CELTIC TEEN BAND PROGRAM Teenage musicians ages 12-19 play in an ensemble, developing musicianship, flexibility and musical creativity. Participants work on music from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Norway, Sweden and the United States, in addition to modern and more quirky pieces. Instruments welcomed: fiddle, viola, flute, tin whistle, pipes, cello, upright bass, guitar, mandolin, banjo, dulcimer, autoharp, ukulele, Celtic harp, accordion and percussion. Students must have at least two years of experience on their instrument and must be able to read sheet music and chord symbols. The group meets with fiddle teacher John Weed twice per month on Wednesday afternoons from 3:30-5pm at the London Nelson Center. $10 per session (or free, based on a sliding scale). Potential students are welcome to try it out and see if they like it—there’s no obligation. For more information, visit communitymusicschool.org/teenband. Wednesday, Jan. 12, 3:30pm. London Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St., Santa Cruz.
THE RUNAWAY GROOMS LIVE AT MOE’S ALLEY Jam, funk, psych-rock hot shots from Colorado join San Francisco funk-rock favorites at Moe’s Alley for a truly unforgettable night! Born from the rich culture of the Colorado mountains, the Runaway Grooms are advancing the musical sounds of the high country into a diverse blend of Americana tones melded with a refreshing take on contemporary jam band music. With pocket grooves, expansive tones and syncopated rhythms, the Runaway Grooms capture elements of funk and psychedelic rock while still celebrating the traditional songwriting roots of Americana. Dueling guitar solos, the fullness and raw power of a screaming lap steel guitar and three-part harmonies combine to create a soundscape that offers audiences an unforgettable experience. Tuesday, Jan. 18, 9pm. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz.
THE STINKFOOT ORCHESTRA FEATURING NAPOLEON MURPHY BROCK This 15-piece tribute to Zappa pulls no punches, delivering Frank’s music with power, authenticity and musical prowess. Founded by a 35-year veteran of the South Bay music scene, Nick Chargin, the Stinkfoot Orchestra has spent the last two and a half years honing their craft and are finally taking their long-awaited show to the stage to rave reviews. Friday, Jan. 14, 8pm. Felton Music Hall, 6275 CA-9, Felton.
COMMUNITY
VIRTUAL FUNGUS FAIR The Fungus Fair is going virtual this year. There will also be two-hour local forays; two per day at 9am and 1pm on Jan. 8, 9, 15 and 16 ($5; free for children under 12 accompanied by a paying adult). 30-person limit/foray. Mushroom identification and culinary events follow each foray. The exact location will be emailed to registered participants. There will also be free discussions on Zoom led by mushroom experts at 7pm, Jan. 10-14. Visit ffsc.us for Zoom meeting links and more information.
VIRTUAL MUSIC MEDITATION AND RELAXATION FOR CAREGIVERS Does a 30-minute music meditation to lift your spirits and provide relaxation sound good? This experiential session features the musical stylings of board certified music therapist Anya Ismail, who weaves together poetry, singing, spoken word and unique instruments, like the shruti box, to create a beautiful and calming experience. Open to all individuals caring for a loved one. Hosted by Hospice of Santa Cruz County. For more information, visit hospicesantacruz.org or call 831-430-3000. Wednesday, Jan. 12, 10-10:30am.
GROUPS
COMMUNITY PILATES MAT CLASS Come build strength with the popular in-person community Pilates Mat Class in the big auditorium at Temple Beth El in Aptos. Please bring your own mat, small Pilates ball and theraband if you have one. You must be vaccinated to attend the indoor class. Suggested donation: $10. Thursday, Jan. 13, 10am. Tuesday, Jan. 18, 10am. Temple Beth El, 3055 Porter Gulch Road, Aptos.
ENTRE NOSOTRAS GRUPO DE APOYO Entre Nosotras support group for Spanish speaking women with a cancer diagnosis. Meets twice monthly. Registration is required, please call Entre Nosotras at 831-761-3973. Friday, Jan. 14, 6pm. WomenCARE, 2901 Park Ave., Suite A1, Soquel.
WOMENCARE ARM-IN-ARM WomenCARE Arm-in-Arm Cancer support group for women with advanced, recurrent, or metastatic cancer. Meets every Monday, currently on Zoom. Registration is required, call WomenCARE at 831-457-2273. Monday, Jan. 17, 12:30pm.
WOMENCARE TUESDAY SUPPORT GROUP WomenCARE Tuesday Cancer support group for women newly diagnosed and through their treatment. Meets every Tuesday currently on Zoom. Registration required, call WomenCARE 831-457-2273. Tuesday, Jan. 18, 12:30-2pm.
Even if you don’t know Joan Osborne’s name, there’s a good chance you’ve heard “One of Us.” On a ranking of the most popular songs of 1995, that tune would surely be close to the top.
However, Osborne is far from a one-and-done “one-hit wonder.” Blessed with mountain-moving pipes, a deep knowledge of all musical genres and an ability to leap from frontwoman pop star to a touring vocalist with the post-Jerry Garcia Grateful Dead to a singer with the Motown house band the Funk Brothers, she’s a rare breed of musician who doesn’t let ego motivate her career.
The road Osborne’s traveled might have been full of twists and turns, and she might have had occasional curveballs come her way, but after 25 years and a versatile slew of records, she’s learned how to hit anything thrown over the plate—with power.
Osborne’s September 2020 release Trouble and Strife jumps into the signs of the times before you drop the needle on the record: The cover art, a collage created by the musician, encapsulates the horror going on in the world around us: a little boy points a handgun, visual representations of the pushback against Black Lives Matter, global warming and violence towards Asian Americans. An image of Osborne, sporting a vintage astronaut suit and helmet, is plastered in the middle of the chaos, smiling and holding a mic; she’s offering a talisman, in the form of her music, as protection from a minefield of hatred.
“These are all things we’ve been struggling with for decades, but they’ve reached a fever pitch recently,” Osborne says. “I try to bring a magic wand to this crazy situation, which is my microphone, which is music—songs aren’t going to change the world, but songs change human beings and attitudes.”
