Bloglander

In Almost, Maine (2006, off-Broadway, and just about everywhere since then), at 9 o'clock on the same frozen night, lovers pair off all over town. A couple on a park bench can scarcely say that they love one another.  A broken-hearted widow stands in a guy's front yard and stares at the sky. A guy runs into his ex just outside her wedding shower, which doesn't exactly make him feel any less lonely. The playwright is John Cariani (pictured), who played the nerdy technician Julian Beck on Law & Order (2002-07) and the eager grad student in math at "CalSci" on Numb3rs (2009). Cariani is from Presque Isle in northern Maine, which we know from personal experience is a cold and dark and barren place (and is nearly where Almost, Maine is set). Performances at Lake City Playhouse in CdA on Thurs-Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 2 pm. Tickets: $17; $15, students and veterans; $13, seniors; $10, student rush; $9, children. Call (208) 667-1323. See some production photos.

Nunsense opens this weekend at Spokane Civic Theatre and continues through March 6. But hurry, because ticket availability is dwindling. Call 325-2507. Read a preview.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee closes on Sunday at the Civic; it's still sold out.

Improv comedians at the Blue Door perform "It's a Date" on Feb. 18 and Feb. 25 at 8 pm, and "Expedition" on Sat. nights at 9 pm. Call 747-7045.

Spokane Children's Theatre is shooting an Oompa-Loompa out of a cannon and costuming the first act in black and white — and the second in Technicolor — in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory at SCC's Lair Auditorium. Sat. 1 pm and 4 pm, Sun 4 pm. 

NIC students present Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart on Thurs-Sat at 7:30 pm at Schuler Auditorium, 1000 W. Garden Ave., CdA. Free. Call (208) 769-3220.