Wowsa Chowda

Dining Reviews

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February 28, 2024

Perhaps eating a bunch of clam chowder pre-ride wasn’t the smartest way to celebrate 100 years of Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s Giant Dipper, but hey, the delirium of the whole scene got to us.

Hundreds and hundreds of chowder lovers and/or people with pent-up demand to enjoy some sunny weather flocked to the water’s edge last weekend to bask in amateur and professional takes on Manhattan and Boston chowders.

On the amateur side, they came with names like Clamtastic, Clam Halen and The Silence of the Clams, with the costumes to match. They scooped chowder from big pots, upwards of 1,500 samples a station (with 50+ serving), clanging cowbells and vibing kindly on a postcard-quality day.

Fear not, however, the antidote to any intestinal upset after the fifth oldest ride of its kind in the country—built for $50,000 and originally charging 15 cents a go—is The Little Dipper, where your soft serve can be coated in choices that include chocolate, peanut butter and butterscotch.

Now for a sampling of the winners. People’s Choice, Amateur Competition: 4 Men & a Clam, with Rocky Horror Clam Show and Big C’s winning on judge’s scorecards. On the pro side, Best Manhattan went 1) Coasties, 2) Redwood Sluggers (UCSC Dining) and 3) Dominican Oaks; and Best Boston podiumed 1) Seascape Golf Course, 2) Latin Asian Fusion Kitchen and 3) Jack O’Neill Restaurant, with Ideal Bar & Grill taking the People’s Choice for Boston.

Good intel on where to soup up, followed by the best part: Based on last year’s receipts, I estimate—conservatively—upwards of $100,000 was raised to benefit the city’s parks-and-rec programs.

TOAST TIME

Watsonville Public House is now open in all its dog-friendly, bike-welcoming, indoor-outdoor craft beer glory. Four house beers (to start) come complemented by eight guest taps, served at a glowing copper bar. Simply a massive upgrade for downtown WatsON. watsonville.pub

OYUKI YUMMY

The case can be made that Lima ranks as one of the best food cities on the planet, and this concept takes me back. Oyuki Sushi Nikkei (1010 Pacific Ave., Suite F, Santa Cruz) does Peruvian-Japanese fusion by way of memorable dishes like causas and papas a la huacaina, buttressed by a bunch of creative vegan rolls, traditional rolls and special rolls. The menu, in a word, is mouthwatering. Oyukisushi.com

PORTHOLE PEEK

Oblò Kitchen + Cocktails (740 Front St., Santa Cruz) has opened in the former Café Mare. Marco Paoletti and Andrea Loporcaro of Sugo Italian Pasta Bar fame are behind the project, with steaks, mussels, burgers, salads, paella and scallops appearing on the menu. PS In Italian, Oblò means porthole. oblosc.com/

NEWS BUFFET

Sweet situation: A handful of Girl Scout cookies are quietly vegan, including Thin Mints, Lemonades, Caramel Chocolate Chips, Peanut Butter Patties (aka Tagalongs), Adventurefuls and Toast Yays…Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) just honored Mireya Gomez-Contreras of Esperanza Community Farms in Watsonville as its Farm Advocate of the Year, largely due to her hustle expanding healthy food access to underserved residents and students…Chocolate Restaurant in Santa Cruz (1522 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz) now does a coffee shop side dish every day from noon to 4:30pm with a dozen hot chocolate drinks, signature desserts and house-made truffles…You heard it here early: Mission St. BBQ (1618 Mission St., Santa Cruz) has excellent breakfast tacos. Buen provecho.

Fonda Felix

Foodie File

Andrew Steingrube

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February 28, 2024

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While volunteering at the Homeless Garden Project, a colleague told Mikaela Anderson that Fonda Felix’s head chef/owner, Diego, was looking for someone to help grow his business and she started the job in April. Fonda Felix as Pan-Latin cuisine focused on Argentine-style empanadas with diverse South American influences.

Open Wednesday-Sunday from 11am-6pm, guests order at the “empanada speak-easy” vibed front door. The menu is headlined by empanadas, like Anderson’s favorite with spinach and Monterey Jack cheese. The vegan Mesóamerica is a best-seller, and other options include shredded chicken married with Peruvian spices, traditional Argentinian beef, and fish and fennel.