“What’s That You Say” is driven by an R&B backbone drenched in the Meters’ can’t-stop-listening brand of funk, courtesy of Osborne’s longtime studio band; her soulful alto vocals blow through the instrumentals like El Nino whipping through the Santa Anas. The muffled sound of a woman’s voice speaking in Spanish glides into the background every so often.
Osborne describes the song as a response to the ongoing horrendous situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I grew up thinking people came to America from different lands and brought their dreams and their talents and their desires to succeed in a place where they can be free,” Osborne explains. “It seems like a lot of the discussion in recent years has turned that idea on its head—telling us these are people we should be afraid of. When I see someone who comes here from another country, I see someone who’s working their ass off to survive.”
Osborne reached out to Raices (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services)—a nonprofit that provides free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families and refugees—and they connected her with Ana Maria Rea. She came to America from Mexico City after her father had been kidnapped and held for ransom. Though he was eventually let go, Rea’s family no longer felt safe living in Mexico.
“[Rea] is a beacon of light which brings all this energy and positivity,” Osborne says. “We need that—so much of what’s being said is not being said by the immigrants themselves. I thought, ‘Here’s my chance to pass the microphone to somebody to tell their story.’ [Rea] is a pillar of our society.”
Osborne approached Rea as if she was a journalist, covering the woman’s arduous voyage to the safety she eventually found in Texas after fleeing Mexico.
“It was intense,” Osborne reveals. “We were both crying.”
The story Rea tells in Spanish throughout “What’s That You Say” is about escaping to the U.S. as a child and growing up feeling like an outsider. It took time, but Rea was accepted into the Texas community that she calls home. She speaks the final line of the tune: No tengo miedo (“I’m not afraid.”)
Meanwhile, Osborne doesn’t try to hide that David Bowie was a major inspiration behind “Boy Dontcha Know,” both in sound and message. It would fit in alongside “Changes” on Bowie’s Hunky Dory. When Osborne first heard the British rocker on the radio, she felt like she was tasting a new, vibrant flavor of ice cream. She admits it was sometimes frightening, but she realized that music could be a sweet catalyst for change and self-expression. It didn’t matter whether it was cold or lacking definitive sexual identity.
“And when she’s lookin’ good, so good, mighty good, she feels a target on her back/ And if she doesn’t try to soothe your ego, she stands accused of a mood so black, so black,” croons Osborne. “She’d rather be a boy, dontcha know.”
In addition to releasing Trouble and Strife during her Covid-related time away from touring, Osborne spent time with her teenage daughter.
“When you’re touring, it means being away from your family unless you can bring them with you,” she says. “But once your kids are school-age, it’s much harder to bring them with you. Covid has allowed me to spend more consistent time with [my teenage daughter] because I’m stuck at home—though she might not think that’s a good thing. This time has been very precious to me since she’ll be going off to college in a couple years.”
Osborne seems to have a knack for finding pockets of brightness even under a dark sky.
“Covid has forced us to push the pause button on our normal lives, has allowed us to get off of these treadmills that we put ourselves on—gotta make money, gotta do this, gotta accomplish that,” she says. “We’re always going and going and going, and we don’t have time for self-reflection or to stop and take a breath and just exist.”
She acknowledges the tragedy, too; the sickness and death, as well as the way the pandemic hit so many musicians financially.
“Covid halted all live music,” Osborne says. “So, income sources completely dried up for many artists, many of whom are my friends.”
Osborne is adamant about the importance of music, not just for performers but for audiences. And the extended absence of live music has profoundly impacted the world.
“There’s something very unique and special that happens within an audience in a community when you have live music,” she says. “Music is more important than ever nowadays, living in a world so divided.”
On Feb. 22, Osborne will release Radio Waves, a collection of unreleased, live in-studio performances. The 13 covers, spanning back to 1995, feature deep cuts from Sly and the Family Stone, Bob Dylan, Bill Withers and 10 other greats.
“People seem very alienated from each other, and music has this ability to overcome that and allow people to get together and be in the same physical space and enjoy the experience without involving politics, or opinion, but just as fellow human beings,” Osborne says.
Joan Osborne plays Friday, Jan. 21, at the Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. 8pm; $36.75-47.25. Proof of vaccination or negative Covid test (within 72 hours of the show) required. folkyeah.com.
In 2009, Jenny Don’t formed the unhinged punk rock band Don’t, backed by members of veteran Portland punk groups like The Wipers, Poison Idea, Pierced Arrows and P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S. Together, everyone wrote raging punk rock songs, with Jenny contributing cathartic, powerful vocals.
But then a few years later, Jenny set out to write some songs on her own, but they were much different: in the vein of Patsy Cline and Hank Williams. It’s just how they came out.
“I love writing country songs. I don’t know where it comes from necessarily,” Jenny says. “I grew up in rural Washington, but my mom’s side of the family all lives in New Mexico. I love the desert imagery. I like singing songs about the desert more than I like being in it.”
For a while, this Jenny Don’t and the Spurs project was something she did on the side. It even featured many of the same punk musicians. But then the cowboy-hat-wearing, good-time country side project was getting better and more frequent offers than Don’t. The music makes people feel good. And Jenny even makes her own outfits for the band.
“The Spurs can play breweries. We can play restaurants and venues,” Jenny says. “We can play a mellow set, or like we played with the Flesheaters. For that one, we’re like, ‘We’re going to play more of our faster punk rock country songs.’ It was a lot easier to book that band.”
Old country and western is quite popular currently in the Americana scene, but a lot of bands are pulling from the ’70s era, with Gram Parsons being a primary influence. The Spurs go back a little further to the up-tempo sounds from the ’50s and ’60s, which to some might seem more lighthearted. Jenny likes how the music gets people dancing, and that if you dig back in it, it’s sort of strange.
“’70s country is good, but it doesn’t knock my socks off. It’s okay, but it doesn’t make me want to party. Unless we’re talking about Johnny Paycheck, but his songs are just funny because he’s such a weirdo,” Jenny says.
