Part of West Coast Entertainment’s Best of Broadway series, which brings Broadway shows to Spokane, this Beauty and the Beast production is a national tour that was developed by the original creators of the Broadway run that began 15 years ago. Amy Burger of KDHX Radio in St Louis, where the show recently played, wrote: “The show is a complete feast for the senses with detailed, colorful, multi-layered sets, special effects and elaborate period costumes.” If you saw the very popular 1999 show in Spokane, you’ll recognize some of the great special effects. For a video preview of the beautiful show, click here. Can’t get enough and want some Beauty on your computer? You can download a Beauty and the Beast widget and wallpaper here.

Beauty and the Beast runs January 26–29, 2012, at the INB Performing Arts Center in downtown Spokane. Click here for directions. Parking is available in pay lots (one is across the street and another is just a block away) for around $10.00. For tickets, go to TicketsWest.com. Seats are $42.50 to $92.50.

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Copyright 2012 Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park

It’s finally snowing here in Spokane, so now is the time to hit the slopes while the powder is fresh. Our closest resort, Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park, is offering cheap night skiing Wednesday–Saturday through March 10 (always call first, as dates and times are condition dependent). For just $19, you can ski under the lights from 4:00 to 9:30 p.m. Day lift tickets purchased Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday include the night session when available, so you can ski all day and night for the price of one day lift ticket! Day lift tickets are $18–$47; click here for a list of prices.

Night skiing offers some unique perks besides being a bargain: less crowds, a fun date night, and sometimes live music at the lodge (click here for Mt. Spokane’s Foggy Bottom Lounge schedule).

Copyright 2012 Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park

Tips for Night Skiing

• Have a ski buddy. The slopes are brightly illuminated, but the forested surroundings are dark, and someone should always know where you are.
• Dress warmly and pile on more layers, as the temperature will typically decrease at least 10 degrees, plus wind chill, when the sun goes down.
• Make sure your car battery and lights are fully functional to avoid a very dark, long walk down the mountain or a long, cold wait for AAA.
• Bring ski goggles that are clear or yellow.

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Copyright 2005 Creative Edge Marketing and Event Management and its licensors

This weekend, salons, spas, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and other businesses that aim to make you look and/or feel good (including two chocolate producers!) will gather at the 7^th annual Health Beauty Spa Show to introduce you to their services. You can enjoy sample treatments for $5 each: chair massage, facial wax, paraffin hand dip, temporary tattoo, airbrush tan, vibration therapy, mini makeover, reflexology, and more. Grab a friend, your mom, or anyone who is in need of some pampering or girl time (guys are also welcome, of course) and plan to spend a few hours at this event, as it is very popular and you may have to wait a while for your treatments.

Copyright Northwest Artistic Photography

The “ultimate spa party” is a great opportunity to talk to local experts about all the latest spa treatments and to explore the plethora of high-quality local options for beauty and spa services in the Spokane area. Vendors will also be on hand with products focused on prevention, beauty, nutrition, and healthy lifestyle options. If you feel like transforming your look at the show, have before and after pictures taken for free on location by Northwest Artistic Photography. The best makeover and most glamorous transformations will win hundreds of dollars in full service treatments from Dimensions Salon.

The Health Beauty Spa Show runs January 14 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and January 15 from noon to 5 p.m. at Spokane Community College in the Lair building (off Mission street just each of Greene). Click here for directions. Admission is $7, or $5 if you bring a non-perishable food or hygiene item to donate to the YWCA shelter. Sample treatment tickets are available at the door for $5. Health and beauty professionals get in free with their license and photo ID from 4–6 p.m. Saturday night. Everyone can take advantage of the website deal for a free treatment—just print the coupon from the home page (valid after 3 p.m. Saturday or all day Sunday.) The food, by Ruth’s Catering, sounds tastier than your typical trade show fare, with homemade candy, breakfast burritos, three kinds of soup, and pulled pork sandwiches among the offerings. Hope to see you there!

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Highlights

Live Variety Show at INB Performing Arts Center

Several great performers will entertain you with juggling, comedy, boogie-woogie piano, jump-rope acrobatics (from Rene Bibaud, who has performed with Cirque du Soleil) and old vaudeville style clowning. Shows are at 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 p.m.

