Civic announces lineup for 70th season
Spokane Civic Theatre on Friday announced the lineup for the theater’s 70th season, beginning in September.
On the Main Stage, artistic director Keith Dixon said, it’s a lot of “big name” theater. And instead of two shows in the fall and winter, it’s three this year.
In putting the season together, Dixon said, “I thought about it in terms of our 70th season. That’s a milestone. … 70 is pretty impressive. I wanted the season on some level to be a celebration of all the amazing theater that there is.”
The Broadway smash Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” will kick things off on Sept. 9. Up next, and on a completely opposite spectrum, is Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
This year’s Christmas show will be a bit of a change up. Instead of opening the weekend before Thanksgiving – when it just doesn’t feel like Christmas, Dixon said – it will open on Black Friday. Oh, and it won’t be “White Christmas,” “A Christmas Carol” or any of of the shows Civic had staged in recent years. It’s something new.
“Forever Plaid Tidings,” based on the popular doo-wop musical revue, will finish out 2016.
“You can’t go wrong with four fellas singing some Christmas tunes for you,” Dixon said.
In 2017, Civic will stage “A Little Night Music,” the Stephen Sondheim classic that features the song “Send in the Clowns.” From there, it’s on to the beloved farce “Noises Off!” The Main Stage season will conclude with “Kiss Me Kate.”
“Kiss Me Kate” is a musical adaptation of “The Taming of the Shrew,” which audiences can check out downstairs in the Firth J. Chew Studio Theatre in the weeks leading up to the premiere of “Kate.” A three-day overlap will give theatergoers a chance to see both plays in one weekend.
“ ‘Tempest’ did so well for us a couple years ago, and it was such a nice production, I thought, ‘Let’s do another Shakespeare,’ ” Dixon said. “And it’s cool to tie the two shows together.”
The other shows of the studio season are the cult classic “The Rocky Horror Show,” the acclaimed Christopher Durang play “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” and “Holding On, Letting Go,” by Civic’s playwright in resident Bryan Harnetiaux.
Season ticket packages are available now, with discounts offered for packages purchased by Feb. 28. Call the box office at (509) 325-2507 or visit www.spokanecivictheatre.com/ for details.
Call for playwrights
Speaking of plays, Civic and the Pend Oreille Players Association have put out a call for new one-act plays.
Civic invites playwrights living in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska or in Alberta or British Columbia, Canada, to submit one-act plays, in standard play format, that run 30 minutes or less, for its annual Playwrights Forum Festival, June 2-12. There is a 30-page maximum. One script per playwright. Find submission procedure and forms at www.spokanecivictheatre.com/playwrightsforum/. Deadline for submissions is Feb. 29 at 5 p.m. Contact submissions@spokanecivictheatre.com with questions.
The Pend Oreille Players is looking for original scripts for the eighth annual One Act Play Festival. Plays should be no more than 30 minutes long and should be family friendly. The deadline to submit is March 31. For full submission guidelines and more information, visit www.pendoreilleplayers.org or call (509) 447-9900.