Queen Narcissa

#book spotting at @auntiesbooks in @libertyspokane. #mothersday...

Thu, 02 May 2013 16:51:11 -0400

#book spotting at @auntiesbooks in @libertyspokane. #mothersday #spokane #tomes (at Auntie’s Bookstore)

This one’s for Tia. Dixie Swim Club @spocivictheatre...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:17:35 -0400

This one’s for Tia. Dixie Swim Club @spocivictheatre poster hanging outside @designspike #theatre #plays #graphicart #spokane (at Design Spike)

Comcast gives great customer service, really

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:18:00 -0400

Comcast gives great customer service, really: (This is a Design Spike blog, fyi) Let’s talk about...

And let the theatre begin…Opening night at Spokane Civic...

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:45:14 -0400

Rhubarb like spritzer thingie from Wild Sage

If all the luck, I have to stand next to Deena for a picture

Oh lord....I wanted the whole tray

Had to be one of the best Gala dinners I've ever had

I love my Civic jailbirds

And let the theatre begin…Opening night at Spokane Civic Theatre.

The Gala at Spokane Civic Theatre

That meant a Gala dinner catered by Wild Sage, drinks with Dry Fly (buy local, drink local, drunk local) and, well, a little Mel Brooks action. So off we go to have one he!! of a good night, arm in arm with my date, Design Spike developer Will…ok not a date. I’m married and I could be his mother…and he thinks I’m a terrible human being, so not a date.

Obviously the dinner rocked out with it’s sock out. I am partial to all the Chef Charlie throws down at Wild Sage and this was no different. They had to have a pound of popover butter in every bowl and I am here to tell you I could have wallowed in it. The dessert: huckleberry or something brulee had some serious delish going on. One little tin, not enough. Just sayin, Charlie. Next time, I want more.

I finally got a tasty beverage made with Dry Fly goodness and meant to share it with Will, but, um, well, somehow it all went away…in my mouth. Sorry. Made it up to him by plying him with wine.

And on to the production….my thoughts in no random order (ooohhhh surprising):

Dan McKeever consider me your biotch. You and those lovely pigeons stole every single second of that show (except one and I will get to that later). I wanted to run up after the show and pinch your little cheeks. Guten tag, clop, clop indeed.
Hats off to Jerry and Mark as Max and Leo. I was convinced Mark Pleasant was as neurotic as he!! and Jerry was a putz (in a most wonderful way).
Ulla love that you were a real woman! Excellent choice, Marianne McLaughlin, excellent choice. But…..I really could only understand 50% of what you said…sorry darling. Could be my tinnitus so don’t take me seriously.
Lance Babbitt - you man among men, you came right out and heiled yourself like no one could heil ever. That was your shining moment of perfection and you sealed the deal. And the crowd went crazy.

So, here’s the deal: the show was rough in places (I’m not gonna lie) and some of the subtleties (did I just use that word in conjunction with Mel Brooks?) were missing. And I thought a few things were OTT but not OTT done right. Reel it in….I’m just saying. So, I’m heading back in a few weeks to see The Producers at Spokane Civic Theatre one more time. Let’s see if they can grab a few more shining star moments and I just can’t wait to see Franz and Roger….Have you seen the show?

It’s all about Woffie & Greater Tuna Via Dan Pelle of...

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 13:03:50 -0400

It’s all about Woffie & Greater Tuna

Via Dan Pelle of the SpokesmanReview :

Michael Weaver as Bertha Bumiller and Patrick Treadway as Jody Bumiller in Interplayers’ production of “Greater Tuna.”

A group of us were privileged enough to see Greater Tuna at Interplayers this week. Yea, yea, I know. You’re all like, Haysus, enough with the theatre blogs. Fine. It’s summer and I will shut up for awhile after this one BUT you should know, I laughed so hard at times, I should have considered wearing depends.

And now for my critique

Michael Weaver & Patrick Treadway had little time to prepare for Greater Tuna as most of you in the theatre community are aware. For those of you who are not, read this obituary and then make a donation to the David Gigler Scholarship Fund at Global Credit Union. Just do it. Read. Donate. And as usual, I digress.

The comedic brilliance of these two gentlemen will bring tears to your eyes. I’m enough of a 14 year old boy to admit Pearl’s drooping, off center boobs made me giggle and the lady like way Vera sprawled in the chair during the ramblings of the Reverend Spike scored major points. And while Elmer Watkins creeped the hell out of me, it had to be Charlene Bumiller who brought it all home for me. The line

Woffie, you come through that door one more time and you’ll need drugs to kill the pain!

was all I needed to know there was a g_d of some kind. Has to be. Stuff that funny don’t fall off trees.