Yoke’s Dinosaur Egg Safari

From 7 to 10 p.m., pick up a passport from one of four locations. At each location, you will receive a clue to solve before moving on to the next location. Once a clue is solved, you will receive a stamp on your passport. When you have all four stamps, drop your passport into a Yoke’s Dinosaur Egg Safari enter-to-win box to be entered into drawings for prizes.

5k Resolution Run

Start your healthy resolutions a few hours early with a 5k run through downtown Spokane. Runners line up at 6:30 p.m., and the run begins at 6:45 p.m. An optional bag drop makes it easy to get your coat and purse afterward. Fill out and bring the waiver form before you go. Click here for a map of the course.

Midnight Fireworks Spectacular

At midnight, a fireworks show will begin at Riverfront Park.

Free Parking and Shuttle Service

Don’t let fear of downtown parking keep you from First Night! Just park at the Riverpoint Campus just east of downtown Spokane (412 E. Spokane Falls Blvd.) in the yellow lot and catch a bus to one of several First Night venues. Buses run every ten minutes from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Free Carousel Rides and Ice Skating

From 7 to 11 p.m., you can skate free at the Ice Palace in the heart of Riverfront Park (you still have to pay for skate rental) and take free rides on the beautiful Looff Carousel, also located in Riverfront Park.

The Comedy Show at the Spokane Masonic Center

Four comedians will perform in the ballroom. Show times are 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 p.m.

You can also check out plenty of live music, theatre from Stage West Community Theatre and the Spokane Community College Players, Spokane Theatre Ballet, improv comedy from Blue Door Theatre, and much more! Check out the full schedule on the website.

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Copyright Northwest Museum of Art and Culture

Campbell House Holiday Tours

The MAC Museum of Art and Culture is putting on living history performances in its largest exhibit, the Campbell House, during the two weeks around Christmas when most kids are out of school. The Campbell House is a turn-of-the-20th-century English Tudor Revival mansion designed by renowned Spokane architect Kirtland Cutter. You can see the house decorated for the holidays and learn about the times in which it was built and the daily life of the Campbell family from December 21 through January 1 on the days the MAC is open (the MAC is right next door to the Campbell House) from 12–4 p.m.

New for this year: Check out the just-opened Interpretive Center to create your own Campbell House experience and connect the past and present with interactive computers and hands-on exploration, and you can also take a horse-drawn carriage ride. Admission is free for MAC members or $7 adults/$5 students and seniors, which includes both museum entry and a tour of the Campbell House. For more information, call the admissions desk at 509-363-5355. The MAC is located in Spokane’s gorgeous historic Browne’s Addition neighborhood at 2316 W. First Ave.

Mt. Spokane Tubing Hill

A friend with three children in elementary school shared this story:

My kids had been out of school on break for three days and they were driving me crazy—fighting, not listening, whining, throwing tantrums. Suddenly I realized that for the past two months it had been go-go-go, with football practice, dance lessons, after-school activities, and homework every day, and now they suddenly had nothing to use up their energy. So I loaded them into the Suburban and took them to Mt. Spokane to go tubing. Those kids played HARD and wore themselves out and had a great time. They couldn’t stay awake on the ride home, and after that, I recognized my children again and things were back to normal.

Enough said? The hill has been moved and newly constructed this year at Lodge 2, just north and downhill of the parking lot and Ski Patrol building. With several lanes, a new tow-rope to haul tubers back up the mountain, a limit of 50 participants per session, and plenty of snow, the Children’s Choice Tubing Hill is great for families and safer than uncontrolled sledding in parks. The hill is open weekends and holidays (except Christmas and Christmas Eve), for the remainder of the season, with sessions beginning at 10 a.m. and the last session starting at 2:30 p.m. One-and-a-half hour sessions are $10 for everyone 42” and over. Kids under 42” are free but must ride with a paid adult. Check conditions before you come up. Mt. Spokane is 28 miles from downtown Spokane; click here for directions.

Horse and Carriage Rides through Downtown Spokane

Through Christmas Eve, the Downtown Spokane Business Improvement District and Spokane Teachers Credit Union presents free old-fashioned horse and carriage rides through the streets of downtown. Just show up on Wall Street at Main Avenue on Fridays 3–8 p.m., weekends 12–5 p.m., or Christmas Eve 12–3 p.m. This is a great outing for family from out of town! Rides are given on a first-come, first-serve basis. After your ride, you will receive free candy canes and coupons for hot chocolate and coffee at participating downtown businesses. Click here to see a video preview of the ride.

