stuff them – into Christmas stockings.
Tickets to arts events make outstanding holiday presents. Here are a few options:
“The Northwest Bach Festival, Feb. 16-24, various venues.
“Disney’s “High School Musical” on tour, April 29-May 4, INB Performing Arts Center (on sale next Saturday).
“Mini subscriptions to any of the local theater groups, including Spokane Civic Theatre, Interplayers and Actor’s Repertory Theatre. All are offering special packages for the rest of the 2007-08 season.
““Riverdance,” Jan. 18-20, INB Performing Arts Center.
“”Thomas Hampson: Home for the Holidays,” Dec. 29, Fox Theater.
“A Spokane Symphony mini-subscription or tickets to any upcoming concert.
““The Great American Trailer Park Musical,” Jan. 10-13, Bing Crosby Theater.
“Ladysmith Black Mambazo, March 11, Bing Crosby Theater.
““Blue Man Group: How to be a Megastar,” Jan. 27, Spokane Arena (on sale Monday).
“Tesla, Feb. 5, Big Easy.
“Queensryche, with Don Dokken, Feb. 29, Big Easy.
“Jay Leno, Jan. 26, Northern Quest Casino.
““Mamma Mia!” March 25-30, INB Performing Arts Center.
“Avril Lavigne, May 9, Spokane Arena.
Surely, between Avril Lavigne and the Spokane Symphony, you can find something for everyone on your list. And there are far more events than I can possibly list here.
Tickets for most of these events are available through TicketsWest outlets (509-325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).
For others, such as the mini subscriptions, contact the organization itself. They’ll be glad to help you with your Christmas shopping.
Bing’s niece
Here’s what Carolyn Schneider of Las Vegas has to say about her late uncle, Bing Crosby:
“When it was time for me to go to college, my parents were not financially prepared for me to do that. But Uncle Bing stepped in and said it was important for me to have a college education. So he stepped in and took care of that for me.”
And that’s why Schneider wrote her self-published book, “Me and Uncle Bing,” which she will be signing at 3 p.m. on Friday as part of the Bing Crosby Film Festival at the Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave.
This is just part of the all-day festival, which runs from 10 a.m. to about 9 p.m. and will include showings of “Bells of St. Mary’s” and “White Christmas.”
The event is free but a $1 donation is requested.
Schneider, who is the daughter of Crosby’s sister, Mary Rose, said she wrote the book “as a way of saying thank you for what he has done for me.”
She will also do a signing at Auntie’s Bookstore on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Top cinematographer
Andrew Davis, a film student from Spokane, has won the 2008 American Society of Cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs Heritage Award, awarded to the top student cinematographer in America.
Davis, who is finishing up his studies at Chapman University’s film school in Los Angeles, got his start at Spokane’s Corner Booth Productions.
He was honored for his work on “Mamitas,” a short film that won an award at the Denver Film Festival.
He’ll be presented the award in January at the ASC Awards ceremony in Hollywood.
A gold medal for pastel
Speaking of awards, local artist Marian Flahavin received the Gold Medal for Pastel in the 79th Annual Grand National Exhibit of the American Artists Professional League in New York.
As part of this prestigious exhibit, her winning painting was on display at the Salmagundi Art Club on New York’s Fifth Avenue last month.
A sing-along ‘Messiah’
First Presbyterian Church will once again present its Sing-Along of Handel’s “Messiah,” complete with chamber orchestra, on Dec. 16 at 6 p.m. at the church, 318 S. Cedar.
Previous sing-alongs have attracted up to 800 singers. It is truly a stirring event for both singers and listeners.
If you want to sing, you should also come to the singer’s rehearsal, 4 p.m. the same day. They request you arrive by 3:45 so you can be seated and ready to rehearse.
For more information, go to www.Spokanefpc.org and click under “City Connections.”
KSPS signals
The KSPS-7 over-the-air television signal remained down as of late last week, due to rough weather conditions on Krell Hill, where the final touches are being put on a new tower.
If the weather cooperates, the signal should be up by the time you read this.
Meanwhile, KSPS (Spokane’s PBS station) figures into several Comcast digital cable changes coming on Dec. 17.
The KSPS-HD (high-definition) channel moves from 108 to 107. Then, 108 will become KSPS World, which will be repeats of PBS public affairs and news shows, such as “Nova” and “Frontline.”
Channel 109 will become KSPS Create, which will feature repeat showings of how-to shows such as “This Old House.”
These two new stations will allow viewers to see their favorite PBS shows at a variety of different times.
‘Glatzer’s Rants’
Bob Glatzer, familiar as KPBX-FM’s movie reviewer, has launched a new call-in talk show on KYRS-FM (Thin Air Radio, 92.3 and 89.9).
“Glatzer’s Rants” airs Saturdays from 1 to 2 p.m. It’s Thin Air Radio’s first call-in show and the subject matter will be no-holds-barred political.
For an idea of the host’s politics, try this quote on for size: “We are saddled with a president whose invincible ignorance had led us to become the butt of jokes and the pariah of the world.”
Start dialing.
The Met at the movies
The surprisingly successful Metropolitan Opera live broadcasts at NorthTown Regal Cinemas will get underway again beginning Dec. 15 at 10 a.m. with Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette.”
That will be followed by Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel” on Jan. 1 at 10 a.m. Now there’s a tuneful way to spend New Year’s Day.
Tickets are $22 for adults, $20 for seniors and $18 for students. For more information, go to the Metropolitan Opera’s Web site, www.metoperafamily.org.