The Brothers Four lend voices to fundraiser
Here’s a chance to hear some classic ’60s folk music – and help fund a worthy arts-and-health cause at the same time.
The Brothers Four will headline a fundraiser for Arts in Healing, a new initiative at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, on April 24, 7 p.m., at the Bing Crosby Theater.
The former University of Washington fraternity brothers had a huge national hit in 1960 with “Greenfields” and a string of follow-up hits, including “The Green Leaves of Summer.”
Arts in Healing aims to bring the therapeutic and healing power of the arts to patients at the hospital. Program coordinator Bill Miller said they hope to bring in musicians, visual artists, writers and other artists in a “professional, self-sustaining program.”
He said studies have shown that patients experience less stress, heal faster and use less pain medication when exposed to the arts.
Tickets range from $18 to $50, through TicketsWest outlets (509-325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).
A Wagnerian award for Melton
Add the name Heidi Melton to the roster of Spokane opera singers who have gone on to national and international acclaim.
Melton, a 2000 Ferris High School grad, has just received a major opera honor: the Kirsten Flagstad Award for “a singer with Wagnerian potential.”
This is part of the George London Foundation Awards. They were given out after a series of opera competitions held in New York’s Morgan Library and Museum in March.
Melton’s award came with a $10,000 check. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, she has been performing recently with the San Francisco Opera, the Opera Company of Philadelphia and France’s L’Opera de Bordeaux.
New shows announced
Here are some of the region’s recently announced shows:
• Neil Sedaka, the singer and songwriter with a lengthy string of hits since the 1950s. April 19, 7 p.m., Northern Quest Casino’s Pend Oreille Pavilion. Tickets $50 and $60, by calling (509) 340-6700 or TicketsWest. Be warned: Sedaka sold out a show here last year.
• Bernadette Peters, the Broadway and Hollywood star. May 10, 7 p.m., Northern Quest Casino’s Pend Oreille Pavilion. Tickets $60 and $70, same contact information as above.
• The Doobie Brothers, classic rockers. May 14, 7 p.m., Coeur d’Alene Casino. Tickets $45 and $35, through TicketsWest.
• Jay Mohr, comedian. May 20, 7:30 p.m., Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox. Tickets $27 to $45, through TicketsWest.
• George Lopez: Tall, Dark and Chicano, comedian. May 29, 8 p.m., INB Performing Arts Center, $49.50 and $59.50, through TicketsWest.
• Wanda Sykes, comedian. June 13, Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox. Tickets will go on sale May 1. This is a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood’s Prevention and Education programs.
Singin’, dancin’ felines
Here’s another big show coming in for an unusual one-night-only performance: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats,” April 20, 7:30 p.m. at WSU’s Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum in Pullman.
Tickets are on sale at the Beasley or through TicketsWest outlets.
Yes, this is the national tour, and yes, it’s the one with Lewis and Clark High School grad Cara Cooley.
Best of Broadway
Speaking of Broadway musicals, WestCoast Entertainment will announce its 2009-’10 Best of Broadway lineup on Thursday.
This is a quite a bit later than usual – February is more typical – partly because WestCoast has been pursuing some shows that have only recently became available.
Does Spotlight have inside information about the identity of those shows? Not really. We’ll have to wait like everyone else.
Classical Chinese dance
Here’s a stunning visual treat coming soon to the INB Performing Arts Center: Shen Yun: Divine Performing Arts, May 21, 7:30 p.m.
This is being billed as the “largest Chinese performance event ever in Spokane” and that may be correct. This touring troupe arrives with 60 dancers and 40 orchestra members.
They perform classical Chinese music and dance – traditional arts pre-dating the Cultural Revolution. The troupe consists mostly of Chinese immigrants from New York and other cities; many of the artists practice Falun Gong meditation. The troupe has performed in 60 different countries.
I’ve seen a video preview, and Shen Yun is indeed graceful and gorgeous. Tickets range from $30 to $95, through TicketsWest outlets.
A major McKellar award
Colville bronze sculptor Jerry McKellar went home with quite a prize at the prestigious C.M. Russell Show & Auction in Great Falls last month.
McKellar’s “Message to Sky Father” won the People’s Choice Best Sculpture Award, one of many awards he has won over the years at this event.
‘Raising Lucy’
Coeur d’Alene author, illustrator and filmmaker Carol Muzik has created an entire multimedia industry with “Raising Lucy,” her story of raising and rehabilitating an orphaned Canada goose.
The story has been made into an 11-minute video, a half-hour documentary, a coloring storybook and (in the works) an illustrated children’s book.
Now comes word from the Awaken Spiritual Film Festival in Morristown, N.J., that the video has won an Audience Choice Award in the Family Favorite category.
The coloring storybook is available at Auntie’s Bookstore, as well as at www.raisinglucy.com.