Spotlight: Lake City Playhouse hires Prep director

Lake City Playhouse in Coeur d’Alene has hired a new Playhouse Prep director.

Dustin Sorrell, who studied theater at Ball State University in Indiana and is a former children’s theater specialist with the Iowa City Community Theater, will be heading up Lake City Playhouse’s education program. The playhouse offers summer theater camps for kids and workshops and guest speakers for adult actors.

The playhouse is at 1320 E. Garden Ave., in Coeur d’Alene. Call (208) 667-1323 for more information.

Maxey talk in Metaline Falls

Spokane author Jim Kershner will present “A Fighting Life: A Boxer-Turned Lawyer Battles For Civil Rights” in Metaline Falls on Thursday.

The free public talk, held at 7 p.m. in the Cutter Theater, 302 Park St., will center on Carl Maxey, who was an undefeated boxing champion before becoming the first prominent African-American lawyer in Eastern Washington.

Kershner, who recently retired as The Spokesman-Review’s arts writer and historian, published “Carl Maxey: A Fighting Life,” in 2008. It was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award.

Kershner also will be guest speaker at the Selkirk High School Martin Luther King Jr. concert at 10 a.m. Friday, an event which is open to the public. The school is at 10372 Highway 31 in Ione, Wash.

Symphonic celebration

The Black and White Ball, a benefit for the Coeur d’Alene Symphony, will be Jan. 21 at Templin’s Red Lion Resort, 414 E. First Ave., Post Falls. The black-tie event features dinner – chicken parmesan, lobster-stuffed halibut or prime rib – dancing, and music provided by the symphony.

Tickets are $90 a person, and reservations are required by Jan. 17. To request tickets, call the symphony office at (208) 765-3833.