The Chipacitos are pleasantly chewy tapioca, cheese and egg puff balls that Anderson says are “fluffy little cheesy bites of deliciousness.” Yerba Mate is cold-brewed in-house with orange and herbs.

Tell me about Diego’s background?

MIKAELA ANDERSON: He was born and raised near Buenos Aires, and although meat is a big part of the culture there, he was brought up vegetarian in a very health-conscious family. He initially wanted to be an actor, sensibility for entertainment is a big part of who he is, so he traveled throughout Latin America in his 20’s looking for work. He ended up becoming inspired and fascinated by local indigenous food from Bolivia, Ecuador and Mexico. He then worked at and owned several restaurants throughout the Americas before he moved to Santa Cruz with his wife and kids in 2015.

Talk to me about the catering side of the business?

MA: With our small, but passionate team, we cater occasions ranging from small private events to large corporate gatherings with hundreds of people. The menus that Diego creates are seasonal and customized to guest’s likings and dietary preferences; everything from meat-focused traditional Argentinian to fully vegan plant-based selections that feature the bounty of our local produce. What we all enjoy the most is seeing people love the food and indulge their curiosity for the cuisine and culture behind it.

402 Ingalls Street, Santa Cruz, 831-889-0653; fondafelix.com

Storrs Winery

Vine & Dine

Josie Cowden

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February 28, 2024

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One of my husband’s favorite wines is Zinfandel. If you also are a lover of Zin, then try this bright 2019 Central Coast by Storrs ($29), one of our best local wineries.

Flavorful and bursting with notes of cherry and soft vanilla, this Zin has a “perfect balance” of spice, fruit and oak – handily winning a double gold medal in the prestigious San Francisco Chronicle wine competition of 2023. Owners Steve and Pamela Storrs have been on the forefront of winemaking for many years, resulting in a plethora of awards.

Storrs Winery & Vineyards, 1560 Pleasant Valley Road, Aptos, 831-724-5030 & 831-458-5030. Storrs Tasting Room at the Old Sash Mill is 303 Potrero St., Santa Cruz. Storrswine.com

Vintage Wine & Port

Last year on a trip to my native England, I was fortunate to be given a tour of Vintage Wine & Port by two wonderful ladies who work there – Dia Grigoriou and Antonia Sheldon.

Grigoriou, senior wine consultant, and Sheldon, in wine sales, showed me rare and extremely old bottles of wine, port, sherry, Madeira, whisky and more from their inventory – some dating back to the 1800s. Let’s say you want a bottle of 1967 Chateau Mouton Rothschild to celebrate a special occasion: it’s in stock! Or a fine French Cognac, or a superb bottle of Port – for sure VW&P has something exceptional and affordable. It’s especially unique to gift a bottle of wine from the year of one’s birth. The company is piled high with the most impressive selection of wines and spirits you could ever imagine. There are also lovely gift boxes to choose from – and they ship all over the world.

Vintage Wine & Port Limited, 7-9 Shaftesbury Street, Fordingbridge, Hampshire, SP6 1JF. Telephone: 44 1425 837 177. Vintagewineandport.co.uk

The Editor’s Desk

Letters to the Editor

Brad Kava

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February 28, 2024

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Santa Cruz California editor of good times news media print and web — Brad Kava | Good Times Editor

You want the good news or the bad news first?

I’ll lead off with good.

We’ve got another week of too much going on to fit in one issue. We’ve had to stack some of the things to do onto our website, which…well, what do you think of that? As one of the last outposts of print journalism, we are a hybrid sharing the printed page with online info you can read on your phone or computer.

You’d think by now publications would have it figured out, but we write for a mixed audience. Some hang on to the printed word and only want to read the paper on paper. Others just want to read online. It’s a stretch to do both, but we are doing our best.

We’re always up for your suggestions to ed****@*****ys.co m

So, the good news is that you can catch a great cultural event every day this week, from a too-unknown-but-about-to-take-off Brooklyn-based singer to a post hardcore band with a name pacifists might hate, Militarie Gun. Writer Mat Weir knows underground music and we love him for it.

We have an important profile of Donald Williams, who started UCSC’s Black theater troupe, after he was originally inspired by playing Michael Jackson in a junior high talent show. Speaking of killer guitars, as we were above, there’s a new exhibit of guitar art that will keep you fretting. We know how obsessed guitarists are with their instruments.