Jenny Don’t and the Spurs take influence from some of the oddball country artists from back in the day that were less known, and who highlight some of the stranger elements of the Americana culture. Jenny cites Oregonian Buzz Martin, who penned several songs about logging, as well as fellow Pacific Northwesterner Bonnie Guitar. She also loves artists like Johnny Bond, who wrote several truck driving songs, and Johnny Western, who wrote a song called “Light the Fuse,” about miners getting blown up while they were working.
“It’s so easy to be like, ‘Here’s another song about whiskey.’ Well, okay, sure. But this guy is writing about getting blown up in a mine. That’s weird,” Jenny says. “It’s just super rocking. We start going down that wormhole, like, Johnny Western and Johnny Bond. I like pulling from that well.”
“Light the Fuse” inspired Jenny to write the song “Fire on the Ridge,” her own song about miners getting trapped by a fire. It’s the title track on the Spurs latest album, which was released in June 2021 after much delay. This record was the product of the Spurs becoming a more serious outfit. In 2018, a year after the Spurs released Call of the Road, she noticed that it was becoming harder to sing. Two bands were too many for her vocal cords, so she chose the Spurs because the songs felt more special to her.
In 2019, it got to be so bad that when they tried to record Fire On The Ridge, it sounded terrible.
“I wasn’t able to hit any notes. It sounded like a 100-year-old mummy was trying to sing,” Jenny says.
In September of that year, she got vocal cord surgery. After healing up, she was able to sing like normal again, and re-recorded her vocals. Now (and after also enduring a global pandemic) the group is back in full form.
“It was a great feeling. I think we did it in two days for all the vocals,” Jenny says. “It’s so nice to feel like how I always felt.”
Jenny Don’t and the Spurs will play at 9pm on Saturday, Jan. 15 at Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $15/adv, $20/door. (831) 479-1854.
I am writing this in response to the “Brain Supplements” section of your article “Ask Science” (GT, 1/5), which I feel is not accurate, and is misleading to your readers.
I am a Ph.D Nutritional Scientist and researcher with over 45 years experience and author of several hundred published articles, and was previously a columnist for the Press Banner.
The article has a quote from a neurologist who I am sure is very competent in her field, but lacks credibility in her comment: “There really isn’t evidence to suggest that any particular vitamin or supplement can help improve or reverse cognitive changes.”
I am very sorry Dr. Hellmuth, but you seem to have missed hundreds of scientific studies that disprove your statement.
I have included several studies in this letter, but I am prepared to provide additional scientific studies to prove my point.
The following findings were presented at the 14th Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) on November 10, 2021, in Boston. The placebo-controlled study included 2,262 adults aged 65 and over without dementia who underwent cognitive tests at baseline and annually for 3 years. The average age at baseline was 73 years, and 40.4% were men.
“Daily multivitamin-mineral supplementation appears to slow cognitive aging by 60%, or by 1.8 years,” said study researcher Laura D. Baker, PhD, professor, Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She continues “Our study provides new evidence that daily multivitamin supplementation may benefit cognitive function in older women and men.”
In a Feb 2017 study published in The Annals of Pharmacotherapy, researchers analyzed 5,269 men and women, and compared to non-supplementers, those who supplemented with vitamin C and/or vitamin E had a 38% lower adjusted risk of all-cause dementia and a 40% lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease. They also had a 23% lower risk of developing cognitive impairment.
In a 2020 randomized controlled trial published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, researchers concluded: “Vitamin D supplementation for 12 months appears to improve cognitive function through reducing oxidative stress … Vitamin D may be a promising public health strategy to prevent cognitive decline.”
Researchers in a randomized controlled trial published in a 2021 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease reported: “Folic acid and DHA [from Omega 3 fish oil] improve cognitive function.”
Research findings in Evidence Based Complementary Alternative Medicine (2011) indicate that Lion’s Mane (a nutritional mushroom) may have potential in stimulation of neurons to regrow in the treatment of senility, Alzheimer’s disease, repairing neurological trauma from strokes, improving muscle or motor response pathways and cognitive function.
I appreciate the honest and accurate information your paper usually provides; however, your article on brain supplements has more holes than swiss cheese.
I would hope you would provide your readers with accurate information on how nutritional supplements can benefit their lives and improve their brains.
Thank you for the opportunity to express my opinion.
Richard Goldberg
Felton
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I have to admit it felt like March of 2020 all over again when Jana Marcus of Actors’ Theatre told me last week that the company’s famed 8 Tens @ 8 festival would be going virtual this year due to the highly transmissible Covid variant Omicron. We had already planned a cover story on the big changes at Actors’ Theatre to run this week, in advance of the festival, and combined with all the live music events that have been cancelled in the last couple of weeks, the news about 8 Tens definitely gave me flashbacks to the beginning of the pandemic, when weeks worth of stories had to be scrapped, and for a while we seemed to need a cover story every other week just to write about all the sectors that were affected by the shutdown.
I think what’s different this time is very interesting, though. This time, Actors’ Theatre’s new Executive and Artistic Director Andrew Ceglio was prepared, as he had already arranged for a crew to film the performances for virtual viewing. The group’s plan could be a map for how stage companies deal with pandemic productions—and really, even post-pandemic productions—in the future, and Christina Waters did a great job of pivoting on this cover story to explain the significance of how this played out.
Last week, I promised an article wrapping up Santa Cruz Gives, and Johanna Miller has a story on the final total and why it matters in this issue.
Also, just a reminder to go to goodtimes.sc and vote for your favorite people and businesses in the Best of Santa Cruz County balloting!
Many of us wouldn’t have even survived without the help. Frankly, the impact of the pandemic is still being felt. Thank you for bringing light to this.
— Mandy Fard
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GOOD IDEA
KIDS NEED A BOOST
In this issue, you’ll find multiple stories about the Omicron variant. Here’s one more reminder: the Pfizer Covid-19 booster shot has been approved for 12-to-15 year olds. Be sure to schedule an appointment to protect your children. A third dose is also available for certain immunocompromised children between the ages 5 and 11. For a list of local Covid-19 vaccine providers, visit www.santacruzhealth.org/coronavirusvaccine.
