“Another Side of the Island”
Academy Award Winner Premieres Shakespeare Adaptation in Whitefish
Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis rehearses her part as Prospera on the Whitefish Middle School Auditorium stage. "Another Side of the Island," is Dukakis' adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest." - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon
In Montana, it’s rare for theatergoers to have the opportunity to see an Academy Award-winning actor perform live on stage. And it’s unprecedented to have one premiere their work here.
On Tuesday, Aug. 26, Olympia Dukakis is set to open and perform in “Another Side of the Island,” her adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center. The production, which is sponsored by the Alpine Theater Project, will run through Sept. 7.
Chef Jim Gray
Kitchen Guy: Catch This Knife – Not!
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The other day, this guy waved at me, beckoning me to come over to where he was sitting, and he was pretty hard to miss, since his hand was wrapped in an elaborate bandage.
“I wanted to ask you about handling knives,” he said. “I think I made a few mistakes.” He told me he cut himself severely. Turns out, he committed four cardinal sins in handling knives.
Glacier Performing Arts Center and Liberty Theater Stalled
Filling the Music Venue Void
Alice Cooper rocks the crowd at Raceway Park. Cooper closed down the first concert series at the park this year. - Photo courtesy of John Klippel, American Web Design
Over the last year plans for two new performance venues in Kalispell – the Glacier Performing Arts Center and the Liberty Theater – have stalled. And in Whitefish, an established live music hot spot has disappeared. Yet local arts organizers say the Flathead Valley is only one or two venues away from becoming a central arts hub and, until one is built, other organizations have stepped up and offered everything from symphony music to Alice Cooper.
[read more]FVCC and Whitefish Mountain Resort to Hold Plays
Shakespeare Returns to Kalispell
Paroles (Michael Perez) offers Helena (Abbey Siegworth) a piece of advice in this scene from Montana Shakespeare in the Parks’ "All’s Well That Ends Well." - Photo courtesy of Winslow Studio and Gallery
For 36 years, Shakespeare has come to communities throughout Montana each summer. But for the past several years, he has been absent from Kalispell.
On Aug. 21, the Bard is back.
Chef Jim Gray
Kitchen Guy: Fair Season
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There’s no business like show business and sometimes that includes appearing at county fairs.
Three shows a day for a couple of days, cooking live (as opposed to my video-taped gigs where the editing room frequently saves my bacon, so to speak).
Photographer Transforms Old Glacier Lodge Windows
From Trash to Artistic Treasure
Cari Stiffarm spreads paint stripper over window frames beside her house in Columbia Falls. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon
The adage “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” could easily have been coined for Columbia Falls photographer Cari Stiffarm.
When Stiffarm got word five years ago that the original windows from the Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier were being removed and thrown away, she saw an artistic opportunity in what others were ready to disregard as junk.
Whitefish Art Scene
Gallery Celebrates Western Impressionists
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"Daybreak on Rising Wolf" by Linda Tippetts is one of the paintings featured in Two Medicine Gallery's Western Impressionists show. --Becky Lomax, for the Beacon |
“The West, more than any other region of the country, is a place of large vistas and outdoor experiences,” says Judy Cornell, owner of Two Medicine Gallery with her husband Jeff. That’s the impetus behind the gallery’s August show featuring three well-known western impressionists—Linda Tippetts, Bye Bitney, and Eric Jacobsen.
The gallery, which has long been known for its regional outdoor oil paintings and rare Glacier Park books, continues its tradition with the impressionist show. “The three artists featured in our August show represent a range of western impressionism, from Bye’s classical style to Linda’s plein air mountains and river valleys to Eric’s more experimental—or experiential—style,” explains Cornell.
Music gathering held at airplane hangar
Near Olney, a Folk Festival Takes Flight
The Susan Wheatley Band performs on the Stillwater Landing stage on Bill Montgomery's property south of Olney. - Photo courtesy of Bill Montgomery
OLNEY – Inside Bill Montgomery’s airplane hangar is a kitchen, a wall full of musical instruments and a well-lit performance stage.
Right now, Montgomery’s PA-12 plane sits outside to make room for the hundred plus people who will attend his fourth annual Stillwater Landing Music Gathering on August 8-10. But the real gem for musicians and concertgoers is the 30 by 40 square-foot stage outside, crafted out of larch and resting on the shoreline of Lower Stillwater Lake.