And, yes, we have literature in one of the best outposts for the printed word, Santa Cruz. There’s an article on a big poetry event and another on a Native American author’s important second novel.

This issue is no quick read for those who love the arts.

On the bad side: we are worried about major layoffs in the Live Oak School District. It brings to life the fears we are all facing about housing. If families can’t afford to live here, how can schools survive?

And then there are the property owners who have been fined by the Coastal Commission for keeping pedestrians off a short beach path that has been proclaimed public property by that commission. So, instead of paying millions in fines and obeying the Commission’s decision, the owners upped their game and put up a bigger, uglier fence and sued the Commission.

There are serious arguments on both sides and we’d love to hear yours. Send them to ed****@*****ys.com and we’ll print as many as we can.

Thanks for reading.

Brad Kava

Photo Contest

SURFIN’ ALWAYS Surfer sunset on West Cliff. Photograph by Jo Hensel

Good Idea

Community radio station KSQD, known as K-Squid, suffered

damage from flooding last month. While recovering, the station is preparing to celebrate its fifth birthday with a benefit concert and silent auction Saturday, March 2, between 1 and 5pm at the Resource Center for Non-Violence in Santa Cruz.

Featured music will include Tammi Brown, Keith Greeninger, Poi

Rogers with Carolyn Sills and Gerard Egan, Coffee Zombie Collective, Ripatti &

Rose Trio, Coast Ridge Ramblers, Andy Fuhrman, Ben James, and Lucas Lawson

and Anthony Arya.

Good Work

Last Saturday, the Community Health Trust of Pajaro Valley (CHT) celebrated the grand opening of its new community garden in Watsonville. The garden is located in Muzzio Park, which is an area with high rates of poverty and food insecurity. CHT is bringing fresh produce to Watsonville through the expansion of its Community Gardens program.

“We provide resources to empower Pajaro Valley residents to make simple lifestyle changes that help them live longer and fuller lives,” DeAndre’ James, Executive Director of the Community Health Trust.

Quote of the week

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” Steve Jobs

Letters

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

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February 28, 2024

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HEALTH AND FITNESS

The article by Elizabeth Borelli, explaining gyrotonics And its restorative practices was very welcome. This system of maintenance and restoration has been little understood. However the article failed to mention that Gyrokinesis has been taught at Cabrillo college for many years, and is readily available.

Pat Mc Veigh

VOTE FOR COMMON SENSE

I appreciate every government representative who genuinely understands what they are choosing to implement and are not at the mercy of having to “payback” those who got them elected, which may not be in the best interest of future generations.

I’m not in his district so I cannot vote for Manu Koenig, but I trust his common sense. I urge all those who appreciate commonsense government to vote for Manu who has proven his common sense leadership in his first term. Staying focused upon what we can improve rather than getting off-track on tangents that we can do nothing about helps meeting his circulated statement:

“I will bring us together in a collaborative government to build sustainable Transportation, proactive homeless services, and affordable housing. I will leverage technology, learn from other regions, and listen to you. Together we’ll build a better Santa Cruz County for all.”

Bob Fifield

LIVE OAK SCHOOLS CUTS

From the Good Times website comments section

I would like to clarify a few things in the article:

1. I am in no way blaming this crisis on special education and it is not Individual Education Plans (IEPs) that can cost $100k. It is the placement in specialized schools needed for some children to thrive that can cost that much. All kids are entitled by law to a free and appropriate public education, and if I had a child in Special Ed, I too would push for whatever they needed regardless of cost. The problem is just that state and federal governments have shifted more and more of those costs to local districts.

2. While I did miss two meetings, the reason I said I feel personally responsible for this is because I let my own values, and my belief that public school teachers and support staff deserve to be paid more overshadow the financial realities of the district. As the senior member of the board, newer members looked to me for guidance during labor negotiations and I failed them. If I had insisted that we maintain our reserves at 6% (double the state mandated 3%) we would have been better prepared for this. We cannot control the huge cuts in state revenue or some of the increased costs we face, but we should have been more prepared and transparent.

