We are blessed with an embarrassment of riches in Montana as far as good books by good writers, so for your gift-giving pleasure, I thought I’d cite some of the best Montana books I’ve read in the past couple of years. I’m going to focus mostly on writers that aren’t getting as much attention as I think they should. (more…) Continue Reading →
Culture
Recent Posts
Multi-generational business marks 80 years tonight
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A Billings business with deep downtown roots will be celebrating its 80th anniversary Friday night, during the Holiday ArtWalk and the annual Christmas Stroll. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Billings, Culture, Diversions, Babcock Building, Montague's Jewelers, Rimrock Mall, Tony Soueidi, West Park Plaza
Art, music, food served up during Holiday ArtWalk
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ArtWalk Downtown Billings, now in its 23rd season, is sponsoring the Holiday ArtWalk this Friday night from 5 to 9, at venues all over the downtown. The Holiday ArtWalk will include more than three dozen season-member and one-time-participant locations, each with a separate gallery page on ArtWalk’s new, mobile-friendly website, artwalkbillings.com. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Billings, Culture, Diversions, downtown Billings, Holiday ArtWalk
Speaker sketches history of Latinos in U.S., Montana
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Don’t blame Bridget Kevane if her talk on “Latino America, Latino Montana” was a little short on details. Kevane, associate dean for faculty affairs in the College of Letters and Science at Montana State University, addressed her very broad topic in just over an hour Thursday as part of the High Noon lecture series at the Western Heritage Center in downtown Billings. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Billings, Culture, Diversions, Bridget Kevane, Latinos, Montana State University, Western Heritage Center
Egan hits just the right notes in ‘Montana 1889’
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In the preface to “The Bible in Spain” by George Borrow, the strangely engrossing book I am now reading, Borrow begins like this:
“It is very seldom that the preface of a work is read; indeed, of late years, most books have been sent into the world without any. I deem it, however, advisable to write a preface, and to this I humbly call the attention of the courteous reader, as its perusal will not a little tend to the proper understanding and appreciation of this volume.” (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Culture, Montana, Humanities Montana, Ken Egan, Montana history
‘Doubt’ makes persuasive theater opener
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Nothing evokes the hazards of theatrical entrepreneurship like introducing the company’s first season with a play called “Doubt.”
But the Yellowstone Repertory Theatre’s maiden production quickly removed all doubt about the quality of its work, if not the sustainability of its venture. “Doubt: A Parable” was performed superbly and suggests high promise for the season to follow. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Billings, Culture, Bobbi Hawk, Caitlin Hart, Craig Huisenga, Dan Nickerson, Dina Brophy, Wanda Morales
Malta cowboy was an early Western star in Hollywood
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“Wallace D. Coburn, the original shoot -’em -up, watch-my-smoke, whoopee-ky-otee cowpuncher and movie star, is in town.”
That was how the Honolulu Star-Bulletin trumpeted the May 1917 arrival of northern Montana’s original cowboy poet and movie star in the islands. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Culture, Diversions, Montana, Charles M. Russell, Hollywood, Malta, Wallace D. Coburn
First Gypsy Jazz Festival kicks off next Friday in Billings
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Who knew Gypsy jazz was so popular in Montana? Even Alex Nauman, the lead guitarist for the Rimrock Hot Club in Billings, didn’t realize until about a year ago how many Gypsy jazz bands were active in the state. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Billings, Culture, Diversions, Alex Nauman, Gypsy Jazz Festival, Montana Arts Council, NOVA Center for the Performing Arts, Rimrock Hot Club
New repertory theater group schedules first 3 plays
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A new professional theater company in Billings will kick off its debut season next month, presenting three award-winning plays through next June. The Yellowstone Repertory Theatre, whose beginnings were charted by Last Best News in February, will open its first season with a production of “Doubt, A Parable,” by John Patrick Shanely, running Nov. 3-18. That will be followed by Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie,” March 2-17 2018, and Beth Henley’s “Crimes of the Heart,” next June 8-23. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Billings, Culture, Caitlin Hart, Craig Huisenga, Dina Brophy, NOVA Center for the Performing Arts, Yellowstone Repertory Theatre
Designer ‘Irene,’ raised in Baker, wowed Hollywood
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She was the fabulous Baker, Mont., girl who had built “Irene” into a quality trademark. This fabled designer of magical gowns for the movies once led such a charmed career that she was known simple by her first name: Irene. (more…) Continue Reading →