GOOD WORK
DIY LAWMAKING
If you’ve ever thought “there ought to be a law for that,” now is your chance to make that law happen. In fact, Assemblymember Robert Rivas’ new program is called There Ought to Be a Law, and he’s currently accepting entries for new laws. Rivas represents California’s 30th Assembly District, which includes parts of Watsonville. Learn more at a30.asmdc.org.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Creativity is always a leap of faith. You’re faced with a blank page, blank easel, or an empty stage.”
Actor Willem Dafoe once said, “With theater, you have to be ready for anything.” Nobody knows that better than the intrepid producers of Santa Cruz’s Actors’ Theatre, who were poised to plunge into a season of live theater this week with the celebrated 8 Tens @ Eight festival.
Alas, reality—in the form of the Covid-19 Omicron variant—brought down the house. In a heartbreaking, yet not entirely unexpected development, the 8 Tens @ Eight festival has been canceled for 2022.
“Actors’ Theatre has worked so incredibly hard to get to the point of finally opening,” says new Executive and Artistic Director Andrew Ceglio. “But with the Omicron data, and if things continue on their present course, our run of the 8 Tens would fall right at the peak of this current Covid surge.”
Luckily, Actors’ Theatre had already been looking ahead, and used grant funds to hire a film crew to document the entire suite of plays. The crew was in place over the weekend to capture live performances for future on-demand viewing. So while the live theater experience must wait a while longer, the enjoyment of savoring the work—the dramatic tension and comic surprise of these plays—will still be available. It’s a clever and forward-looking way of snatching theatrical victory from the mouth of defeat.
“This is the way of the future,” Marketing Director Jana Marcus told me shortly after the tough decision was made. “At Actors’ Theatre, we are so fortunate to produce original content that is not beholden to large licensing houses. With the on-demand platform, Actors’ Theatre will be able to reach a wider audience for what is the longest-running short play festival in America.”
8 Tens founder and longtime Actors’ Theatre director, Wilma Marcus, believes in the company “that is deeply a part of the Santa Cruz artistic community, supported over the decades by many, many writers, theatre lovers and theatre professionals.”
Marcus is pleased with the hiring of Ceglio to inherit the helm of the iconic local company. “I’m happy to have handed the baton to Andrew Ceglio. He is multi-talented, very dedicated to Actors’ Theatre and has come on board at just the right moment to bring new energy, new enthusiasm and lots of hands-on experience with the many aspects of theatre arts,” she says. “We are in good hands with this transition.”
Andrew Ceglio singing with the Cabrillo Jazz Band in 2012. First known to local audiences as a performer, Ceglio recently took over as Executive and Artistic Director for Actors’ Theatre. PHOTO: JANA MARCUS
Holding Patterns
During the unpredictable pandemic, performance venues and organizations have been stuck on hold, hoping for a thaw that would allow for live audiences and actors on stage once again. Actors’ Theatre leaders went to great lengths to try to ensure that a live theater season would be possible this year, including selling only half the seats for each performance, allowing more space between patrons and installing a new HEPA filtration system that circulates fresh air every seven minutes and meets current CDC regulations. They also required that all actors, staff and audience require proof of full vaccination.
At the center of things, holding the moving parts together, has been Managing Director Jana Marcus.
“During the two years of the pandemic, we lost Bonnie Ronzio, who as producer ran everything, but we also gained the lease to the Center Stage Theater, which had previously been with Jewel Theatre. Both those events involved unraveling the past and rebuilding the future,” says Marcus. “Preparing a show after two years involved mundane things like just trying to figure out what was in our storage unit for props, to really huge things like Wilma stepping down and handing the reins to Andrew to run the company as Executive and Artist Director. It has been a round-the-clock experience since late October, with donor drives, season announcements, building new procedures and protocols, receiving grants and allocating for them, website updates, hiring staff, buying equipment, etc.”
The company’s backup plan—filming to preserve the performances—predicted the future and offered a salvage strategy.
“Ticket holders of the canceled sold-out run of the 8 Tens festival will have options,” a disappointed but determined Marcus told me last week. “Actors’ Theatre will be contacting patrons shortly with options of either a refund or to seamlessly move their purchase to the on-demand platform to view the film in February.”
Ceglio in Cabrillo Stage’s 2019 production of ‘Into the Woods.’ PHOTO: JANA MARCUS
New Direction
“I am the type of person who has backup plans for my backup plans,” admits Ceglio. “The pandemic has in many ways provided all companies with the opportunity to reinvent themselves.” Well-known to local theatergoers for his acting chops, Ceglio came on board last year when 8 Tens founder Wilma Marcus announced her intention to retire. After years of working in almost every possible nook and cranny of acting—producing and directing in the Santa Cruz area as well as film production work in Los Angeles between 2014 and 2018—Ceglio was hungry to get back into live theater.
“I did some minor directing here and there in the Santa Cruz area—Company at Cabrillo Stage, as well as directing one play for 8 Tens in 2016,” he says, “but my work with Actors’ Theatre had been minimal. Then Wilma Marcus called me last January. Bonnie [Ronzio] had just died and Wilma wanted some new person in place so she could retire.”
Ceglio’s immediate response was, “Absolutely, 100 percent yes!” It’s a phrase he pulls out of his repertoire in the blink of an eye. And it’s an attitude that bodes well for the future of the 26-year-old theater company.
Ceglio had his eye on the future when he came on board last year, first as Associate Art Director, “essentially shadowing Wilma, and learning the ropes,” then more recently as Artistic Director. “One of my big pushes for this coming year will be to establish a strong online and social media presence for Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre. As much as I would love for things to be the old-school way of networking and connecting in person, this is the age we live in now, and there are some strong benefits to developing this aspect of the company.”
Ceglio originally suggested the filming of the 2022 8 Tens performances, because “it will help audience expansion, and would be a guarantee that should things get bad, Covid-wise, we would have a high-quality video.” Ceglio reasoned that “the company would still have a revenue stream, should performances need to be abridged due to pandemic considerations.” A crystal ball couldn’t have done better.
