CIVIC ENGAGEMENTS
Community theater is special, and in Spokane we're lucky to have multiple such establishments that produce consistently stellar shows, one of which is the SPOKANE CIVIC THEATRE. The Civic recently announced the first slate of shows for its fully loaded 76th season. Kicking off the season on its main stage is The Addams Family in September, followed by Dracula in the Studio Theatre. Next up is A Sherlock Carol, a Dickens-meets-Doyle holiday mashup, and She Loves Me, the basis for the film You've Got Mail. Merrily We Roll Along opens in the new year, followed by Good People and Amadeus in February, with even more shows to be announced. Season tickets are now on sale at spokanecivictheatre.com, with single-show tickets available closer to the beginning of the season. Break a leg, Civic actors! (MADISON PEARSON)
INLANDER ON OLIVER
This past Sunday, HBO's LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER ran a segment on the migrant farmworkers who prop up America's agriculture industry — often for low pay and dangerous working conditions. Oliver cited an Inlander story I wrote in 2021 about labor challenges in Washington's farm industry. Migrants make up much of the workforce because most Americans, frankly, don't want to do it. Quoting from that article, Oliver noted that the state Employment Security Department's efforts to recruit domestic farm workers in 2021 resulted in zero hires. They were a bit more successful last year, with 10 hires. (NATE SANFORD)
THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST
Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online on April 21-22 .
RODRIGO Y GABRIELA, IN BETWEEN THOUGHTS...A NEW WORLD. The world's preeminent virtuosic, shredding classical guitar duo return with some electronic and orchestral elements folded into the mix to further expand their soundscape. (SS)
SUGA, D-DAY. BTS's Suga returns as his alter-ego Agust D for his first full-length solo album, boasting old-school hip-hop rhythms as well as sweet, subdued melodies over self-produced beats. (MP)
JASON ISBELL & AMANDA SHIRES, THE SOUND EMPORIUM EP. The husband and wife singer-songwriter duo are this year's official ambassadors for Record Store Day (April 22) and are releasing a collaborative EP to celebrate the occasion. (SS)