Ice Skating in Riverfront Park

The Ice Palace, one of the nation’s best outdoor ice skating rinks, is open all winter long under the Pavilion in the heart of Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane. Lessons and drop-in hockey are available. Click here for hours. Admission is $4.50 for adults and $3.50 for youth/seniors/military, and skate rental is $3.50. Thursday nights are Inlander appreciation nights—get your ticket from the Inlander, a free weekly publication, to skate for $1. The Spokane Falls SkyRide, IMAX Theatre, and Looff Carousel are also open all winter if you want to spend more fun family time in the park.

First Night Spokane New Year’s Eve Celebration

By far the biggest New Year’s Eve party around, First Night Spokane is a huge, alcohol-free festival of the arts in downtown Spokane for the entire family. This year’s theme is “Dawn of Time” Year of the Dinosaur. At venues within a walkable area of downtown, you can enjoy live music, theatre, dance performances, film, dance parties, art, comedy, and a fireworks show. There are plenty of activities for kids, including face painting, bookmark making, magic shows, free ice skating and carousel rides, and rolling video games. Click here for the schedule of the night’s event’s, which get started at 7 p.m.

If your family is making a resolution to exercise more, start early with the 5k Resolution Run! Runners line up at 6:30 p.m., and the run begins at 6:45 p.m. An optional bag drop makes it easy to get your coat and purse afterward. Fill out and bring the waiver form before you go. Click here for a map of the course. Admission buttons are just $12 in advance or $15 on New Year’s Eve. Kids 10 and under are free with a paid adult. Purchase tickets here or at various participating Spokane businesses.

On New Year’s Day, celebrate First Day Spokane and get free admission to the MAC Museum of Art and Culture with your First Night button plus discounted passes to play in Riverfront Park.

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Attending a symphony concert is a great date idea and also an excellent way to treat yourself and just chill out for the evening listening to some live, high quality music. You can dress up or down, just as you please; some people go in blue jeans, while others find the symphony a great reason to dress to the nines. Club Maestro members can buy up to two $15 tickets for each concert, and there are no age requirements for the guest, so members can treat a parent, older friend, or anyone they like for just $15.

It’s easy to sign up—I just emailed my information to tickets@spokanesymphony.org with “Club Maestro” on the subject line, but you can also mail your information to or just stop by the box office of the gorgeous, historic Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. in downtown Spokane. To join, you must provide your name, mailing address, email address, and a copy of your ID that shows your date of birth (I just scanned mine and sent a jpeg).

There are five Classics concerts and two Casual Classics concerts left for the 2011–2012 Spokane Symphony season. Featured composers include Mozart, Schubert, Gioachino Rossini (with William Tell Overture, the Lone Ranger theme), Beethoven, Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, and more. Several of the concerts will feature outstanding guest artists from all over. Club Maestro is a great opportunity to broaden your musical knowledge, get a jump-start on New Year’s resolutions to attend more cultural events, or just learn more about some of history’s greatest musical composers for very little cash.

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This Saturday, November 12, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., local shops in seven different Spokane business districts will offer games, prizes, and great discounts in honor of Girl’s Day Out, a shopping event aimed at introducing women to their neighborhood business centers. Businesses in the Garland, Hillyard, International District, Monroe, Perry, N. Division/Ruby, and SoDo areas are rolling out the “pink carpet” to entice ladies to come in. Each district has a headquarters, where the first 100 shoppers will receive a “swag bag” of goodies, and you can pick up your Girl’s Day Out map. Check out the facebook page for an inside look at what some of the business owners are doing to make this year’s event the best ever.

Many shops will be offering treats and beverages, and every business will have something special to offer. You can start your holiday shopping or shop for yourself—you can find antiques, jewelry, clothing, makeup, skin care, art, new and used furniture, books, and much more. Some of the city’s best coffee houses and restaurants will also be offering great specials for the day. Door prizes and drawings for gift certificates will be part of the fun. You can see all the participating businesses and scope out all the deals before you go in this week’s Exchange, available at free newsstands all over the city.

