Better sit down for this one. In a time of discouraging belt-tightening, it’s a joy to be able to share breaking news of enormous generosity.
The Santa Cruz Symphony is thrilled to announce a $1,000,000 legacy gift from longtime board member Mark Chambers-Bray in memory of the late Roy Chambers-Bray. Presenting the largest single donation in the 67-year-history of the Symphony, Chambers-Bray came forward with the gift after the recent death of his partner.
A longtime supporter of the arts, and subscriber to the San Francisco Ballet, Mark Chambers-Bray recalls that he and Roy had agreed, upon their retirement, that they “really wanted to funnel our energies and our passion toward the things that inspired us. And the Santa Cruz Symphony was one of those things.”
Two decades ago the two former businessmen became deeply involved with the Symphony, especially through fundraising. “In fact, one of the now-annual fundraisers takes place at our home in Felton,” Mark explains.
“We have a nice home and we have beautiful gardens. It’s a space that can seat 30 people sit-down. Thirty people at $1,000 a place, it’s become a fundraiser for the Symphony League every year to the tune of at least $30,000. And I knew even though Roy has passed away,” Mark says, “he would want me to carry that on.”
After a series of trust revisions, the two men also agreed that the majority of their estate would ultimately go to the Santa Cruz Symphony. “And another decision we made,” Mark recalls, “not knowing that it would come so quickly, was that if one of us passes before the other, we want to donate in the other’s memory a million dollars to the symphony.”
Chambers-Bray readily acknowledged the current funding crisis in the arts. “We hear that news all the time, that all forms of art are struggling right now. And so hopefully this will provide a shot in the arm to the Symphony. And we’re so happy to be able to do it.”
Santa Cruz Symphony Executive Director Gary Reece admits that the Chambers-Bray gift is both thrilling and timely. “We had received a significant amount of funding from both the federal and state governments for COVID relief, but those dollars are gone. It’s a nationwide problem,” says Reece, an active board member of national arts organizations. “Attendance has not yet recovered from COVID, and barely 40% of our operating costs are covered by ticket revenue. So it’s a very significant gift for us, because it will allow us breathing room to try to replace the sources of income that were there in the past, as we work to rebuild our audience level.”
Reece notes that last spring’s Bach program saw a 44% increase in attendance. “And the Pops concert was an increase of 54%, so overall last year’s attendance was significantly up.”
After negotiations with tax attorneys to enhance benefits and minimize the tax liabilities of the gift, Reece projects that the Chambers-Bray funds—an unconditional gift—will be liberated shortly. “And we’re not talking about years,” he adds. “We’re talking about weeks before we’re able to receive that gift in the most tax-efficient way for the Chambers-Bray estate.”
With the loss of beloved arts benefactor Rowland Rebele, many in the community have agonized over the fate of regional performing arts, including the Symphony and its expanded efforts toward growing its educational outreach programs. “The Rebele Family has continued as a season sponsor,” Reece notes.
And now, thanks to the pact made between the two Chambers-Bray benefactors, the work of the Symphony is assured for the foreseeable future. “Mark and Roy have basically said the funds will support the mission of the Symphony,” Reece says. “One specific need that we always have is money to support our education program providing free concerts to fourth- and fifth-grade students in Santa Cruz and northern Monterey County.”
The Chambers-Bray gift will help keep the program running, while earning the thanks of a grateful community of music lovers.
Ladies and gender-non-conforming people of Santa Cruz, Xylo Aria wants to share the secrets of creating and producing music. For free.
The founder of Music Production for Women says that the program, coming to town July 11, will offer workshops in beat making, synthesizing and creating audio effects.
“We will be teaching everyone tools and techniques that they can practice with whatever type of music they’re creating,” she says.
She’ll break down each subject into a beginner-friendly format. And while learning is one part of the experience, making connections and meeting people is the other part of the journey. The event “creates a really lovely atmosphere for networking and making friends with other musicians in the area,” Aria says.
Aria, who founded Music Production for Women in 2019, is offering this year’s program in Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, Nashville and New York.
While the event focuses on empowering women to produce their own music, Aria says any beginner who is intimidated by the challenges of music production can participate.
“Take the chance and come, because I’m sure you’ll find that it’s not as scary as you think after these sessions,” she says.
But don’t just take advice from the teacher. Take it from one of her students, Georgia Renee, who’s been learning from Aria since 2023.
“It is never too late to get started. Empower yourself as an artist and take control of your own creative dreams. Make them happen by diving in,” Renee says. “This program has been pivotal for me being able to release my own self-produced EP.”
Renee, who has been making music since she was 9 years old, says the program taught her the skills she needs to produce and market her own music.
“It can seem really overwhelming, the world of music production. You have two options: to pay loads of money to have someone else record and mix your own music, or you can invest your money, time and energy into developing your own skills that you not only have for life but you’ll also continue to get better with every release,” she says.
“I have gained so much confidence in my ability to learn anything I set my mind to and feel like it has unlocked a whole new sense of freedom for me as an artist.”
I trust that your intuition has been guiding you to slow down and disappear from the frenzied, agitated bustle that everyone seems addicted to. I hope you have afforded yourself the luxury and privilege of exulting in the thrill of doing absolutely nothing. Have you been taking long breaks to gaze lovingly up at the sky and listen to music that moves you to tears? Have you been studying the children and animals in your life to learn more about how to thrive on non-goal-oriented fun? Have you given your imagination permission to fantasize with abandon about wild possibilities? Homework: Name three more ways to fuel your self-renewal.
TAURUS April 20-May 20
Actor Carrie Fisher put a strong priority on being both amusing and amused. For her, almost everything that happened was tolerable, even welcome, as long as it was entertaining. She said, “If my life wasn’t funny, it would just be true, and that’s unacceptable.” I recommend you experiment with those principles, Taurus. Be resourceful as you make your life as humorously interesting as possible. If you do, life will conspire to assist you in being extra amused and amusing.