“Regardless of what happens with the pandemic or when it may subside, being able to offer our productions through an on-demand or livestream format is something that I plan to make a permanent fixture of the company,” he says. “Actors’ Theatre is fortunate to have a long history of fostering and collaborating with new artists and new works, many which are unlicensed properties. This provides many benefits: it allows us more flexibility when it comes to on-demand or livestreaming contracts, and it makes it possible for playwrights to have more freedom and be more involved with the negotiation process of how their work is presented.”
Ceglio was intimately involved in programming the rest of the current season. All three of the post-8 Tens plays are by emerging playwrights, including The Milkcrate Monologues, written by Ron Johnson, a local hip-hop artist who lives half the year in L.A.
“The piece fuses theater, married with hip hop,” Ceglio says. That’s where his longtime L.A. contacts came in handy. “Absolutely 100%. And I have already scouted a 2023 season as well,” he says, adding that during the off-season he plans outreach with the community, “looking for more local artists here in Santa Cruz.”
Known to locals for his work as an actor with Cabrillo Stage, Ceglio admits that for the last eight years he’s been more focused on directing and producing.
“I’m being selective about on-stage roles. But the stage is always my first home,” he says. “It’s so seductive.”
Space-Time Compression
The ten-minute lifespan of the season-opening 8 Tens is what makes them so appealing. “The challenge here is telling a satisfyingly complete story—with a beginning, middle, and end—in such a short span of time,” explains Santa Cruz playwright Kathryn Chetkovich. “It’s not just a situation or an evocation of a mood, but a full narrative arc, with characters who want things and risk things and find themselves saying things we suspect they’ve never said before, and where something ultimately happens that you didn’t expect—but that nevertheless feels inevitable when it does.”
Local theater veteran Gail Borkowski was deep into rehearsal when I caught up with her last week, just before the filming of the 8 Tens play she directs, “Are You One of Those Robots?” I was in the audience several years ago for Borkowski’s playwriting debut at Actors’ Theatre, Waking Up, about a white couple that goes to bed one night and wakes up the next morning as African-Americans. The play was a vivid, funny and wildly surprising wake-up call to everyone watching. It did, in a mere ten minutes, exactly what good theater should do.
“The 10-minute play is 10 pages long,” Borkowski says. “Telling a complete story in such a short time, it’s pretty phenomenal.”
She likes the 8 Tens format “because it’s short, not as many rehearsals, not as many schedules to coordinate. It is part of what excites me. The magic from rehearsing in a living room to moving into working with lighting and props, then finally to the stage.”
The pandemic has changed much about bringing a play to life. “As theatre people, we’re passionate. We’re huggers—I’m a hugger,” Borkowski says with a laugh. “And even though that has been compromised, I’m so thrilled being in this community. The journey is as exciting as the arrival.”
When the lights go down and actors appear live onstage, we in the audience are plunged into another world, a world of the imagination. Our daily lives melt away and a place and time we’ve never experienced before materializes before our eyes. Complete magic. The challenge for us now is to watch the short plays on our screens and suspend disbelief, fall under the spell of actors, words and movement, and let the magic emerge.
“Where many people just see roadblocks and the departure from the old ways,” says Ceglio, “I see opportunities and possibilities for us to become even more creative with how and where we can provide enriching theater experiences.”
Actors’ Theatre ‘8 Tens @ 8’ Short Play Festival
“A” NIGHT
WONDER PEOPLE by Madeline Puccioni. Directed by Hannah Eckstein.
ARE YOU ONE OF THOSE ROBOTS? by Dierdre Gerard. Directed by Gail Borkowski.
ME AND HIM by Michael John McGoldrick. Directed by Andrew Davids.
NOBODY’S HERO by Charles Anderson. Directed by Evan Hunt.
FREE HUGS by L. H. Grant. Directed by Marcus Cato.
OLD AQUATICS by Steven Kobar. Directed by Gerry Gerringer.
TOGETHER AT LAST by Stella Pfefferkorn (YoungPlaywrights Festival Winner). Directed by Kathie Kratochvil.
KEW GARDENS by James Armstrong. Directed by Bill Peters.
GOD ON THE COUCH by Dan O’Day. Directed by Peter Gelblum.
“B” NIGHT
STRESS FOR SUCCESS by Terrence Patrick Hughes. Directed by Kathie Kratochvil.
GONE by AJ Davey Ouse (Young Playwrights Festival Winner). Directed by Andrew Ceglio.
ROSA & LEO by Adam Szudrich. Directed by Jim Schultz.
THE MALTESE WALTER by John Minigan. Directed by Cathy Warner.
DITMAS by Glenn Alterman. Directed by Helene Simkin Jara.
THE CORIOLUS EFFECT by Robert Lynn. Directed by Anita Natale,
SLOW DATING by Adam Szudrich. Directed by Buff McKinley.
UNHEARD by Glenn Alterman. Directed by Sarah Albertson.
DRESS BLUES by Donald J. Loftus. Directed by Karin Babbitt.
Live performances have been cancelled, but the performances will be available on-demand virtually. Go to santacruzactorstheatre.org for streaming options. Send email inquiries to AT****************@***il.com
Just when it started to feel like many parts of life were returning to normal, everyone and their mother got Covid-19.
Health officials first identified cases of the Omicron variant in Santa Cruz County on Dec. 21 from tests taken on Dec. 16 and 17. Shortly after that, the average number of new daily cases in the county skyrocketed from around 40 to over 110—an increase of more than 187%.
Models forecast that new daily infections will continue increasing in the near future. Some reports suggest the new variant causes more mild sickness—especially in vaccinated people—but its transmissibility still makes it likely to overwhelm the healthcare system.
In a Jan. 5 press release, county officials urged people with mild to moderate cases to stay home and consult outpatient primary care providers rather than crowd emergency rooms.
In the same release, Santa Cruz County Deputy Health Officer Dr. David Ghilarducci emphasized the importance of getting vaccinated.