District headquarters, where you will want to stop first to get your map and swag bag:

• Monroe: Cruz ‘n Back in Time, 3107 N. Monroe
• South Perry: Skin Care by Yisel, 1016 S. Perry
• Hillyard: Corner Cottage, 5210 N. Market
• Garland: Glamarita, 901 W. Garland
• SoDo: Ronan’s Door, 301 W. 2^nd Ave.
• North Division/Ruby St.: Retired Treasures, 2824 N. Ruby
• East Sprague/International: Northwest Seed and Pet, 2422 E. Sprague

Posted on the Girl’s Day Out facebook wall by Cruz ‘n Back in Time Collectibles

Although it is an event for women, men are welcome to come enjoy the fun as well.  Shopping local is good for the economy, good for the community, and good for the environment, just in case you needed an excuse to spend a day shopping!

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If you don’t know how to ice skate and would prefer proper lessons to the rather embarrassing, yet popular, learning method of clinging to the wall, you can sign up here for lessons at the Ice Palace (search under Riverfront Park in the Complex drop-down menu). There are classes for kids, adults, and parents with tots.

The IMAX Theatre, Black Light Mini-Golf, historic Looff Carrousel, and Spokane Falls SkyRide are all open at Riverfront Park as well.

The Ice Palace is open Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $3.50 for youth, seniors, and military, and $4.50 for everyone else. Skate rental is $3.50. Season passes are available. Check the website for deals and hours, for example, Thursday nights are Inlander appreciation nights, when you can skate for $1.00.

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There are several advantages to shopping the SWAP instead of the stores. First, you will get the best selection (over 22,000 items) and deals. Second, you can sell your old equipment for the very reasonable rate of 50 cents per item for registration plus 20% of the selling price to a huge, eager pool of buyers. Third, over 130 experienced members of the Mt. Spokane Ski Patrol will be on hand to help you find the best equipment for your skill level and price range, in addition to the participating retail shop representatives, so beginners need not fear they will be doomed to wander alone and confused amongst endless rows of seemingly similar items. Fourth, all proceeds go to offset costs for operation of the non-profit Mt. Spokane Ski Patrol, including facilities overhead, first aid and medical supplies, training costs, and administrative functions. (These are the nice people who check on you when you wipe out and lay sprawled on the hill, skis and poles scattered, which always seems to happen right under the chair lift–oh wait, maybe that’s just me.) Fifth, it’s fun to shop and mingle with other ski/snowboard enthusiasts!

There is a $5 admission fee for the show (12 years and under free). Hours are Saturday, October 29, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, October 30, 9 a.m. to noon. If you have gear to sell, drop it off Friday, October 28, from 3–8 p.m., and pick up your check/unsold gear on Sunday from 2–4 p.m. Plenty of free parking is available onsite. Cash, checks, and debit/credit cards are all accepted. There is just one central check-out area, although the gear comes from over 20 retail shops plus individuals. This year, wait times should be shorter due to improvements to the scanning and point-of-sale technology. Sunday, select items will be 25% off, but if you are looking for kids’ gear and clothing, don’t wait and get in line early on Saturday because it goes fast.

There are six ski resorts within a three-hour drive from Spokane: Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park (50 minutes), Silver Mountain Resort (1 hour), 49 Degrees North Mountain Resort (1 hour 45 minutes), Lookout Pass Ski Area (2.5 hours), Schweitzer Mountain Resort (2 hours), and Red Mountain Resort (3 hours).

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Speaking of beer, on October 22, the Chiefs will hold the first annual Hocktoberfest and will give away a trip for two to Leavenworth, WA, courtesy of Leinenkugel’s. Click here to sign up for your chance to win through October 12. Five finalists will be selected and notified on October 17. These lucky people will each receive four complimentary tickets to the October 22 game. One more finalist will be selected from entries at the night’s game, and the winner will be determined through a series of promotions, including an on-ice competition during intermission. You have to play in the night’s promotions to win.

For the full Chiefs season schedule, click here. There is no substitute for live, local hockey, but there will be live TV broadcasts of ten Tri-Cities vs. Chiefs games on SWX via Comcast on channel 115 and over-the-air at digital channel 6.2. Click here for the TV schedule.

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