GEMINI May 21-June 20
As you charge into the upcoming period of self-reinvention, don’t abandon and forget about your past completely. Some of your old emotional baggage might prove useful and soulful. A few of your challenging memories may serve as robust motivators. On the other hand, it will be healthy to leave behind as much oppressive baggage and as many burdensome memories as possible. You are launching the next chapter of your life story! Travel as lightly as you can.
CANCER June 21-July 22
Even though you and I were both born under the sign of Cancer the Crab, I have a taboo against advising you to be like me. I love my life, but I’m not so naïve or arrogant as to think that what has worked for me will also work for you. Now, however, I will make a temporary exception to my policy. Amazingly, the astrological omens suggest you will flourish in the coming weeks by being at least somewhat like me. Therefore, I invite you to experiment with being kind and sensitive, but also cheerfully irreverent and tenderly wild. Be on the lookout for marvels and miracles, but treasure critical thinking and rational analysis. Don’t take things too personally or too seriously, and regard the whole world as a holy gift. Be gratefully and humbly in awe as you tune into how beautiful and wonderful you are.
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
Over 3,700 years ago, a craftsperson living in what’s now Israel fashioned a comb from an elephant’s tusk. It was a luxury item with two sides, one used to smooth hair tangles and the other to remove lice. On the handle of the ivory tool is an inscription: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.” This is the oldest known sentence ever written in Canaanite, a language that created the world’s first alphabet. In some ways, then, this comb is a precious object. It is unspeakably ancient evidence of a major human innovation. In another way, it’s mundane and prosaic. I’m nominating the comb to be a symbol for your story in the coming weeks: a blend of monumental and ordinary. Drama may emerge from the routine. Breakthroughs may happen in the midst of everyday matters.
VIRGO Aug.20 23-Sept. 22
Some astrologers assert that Virgos are modest, humble and reluctant to shine. But a Virgo New Yorker named Ashrita Furman provides contrary evidence. His main activity in life is to break records. He holds the Guinness world record for having broken the most Guinness world records. His first came in 1979, when he did 27,000 jumping jacks. Since then, he has set hundreds of records, including the fastest time running on stilts, the longest time juggling objects underwater and the most times jumping rope on a pogo stick. I propose to make him your spirit creature for the coming weeks. What acts of bold self-expression are you ready to make, Virgo? What records are you primed to break?
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
Libran author Diane Ackerman says, “We can’t enchant the world, which makes its own magic; but we can enchant ourselves by paying deep attention.” I’m telling you this, dear Libra, because you now have exceptional power to pay deep attention and behold far more than usual of the world’s magic. It’s the Season of Enchantment for you. I invite you to be daring and imaginative as you probe for the delightful amazements that are often hidden just below the surface of things. Imagine you have the superpower of X-ray vision.
SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21
If I’m reading the astrological omens correctly, you are in the midst of major expansion. You are reaching further, opening wider and dreaming bigger. You are exploring frontiers, entertaining novel possibilities, and daring to transcend your limitations and expectations. And I am cheering you on as you grow beyond your previous boundaries. One bit of advice: Some people in your life may find it challenging to follow you freely into your new territory. They may be afraid you’re leaving them behind, or they may not be able to adjust as fast as you wish. I suggest you give them some slack. Allow them to take the time they need to get accustomed to your growth.
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
Sagittarian actor Jeff Bridges has wise words for you to heed: “If you wait to get all the information you think you need before you act, you’ll never act because there’s an infinite amount of information out there.” I think this advice is especially apropos for you right now. Why? Because you will thrive on making strong, crisp decisions and undertaking strong, crisp actions. The time for pondering possibilities must give way to implementing possibilities.
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
People may be attracted to you in the coming weeks because they unconsciously or not-so-unconsciously want to be influenced, stirred up and even changed by your presence. They hope you will be the catalyst or medicine they need. Or maybe they want you to provide them with help they haven’t been able to give themselves or get anywhere else. Please be aware that this may not always be a smooth and simple exchange. Some folks might be demanding. Others may absorb and integrate your effects in ways that are different from your intentions. But I still think it’s worthwhile for you to offer your best efforts. You could be a force for healing and benevolence.
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
Sometimes when gifts arrive in our lives, they are not recognized as gifts. We may even mistake them for obstacles. In a worst-case scenario, we reject and refuse them. I am keen on helping you avoid this behavior in the coming weeks, Aquarius. In the oracle you’re now reading, I hope to convince you to expand your definition of what gifts look like. I will also ask you to widen the range of where you search for gifts and to enlarge your expectations of what blessings you deserve. Now please meditate on the following riddles: 1. a shadow that reveals the hidden light; 2. a twist that heals; 3. a secret that no longer wants to be secret; 4. a shy ally who will reward your encouragement; 5. a boon that’s barely buried and just needs you to scrape away the deceptive surface.
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
Lake Baikal in Russia is the world’s deepest, oldest and largest lake by volume. It contains over 22 percent of the fresh surface water on the planet. I propose we make this natural marvel your prime symbol for the next 11 months. At your best, you, too, will be deep, fresh and enduring. And like Lake Baikal, you will be exceptionally clear. (Its underwater visibility reaches 120 feet.) PS: Thousands of plant and animal species thrive in this vital hub. I expect you will also be a source of richly diverse life, dear Pisces.
Homework: Enjoy free articles and audios from my new book: bit.ly/lovelifegifts.
Winner of four Tonys and two Drama Desk Awards, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights brings the largely immigrant neighborhood of New York’s Washington Heights to life with music, dance and hyperlinked stories of entrepreneurs, artists and other working-class dreamers. In The Heights moves along at a clip and features Miranda’s signature dizzyingly busy and climactic production numbers while exploring themes of family, tradition and the challenge of finding a sense of home in the space between where you come from and where you are. Director Estrella Esparza-Johnson and artistic director Andrea L. Hart lead the large ensemble cast. Runs through Aug. 4. KEITH LOWELL JENSEN
Bees are responsible for pollinating one-third of the world’s food supply. While many people have heard and read the reports of falling bee populations during the mid-aughts, they might not have heard that bee populations have risen for the past five years. One of the several reasons for this is the art of beekeeping, which has increased with over one million new colonies since 2007 in the US alone. Despite the increase, bee populations are just as fragile as the insects themselves. This Thursday, join the fast-growing ranks of livestock husbandry and learn the ABCs of beekeeping, presented by Botanical Bitch Zine and Free Skool Santa Cruz. Word on the street is it’ll be the bee’s knees. MAT WEIR
INFO: 3:30pm, SubRosa, 703 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Free. 426-5242.