So hat’s off to Interplayers and their barking and rotary phone dialing and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I think we all enjoyed our evening and I am now a Tuna convert.

This morning’s KHQ Facebook post….now mind you,...

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 11:46:47 -0400

This morning’s KHQ Facebook post….now mind you, I’m not picking on the good peops at KHQ nor am I picking on whoever manages their social media…BUT let me get this straight:

You wanna know if I think texting should be banned nationwide. Is that texting while I’m on the pot? Texting whilst talking to someone? Texting during a performance? Texting the all important Jewish mother?

Oh wait, I’m betting what you meant to say was “Like this if you think texting while driving should be banned nationwide”. Whoops. Missed a few words there, didn’t you? Perhaps, you should have edited that or added the rest of the story in a comment.

Dose of Whacktard: Matt Shea and his Messianic hate crime

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:36:12 -0400

Haters gonna hate, so let’s get this over with Haysus in a handbasket! We elect some serious...

It’s true, WestCoast Entertainment gave us great...

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 16:47:12 -0400

It’s true, WestCoast Entertainment gave us great seats

Yup, as part of their tweet seat program, WestCoast Entertainment provided about 20 people with great seats for their Best of Broadway run of Mary Poppins. It was totally worth 2 1/2 hours of my life. I was thoroughly entertained both by the tweets and the show.

To the person who got their panties in a wad about a certain blog, let’s be clear here, WestCoast Entertainment provided seats to us tweeters in turn for our OPINION on what we thought about the show. They did NOT tell us to be all spoonful of sugar. Got it? Get over it. Just saying. Moving on.

Bring on the Spit-Spot

Mary Poppins made me reflect on what it is about theatre that really appeals to me. It’s weird, it’s not as if I didn’t like the show, and I walked out saying “great show” but not “holy he!!, that rocked my socks off”. The show itself was seriously supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (as if I could resist), the set was beyond amazing, and the signing was out of this world. I’m the issue. Not the show. Suffice it to say, had WestCoast not asked me to join the legion of tweeters for the night, I would not have run out to buy a ticket. That would have been a BIG mistake. A really BIG mistake. While I may not be all, “hey, I drank the koolaid and think Mary Poppins is all that and a bag of shiznit”, I really liked the production. Hands down.

So let’s break this thing on down:

High Points:

The genius who created the set. Who is this person? I mean really? Need to research this. Tricks, tricks and more! It’s no wonder it won a Tony for set design (those of you who saw the show should watch this video on Mary Poppins Set Design). We are talking transitions from dull, grey, rain, and sooty smoke to amazing, technicolor, peyote induced hallucination COLOR.
Codpieces. Starfish. Whatever you want to call them. Dare to look at the statues which come to life a little closer. Go ahead, look down. You know of where I speak. Although I believe these were meant to be leaves, they looked a little fishy.
Valentine. Argh! A doll come to life, the stuff of nightmares. With half a yellow leotard encases tush exposed and long, red fingers (the better to stab you with), I LOVED Valentine!
Nanny Ultimate Cage Fighting. Like brujas gone wild or something, seriously. Hands down, some of the best singing of the night: Brimstone and Treacle. That Miss Andrews sure can flex her golden pipes, just sayin’.
The dude originally played by Dick Van Dyke “Dancing on the Ceiling” (terrible Lionel Ritchie reference for those of you too young to get it. Love, love, love.
The bank. The perspective. The old, crippled, mean, mean, men of money.

Low Points (my opinion, peops):

The second half of the second half. Don’t get me wrong, it so had its moments BUT…..how about one less song, please? I’m an audience watcher and this was absolutely the point where feet began shifting, and rustlers began rustling.
Believe it or not, there were moments of where I could not understand what the heck the actors were saying. Now, that said, it is a documented fact that there are certain tones I am unable to hear. Perhaps the actors were hitting those points?
In my most humble opinion, all musicals need that climax moment - you know, the only thing that saves Cats is Memory (3.49 mark is what you’re looking for), right? I needed my memory moment, but, well, alas, it never came.

Now, these are all the opinions of my most humble Queen Narcissa self. And this is what I know, if you have kids, love musicals, know that all dreams are possible and can quash the question of why every nanny appears to carry a bottle of some narcotic or otherwise potentially hallucinogenic drug around, you would do well to check out Mary Poppins. For me, it’s time to revisit the movie and perhaps a little Step in Time.