Jeremy Ray

Soulful Kendra Morris

Cover Stories

Jeanette Prather

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February 28, 2024

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With vulnerability in her writing, humor and creative vocal textures, Kendra Morris deserves a listen. The rock ‘n’ roll persona she emanates – tattooed sleeves, vintage 1970s style glasses, and her modern take on soul and indie-rock– stays true to her rebellious vibes in “I Am What I’m Waiting For”, her latest LP release.

“Don’t ever draw boundaries on your life; it’s your life, it’s a gift,” says Morris about being in music and rolling with her creativity amidst all the challenges in making one’s path and trusting your gut.

The busy rock star and mom showed me around her Brooklyn apartment by Zoom and tried calming Roger, the French/Irish bulldog who wouldn’t stop pestering her for attention. Two weeks out from her West Coast tour, she has a lot on her plate; readying special record orders with personalized autographs and requests, tour technicalities, interviews, picking up her 9-year-old daughter, Opal, from school, and all the while connecting on social media to promote her release and connect with fans.

Her latest release comes more than a decade after her critically acclaimed debut album, Banshee (2012, Wax Poetics/Naive). In 10 tracks, Morris captures the nuances of adulthood with producer Torbitt Schwartz, who has worked with Killer Mike and Run the Jewels.

Morris blends powerful and moody neo-soul vocals with late ‘60s and early ‘70s rock ‘n’ roll into a medley of soul, pop, garage rock, doo-wop and exotica.

During the pandemic she started a karaoke happy hour night on her insta page.

“I like everything big and bold,” says Morris, often wearing her signature oversized 1970s-style glasses. When she found out she really needed them for her eyesight, she took it as an opportunity to create another visual element for her fans to recognize her. With her big hair, big glasses, and tattooed sleeves, she invites us on a journey into her New York world and lifestyle. Her soulful timbre and vocal power brings to mind Janis Joplin or Amy Winehouse, with hints of Liz Phair.

**KICKIN IT** This Florida native has come into her own in Brooklyn. **PHOTO: Rosie Cohe**

“I was always listening to so much different stuff,” she says,”I started with my parents’ record collection, which was a lot of old Motown, Jackson 5 stuff, and lots of old reggae records that they’d bring back when they would go to Jamaica.

it’s so funny, something popped up on my feed the other day; and Sheryl Crow played “Strong Enough”… I remember that that used to be one of my favorites…and listening to that song on repeat in my bedroom. The song would end, and I think I had it on cassette even. I would just play it over and over, the song would end, and I’d have to get out of bed to rewind it. Even that first Lisa Loeb record, I loved that too.”

Originally from Florida, she was looking to step out of her comfort zone with this new album and challenge herself to explore different themes besides love. After over a decade of collaboration with producer and musician Jeremy Page, she was ready to shake things up.

She teamed up with producer Torbitt Schwartz to co-write her latest album. He brings psychedelic-laced keys and spacey sounds, and a collagist approach.

In this fifth release, Morris aimed to showcase her grit and evoke emotion rather than perfection. She delivers soul-drenched melodies over a medley of rock and roll ingredients.

As light, fluffy layers of harmonies caress your ears on the introductory track, “When I Go To Space,” you are drawn into “Anywhere” by its bass line and classic 60s drumbeat, while Kendra soars majestically into energetic vocal highs on the chorus of the following track, “Still Spinning.” Believing in the magic of the artistic process and wanting to maintain that “realness” in her albums, Morris welcomes imperfections and one-takes.

“As you grow up, hopefully you’re really digging your feet into the Earth and experiencing different things and the more you learn and remain open-minded, the more your influences will change, so your records should always feel a little different.”

Her creativity isn’t limited to music.

“I do animation, I do collage work, I mean I do anything, I just love tapping into different things, the more I have noticed that they all blend together. And there’s not really a rule to it, that’s the way I look at my fashion too, it’s another way to express yourself.”

Her visual style caught the eye of fellow New-Yorkers Czarface and MF Doom, with whom Morris had done vocal features. They inquired about who did her music videos, which led to her creating the video for their track, “Bomb Thrown”.

“I think my style has just evolved with me. No one’s going to come up to someone making art and tell them, ‘you’re doing art wrong.’ There’s no such thing as expressing yourself wrong, so the same goes for your fashion and your style. You know I’m no millionaire, not even close, but I do what I love.”