FRIDAY 7/12
REGGAE
BIG MOUNTAIN
Now in their 38th year as a band, San Diego’s Big Mountain shows no signs of calling it quits. Even during a slow period over a dozen years back, the multi-talented reggae act regularly reunited for one-offs and benefit shows, all for the fans. For the past 11 years, the sextet has toured worldwide, from Indonesia to Mexico, spreading their message of love, unity and good vibrations. While the band initially hit the charts with the ’93 single “Touch My Light,” the ’94 cover of Peter Frampton’s “Baby I Love Your Way” earned them significant radio airplay, a spot on the Reality Bites soundtrack and household recognition. MW
Jamaican singer/songwriter Protoje is a reggae and dub artist whose collaborations with Tippy I produce unstoppable jams with peak vibes. He’s a force in contemporary reggae music, with songs addressing the classic topics of Rastafarianism (God, mysticism, nature, peace, political freedom) and beats that get the body moving. Tippy I is an ideal collaborator, citing influences as broad as soul, jazz and British steppers as part of his musical development. The two have joined forces before and are primed to create an evening of soulful synergy—and plenty of dancing. JESSICA IRISH
Have you ever listened to Spotify’s Your Favorite Coffeehouse? It’s a relatively relaxed but eclectic, fun and upbeat playlist capturing the various vibes of typical coffeehouses through multiple genres of music. Similarly, Stephen Benson brings a calm yet upbeat, fun and eclectic performance to the Ugly Mug. His range includes but is not limited to jazz, classical, rock, blues and klezmer. Expect to hear it all! A coffeehouse seems like the perfect place to enjoy Benson’s solo performance, with freshly brewed drinks wafting in the air as he works through his extensive catalog of songs. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE
I will try not to gush over the greatest concert film ever made, featuring one of the finest bands ever assembled. Oops, I blew it. Stop Making Sense is a masterpiece and has aged well. Seeing it in a theater with enthusiastic strangers singing along and dancing in their seats is delightful. The audio was recorded digitally (brand-new technology in ’84), allowing for a brilliant new mix that sounds fantastic. David Byrne runs laps, sweats, shimmies and wears the big suit while the band around him has the time of their lives. KLJ
INFO: 7pm, Quarry Amphitheater, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz. $8-$50. 459-4184.
MUSEUM
DEAR WATSONVILLE
This weekend, MAH offers a day of free activities related to the exhibition Sowing Seeds. A collaboration between community members, UCSC students, scholars and the curators at Watsonville is in the Heart (WIITH), the show sheds light on the untold stories of the 100,000 Filipino people who migrated across the Pacific to fill low-wage agricultural jobs at the US government’s behest in the early 1900s. At 12:30 and 2pm, the short film Dear Watsonville will be screened. Between 1-4pm, the whole family is invited to participate in a photo booth, scrapbook project and mosaic making with Kathleen Crocetti. ADDIE MAHMASSANI
INFO: Noon, MAH, 705 Front St., Santa Cruz. Free. 429-1964.
MONDAY 7/15
JAZZ
PETER ERSKINE TRIO
Peter Erskine has won the Best Drummer of the Year award ten times—count them, TEN. He’s performed with some all-time greats, including Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan and Diana Krall (you may also have heard of his daughter Maya Erskine, star of Mr. & Mrs. Smith and the hulu series PEN15). Special guest Bob Mintzer, saxophonist for Yellowjackets, joins the trio for a memorable night of music. If jazz is about improvisation, imagine what musicians this accomplished can create as a quartet. JI
INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz, 320 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $36.75/adv, $42/door. 427-2227.
WEDNESDAY 7/17
ROCK
BENNETT COAST
Bennett Coast has a question: Where are you going? The 22-year-old multidisciplinary artist asks his fans to address that geographic and spiritual quandary with the title of his debut EP and, this summer, a tour bearing the same name. Growing up in the suburbs of the Bay Area, Coast honed his dreamy alt-rock style amid “huge vistas, grassy hills, the blue of the sea. Boys getting into fights in parking lots. A first kiss with someone you end up being really, really sweet on.” Coast is also a filmmaker, bringing an eye for story and wistful imagery to his songs. AM
How does a director transform a well-known theater piece into a fresh experience? Or apply a concept to a 450-year-old masterpiece that shines new light on world-famous characters?
Each of the shows in the 2024 Santa Cruz Shakespeare season is well-known to audiences throughout the English-speaking world, and beyond. But not all the juicy parts belong to the actors. One of the most challenging roles in theater is the task of rethinking a very famous work of performative art. And that belongs to the director.
In Hamlet, arguably the most famous play ever written, Shakespeare examines the multi-generational struggles incited by a dead father, an outraged son, a duplicitous mother and a murderous step-father.
As You Like It finds one of Shakespeare’s boldest characters, Rosalind, escaping the world of her uncle and exploring the meaning of falling in love.
Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest sparkles with wit and deceit as it dismantles the way an older generation is viewed through the lens of youthful romance.
And finally, in the SCS season’s unprecedented fourth offering, Tennessee Williams’ early masterwork The Glass Menagerie probes maternal obsession and young love lost.
Each of these four plays is ridiculously famous. Many in the SCS audience will go because they have enjoyed the plays many times. Others will buy tickets because they’ve heard the names but never seen them performed. But as opening night approaches, many are excited to find out how the director will refresh a vintage script. How will they breathe new life into the work?
For some clues, I asked each of the directors of the 2024 season to discuss their approach to the work.
