The week's highlights
‘Other Desert Cities’
O’Shaughnessy Center, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m.
The Whitefish Theatre Company presents the award-winning play, nominated in 2012 for a Pulitzer Prize. After a six-year absence, Brooke Wyeth returns home to Palm Springs to celebrate Christmas with her parents, brother and aunt. But the warm desert air turns chilly when news of her soon-to-be published memoir threatens to revive the most painful chapter of the family's history. With her parents trying to cling to their affluent social status, the family is thrown into turmoil and must come to grips with its painful past. Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors, and $8 for students, with reserved seating. Tickets can be purchased at the box office, 1 Central Ave., Whitefish, or by calling 862-5371. Box office hours are from 10 a.m.to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and one hour before performance times. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.whitefishtheatreco.org.
‘The Nerd’
Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.
The Bigfork Community Players present Larry Shue’s play “The Nerd,” directed by Karen Kolar. Now an aspiring young architect in Terre Haute, Indiana, Willum Cubbert has often told his friends about the debt he owes to Rick Steadman, a fellow ex-GI whom he has never met but who saved his life after he was seriously wounded in Vietnam, so Willum is delighted when Rick shows up unexpectedly at his apartment on the night of his 34th birthday party. But his delight soon fades as it becomes apparent that Rick is a hopeless "nerd"—a bumbling oaf with no social sense, little intelligence and less tact. And Rick stays on and on, his continued presence among Willum and his friends leading to one uproarious incident after another. Tickets are $15 for adults; $10 for Bigfork Community Players members, students and seniors; and $5 for children under 12. They are available at www.bigforkcenter.org, at Bigfork Drug, at the Kalispell Grand Hotel, from any cast member, and at the door.
‘Rachmaninoff and Siloti’
Seeley Swan High School, Sunday, 3 p.m.
Alpine Artisans’ 2 Valleys Stage presents this concert with pianists Steven Hesla and Barbara Blegen performing on two concert grand pianos, with Fern Glass Boydon cello. The concert will feature major piano works by Sergei Rachmaninoff honoring the influence of his principal teacher and promoter, Alexander Siloti. General admission is $14 with $12 tickets for seniors $12 and free admission for those 18 and under. A pre-concert talk by Steven Hesla will be at 2 p.m. For more information visit www.alpineartisans.org or call 406-677-0717.
‘The Power of Song’ featuring The Great Pretenders
Museum at Central School, Kalispell, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
The male vocal quartet of the Glacier Symphony and Chorale offers its first full-length concert. The four Pretenders are Terry Comstock and Jonathan Bruce tenor, Greg Naive, baritone, and Brad Seaman, bass. Their accompanist is Dan Kohnstamm, who will also play three short original piano compositions for the show. The Great Pretenders perform repertoire that varies from classical and operatic to folk and spirituals to jazz and contemporary, Glacier Chorale conductor James Stanard, the Pretenders director, said. Doors open at 7 p.m. for socializing and a no-host wine bar. Seating is limited in the recital room on the third floor of the Central School Museum. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for seniors and may be purchased from the GSC Box office, 407-7000, 69 N. Main. St. Kalispell or at the website www.gscmusic.org. The museum is located at 124 Second Ave. E.