Living in New York City has been a game changer. “I wanted everything at my fingertips, to be able to go to the studio or run into someone on the corner. Lou Reed walked into the dive bar I was working at one day. For the whole world, it’s a hub.”

Kendra Morris with guests the SIlvertone and DJ Archive 65 8pm Sunday at Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $15 in advance, and $20 day of.

Strum and Fret

Art

Jeanette Prather

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February 28, 2024

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What’s something you don’t ordinarily do with a guitar unless you are a true devotee?

Stand in front of one and stare without touching it.

That will change Friday when the R. Blitzer Gallery is features “Attack of the Killer Guitars,” an art exhibit of electric guitars, painted and decorated by internationally renowned, impressionist painter Eric Hoffman, and set up by master luthier Rick McKee, a.k.a. Ukulele Dick, who calls the show, “Fine art you can shred on.”

McKee (who has worked on guitars for Santana, Doobie Brothers, Neil Young, Joan Baez, Ramones, and Pat Simmons) has rebuilt vintage rock guitars and set them up to “feel like they play themselves”. Hoffman has painted them to the heights of abstract art. This collaboration of two lifetime friends will knock out guitar players and art aficionados alike.

Craig Mitchell’s band The String Bean Serenaders will open the exhibit followed by a “pick-a-thon” of local guitarists. Sunshine Jackson of The Carolyn Sills Combo says “Everyone is going to be there!”

Born in Santa Cruz in 1952, the young artist experimented with colors from crayons. Art teachers and local artists encouraged him to follow his dream, and he decided to go to art school instead of living the stoner life in Santa Cruz.

His buddies called him Crazy Eric for going to college. The name stuck, and Hoffman says he wears it as a badge of honor. After graduating with an MA and MFA in art from San Jose State University, he exhibited paintings in New York, Paris, Grenoble, Nice, London, Athens, Rome, Los Angeles, Dallas and San Francisco.

From a visit to Crazy Eric’s studio in Live Oak, he is anything but crazy. He is carefully measured about his work.

“You can’t put the emotions from colors into words,” he says.

But when he shows you a dazzling guitar with brilliant colors organically running down the body and speaks of how he dipped the body into a tub with his colors floating on top of water, just by the way he holds it and describes the technique, you get it: it would be like asking a mother how she feels about her newborn child.

“This is a paint that I get from Germany. It’s completely different, I built up hand painted layers and then I worked back through it with sandpaper. It’s kind of like an archaeological dig. I go back through the paint that I paint on wood surfaces and carve back into it with a variety of tools. It has texture, it’s three-dimensional power relief. I’ll finish this one with hand brushed lacquer.”

Ukulele Dick is naked. To be fair, he did call me while in the hot tub with his partner and the show’s associate-producer, Laura DeFreyne. As McKee describes one of his guitars in his upcoming show, he starts slowly and then talks faster and faster.

“Richard, these guitars are hand painted, abstract expressionist with a variety of techniques developed by Eric Hoffman. One of a kind. I just put together a ‘NuTone” electric guitar that embodies the spirit of 1950s and 1960s sci-fi space adventure films. Based on a Les Paul Jr. 24 3/4” scale length, it includes a badass bridge, die-cast tuning machines, three 1960s Tedisco pickups, space knobs and strap buttons, three on/off pick up selectors with the middle pickup out of phase for Intergalactic Tones, air pressure gauge, and a Howard Dumble pre-amp!”

People will be able to buy the guitar at the show for $5,400 or a trade.

He started building guitars when he was 12 in Pasadena.

“ I found a couple of guitars that were absolute trash and went into the garage and started fixing them up. Then I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and John Lennon was playing a Rickenbacker and it looked like it was shaped like a pear.

“I found a guitar made from a Formica tabletop, bought it for five bucks and cut it down with a handsaw until it looked like a pear.”

Ukulele Dick is a Gail Rich Award recipient, the original creator of the White Album Ensemble and the original bandleader of The Planet Cruz Comedy Hour.

Attack of the Killer Guitars, the high art and hot guitars of Eric Hoffman and Rick McKee, starts First Friday 5-8 pm. The guitars will be displayed on custom stands made by metal sculptor Craig Mitchell. The exhibit will include canvases of Eric Hoffman paintings as well. The show runs through April at R. Blitzer Gallery, 2801 Mission Street, Santa Cruz.