SUMMER REP In the director’s chair this season for Santa Cruz Shakespeare are (from left) Carey Perloff, Charles Pasternak, Susan Dalian and Paul Mullins. PHOTO: TARMO HANNULA
CAREY PERLOFF
AS YOU LIKE IT
Carey Perloff brings to Santa Cruz an acclaimed career as an actor, collaborator (Tom Stoppard, among others), author, playwright and artistic director of San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater (1992-2018).
How will you set this play?
The whole play is a rehearsal. I am asking you to imagine that going to the Forest of Arden is going backstage. And I think it will give us a lot of freedom to play. And it lets an audience have a window into what it is that we do. What I realized, as I started to really dig into the play, is that at least to my reading, it is a play about rehearsing.
Falling in love for the first time is a sensation that you think you’re the only person that’s ever felt that, you know, we all think that nobody’s ever felt this way before. Orlando thinks he’s fallen madly in love with Rosalind. And Rosalind has fallen in love with him. Actually teach him what it means to really love someone, not just go through the social conventions. But what is it really to love? So, she, in disguise, says to him, I’ll pretend to be Rosalind and you will pretend to woo me. They are rehearsing this relationship. I’m wondering, how can we use all the tools of theater to get closer to something that’s authentically true?
So I started thinking about what happens to us theater people in rehearsal. And how beautiful the backstage process is that the audience never gets to see. When we rehearse, we have wardrobe racks that have rehearsal skirts and rehearsal corsets and maybe rehearsal doublets. And maybe there are rehearsal swords or guns or weapons, and there’s rehearsal food, and there’s a rehearsal bouquet that is the prop for the wedding. And we grab what we need, and we imagine what it needs to be. And I always think that the final run-through in the rehearsal room is the most beautiful work that anybody does. In this production I am asking you to imagine that going to the forest is going backstage.
SPEAK UP! Actor Mariana Garzon Toro in last year’s production of ‘The Book of Will.’ PHOTO: Kevin Lohman
There’s a lot of Shakespearean wordplay, a lot of disguise within disguise. What can 21st-century audiences, specifically younger ones, find to hook them in?
I think one of the sorrows that we’re going through as a culture right now is that we don’t know how to emerge from COVID. Many young people are lonely, and have to learn again how to be together, how to fall in love, how to talk to each other. We have sort of forgotten what it is to actually be together in a group. The beginning of As You Like It is the most polarized, nasty world; there is incredible jealousy and antipathy and violence. Then they go into the forest and the characters have to learn how to have friends again, how to be together again, how to enjoy each other again.
Also I have this amazing costume designer who gets to really play. What has always bothered me in productions of As You Like It is that they’re in the middle of the forest of Arden with nothing and suddenly they’re all there for the wedding dressed in couture clothes as if they’ve just had fittings at the salon. I think, wait a minute—what? So this production will look very DIY and fun—a rehearsal corset with a hoodie over it, a long skirt, and your own outdoor boots—all kind of spontaneous.
Yes, there’s a lot of wordplay and a lot of quite challenging language.
They use very elevated language to try and get the other person to fall in love with them. And then there comes a moment in the play where Orlando says to Rosalind, I can live no longer by thinking, and what he means is I don’t want to imagine anymore. I have to be with the woman I love. The closer we get to a kind of honest love relationship, language gets simpler and simpler because when you really care about somebody.
Why did you say yes to Santa Cruz Shakespeare?
I think one thing that’s so much fun about Santa Cruz Shakespeare is the repertory aspect. And they are doing multiple roles all through the season. That’s one of the things I liked. It’s a real company where the actors constantly have to transform.
PAUL MULLINS
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
A longtime favorite director with Santa Cruz Shakespeare, where he directed Pride and Prejudice and 2023’s King Lear as well as many Jewel Theatre productions, Mullins is based in San Francisco but criss-crosses the country, directing most recently with companies in Florida, New York, New Jersey and Washington.
Older audiences have all heard of The Importance of Being Earnest. But young people who grew up on cell phones might wonder, why should they be watching this 19th-century play?
When Charles asked me to direct the play, I was very intrigued. As a young actor many years ago, I was in the play. That was my real first knowledge of the play. So I looked forward to looking at something that I hadn’t seen in 30 odd years. I think the reason that this play still is not only valuable but necessary is that Oscar Wilde was a very smart besides being a very witty man. I think it’s an amazing piece of work. It sort of stands on its own, especially now in a world that doesn’t make a lot of sense to us, and in some ways is a foreign place.
It talks about the society in which Wilde lived and yet it’s also about any time. In every society, how you behave, how you follow the rules, how you do the things the way they’ve always been done, is at war with what I want, what I desire, my desire for freedom from rules. And I think that’s the beauty of it. It’s a very generous play about people and the way we are and are not satisfied with life, with love, with fortune. It’s also a very funny play about how people behave with each other. What interests me is what’s underneath the play. Besides the funny wit, besides the well spoken line.
What it says about the way they live in their world in much the same way as it says something about the way we live in ours.
Why Oscar Wilde in a Shakespeare Festival?
It’s very like Shakespeare in that it is a very formed piece of writing. There is a form and it sticks to it and it’s while not the same as iambic pentameter, it demands to be delivered. I love the play. I love it every time I read it, as I have done often in the last six months. It’s like a great painting. It’s like great dessert. It’s a strong piece of storytelling.
What is it that keeps drawing you back here—other than the fact that it’s a gig?
Well, it’s more than that because it’s in Santa Cruz. Yes, no denying about it. And from the first time when I worked for Marco, and then all these years with Mike Ryan, and now with Charles, it’s the people that are there. It’s the people and the community that they create. And that it has always excited me. I’m always grateful to be here and I have yet to not have a splendid time doing it.
SUSAN DALIAN
HAMLET
California actor and director Susan Dalian was resident director at Sierra Classic Theatre from 2014 to 2018. A director with Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s Undiscovered Shakespeare project in 2020-21, Dalian is currently at work on various film projects.
You’ve set the play in the late ’60s Nixon era. How will you use that as a lens to magnify certain elements of the characters’ actions?
