Spotlight: Stiers won’t make trip here
David Ogden Stiers, aka Major Charles Emerson Winchester III of “M*A*S*H,” will not be coming to Spokane to star in “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” at the Actor’s Repertory Theatre (ARt).
Stiers received a movie offer that he couldn’t refuse, which conflicted with the Sept. 21-Oct. 6 dates of this Eugene O’Neill classic.
“It’s too bad, because he really wanted to do it,” said ARt artistic director Michael Weaver. “He even asked if we could change the dates. But I told him I had already changed the dates once and I can’t do it again.”
The play was originally scheduled for last season, but was moved to this season when Stiers signed on.
So who will play the haunted and volcanic James Tyrone Sr.?
Weaver is auditioning actors in Seattle and Spokane. “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” remains on the schedule as ARt’s second show of the season.
Its first show, “All the Great Books (Abridged),” a comic retelling of the classics, opens Aug. 24. ARt’s home will remain at Spokane Falls Community College’s Spartan Theater.
Sweeney switch
Julia and Jeri Sweeney’s joint interview on “CBS News Sunday Morning” has been switched to Aug. 12.
They were interviewed for a segment on the growing prominence of atheism. Spokane native Julia (“Saturday Night Live”) has been performing a popular one-woman stage show about her loss of faith; her mother, Jeri, disagrees with her on this subject.
The segment was originally scheduled to air today.
Peace, love, bikers
The Summer of Love Tour is headed to, of all places, Rosalia, Wash., for the “100 Years of Motorcycles Rally” in August.
The tour is a reunion of San Francisco bands including Jefferson Starship, Big Brother and the Holding Co., Quicksilver Messenger Service, David LaFlamme of It’s a Beautiful Day and Tom Constanten, formerly of the Grateful Dead.
They might be missing a few key members – Grace Slick is no longer with Jefferson Starship and Janis Joplin is, umm, long gone from Big Brother. However, these groups banded together for a big reunion concert in Monterey, Calif., this weekend and will then go on the road.
The tour is booked into the Rosalia motorcycle rally on the evening of Aug. 18. You must be attending the rally to buy tickets to the show.
If you’re interested, you can purchase tickets to the rally for $19.95 for one day or $39.95 for two days, through TicketsWest outlets (509-325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).
The concert is a separately ticketed event. Tickets are $25, available only at the rally. Gates open at 5 p.m. for the concert.
The rally, in Rosalia’s City Park, runs Aug. 17 and 18. For information, go to www.100yearsofmotor
cycles.com.
Highland fling
The Spokane Highland Games, the annual celebration of all things Celtic, takes place at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center’s South Lawn on Aug. 4.
It runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Admission will be $8 for adults, $5 seniors and youth, $3 children 4-10 (children under 4 are admitted free).
This event has always been photogenic – all of those bagpipes, all of those kilts – and this year you can actually win some money with your camera.
The Highland Games is sponsoring an amateur contest for photos taken at the event. You can submit up to five photos, by e-mail to spokanegames@comcast.net or on a CD accompanied by your name and address and mailed to Spokane Highland Games Association, P.O. Box 8263, Spokane WA 99203-0263.
Top prize will be $50. For more info, go to www.spokanehighland
games.org.