“The best defense against serious illness and hospitalization from Covid-19 is to get vaccinated. If you have not gotten vaccinated or boosted and are eligible, please do so now. Do it for yourself, your family and your community, including the health care workers we depend on to be there when we truly need emergency care,” he said.
Wearing masks and getting tested can also help keep numbers down. Santacruzhealth.org lists testing locations, but recent surges have overwhelmed some sites.
As cases increase and information changes, it can be tough to keep track of the latest recommendations. UCSC infectious disease ecology professor Marm Kilpatrick has kept an eye on and contributed to Covid-19 research throughout the pandemic. He recently sat down to answer some common Covid-19 questions over email. His answers have been slightly edited for clarity.
What makes Omicron so easily transmissible? How is it different than past variants?
MARM KILPATRICK: Omicron appears to be both inherently more transmissible, and is much better able to infect people that have immunity from vaccination or previous infection.
How long are people contagious for? The CDC currently recommends isolating for five days. Is that enough?
There isn’t great data from transmission studies on this yet, but available data indicate that a non-trivial fraction of people is infectious for more than the five days implied by the CDC recommendations. The CDC recommendations were a pragmatic move to make it easier for organizations—businesses, hospitals, schools, etc.—to continue to operate when 5-15% of their staff are testing positive in a single week. That’s why California rightly includes a negative test taken at least five days after testing positive before stopping isolation.
Was the current spike caused by holiday travel, and is it expected to calm down anytime soon?
The current spike is a combination of the spread of the new variant (Omicron) plus holiday gatherings and travel. But even without holidays, Omicron is so transmissible—including in vaccinated or previously infected people—that it will continue to spread rapidly in January. Models suggest the Omicron surge will likely peak in late January or early February in many parts of the U.S., including California. But there is substantial uncertainty because human behavior can slow down or speed up transmission substantially.
Why is Omicron harder to detect with tests? Is a throat swab better than a nasal swab?
It’s not harder to detect Omicron, except if tests use a single gene marker where Omicron has a mutation. Antigen tests are likely not less sensitive, in contrast to FDA reports. There is growing evidence that a combination of the throat and nasal swabs is better at detecting the virus, especially earlier in infection. There are many videos circulating on how to safely do a throat swab.
[Kilpatrick references a Dec. 28 Twitter thread from Michael Mina, a former Harvard Medical School epidemiologist and immunologist who recently became Chief Science Officer of at-home testing company eMed. Mina called the FDA’s statement that rapid tests may have reduced sensitivity to Omicron “insane,” and counters the announcement with two main points:
1) Antigen, or rapid tests, detect a part of Omicron that is not mutated.
2) Given equal amounts of Delta and Omicron, the tests perform the same. But on day one of infection, there might be less of Omicron to detect. So all types of tests will have a harder time detecting it on the first day—not just rapid tests. A few studies have suggested that early on, the variant appears more in saliva than in nasal mucus, which is why some officials now suggest throat swabs over nasal swabs.]
How long after being exposed should people get tested, and are rapid tests still reliable?
This question has a complex answer and depends on whether people are vaccinated or not, and which variant. Omicron appears to have a shorter incubation period—the time from infection to symptom onset. But a simple [answer] is that if people wait until day seven and then get tested, most—but not all—infections will be detected.
We’ve seen advice about masks—what type to wear, when to wear them, how often to change them or clean them, etc.—change over the course of the pandemic. How can people best protect themselves and their communities against this variant?
There is a gradient in mask quality (worse to better): gaiters, cloth masks, surgical/procedural masks, N95/KN95. But at least as important as the mask is how well it fits your face. If most of the air you breathe is passing through the mask, then it is doing its job. If it’s passing around the mask (i.e. out the sides/top) then even an N95 will be relatively ineffective.
Is anyone working to develop more effective vaccines for different variants? Are there predictions about what the virus might look like in the future?
Yes, the big vaccine companies are making Omicron-specific vaccines. But these haven’t been tested for efficacy yet, and it will likely be several months before they are available if they turn out to be substantially more effective than the current vaccines. It’s also possible that Omicron will be replaced by another variant by the time they are available.
How do vaccines and herd immunity affect the evolution of new variants?
Immunity reduces transmission of the virus, which reduces the evolution of new variants. But if protection isn’t complete then their immunity can select for variants that evade immunity and enable infection. However, our immune system has multiple arms, and some of the arms that prevent severe disease (e.g. T-cells) are much more effective against a range of variants than the part of our immune system that stops infection (antibodies).
If someone who has not received a booster or a vaccine tests positive for Omicron, should they still get a shot once they recover?
Definitely. There is very strong evidence showing that people who have been infected but not vaccinated have some protection, but those that have been vaccinated after being infected have much stronger and broader protection.
Are there any common misconceptions about this variant you’d like to clear up?
Probably too many to mention.
In the spring of 2020, you made a point of emphasizing that outdoor activities were safe. Are they less safe now?
People have been asking if they should wear masks on their outdoor walks, even if they’re not encountering many people. As noted above, Omicron is more infectious and can infect immune individuals much more easily. So, all activities are less safe. However, outdoor activities are still much, much safer than indoor activities. So people should still meet non-household members outdoors whenever possible, and if they can’t maintain a little bit of space (i.e. if they are going to talk face to face less than 3 feet apart) then a mask could help. But going for a walk when you don’t stop to talk to a person up close is still very low risk.
In 2020, there were certain sectors singled out as high-risk: hair salons, gyms, movie theaters. Has your view of the risk at any of those changed? With Omicron, do they now seem any riskier than other indoor locations?
The relative riskiness of different activities has not changed. All activities where you spend sustained time inside breathing air that other people have breathed are higher risk, and activities in which you spend more time or people breathe more heavily are higher risk. But, as noted above, with Omicron, the risk of all activities is higher.
In the final tally, the seventh annual Santa Cruz Gives crowdfunding campaign raised $1,069,088 million for local nonprofit organizations over the holiday season, far surpassing its goal of $900,000, and topping last year’s total by more than $350,000.
The milestone was reached after the campaign doubled in size, featuring 80 nonprofits on its online platform. Individual donors, matching funds, challenge gifts and more contributed to its success.