When Charlie was approaching me about the prospect of directing this, we discussed ideas and I felt that it was important to choose when Hamlet happens. I also asked myself, who is this guy, who is this person? He’s a student who lives a privileged life and has been away and comes home to a very elite sort of, you know, status quo world. I started thinking of the students of the ’60s, and all the challenges that they were bringing to the world that was really changing. I thought about the period between 1967 and 1972, what I’m calling a bridge era. A time when dynamic things were happening.
Do you have favorite parts of Hamlet?
The play within the play for sure. I started thinking about the players, and who they might have been during the late ’60s. So many music and art movements happening during that time. So I started researching and one of the first things I came up with was this specific group called the Cockettes, in San Francisco. I’m spending a lot of time in pre-production just reading.
Looking over the play and analyzing it. And parsing out my scenes, and one of the things that keeps coming back to me is just this contemplation of life; it’s so layered in this play through every single character. Not simply Hamlet. Of course it’s Hamlet’s journey, his contemplation of life and death, but everybody is in it too. The stakes are high for everybody in the world, which is again why I chose this time because the stakes were so high.
How do you prepare to direct this play?
I do my research. Podcasts, books. I think my big influence is looking at images and music, music taps me right in, and I get all of my ideas from listening to music and music that inspires me from that era. And that’s where I start, you know, imagining, writing all that stuff to bring to our design meetings. Explaining my concept to the designers and hoping that they are reacting to it positively, which they did in this case. They start throwing out ideas and, you know, I’m a very collaborative director. I have to work that way. I’m not precious about holding on to stuff. I love seeing my ideas interpreted through designers. That’s one of my favorite parts of this job.
When you begin rehearsals, will your ideas continue to shape themselves?
Oh, yes. I very much rely on the group. Of course I can lead, I have a vision, I have a path.
But my whole take is, invite others to come and walk the path with me. How can I inspire you to want to walk the path with me? And once the actors step in, they’re gonna play too. I always remind myself it’s called “play.”
Tell me your thoughts on the curious role of Ophelia.
(Laughs) I’ve played the role. Playing it gives you huge insight. I think that every actor does what I do—assume that there is more than meets the eye to this character. So I started examining her place in that world. It’s not a lot of dialogue. She just has these few things. However, if you really examine some of what she’s saying from another lens, you can see she’s a young woman caught in a world that is molding and shaping her. But she’s not just weak. She’s not just a victim. With Hamlet, with her father, with Laertes. She challenges them. This young woman wants to know who she is—even in a world where people are trying to tell her who she is.
In terms of attracting new audiences for what might be perceived as an elite artform, do you think about this as you make the work accessible?
My first responsibility is to the integrity of the work the playwright has written. But also I feel like I have a responsibility to the audience as well. It is an important calling. I know it’s not brain surgery, but it’s work I do with other people and I do it for other people. So I have to think about the audience.
Attracting young people to come and see theater is the only way it’s going to keep going. That’s the only way it’s been kept going throughout the centuries. I know the community of Santa Cruz because I’ve spent time there as an artist and as an audience member. So this time period I’ve chosen, I think it’s gonna be a knockout.
CHARLES PASTERNAK
THE GLASS MENAGERIE
Stepping into his first year as solo artistic director for Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Charles Pasternak brings national acting experience to his role as actor in Hamlet and as director in The Glass Menagerie.
What is key to your new role as artistic director?
My job as artistic director is to make sure that the storytelling and artistic value of our work is held up to a standard and that if we’re going off track that we catch it as soon as possible, and that can be both artistic and that can also be financial. I have to be very realistic because the budget is now to be stretched across four shows. That can lead to some hard conversations, but that is part of the job. And if a director can’t work with that, then they really can’t work here.
One early conversation I have with all my directors is that the scenic designer and lighting designer will be working on all four shows. They’re going to be collaborative, but they’re going to make some decisions that you will get no say in.
Expanding the season?
It’s totally scary. It’s also the organic next step. You know, the foundation of our model was built 43 years ago by Audrey Stanley and has worked beautifully and successfully. Back then it was built on the campus, when summers were the only time to do shows. Then in the split from the university when Mike and all these wonderful people rebuilt the festival separate from the university, they started from that model. They started from the summer and the summer is our core. But the grove is still beautiful in the fall. So we begin exploring that this year with Glass Menagerie.
Would you ideally like this to be a year round company?
If we’re talking pie in the sky, I’d like us to be the greatest festival on the West Coast. Maybe in the country. We’ve been succeeding in ways that other theaters and festivals have not, again because of our outdoor presence during COVID. Also because we are a repertory company.
Right now our season isn’t long enough for me to have a company that I can pay a full living to. But we do have artists that love being here so much that they’re willing to commit their summers to me if I’m willing to commit to them. I would like this to be a year round enterprise where the summer rep is the core of it.
But can that rep and that core can expand into the spring in the fall? It would be a lot of work, but if I could do that, and employ a number of great artists doing a classical repertory of great work, and our audience could feel that ownership of their hometown team watching these artists in two, three, four, five great plays in a year. That, I mean, these are things that so many of these incredible festivals were founded on and that some have moved away from. We have time. We will evolve.
Attracting younger audiences?
Do I have a plan? No. But am I worried? No. People have been saying that the theater audience has been dying for centuries. And they’re not. And it may just be that people come to theater later in life. We as a society lack communal experience. The pandemic magnified that. I think that they will come. They have to be invited. I’m not cheapening or going shallow with the work in some misguided idea of hooking the young.
If they agree to come to see a show, great. I want them to have a full experience. Our theater offers people an event, a picnic, view of the ocean—you can bring your wine. We’re not a free festival—that’s not our model. But anyone that wants to see the show, we will not let money stop them. We’ll make sure they see it. And you can print that! Info: visit santacruzshakespeare.org.
STAGECRAFT One of the sets from ‘The Book of Will,’ produced in 2023 by Santa Cruz Shakespeare. PHOTO: r.r. jones
Much-awaited Dos Pescados (21 Seascape Village, Aptos) met a tidal wave of excitement with overflow Fourth of July crowds during its soft opening last week.
