If you’ve come to northern Idaho for the hiking, there’s another place to check out after the sun goes down and you’ve stashed your trekking poles: a small historic theater with haunting beauty, the Panida in Sandpoint.
Last Friday, within its mottled golden walls, I watched Shovels & Rope perform their folk-rock hit “Birmingham,” which won the Americana Music Association (AMA) song of the year award in 2013. A crowd danced at the foot of the stage, black shadows beneath the dim glow of amber lights suspended from a plaster ceiling.
The Panida (rhymes with Canada) is a Spanish-Mission-style masterpiece that opened in 1927 as a vaudeville house and movie theater. Built by F.C. Weskil and named for the people of the PANhandle of IDAho, it nearly disappeared to a wrecking ball in the early 1980s before the community raised the money to buy and restore it as a nonprofit.
Today, in addition to performances by well-known artists such as country singer Bonnie Raitt and comedian/ventriloquist Andy Gross, it’s also home to local talent. For example, in a building adjacent to the main stage called “The Little Theater,” the comedy “Sand-POINT BREAK,” a farce about wakeboarders in northern Idaho inspired by the movie Point Break, was a hit.
What’s more, the Panida is a frequent stop on the film festival circuit. I’ve attended the Fly Fishing Film Tour, Banff Centre Mountain, and the Wild & Scenic Film Festival. On those occasions, my hands smelled of buttered popcorn from the lobby as I sipped wine and watched the wilderness unfold on a wide screen.
When Shovels & Rope performed their encore, “She Gets Down,” I drank Crown Royal and Coke while stomping my feet to the beat. That’s right. I go up hills. Down them, and sometimes dance at night in a little theater called “The Panida.” Check it out.
Thanks for the restack!