“We are overjoyed,” says Gives organizer Jeanne Howard. “This community’s generosity has been incredible.”
Originally heralded as “a new way to give,” Santa Cruz Gives has now completed its seventh drive. It has grown each year, both in the number of nonprofits accepted and money raised. 2020’s campaign raised $709,617, a 73% increase over 2019’s total. The decision to take on twice as many organizations this year came after the Human Race, an annual walk/run event that had been held for more than 40 years, was officially retired in 2021. Gives saw a gap forming in nonprofit support.
“It’s been a lot more work, having twice as many groups,” Howard admits. “And it’s been challenging for the donors. It forces them to narrow down their focus, make tough decisions on who to support. Each page provides compelling work, so it can be hard to choose. But it has also expanded our network. More nonprofits, and their supporters, are now involved.”
Because of its rapid growth, Gives increased its publicity, going to radio stations, newspapers, distributing posters and more to increase awareness. Howard says that the organizations also “stepped up” their outreach.
“We are a platform, and they have to work the platform,” she says. “It’s like we are a wave and they are the surfer; they’ve got to work it.”
As for donors, Howard says they saw more people than usual donating to different organizations. Usually, donors tend to give to similar groups, but this year was different.
“We still see people giving to like-minded organizations, however, this year people also chose random, unrelated groups,” she says. “Maybe they saw something that moved them, or had personal connections. It was interesting.”
The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter (SCCAS) was the leader in donations, raising $101,226. Program Director Erika Smart says the organization will use the funds raised to help support their campus expansion, now in its first phase, with the purchase of furniture, cat trees, equipment for the spay/neuter clinic and more.
“Construction is expensive,” Smart says. “We had raised money for that, but now we’re trying to furnish the space. For everything that will be going inside our new cat and rabbit rooms, and to supply our spay and neuter clinic.”
Early on in the campaign, SCCAS hosted an event at the shelter to spotlight the participating nonprofits. Groups set up tables in order to showcase what they do for the community. The event also allowed the nonprofits to network with each other.
“It was a really cool thing to see what everyone is working on,” Smart says. “It was inspiring. It really promotes this sense of togetherness—how we’re all working for the betterment of our community.”
Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries followed SCCAS in total donations with $60,350, and Dientes Community Dental came in third with $49,520.
Sheree Storm, Chief Development Officer at Dientes, says that funds raised will support the group’s Dientes Cares for Kids program, which provides free dental services for low income, uninsured children in Santa Cruz County.
“This support has a lasting impact on our community’s children, helping them focus on school instead of a toothache—one of the most common reasons low-income kids miss school,” Storm says.
Howard says there were some “wonderful” surprises this year, including the small nonprofit Live Like Coco, which aims to to provide local children with various educational opportunities, raising $20,300.
Howard says that supporting nonprofits is “vital” for a community.
“People know about government, they know businesses,” Howard says. “But there’s a nonprofit sector people don’t know anything about. We hope to reach more people to understand how the sector helps our community. New donors are the lifeblood of nonprofits, like new customers are to businesses.”
Looking ahead, Gives organizers hope to secure more matching funds, which greatly help nonprofits during the campaign. They also want to hear from donors about how they are using the website and any suggestions they have.
“We want Santa Cruz Gives to become so well-known that it takes the burden off the nonprofits entirely,” Howard said. “We want to make it a household name in this community.”
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The coming months will be an excellent time for you to explore the art of Soulful Bragging. Do you deserve any of the titles below? If so, feel free to use them liberally throughout 2022. 1. Practical Idealist with Flexible Strategies. 2. Genius of Interesting Intimacy. 3. Jaunty Healer with Boisterous Knowledge of the Soul’s Ways. 4. Free-Wheeling Joker Who Makes People Laugh for Righteous and Healing Reasons. 5. Skillful Struggler. 6. Empathy Master with a Specialty in Creative Compassion. 7. Playful Reservoir of Smart Eros. 8. Purveyor of Feisty Wisdom and Cute Boldness. 9. Crafty Joy-Summoner.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Most people who use tobacco products are at risk of having shorter life spans than they might have otherwise had. Smoking is detrimental to health. Those who smoke in their twenties and thirties may cut ten years off their longevity. But here’s some good news: If you kick your tobacco habit before age 40, you will regain most of those ten years. I bring this to your attention because I’d like it to serve as a motivational tale for you in 2022. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you will have more power than ever before to escape any harmful addictions and compulsions you have—and begin reclaiming your full vitality.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In May 1974, the Grateful Dead introduced a new wrinkle to their live musical performances. Playing at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, they amplified their music through a “Wall of Sound”: 604 speakers piled high, together channeling 26,000 watts of energy. Had any band ever treated their fans to a louder volume and crisper tones? I’d like to make this breakthrough event one of your top metaphors for 2022. According to my analysis, it will be a great year for you to boost your signal. I invite you to distribute your message with maximum confidence and clarity. Show the world who you are with all the buoyant flair you can rouse.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Philosopher Emil Cioran said he despised wise philosophers. Why? Because they practice prudent equanimity, which he regarded as empty and sterile. In Cioran’s view, these deep thinkers avoid strong feelings so they can live in cool safety, free from life’s nerve-wracking paradoxes. I agree with him that such a state is undesirable. However, Cioran contrasted it with the lives of the normal people he admired, who are “full of irreconcilable contradictions” and who “suffer from limitless anxiety.” My question for Cioran: Are there no other options between those two extremes? And my answer: Of course there are! And you can be proof of that in 2022, Cancerian. I expect you’ll be full of deep feelings, eager for new experiences and infused with a lust for life—with less anxiety and fewer irreconcilable contradictions than ever before.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In 1838, 29-year-old naturalist Charles Darwin was early in his career. He had not developed his theory of evolution, and was not yet a superstar of science. He began ruminating about the possibility of proposing marriage to his cousin Emma Wedgwood. If married, he wrote: “constant companion and a friend in old age; the charms of music and female chit-chat—good things for one’s health.” If not married: “no children; no one to care for one in old age; less money for books, loss of time, and a duty to work for money.” I bring this to your attention, Leo, because I suspect that in 2022, you may be tempted and inspired to deeply interweave your fate with the fates of interesting characters. A spouse or partner or collaborator? Could be. Maybe a beloved animal or spirit guide? Have fun making your list of pros and cons!