“Maybe not the best weekend to debut,” Chef Trent Lidgey says, “but we’re improving every day.”
On the drink side, margaritas like the El Jefe and Mangonado have been popular. On the food front, oysters with spicy margarita mignonette and local halibut ceviche with chili negra and avocado have been best sellers.
The small soft-opening menu gives way to the full experience as this is published.
Lidgey—whose résumé includes multiple Michelin-starred spots and his own One Fish Raw Bar in Campbell—thinks guests might be surprised by the way he conjures a craveable menu.
“Everyone has expectations of what a Mexican restaurant is, which makes it tricky and fun to create my own version,” he says. “We’re not in any way a traditional Mexican restaurant—we want to push the boundaries but still be very approachable.” dospescados.com
TRUTH TELLING
Honesty is now the policy. California Senate Bill 478—aka the Honest Pricing Law, the first of its kind in any state—is now active, putting a halt to service fees on everything from vacation rentals to concert tickets to e-commerce. California Attorney General Rob Bonta breaks it down in his weekly email.
“SB 478 makes it illegal for most businesses to disguise the true price of their goods or services in hidden fees,” he writes. “Simply put: The price you see is the price you pay…Californians and all those vacationing here can check out the best of the Golden State while knowing what to expect at check out.”
It does come with an exemption for restaurants thanks to an additional bill that essentially amends SB 478 to allow food service operations to include such fees, but only if they’re “clearly and conspicuously” listed, and accompanied by an explanation of where the money’s going. Restaurants have until this time next year to meet the bill’s requirements.
NOTES AND A QUOTE
The third NBA G League Fall Invitational happens in Santa Cruz (!!) Sept. 4 and 6, pitting Serbian pros against American talents, with tickets on sale to the public on July 11, santacruzbasketball.com…
The Homeless Garden Project’s 2023 Annual Report is up on HGP website. “Sharing our impact is a vital part of our partnership with you,” Executive Director Darrie Ganzhorn says. “Please reach out and share your thoughts about the report.”
…The Live Earth Farm Discovery Program fall fundraiser sprouts Sept. 21 at its Watsonville farm to support on-farm education and organic produce distribution to those who need it most, with Maria Finn (author of “Forage. Gather. Feast”) keynoting, Diego Felix (Fonda Felix) doing the appetizers, Pamela Burns (Wild Plum Café) masterminding dinner and Switch Bakery designing desserts, liveearthfarm.net…Happy 100th birthday, Caesar salad.
I’ve tried you in your birthplace, Restaurante Caesar’s on Avenida Revolución in Tijuana, Mexico, and you surpassed the hype with crunchy-fresh sheaves of romaine in an anchovy-and-Dijon-rich dressing that adhered lightly on the lettuce. Bien hecho…Let’s close with Kafka: “So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being.”
Tim Silva, chef/owner and pizzaiolo of the newly opened Ozzy’s Pizzeria in Watsonville, says his new spot is a passion project that he intends to build into something outstanding. In addition to having been an executive chef and part owner of another successful local pizza place for several decades, he has also competed in international pizza competitions against hundreds of competitors and won several times.
Named after his one-year-old grandson, Osmo, Silva’s new pie joint centers around vintage and race motorcycles, its decidedly modern/industrial white and black decór set against metal and wood accents. He defines his pizza as neo-Neapolitan style: thin crust and wood-fired. Favorites include the Zoe, with steak, local mushrooms and deconstructed alfredo, and the Leah Lynn, mixing a pepper medley with orange zest. The Arnone is a showstopper: a white sauce pizza with mozzarella, garlic, lemon vinaigrette and arugula, finished with fresh-cut edible flowers. There are also gluten-free Detroit-style pizzas, and the dessert favorite is a house-made cotton candy.
GOOD TIMES: What makes a great pizza?
TIM SILVA: To start with, it’s all about great ingredients: buying the best available and organic/local whenever possible. And we test, test, test, I lean on my 35 years of pizza experience and trust my instincts that what I like, the guests will probably like too. The flour we get is from Italy, and of all the flours I’ve used in my career, this one is the best because it creates a dough that holds up to long fermentation times and high hydrations, and has great flavor and texture.
Tell me more about that cotton candy.
Most people have had standard fair cotton candy, and there’s usually no flavor discrepancy between the colors and the predominant flavor note is just sugar. But the way we make ours is different. We buy clear hard candy with familiar flavors, grind them up to make a powder, then use that to make our cotton candy. The idea was inspired by Chuck Hammers, a local pizza restaurant owner himself. I tested it out on my family for Easter dessert one time, and people loved it so much that they ate enough to almost make themselves sick.
Dark on Tuesdays, hours are noon-8pm (until 9pm Fri.-Sat.). 1036 E Lake Ave., Watsonville, 831-319-4464; ozzyspizzeria.com.
You’ve probably heard the advice to eat “multiple small meals for better digestion,” the grab-and-go mantra food stores today thrive on. After all, why not graze your way through the day, staying never too hungry, never too full and always just right?
This logic made sense to me too, because who has time for sit-down meals anymore? I blamed any digestive issues on stress, anxiety or both. Then I studied the basics of Ayurveda, an ancient holistic healing system designed to balance mind, body and spirit through natural remedies and lifestyle practices.
I learned that our digestive system prefers to fully process one meal before starting another. Candidly speaking, if your elimination patterns are all over the place, it’s likely your digestion is too. So I ditched my grazing ways and began spacing out snacks and meals by four or more hours.
The results? A noticeable improvement in my digestion. That was four years ago and the practice is a new norm, and not just for me. According to one recent source, 10% of American adults regularly practice intermittent fasting.
Researchers analyzed dozens of studies demonstrating how fasting can improve digestion, boost metabolism, reduce blood sugar levels, support weight loss and decrease inflammation…the list of benefits goes on.
But, before you set the timer to schedule your next meal, here’s some essential advice from three local experts.
