Do you have talent? Spokane’s Got Talent seeks all types of local entertainers

Spokane’s Got Talent is looking for locals with something to prove. Whether their talents are musical, magical or strange, auditions are open to all who are in it to win it.

On Monday and Tuesday, Spokanites of “all ages, races, color, size,” can audition for Spokane’s Got Talent, said Jake Schaefer, executive director of Spokane Civic Theatre.

“Being Spokane’s Got Talent, the landscape should be Spokane, so it should be all types of people,” continued Schaefer.

This talent show is being put on for Spokane’s 50-year celebration of Expo ’74.

This “is a big deal for all of the arts and cultural organizations in Spokane,” Schaefer said. “Spokane Civic Theatre, in 1974, produced a series of productions in the park at part of the festival.”

Fifty years later, Spokane Civic Theatre is going to put on another series of shows, and Schaefer believes this “speaks to the community’s interest in celebrating each other.”

Schafer is working with Rita Di Mauro, the arts and culture chair for Expo ’74, and Matt Santangelo, the Expo’s program manager.

In the pursuit of fairness, talents will be “broken out into talent form … to make sure that we get a lot of coverage of as many talents as we can,” Schaefer said. “The singers need to be in a singer pile. You can’t compare singers to fire-breathers.”

The diversity of performances will depend on what talents show up to audition, but if there are a wide range of talents, then similar talents will be compared to each other, and the best will be selected for the show.

Spokane Civic Theatre will be hosting the auditions, and everyone must register. All participants will know if they’ve been chosen for the show no later than June 1.

Some well-known local talents have already signed up, like the Cronkites band, local performer Kalla Mort and recording artist Lara James.

Anyone can sign up for auditions, but everyone’s act must incorporate elements reminiscent of the ’70.

“It can be the material they perform; it can be their attire; it could be tone,” Schaefer said. They could even “introduce themselves and they very well may say something that feels evocative of the area of the era.”

“I think that will actually be inspiring to us, the organizers,” Schaefer said. “We have the space, we have the technology, lights and sound. Everything else is going to be built around the group that is put in the show.”

For the top three performances, “the winnings are incremental cash prizes and performance opportunities,” Schaefer said.

Winners of the show will earn a spot to perform at local venues around Spokane and gain the credibility that comes with being Spokane’s top talent.

Schaefer made it clear that “if we go to a concert at the Arena, we are experiencing the concert at the Arena, but if we go to Spokane’s Got Talent, we’re going to be experiencing Spokane’s talent. It’s our people.”