Despite financial bind, Interplayers will go on

Will the financially strapped Interplayers Professional Theater be able to complete its current season?

We sat down last week with the leaders of Interplayers – board president Jim McCurdy and artistic director Reed McColm – and posed that question.

The answer: Yes. The show will go on

The season will continue as scheduled and the only question is whether the theater will continue the season in a deficit – which would put Interplayers in a hole for its next season – or whether it will become healthy enough to start next season with a financial cushion.

McCurdy and McColm would vastly prefer the latter, of course.

So, what can the public do to help Spokane’s longtime professional theater make it to its 30th anniversary next season?

Here are a few things:

• Buy tickets to “Love Letters,” Jan. 29 and 30, starring Ellen Travolta and Jack Bannon. This is a fundraiser, with proceeds going toward the season’s remaining productions. Tickets are $25, available by calling (509) 455-7529.

• Buy tickets or a half-season subscription to the rest of the season, which includes “Honky Tonk Angels,” beginning Feb. 4; “Art,” beginning March 11; “Eleemosynary,” beginning April 15; and “Psychopathia Sexualis,” beginning May 13. Call the above number.

• Sponsor a production to help underwrite the costs.

• Make a tax-deductible contribution to Interplayers. Even a relatively small amount would make a difference.

Interplayers’ budget is minuscule in comparison with some of the region’s other cultural institutions. McColm and a box office person now constitute the entire staff.

The theater still has its building up for sale, and must complete that in order to remain viable in the long term. But right now, its short-term cash flow problems are more urgent.

Dead Air America

The Air America liberal talk radio syndicate announced its demise last week.

So how will this affect KPTQ-AM (Progressive Talk 1280), Spokane’s Air America affiliate?

Answer: Surprisingly little.

Kosta Panidis, general manager of the Clear Channel stations in Spokane, said that KPTQ’s daytime schedule is entirely non-Air America. It runs Air America programming only on evenings and nights.

Panidis said he is already working on acquiring liberal-oriented talk programs from other syndicates to fill those slots.

KPTQ’s big daytime talk hosts – Stephanie Miller, Ed Shultz, Thom Hartmann and Randi Rhodes – come from other syndicates.

Panidis said the station “will continue to deliver the liberal side of radio.”

‘Letters From Lincoln’

The CD version of “Letters from Lincoln,” performed by the Spokane Symphony and baritone Thomas Hampson, will be officially released by E1 Music on Tuesday.

This is the recording of the world premiere concert last Feb. 28 at the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox.

Those of us who were there can testify that Michael Daugherty’s piece, specially commissioned for the symphony in honor of the Lincoln Bicentennial, is exceptionally moving and deserves a wide hearing.

The CD also includes two pieces by Anton von Webern, “Im Sommerwind” and “Langsamer Satz.”

It was available in a special pre-sale arrangement at this weekend’s symphony concerts. It will be available to the public on Tuesday at the Fox ticket office, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. – if it hasn’t sold out already.

CdA Blues Festival

The Coeur d’Alene Blues Festival – the first ever – will boogie into the Lake City this spring.

The festival will be held March 26-28 in and around the Coeur d’Alene Resort. Events will include a four-band party at the resort’s convention center on March 27, featuring the Big Mumbo Blues Band, Red Hot Blues Sisters, the Randy Oxford Band and headliner Curtis Salgado.

There will also be a March 26 Blues Cruise on the lake featuring the Fat Tones. A Gospel Brunch will feature Soulful Blend on March 28 at the Dockside.

But wait (as they say on TV), there’s more! Nu Jack City will hold forth March 26 and 27 in the resort’s Shore Lounge.

Tickets to the two big events – the four-band party and the cruise – will go on sale Saturday through TicketsWest outlets (800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).

Room packages will also be available through the resort.

A classical weekend

Next weekend is shaping up to be a big one for classical music in Spokane. Here are three options:

• “A Night at the Theatre Italien,” Friday, 8 p.m., Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. – A night of Rossini music from Allegro Baroque and Beyond and the Theatre Ballet of Spokane. Tickets are available by calling (509) 455-6865 or at www.allegrobaroque.org.

• Christopher O’Riley, Saturday, 8 p.m., St. John’s Cathedral, 127 E. 12th Ave. – A piano recital by the National Public Radio host to kick off the Northwest Bach Festival. Tickets available through TicketsWest.

• Spokane String Quartet, Jan. 31, 3 p.m., Bing Crosby Theatre, 901 W. Sprague Ave. – They’ll perform quartets from three centuries: Haydn’s Quartet in D major, Schumann’s Quartet in A minor and Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 4 in D major. Tickets available through TicketsWest or at the door.