I first met Rebecca Hazelton over 15 years ago, when she was a fitness instructor at a gym in downtown Santa Cruz. Now she is a licensed nutritionist and the founder of Choosing Health Now. I found her profile while researching this column and was impressed by everything she’s accomplished since then.
When we reconnected for this interview she told me, “I define intermittent fasting differently—the popular model is 16 hours. But it doesn’t have to be 16; it can range from 12 to 16. Our microbiome needs at least 12 hours for the bacteria to do a proper fermentation. It also helps reduce overeating.”
In general, she says, people tend to eat too frequently and take in too much food. There’s no time for the digestive tract to rest. Rather than following rigid guidelines, it’s better to listen to your body. Though rules or guidelines help some people, we need to pay attention to our bodies as well.
“It takes time to acclimate to a change in eating habits, but you can take it one step at a time, maybe stretching the window by 30 minutes or an hour to start, then see how you feel after a few weeks,” she suggests. “Always listen to your body and decide if it’s working for you.”
Pushing too hard can create unhelpful stress, she notes. “Everyone is different. Some clients feel better right away; others feel bad at first and then end up feeling better. So don’t take a cookie-cutter approach. Ultimately, listen to your body.”
Beau Jansen, a nutrition counselor at Santa Cruz Core, offers a slightly different perspective. He says, “You can think about fasting as something we all do every day—in the course of 24 hours we don’t eat while we’re sleeping, so from the last time we eat at night until we eat in the morning, we’re fasting.”
He explains, “Intermittent fasting has been shown in research to have health benefits. It’s gained a lot of popularity in the last 10 years—but I hear people talking about it a lot more recently. I’d say the faddishness has increased.
“That said, I’m not a huge fan of a one-size-fits-all approach. I’m more into adapting to whatever that individual needs.”
On the other hand, he says, “Let’s say someone goes to the city and has a wild weekend full of alcohol and cheeseburgers; it’s true they may feel better if they skip a day of eating after going 10 rounds with Jose Cuervo.”
Jansen says therein lies the challenge; it can become a kind of a binge-and-starve pattern, adding that some people think if they fast, they can eat anything they want. It’s a common misinterpretation, so the quality of nutrition overall goes downhill.
He points out that humans are predisposed to crave fat, sugar and salt—hence the allure of over-processed food. He says an unbalanced diet can create cravings that are hard to ignore.
Another challenge he sees with intermittent fasting is the possibility of losing muscle mass and bone density, explaining, “They’ll technically be losing weight, but they’re becoming skinny fat, because they’re not building their metabolism.”
But for some people, he says, “it can be great, super helpful, do great things, but it’s on a case-by-case basis.”
Jansen agrees with the other nutritionists about the benefits of giving the system a rest, but then adds, “I remind people to recognize when there’s a nutrition fad and be cautious about jumping in. The best thing to do is track how your body responds, both subjectively and objectively. Get the metrics, be a scientist; do an experiment, track it and see if it works.”
On the flip side of the fad coin, Manish Chandra, an Ayurvedic doctor and the founder of Santa Cruz Ayurveda, describes intermittent fasting as a time-tested tradition practiced every 15 days to rid the body of impurities or Āma, stored in fat cells.
Chandra explains, “Fat has to burn for energy. When we stop eating, fat is burning—along with the [physical and emotional] toxins.”
Chandra says that when Āma is stored in fat cells and intestinal lining, it leads to weight gain: “All emotions and traumas are stored in fat cells—we release these impurities by fasting. I recommend eating a good breakfast and lunch, and skipping dinner to rest the digestive system.”
He explains, “Our body moves with nature’s biorhythm between the hours of 12 and 2 around the energy of the sun. This is when our metabolic strength is strongest—not at 7pm, when the sun is setting. Our digestive fire isn’t strong then. If we do it daily, we turn around the issue of not metabolizing properly.”
Although the traditional style of fasting may not work for most people, it makes sense to give our digestive system a break. Instead of eating frequently throughout the day, wait at least four hours to eat between meals.
Chandra also suggests a full day of fasting during the new moon and full moon, recommending water only for people whose doctors allow it.
Our experts agree that while intermittent fasting is not a one-size-fits-all solution, it can be a valuable wellness tool. As with any dietary change, it’s critical to do your research, listen to your body and go slow on the Cuervo and cheeseburgers.
As a recording artist, if you hang around long enough, you get to look back at your body of work. And if you’re really lucky, you not only get to revisit your canon, but even get a shot at reinterpreting and reimagining these earlier fruits of your labor.
That’s what Alejandro Escovedo has done with his new album, Echo Dancing. It finds him using the past to shape the future.
The idea was spawned in part when the 73-year-old Americana icon took a listen to Por Vida: A Tribute to Alejandro Escovedo, a 32-cut compilation that found a wide array of artists covering the songs of the album’s namesake as a means of helping him cover his medical bills while he was recovering from hepatitis C. Among the friends and famous fans who participated were Lucinda Williams, Rosie Flores, Son Volt, the Cowboy Junkies, the Jayhawks and Ian Hunter.
One cover in particular caught Escovedo’s ear.
“I came across a song done by Calexico, called ‘Wave,’” Escovedo explains. “I just loved it. I started listening to that record a little more and I thought it would be cool to join the excavation of songs, see what’s down there, and see what we could salvage and put a new paint job on. Maybe just fix it up and see what happens. I had a lot of fun doing it. It was really interesting how it came about. It just happened by chance, but once it started to roll, it was really, really easy and a lot of fun to do.”
The next step found the Austin resident decamping to the Italian countryside, where he joined forces with musicians Don Antonio and Nicola Peruch.
Having worked with Antonio on 2018’s The Crossing—a concept album about two young refugees (one Italian, one Mexican) who bond over their mutual love of punk rock and struggle with discrimination as they try to immigrate to America—Escovedo gladly leaned into this musical partnership. He spent November 2022 in Europe working on Echo Dancing at the duo’s recording studio in a 15th-century stone mill overlooking olive orchards and vineyards.