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): What were your favorite toys when you were a child? Now would be a good time to retrieve fond memories of them, and even acquire modern versions so you can revive the joy they gave you. In my astrological analysis, you’ll be wise to invite your inner child to play a bigger role in your life as you engage in a wide range of playtime activities. So yes, consider the possibility of buying yourself crayons, Legos, dolls and puppets, video games, squirt guns, roller skates, yo-yos, jump ropes, and board games. And don’t neglect the pleasures of blanket forts, cardboard boxes, mud pies, and plain old sticks.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In his novel The Story of a Marriage, Andrew Sean Greer asks, “Does love always form, like a pearl, around the hardened bits of life?” My answer would be, “No, not always, but when it does, it’s often extra sweet and enduring.” One of my wishes and predictions for you in 2022, Libra, is that love will form around your hardened bits. For best results, be open to the possibility that difficulty can blossom into grace. Look for opportunities that are seeded by strenuous work.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “It is worth living long enough to outlast whatever sense of grievance you may acquire.” Author Marilynne Robinson wrote that, and I recommend her thought as one of your uplifting meditations in 2022. According to my reading of the astrological omens, the coming months will be a favorable time to dismantle and dissolve as many old grievances as you can. This could and should be the year you liberate yourself from psychic grunge—for the sake of your own mental, physical and spiritual health as much as for the sake of others’.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Some critics view author Diana Wynne Jones as a genius in her chosen field: fantasy novels for children and young adults. She had a generous spirit, asserting, “I have this very strong feeling that everybody is probably a genius at something; it’s just a question of finding this.” If you are still unsure what your unique genius consists of, Sagittarius, I believe 2022 will show you in detailed glory. And if you do already know, the coming months will be a time when you dramatically deepen your ability to access and express your genius.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn biologist Robin Wall Kimmerer wrote a meditative book about moss. It was her response to questions she had been wondering about: Why has this inconspicuous plant persevered for 350 million years? While so many other species have gone extinct, why has moss had staying power through all the Earth’s climate changes and upheavals? And what lessons does its success have for us? Here are Kimmerer’s conclusions: Moss teaches us the value “of being small, of giving more than you take, of working with natural law, sticking together.” In accordance with astrological omens in 2022, Capricorn, I believe moss should be your role model. (Kimmerer’s book is Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses.)
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Author Joyce Carol Oates has been very successful and has won several major awards. But she describes her job as arduous and time-consuming. “I work very slowly,” she testifies. “It’s like building a ladder, where you’re building your own ladder rung by rung, and you’re climbing the ladder. It’s not the best way to build a ladder, but I don’t know any other way.” I wouldn’t always recommend her approach for you, Aquarius, but I will in 2022. As long as you’re willing to accept gradual, incremental progress, you’ll get a lot of fine work done.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I’ve selected a quote for you to use as one of your guiding principles in 2022. I urge you to undertake a specific action in the next 24 hours that will prove you mean to take it seriously. Here’s the wisdom articulated by Piscean rabbi and philosopher Marc-Alain Ouaknin: “People must break with the illusion that their lives have already been written and their paths already determined.” It’s reinvention time, dear Pisces.
Roughly 3,000 Covid-19 tests are being administered per day in Santa Cruz County, as residents try to dodge the latest, hyper-transmissible Omicron variant of Covid.
But that mark, says county spokesperson Jason Hoppin, is only a fraction of the true number of tests being used throughout the county. Hoppin says that there are likely hundreds, if not thousands, of additional tests that are being conducted every day at home.
“Everyone is trying to get a test,” Hoppin says. “There is an extraordinary demand in the county now, as there is throughout the nation.”
The county on Dec. 30 announced that it would expand its testing capacity at three sites: Depot Park in Santa Cruz, Ramsay Park in Watsonville and the Mountain Community Resources Center in Felton. Expanded hours at those sites began last week, and Hoppin says that the three locations accounted for almost half—about 1,400—of the tests reported to the county health department.
But because of the rise of the at-home rapid tests, which have been harder and harder to find as Omicron has wreaked havoc, it’s tough to get an accurate estimate of how many people throughout the county have taken a test and, more importantly, have come back positive.
The more than 3,300 active Covid-19 cases recorded Monday are the most the county has seen since the start of the pandemic. The county’s positivity rate, 11.8%, is the highest it’s been since the 2020-2021 winter surge.
But there is good news: despite the mass rise in cases, the number of county residents filling ICU beds has not seen a similar jump. There were only three people in intensive care in local hospitals as of Monday, Hoppin said.
In addition, Hoppin says that a significant portion of the county’s 18 patients hospitalized with Covid-19 were headed to the hospital for other reasons such as surgery. All patients must be tested for Covid-19, and if they test positive they must be treated as a Covid-19 patient, meaning they are isolated from other patients.
Hoppin also says that a positive case is not removed from the county’s dashboard count for three weeks, regardless of whether the person who tested positive is no longer infected with the disease.
For much of December, test results from the three aforementioned sites were taking roughly 48 hours. Hoppin says that is likely not the case any longer. Not only have lines at those sites gotten longer, but the lab processing those tests is also in charge of processing tests from other sites across the region.
“We’re doing what we can to make tests accessible to county residents, but there are some things—the supply chain, for instance—that are out of our control,” he says.
Several local pharmacies and stores were sold out of at-home rapid tests, and online orders were backed up for at least two weeks with most retailers.
The White House announced last week that it had finalized contracts to fulfill its plan to mail some 500 million free at-home test kits. And on Monday, the Biden administration doubled down on bringing test kits to homes across the U.S. by requiring private health care providers to pay for eight tests per person per month.The latter move, the Health and Human Services Administration says, will begin Jan. 15.
