Inspired by a true story and featuring the Tony®-nominated score by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Broadway’s BRIGHT STAR (Regional Premiere) tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and ’40s. When literary editor Alice Murphy meets a young soldier just home from World War II, he awakens her longing for the child she once lost. Haunted by their unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to understand her past—and what she finds has the power to transform both of their lives. With beautiful melodies and powerfully moving characters, the story unfolds as a rich tapestry of deep emotion. An uplifting theatrical journey that holds you tightly in its grasp, BRIGHT STAR is as refreshingly genuine as it is daringly hopeful.
Stage
Performing arts of all kinds! Plays, musicals, staged readings, opera, and more. Local theater houses include the Spokane Civic Theater, Stage Left Theatre, Spokane Children’s Theatre, and many others. The First Interstate Center for the Arts hosts Spokane’s Best of Broadway series, which brings touring productions of acclaimed Broadway shows like Hamilton. Find out more below!
Grease | Spokane Valley Summer Theatre
The world’s best-loved musical is coming to town! With a hip-shaking rock ‘n’ roll score featuring hits like “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightnin’,” and “We Go Together,” GREASE celebrates Rydell High’s class of 1959 in all their duck-tailed, bobby-soxed, gum-snapping glory.
The Root Experience Festival
The Root Experience is a 2-night festival featuring BIPOC talent from various cultures and disciplines. The festival celebrates regional filmmakers, artists, culture bearers, musicians, and the stories they weave through their art. The goal is to uplift their narratives of culture, family, beauty, and resilience to create a network that empowers living stories and heals elements of the past and present. When talking about indigenous cultures, we must recognize the borders (state & continental) that have been placed by the act of colonization. In doing so, people of the same/ similar cultures have had their homelands divided and people they love placed on opposite sides of these borders. The Root Experience is hoping to help erase these borders by decolonizing art and social practice, providing safe and inclusive spaces to present, while connecting, partnering, and sparking conversation with our communities in the Pacific Northwest (defined as Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Alberta (CAN), and British Columbia (CAN)).
Intro to Improv Teens
In this one-week camp, students will learn the essentials of comedic improvisation. Our trained instructors will teach a variety of improv skills: warm-ups, games, characterization, storytelling, and more. No theater experience is necessary. This intro class is perfect for teens looking to improve their acting ability and learn how to take risks in a safe environment.
ACES // Artists of Color Expo & Symposium
ACES // Artists of Color Expo & Symposium is a BIPOC-led, community-curated program featuring art exhibits, live performances, presentations, workshops, film screenings, artist talks, and artist opportunity tables. We are coming together with intentionality to value our work and see one another as resources, while focusing on the challenges and solutions we face as artists of color in the Pacific Northwest.
Spokane Ensemble Theatre
According to Coyote is a one-man play written by the late John Kauffman, a Nez Perce actor and playwright. The show is a storytelling of the trickster Coyote of Native American mythology. Narrated by Coyote, the play was first performed by Kauffman at the Kennedy Center in 1978; Kauffman continued to tour the show throughout the Northwest until his death in 1990.
Poeta
Quiero Flamenco’s newest show “Poeta” represents the Company’s next step in expanding the boundaries and scope of fusing multiple disciplines and genres of music and dance.
Olivia Evans, James Pakootas & Devonte Pearson (T.S. The Solution)
A two-day festival will bring the community together, inspire, uplift/ showcase the BIPOC peoples of Spokane in music and the arts and a film score residency exploring Colville stories will be hosted by Panoramic Dreams.
Spokane Aerial Performance Arts
Spokane Aerial Performance Arts will purchase 10 sets of stilts and begin a permanent stilt walking program for young performers.
According to Coyote
A vibrant and entertaining family-friendly anthology of tales featuring the legendary hero of Native American mythology. According to Coyote is an encounter with the richness and vitality of Native American culture using age-old traditions of music, dance, and theatre. Written by John Kaufman, the play will be directed by Kauffman’s niece and performed by Nez Perce actor, Kellen Lewis. According to Coyote will warm the hearts of young and old alike. *Produced by Spokane Ensemble Theatre and One Heart Native Arts and Film Festival.