Art Chowder November | December 2016, Issue 6 | Page 52

The Roadhouse by inviting them to
perform shows here as they journey
close by. A big thank you to I-90!
“As for our future, we’re now planning to expand our musical horizons to include big band, swing and
jazz orchestras to our wide ranging
repertoire of live shows” concluded
Joey.
The Roadhouse is open 7 days a
week from 4pm until 2am, and
offers an internal seating capacity
of 297 plus outdoor areas for many
more. A full service restaurant, a
main bar and an outdoor tiki bar
along with a sand volleyball court
and an indoor games area make up
this very attractive all-round entertainment venue.

02

THE BING CROSBY
THEATER

If you like to enjoy your entertainment in an intimate theater setting
then downtown Spokane has just
the place for you. THE BING CROSBY
THEATER at the corner of Sprague
by Lincoln is a charming and historical medium size theater which
last year celebrated its 100 year anniversary. Many will remember this
venue as The Metropolitan Theater
of Performing Arts or ‘The Met’, and
its name was changed to The Bing
Crosby Theater a decade ago honoring one of our city’s famous sons.
The theater’s Marketing Director
Mark Holman offered me a tour of
this delightfully cozy venue and
began by recalling the theater’s
origins. “It opened in 1915 as ‘The
Clemmer Theater’ (named after its
first operator Howard S. Clemmer)
and its original purpose was to
show early movies right at the forefront of the modern era of motion
pictures”. Thereafter the theater
began diversifying its entertainment to additionally include live
performing arts including a variety
of musical acts, drama, comedy, magic shows, poetry recitals, operas
and meetings, and has developed
52 ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE

and expanded in this avenue to this very
day. “Our namesake, a young Bing Crosby
actually played drums in a band on this
very stage” explains Mark. After changing
its name to The Audian and then to The
State Theater it was renovated and became known as The Metropolitan Theater of
Performing Arts in 1988 and subsequently
following further improvements was renamed The Bing Crosby Theater in 2006. “Today we present shows to suit everyone’s

tastes such as literature readings, ballet recitals, various charitable events,
theater, often with many shows put
on by Spokane’s Christian Community
Theater program, drama, dance, opera, and still continue showing movies
along with live projection showings of
events of interest and significance like
‘Stage To Screen’ which can only be
enjoyed here because it’s not available on PBS or any other TV channel”.