Everything Under The Gun

Music

Mat Weir

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February 28, 2024

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“So I thought, ‘Oh, it would be fun to try to bum people out instead of making them jump around for once,’” recalls Ian Shelton, lead singer for post-hardcore act, Militarie Gun.

Ok, that might not be the usual goal for the scene’s average band. But it’s one of the several reasons that separates Militarie Gun from the cliches.

This Saturday they return to the Catalyst for the Life Under The Gun Tour, their first U.S. tour as headliners with Spiritual Cramp, Pool Kids and Roman Candle. What makes MG interesting is their willingness to push the musical boundaries. While some of their songs lie within the realm of hardcore, many draw influences from Fugazi, The Beatles, Nirvana and others giving the band an almost 90’s alt-rock feel.

But first, back to bumming people out.

Shelton’s discussing the decision around the group’s latest release, Life Under The Sun. The five song EP is currently streaming online and will see a physical release on limited edition colored vinyl for this year’s Record Store Day on April 20th. It features toned down versions of previously released songs off their 2023 Life Under The Gun full-length with a bonus cover of NoFX’s “Whoops I OD’d.”

“I’ve always been obsessed with that song,” he admits. “The song starts with the craziest line possible–”Whoops, I OD’d on drugs.” I learned that from NoFX, start in the craziest place you can.”

The catalyst for recording Life Under The Sun came from the most likely of sources, Shelton’s girlfriend.

“She always roasts me for how sad the songs are,” he says. “I tell her I don’t think they’re sad and she’s like, ‘Yeah, cause you jump around at them. If you payed attention to the lyrics you’d be bummed out.’”

Tom Waits once said, “I like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things” and it seems so does Shelton.

Songs like “Never Fucked Up Once” (with lyrics “And now all your friends have left/they left you in shame”) and “Very High” (“It’s a punch to the face/The way I’m left in my disdain/I’ve been feeling pretty down/so I get very high”) have catchy, upbeat melodies delivering the dire lyrics.

When set to intentionally sullen and often haunting music, it’s almost unbelievable that those same songs surge entire rooms into moshing.

Yet it’s Militarie Gun’s intentions to never make the music that’s expected of them, that has driven the band–and Shelton in particular–since the beginning. It’s also earned them a quickly growing, dedicated fan base, including international superstar, Post Malone, who was filmed last year singing their song, “Do It Faster” backstage at one of his shows.

“It was very surreal. In fact if you watch the video you can see how uncomfortable I am,” laughs Shelton. “I’m lip-singing into the camera and I’m thinking, ‘I don’t know what this is, this is crazy!’”

He adds that Malone has been “a very generous guy” to the band ever since.

Then there’s Taco Bell, who used two different MG songs–”Do It Faster” and “Pressure Cooker”–in separate ads. Like Santa Cruz’s Scowl–whose singer, Kat Moss, also had to issue a statement about sexism in the scene when she was accused online of being an “industry plant” after their music was used by Taco Bell–Militarie Gun faced some criticism for the big punk no-no of “selling out.”. [1]

Band members argue Do-It-Yourself underground bands, traveling in a van from gig to gig, often survive on cheap fast food.

“The idea that we give [Taco Bell] money but them giving us money is bad is a hilarious notion,” says Shelton. “At the end of the day I don’t concern myself with the opinions of losers. So for anyone upset, it doesn’t matter.”

Shelton started the band as a solo project in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. He wrote MG’s first song, “Kept Talkin’”in only half a hour. That track, along with three others, became the band’s first release, My Life Is Over EP written and performed by Shelton.

For the band’s next EPs, 2021’s All Roads Lead To the Gun I & II, he recruited William Acuña and Nick Cogan on guitars, Max Epstein on bass and Vince Nguyen on drums. Cogan also recorded many of the guitar parts for the band’s 2023 full-length, Life Under The Gun, before moving to bass with the addition of Waylon Trim on guitars.

“We have tons of new songs but it will be a long time before their release,” Shelton admits. “Before Life Under the Sun came out there was more than an album’s worth of songs already in the aether.”

I know this reads a little chunky. I feel like since Scowl is from here and they also were in a taco bell ad i should mention them and the statement. However, since i’m also over word count, maybe we should take it out? Your call.