So, is it true? If you give a kid a a cookie, will he shut the...

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 16:22:32 -0400

So, is it true? If you give a kid a a cookie, will he shut the f*#K up? Or what? This book written by Marcy Roznick caught my eye on the way out of Auntie’s Bookstore. Thinking I should have stopped to pay a little more attention to what was between the covers but….I did discover that if you like cursing (he!! yes, I like to throw down with the best of you) this book is for you!

Auntie's Spotting June 4. Lebowski. All you need to know.

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 18:58:52 -0400

Working directly above a bookstore — oh, and not just any bookstore, but Auntie’s...

Artfest find. And now to search out an appropriate frame. ...

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 15:15:30 -0400

Artfest find. And now to search out an appropriate frame. (Taken with instagram)

Sticky Note: on this subject, I, your fair and balanced Queen...

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:38:05 -0400

Notice the ode to Ground Zero t-shirt?

Cannon Coffee & Cone serving Anvil

My morning cuppa goodness

Chemex comes to Browne's Addiction

Anyone gotta knife?

Sticky Note: on this subject, I, your fair and balanced Queen Narcissa, am totally biased. I love The Crow (love), Anvil, have fond memories of Ground Zero and would pretty much do anything I can to support Crow and his family. This has been a lame year for me with little time to show my support, so if the least I can do is blog, shop, eat, lick (ice cream reference, minds outta the gutter please), etc., then I am doin’ it.

Yep - officially, softly opening this morning is Spokane’s newest, most deliciously wonderful, Cannon Coffee & Cone. Where once stood the great, the might Ground Zero, a new place of gathering and java goodness is born.

Sticky Note: Crow worked at Ground Zero as did Ben (think Atticus). Love it when it all comes back.

While not much to look at from the outside (come on, peops, it’s a work in progress), Spokane’s newest coffee shop features locally roasted coffee and ice cream - small batch ice cream from none other than Brain Freeze. The place is still way under construction, but if you head down there from 6 am to 11 am, you can meet The Crow and get a cuppa Anvil. While you’re there, join the Mug Club. Of course, yours truly and Cory are members 2 and 3. Did you expect anything less? I think not.

So, will you please check ‘em out? Show ‘em some love?

Coffee Scandal Rocking the Inland Northwest

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:58:00 -0400

So it’s been awhile since I ranted at you all, but never fear, my feisty mouth is back to...

Last day of work in the ghetto for @DesignSpike. Moving on up. To the sky.

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:02:07 -0400

Last day of work in the ghetto for @DesignSpike. Moving on up. To the sky. : Design Spike®, Inc. is...

Midget pickles for @truxtonite (aren’t these just...

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:54:20 -0400

Midget pickles for @truxtonite (aren’t these just gherkins?). #hipstaday (Taken with instagram)

Yep either @designspike is in the move or we just made an excuse...

Thu, 10 May 2012 17:37:22 -0400

Yep either @designspike is in the move or we just made an excuse to stop at the liquor store. (Taken with instagram)

Beavers and Ducks. Rather Angels and Ducks. My bad.

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:01:49 -0400

One liners that kick your arse. Quotes from Duck Hunter Shoots Angel that make my day: It’s the end...

Looking down on "In the Heights" #WCEbob

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:17:00 -0400

Ok really, I was looking up, but it sounded good, right? Last night’s performance of In the...

Keeping the #WCEbob & @WCEBroadway Peops Connected

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:40:00 -0400

Strikes me that all or some, if you’re anti-social (there’s a pun in there, I swear), of...

Attn #WCEbob @WCEBroadway Tweet Seaters & Facebook...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:10:00 -0400

Attn #WCEbob @WCEBroadway Tweet Seaters & Facebook Fannies:

Reminder - tomorrow night is it! In the Heights 411:

Look for me at 7:00 by the coat check. I will have your tickets
By 7:10 I will be leaving the coat check in the hopes that you will be on the second level, south corner wine bar buying me a beer. In other words, DO NOT BE LATE. You might get left behind.
Meet me at the wine bar.
Feel free to tweet about any part of your day/evening/drive to the INB Performing Arts Center/Parking, etc. Let the world know you have arrived.
Use the hashtag #WCEbob and tag @WCEBroadway. Tag them on Facebook as well.
Upload images.
Turn your phones off during the show.
Turn em on and use em during intermission and after the show
WHERE ARE WE MEETING UP AFTER THE SHOW FOR A NIGHT CAP?

Have I left anything out?