“Don Antonio and Nicola Peruch were the perfect partners in this endeavor because they were just very open to whatever I was going to do, no matter what,” Escovedo says. “The idea was that we were going to create an album that was totally improvisational—just start playing, start singing and see what happens. Then we changed gears and got into this mode. … They were perfect for the job. It’s amazing. Antonio and I wrote The Crossing together and worked on The Crossing together with that band—his band. I was accustomed to working with them and they were accustomed to working with me, so it worked out.”
In hopping on his musical time machine, Escovedo not only went through his solo music canon but also included selections from other groups/projects he was involved with, specifically Buick MacKane (“John Conquest”) and the True Believers (“Outside Your Door”). But rather than do a by-the-numbers rendition, Escovedo and his cohorts reimagined the original material using sonics and electronics in a manner that was tip of the cap to influences like Suicide.
For the native Texan, it’s been a rewarding process.
“The exciting part of it for me is going back and it’s not even like the old songs anymore—it’s like we’re playing a whole new set,” he said. “Some of the songs have been a challenge. ‘Castañuelas’ has been a challenge. But we’re getting there and finding the groove in that song. Live, we’ve been doing it as a mash-up of the old one and the new one. It’s been fun. While a song like ‘Sensitive Boys,’ where I am at this point, singing it also seems to ring true and also seems to be kind of an homage to all the bands I was in and the people I met along the way who were in the same kind of bands. They all had that same enthusiasm for rock and roll, have grown older with it and still feel the same way. It was cool.”
Escovedo promises to bring more of that innovation to the stage with this current tour, with more than a few twists thrown in.
“A good portion of the set is songs from Echo Dancing and starts out with about four or five songs right off the bat,” he said. “We do some of our older material. We do ‘Deer Head on the Wall’ and ‘Sonica USA’ from The Crossing. We still go out into the audience and sing acoustically, where we do some of the older material. Then we end with a song off of Echo Dancing. It’s kind of a hybrid.”
Echo Dancing also represents a point in time where Escovedo is taking stock of his life and mortality. Part of it involves a recent move back to Austin after spending four years living in the Belmont Hotel in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas.
The day before we spoke, his oldest brother, Manuel Escovedo, had passed away. It left him in an understandably introspective mood, where Escovedo revealed that he is also working on a memoir that he hopes to use as source material for a one-man show within the year.
“Manuel was a good man in his 90s, and he was just a great older brother,” Escovedo said. “It’s funny with family. I come from a very large family—13 kids. As they all began to leave us, part of you leaves with them. Second in line is Pete [Sheila E’s dad], and he’s in his 80s. He’s still playing and he’s still a beautiful man and so inspirational. Then I’m next in line after Pete. It’s weird, you know. You’re cueing up for this role. I don’t know, it’s strange.”
Thankfully, he continues to be inspired by “the beauty of the sexuality and sensuality of rock and roll—the kind of outlaw rebel nature of rock and roll when it was true to its form and the willingness to kind of just be who you are.”
Americans today can’t think straight. For example, should Joe Biden run or step aside? People don’t seem to understand that older age not only brings memory slowness and bodily frailty, but important wisdom benefits. When Joseph Biden goes to work every day, he organizes solutions to problems, whereas Donald Trump merely orders them.
That’s the difference between some semblance of democracy and a full-blown autocracy. Lack of maturity has become a big problem in America. Consider Millennial and Gen Z men. They show their patriotism by performing in rodeos and buying guns rather than showing up to public meetings and providing input. Young women believe that freeing the nipple and trolling others on social media is their big contribution to democracy rather than voting and participating in government.
Consider what a little age can do. Recently, a 45-year-old porn star schooled both young and old politicians of both political parties on the difference between right and wrong. In her TV interview with Rachel Maddow after the hush-money trial, Stormy Daniels addressed an issue by announcing, “That’s just not right!” When is the last time you heard a politician say such a thing?
Kimball Shinkoskey
THE LATINO CENTURY
This really resonates with me. We have Latino workers, and we’re different than a lot of businesses. We know that the Latino folks who work with us are *skilled* and make all the difference. And we’ve been immersed in their *cultures* (there are many!) for years. I feel grateful to many Mexicans and Guatemalans who contribute here.
Jillian | Santa Cruz
COMMENTS
RE: Gail Pellerin Addresses New State Housing Laws
I wonder how much Gail’s responses were tampered down to meet the interviewer’s somewhat negative opinion on new housing development. To Gail’s credit, she nailed it on the head when saying, “I think there was a housing crisis that was not being addressed well at the local level.” That remains more true than ever in the City of Scotts Valley.
Evan Siroky | Goodtimes.sc
If you’re for open borders, you’re in effect inviting everyone on Earth to move here.
You ignore massively UNSUSTAINABLE immigration while you prattle on about your concern for “the future of our environment.”
Grow up.
Pat Kittle | Goodtimes.sc
People immigrating to the US are generally coming from less green countries. That means immigration is good for the environment. So is denser housing, since it shortens commutes and enables car-free commutes.
Immigration is also great for the economy, and more immigrants helps to keep prices lower for all of us. More immigration would be so beneficial for all Americans.
“We hear that news all the time, that all forms of art are struggling right now. And so hopefully this will provide a shot in the arm to the Symphony. And we’re so happy to be able to do it.”
Bennett Coast honed his dreamy alt-rock style amid “huge vistas, grassy hills, the blue of the sea. Boys getting into fights in parking lots, a first kiss...”
I think the reason that this play still is not only valuable but necessary is that Oscar Wilde was a very smart besides being a very witty man. I think it’s an amazing piece of work.
"Everyone has expectations of what a Mexican restaurant is, which makes it tricky and fun to create my own version. We’re not in any way a traditional."
You’ve probably heard the advice to eat “multiple small meals for better digestion,” the grab-and-go mantra food stores today thrive on...never too full and never too full and always just right?
After the hush-money trial, Stormy Daniels addressed an issue by announcing, “That’s just not right!” When is the last time you heard a politician say such a thing?