Celebrating the Muse

Literature

Jeanette Prather

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February 28, 2024

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Imagine two hours of 18 women poets and writers reading their work in a wide variety of voices and styles, in a community of shared enthusiasm and encouragement. No, it’s not poetry heaven, it’s the Celebration of the Muse!

The In Celebration of the Muse annual reading, a showcase for women’s literary voices, began in 1981 and is the longest-running event of its kind—bringing together an impressive list of poets and writers to read their work.

The venue has changed over the years─ taking place at London Nelson Center, the Santa Cruz Civic, the now-defunct Palookaville, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Cabrillo College, and Center Stage Theater. Yet, despite differing locations, the format has been consistent—this is a festival that brings women poets and artists together, a sacred space where creativity is encouraged and enhanced.

Early writers to the series were both well and lesser-known Santa Cruz writers: Adrienne Rich, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Wilma Marcus Chandler, Maude Meehan, Carmen Morones, Harryette Mullen, Roz Spafford, Ellen Bass and Claire Braz-Valentine, to name a few.

In Celebration of the Muse emerged as part of the National Festival of Women’s Theater. After the festival’s short run, the Muse (initially conceived as a fundraiser for the festival) continued on spearheaded by women who were interested in fostering women’s voices and elevating them to the same level as the men who were dominating the poetry scene.

Patrice Vecchione and Gael Roziere coordinated and hosted the inaugural reading and subsequent readings for many years to come. Vecchione hosted solo for one year and then invited Amber Cloverdale Sumrall to organize and co-host. This duo was the heart of the Muse for almost two decades, bringing intelligence and wit to the evening, and part of the enchantment at these Muse events was the warm rapport between them.

After 18 years, Dena Taylor took up the baton to co-host with Sumrall. But in 2015 Taylor and Sumrall decided the Muse had reached its end point and Chandler, who “just didn’t want it to die” stepped in. At the time, Sumrall explained: “When the event first started women’s voices were really under-represented in our community and the idea was to give women a voice they didn’t have. Now women have so many venues to be heard. There are so many reading series…we felt like it was time…”

With the re-emergence of the Muse under the direction of Chandler, fiction writers, playwrights and memoirists were added to the line-up. Entering into a partnership with the locally-based online literary magazine, Phren-Z, proved prescient as the Muse moved online in 2020-2023 as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Over the years proceeds from ticket sales have been donated to women-oriented area non-profits including Women’s Crisis Support, the Santa Cruz Aids Project, and WomanCare. Two In Celebration of the Muse anthologies were published, and Muse readings have honored local luminaries who have passed on including Maude Meehan, Tilly Washburn Shaw and Joan Safachek, poets who inspired so many.

For Vecchione, what is most vivid “is remembering the joy of bringing women writers together, watching the audiences grow and grow, and the intoxicating energy of the gala events. The theater would be filled to standing room and the writers, each unique and vibrant in her own way, would take the stage and put a spell on everyone in attendance.”

This year, the Hive Collective will assume production of the Muse. During her tenure as Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate (2018-2020) Danusha Laméris (along with Farnaz Fatemi─ current Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate, Dion O’ Reilly, and Lisa Allen Ortiz) founded the Collective as a way to bring a diverse range of women’s voices to the Santa Cruz poetry community. Reinforcing an already thriving art scene, and the idea that poetry that is all inclusive, changes hearts and minds. Current Hive members include Fatemi and O’Reilly, along with Julia Chiapella, Julie Murphy, Roxi Power and Geneffa Jahan. Along with its bi-monthly poetry readings, The Hive Poetry Collective hosts weekly radio shows Sunday nights at 8 p.m. on KSQD FM 90.7.

For Muse 2024, eighteen poets will be selected to read their work for an in-person reading on Friday, April 26 at the Cabrillo College Horticulture Building (Room 5005), in a free two-hour program. All women, women identified, and non-binary poets are encouraged to apply. And this year the Muse will incorporate audio and visual elements into the reading.

There is no fee to apply but applicants will be asked to submit three poems as well as a statement about their work as a poet and why they would like to participate. Contact Julia Chiapella at ju***@***ld.com or 831-227-7690 for more information.

You can find more information about the Hive Poetry Collection at hivepoetry.org.

