‘Menopause’ hits the Bing in April

News flash: “Menopause The Musical” is on the way to the Bing Crosby Theater, April 2 through 6.

This touring musical parody show has been a long-running hit in Florida, New York, Las Vegas and throughout the country since 2001.

It takes 25 familiar songs from the 1960s and 1970s and “re-lyricizes” them to comment on a woman’s change of life. (Example: “Stayin’ Awake, Stayin’ Awake.”)

Writer/producer Jeanie Linders was inspired to create the show after she found herself fanning herself in front of her open freezer, in a formal gown, singing “Hot Flash” to the tune of Rod Stewart’s “Hot Legs.”

This seven-performance run is a benefit for CenterStage, but it will not actually be performed there. It will be held a couple of blocks away at the Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague.

Keep in mind, this is not the same show as “Menopositive,” which CenterStage presented in 2003.

“Menopause the Musical” is a far better-known and more popular show, which logged four years off-Broadway in New York and has a company in residence at the Las Vegas Hilton. The producers claim “Menopause the Musical” has been seen by 9 million women.

What’s the appeal? The official Web site puts it this way: “The show’s intended message is that menopause is a passage, but it should no longer be The Silent Passage. It is a stage in every woman’s life that is perfectly normal.”

Discounted tickets are on sale for $36.50 through TicketsWest outlets (509-325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com). After March 8, the price goes up another $5.

‘Spamalot’ of the ‘Opera’

Meanwhile, the big theater-tour news arrived on Wednesday: The 2008-09 Best of Broadway lineup.

Here’s the list: “The Phantom of the Opera,” “The Color Purple,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” and “Spamalot.” Optional add-ons: The Capitol Steps, “Annie” and “Defending the Caveman.”

Right now, your ticket options are limited to the following three: a season subscription, a group-sale package deal for 20 or more, or a hotel-show package deal. Individual tickets won’t go on sale until an unspecified future date.

For more information, call TicketsWest or go to www.bestofbroadway spokane.com.

Risqué ‘Bliss’

“Finding Bliss,” starring Jamie Kennedy, Leelee Sobieski and Denise Richards, is billed as a romantic comedy.

Yes, but we had no idea what kind of romantic comedy. It’s a steamy one, set in the world of “adult films.”

“Bliss,” shot this month in Spokane by North by Northwest, is about a serious young director (Sobieski), fresh out of film school, who finds herself paying the bills by working at something called Grind Studios. It even has a cameo appearance by the notorious Ron Jeremy.

In short, this is no “Family Holiday,” “Diamond Dog” or “The Basket.”

“Finding Bliss” will probably get an R-rating. Just to clarify, it’s not a porn movie, but it’s a spoof of that world.

Up next for North by Northwest: A thriller starring Christian Slater, to begin in March.

More Comcast HD channels

Comcast in Spokane launches six new HD channels on March 4: Animal Planet HD, Discovery Channel HD, The Learning Channel HD, Home and Garden TV HD, Food Network HD and Sci-Fi HD.

New Civic listening devices

The Spokane Civic Theatre is providing new assistance for patrons with hearing difficulties.

An assistive listening system is now available which can broadcast an audio signal directly to a patron’s hearing aid or to headsets for those who request them.

This system, which includes $40,000 worth of new equipment, was provided by Columbia Hearing Centers of Spokane in partnership with Phonak Hearing Systems. It’s in use for the current production of “The Night of the Iguana.”

Latin Happy Hour

Interplayers Theatre is holding what it calls a “Latin-American Inspired Happy Hour” on Tuesday from 4 to 6 p.m. at the theater’s Gellhorn Gallery and main stage.

You’ll get to eat Latin foods, listen to Latin rhythms, learn some samba steps, and meet the cast of the next Interplayers play, “The Clean House,” which opens Friday.

Why the Latin theme? Because “The Clean House” is about a Brazilian housekeeper in America. It was a 2005 Pulitzer finalist.

Tickets are $20, available by calling (509) 455-PLAY.

‘Curtain Call’ gets encore

“Curtain Call With David Spatz,” an entertainment-interview show filmed, in part, at the Northern Quest Casino in Airway Heights, debuts on KHQ-6 at 3:30 p.m. today.

Spatz interviews singer Paul Anka in the first show. The show will continue every Sunday in March at 3 p.m., excluding Easter Sunday. Future guests include Frank Caliendo, The Bangles and Terry Fator.

The show is filmed backstage at Northern Quest and at various casinos in Atlantic City. It previously aired in 2006 on KGPX-34.