Hi friends,
The first of the new “paseos” earmarked for downtown Santa Cruz is now open. The lovely new passageway connects Cedar and Center streets, next to the new Cedar Street Family Apartments, at the end of Cathcart Street. I have visited it a couple of times now and have literally seen no one else using it — probably few know it’s even there yet, but also, unless you live over in that area, the paseo kinda leads to nowhere.
Now, on with the show.
This Just In!
Some great new dates announced this week in the literary community, including an appearance by Lincoln Project founder Mike Madrid and his far-seeing new book, “The Latino Century,” on July 8 at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Two days later, on July 10, visiting Bookshop will be young poet Olivia Gatwood, whose debut novel is set in a dystopian vision of Santa Cruz. On June 9, New York Times writer Molly Knox Ostertag brings her new graphic novel to Bookshop. Food/restaurant writer Khushbu Shah visits June 26 with a new book on Indian food in America. And well-known Santa Cruz writers Dena Taylor and Wilma Marcus Chandler debut their new book, an anthology from female writers all 80 or older, on June 4.
Be sure to check out Lookout’s carefully curated and constantly updated planning guide, Down the Line, for the staggering riches and amazing choices awaiting Santa Cruz audiences. It’s our look ahead at the best shows, concerts and events through the rest of the year at clubs, stages and venues all over the county.
Here they are, nine necessary know-abouts for the week ahead. It’s the spring-in-my-step B9:
Dancing in the Streets
A long local tradition — Santa Cruz Dance Week — returns this weekend, bursting to life on Thursday, the same afternoon this newsletter hits the street. The streets of downtown will be the stage for a dizzying variety of dancers Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. At three separate spots on the north end of downtown, a few dozen groups featuring, I’m guessing, a couple of hundred dancers will bedazzle gathered onlookers with demos and performances in tango, swing, Hawaiian, circus, Ukrainian and many other styles and traditions, all free.
All that dancing in the streets is not just for your entertainment, but as a goad to get you dancing as well. Presented by Santa Cruz-based Motion Pacific, the whole purpose of Dance Week is to clue us all in to the amazing diversity of dance instruction in this community. After that big splashy intro Thursday afternoon, Dance Week turns toward dance classes, conducted in many different venues around the county, from downtown to Scotts Valley to Soquel to the beach at Natural Bridges, and in styles from belly dancing to waltz to ballet to hip-hop. And for $20, you can get a pass to every class your body can tolerate.
It’s been a long winter and maybe you and your body have lost touch with each other in the past few months. Consider Dance Week that moment to get reacquainted.
The end is near at Jewel
The penultimate production of Jewel Theatre Company’s final season, Kate Hawley’s “Under Ben Bulben,” closed last weekend, with a remarkable post-show tribute to Jewel and its founding director, Julie James, from Jewel veteran actor Patty Gallagher.
Santa Cruz is losing a vital part of its arts culture with Jewel closing up shop later this year after 20 years. Jewel’s final production, “Always … Patsy Cline,” opens May 8.
Boardwalk’s summer
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has announced its entertainment plans for the summer, and yes, it includes “The Lost Boys.”
In fact, “The Lost Boys” kicks off the Boardwalk’s free Movies on the Beach series June 14. That series will continue each Friday night through the rest of the summer. Highlights include “Barbie” on June 28, the new Willy Wonka film “Wonka” on July 19, and the 60th anniversary celebration of classic surf film “The Endless Summer” on July 12.
The Boardwalk’s live music offerings this summer move to Monday and Tuesday nights at 9 p.m., beginning June 17, and will feature a wide variety of local musicians including Anthony Arya, Amy Obenski, Scott Cooper, Lucas Lawson and many others. Like the movies, the live music is free.
Earworm of the Week
For a time, I felt that the music popular when I was between, say, 12 and 18 was simply the best music ever recorded. Of course, that was also the disco era, so I was obviously delusional. Many other music fans — heck, most music fans — fall into that trap, too, so to combat that particular kind of nostalgic narrow vision, for the next few weeks, we here at EWW are going to be moving through the decades in search for delicious little discoveries, in hopes of turning you on to music from before you were born, or after you stopped paying attention to new music. We’re going to start this week with the 1950s, and a popular duo at the time who is today mostly forgotten, Les Paul & Mary Ford. In the early ’50s, the husband-wife twosome, who both sang and played guitar, challenged Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Patti Page as America’s top-selling recording artist, due in part to Paul’s groundbreaking innovation in recording techniques (he’s known mostly today for his namesake Gibson guitar). By the ’60s, they had separated and later divorced. Let’s take a mental health break with the duo’s wonderfully dreamy “Lonely Guitar,” best enjoyed at sunset with a beloved beverage.
All the Earworms in one place
For those who’ve been following my Earworm of the Week, I’ve assembled a playlist that contains them all.
That’s all I got, friends. Come at me with comments, ideas, complaints, or thundering insights. Thanks to all Lookout members for your faith and support, and please, spread the word on what we’re doing.