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Pirate School!

Pirate School: Sea Dreams is a madcap, swashbuckling solo show created and performed by veteran New York actor David Engel. Set to an original cartoon-inspired musical score, complete with sound effects, Pirate Professor Billy Bones teaches the finer points of lighthearted mischief and offers up zany lessons on how to stand, talk, sing, and laugh like a boisterous buccaneer, all while promoting good manners, polite behavior, and social courage. Children have a natural fascination for adventure and the pirates’ life on the high seas. With eye-popping puppetry, eccentric props, and slapstick sword play, Pirate School! is a riotous, interactive variety show suitable for ages 4 and up. Where else can you find a talking skull and the world’s only wearable pirate ship? Kids (and adults) are encouraged to attend in costume.

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The Westerlies

The Westerlies, “an arty quartet…mixing ideas from jazz, new classical, and Appalachian folk” (New York Times) are a New York-based brass quartet comprised of childhood friends from Seattle: Riley Mulherkar and Chloe Rowlands on trumpet, and Andy Clausen and Willem de Koch on trombone. From Carnegie Hall to Coachella, The Westerlies navigate a wide array of venues and projects with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band, and the charm of a family sing-along. Formed in 2011, the self-described “accidental brass quartet” takes its name from the prevailing winds that travel from the West to the East. “Skilled interpreters who are also adept improvisers” (NPR’s Fresh Air), The Westerlies explore jazz, roots, and chamber music influences to create the rarest of hybrids: music that is both “folk-like and composerly, lovely, and intellectually rigorous” (NPR Music).

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24hrs with a Local

24hrs with a Local: The Spot’s Natalie Battistone, October

Natalie Battistone LIVES for the fall. The Marketing/Creative Director for local theater company The Spot considers October her favorite month and can be found celebrating it by visiting a good pumpkin patch (like Tubb’s Berry Farm in Twin Falls) or reading Dracula. An original member of The Spot since they opened in 2015, Natalie recently directed The Spot’s production of The Sound Inside and is involved behind the scenes or in-stage with most of the company’s production. She is also a freelance actor, acting coach, and director, working with theater scenes in various spots from directing commercials to helping her partner, Spot founder and Community School drama teacher, Kevin Wade, with school productions. Her and Kevin met at the Harvard Repertory Theater graduate MFA acting program in 2014; they live in west Ketchum with their rescue dog Ophelia (named for the character in Hamlet). When not involved in the theater, the introverted Natalie enjoys foraging, birdwatching, and writing poetry. How does your ideal morning start in the fall? Natalie: I wake up and go to the Konditorei for the coffee and its never-ending refills and the Konditorei Breakfast [two eggs, meat, toast]. They used to have donuts on Saturdays but …

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Fall, Hiking

Guide to Leaf Peeping

Your guide to Leaf Peeping in Sun Valley has arrived! Discover stands of aspens crawling up the mountains to hulking cottonwoods along the Big Wood River.