Magdalena Montagne is a local poet and teacher who leads poetry writing workshops through the Santa Cruz County Library system and hosts Poets’ Circle Poetry Reading Series at the Watsonville Library. Her website is poetrycirclewithmagdalena.com.

Hitting the Spotlight

Stage

Jeanette Prather

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February 28, 2024

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Donald Williams, who founded UCSC’s African American Theater Arts Troupe, got his start in theater in 7th grade when he played Michael Jackson in a school talent show.

“My world came crashing through and I was like Wow! This is what I want to do. And I didn’t look back.”

Williams, 67, founded the UCSC African American Theater Arts Troupe (AATAT) in 1991, a student-run organization meant to give a voice to the small African American population at the school. However, his story begins earlier when he founded his first theater group while attending Michigan State, called the Last Minute Hookup Theater Company

“It never felt like I was the right type, or color to be in any of the school’s productions, so rather than put myself through school and not practice my trade I started a theater troupe.”

Upon making his way to California, he lived in Los Angeles for some time, working in various theaters until moving to Santa Cruz to work for the UCSC theater department.

“It was like deja vu, I had kids coming up to me saying “Can you help us, Mr. Williams? I want to act, but they’re not doing our kind of shows. I understood where they were coming from because I was there too. When it started I wasn’t getting paid and they weren’t getting credit. But these kids wanted to act.”

In 1991 AATAT was born, when it produced its first play Ceremonies of Dark Old Men it had 15 students, yet they sold out every show.

“The African American community came out en masse, they were happy to see plays that showcased their stories,” said Williams. “Most of these students were not theater arts majors, chem, psych– you name it I had it.”

Over the years Williams built a community around AATAT, and having a place on campus where they could go to have their stories heard helped them to find a reason to stay and complete their majors.

“Soon enough I had more kids coming up to me saying they liked what we were doing, and before I knew it, Rainbow Theater was born.”

The Rainbow Theater serves as a platform for students to create multicultural productions and enhance cultural diversity on the college campus and the Santa Cruz community. Encompassing Poc, Latinx, and Asian American students who write, direct, produce, and act in their productions, Williams serves as the creative director.

“It has since grown to where I’m now getting paid for my services and students are getting credit. Rainbow Theater is now 31 years old, and AATAT is 34 years old. We continue to do amazing things in terms of outreach. We go to Seaside and LA bringing our shows to high schools to show them that they too can go to college.”

Rainbow Theater has since expanded from 25 students to 150 each year auditioning for roles. It does four student-written and directed shows in the quarter and has raised over $150,000 in scholarships. Over the years students with Rainbow Theater and AATAT have traveled to showcase their work to high schools in Monterey, Seaside and LA as well as four states for Kennedy Center festivals.

“Some years our theater troupes travel to showcase our work, usually hundreds of high schoolers or entire communities come out to see us. It’s always been moving for me to see folks ask the actors for autographs. To have these students be blessed and looked upon, to see that they are somebody. These are true reflections that I can look at and say this is why I do what I do.”

“Quite naturally there are several students who have gone on to do big things, from folks working for FX TV or as professors to touring the country in one-man shows. All of them came out of this family with Rainbow Theater and AATAT. It’s empowering to see.”

Williams believes in the importance of Black History Month and celebrating black heritage because Black history is American history.

“When we think about American history, Black people have been in this country since the beginning. The White House was built by slaves, and the stoplight was invented by a Black man, (Garret Morrison). The blood transfusion was invented by a Black doctor (Charles Drew) who has saved countless lives, our history runs deep. Yet we don’t talk about it enough, so to have Black History Month and at least acknowledge some of it is extremely important.”

Promoted to senior professor at UCSC in 2023 Williams continues to create opportunities for students on and off campus, his goal is to empower as many students as possible to create positivity and tell their stories.

“The more we exchange how we express ourselves the more we learn to embrace each other. We soon find that we have more in common than we do separately. It’s about closing that gap. Let the arts rise and continue to be the teachers of this land.”

The African American Theater Arts troupe will be presenting Clydes by Lynn Nottage, a Tony-nominated story of formerly incarcerated people getting a second shot at life as kitchen staff will be running from Feb. 23 – March 3 on the UCSC Theater Arts main stage.

Rainbow Theater will be presenting four multicultural productions from May 26 to June 4 at the Stevenson Event Center at UCSC.

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