Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights,” which opens July 12 at the Crocker Theater at Cabrillo College, marks a transition at Cabrillo Stage, perhaps even the beginning of a significant new era. In her second season, artistic director Andrea Hart is looking to bring about a new stylistic era at Cabrillo Stage, one that might hopefully bring in a new generation and even a new cultural vibe.
Wallace Baine
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Sweet concrete: Tom Ralston took a basic building material and made a career in art from it
He fronts a 14-piece R&B/soul band, but Tom Ralston is perhaps best known as the man behind one of the area’s most high-profile construction companies and the artist behind many local concrete art works. Ralston reluctantly took on his family’s long-time business, but it’s defined his life and his standing in the community.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Boundless passion: Community pillar Rowland Rebele passes away
An everyman of community betterment, Reb leaves an unmatched legacy of doing good throughout Santa Cruz County.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘I’m doing it to know myself’: Neuroscientist Katherine MacLean on the promise of psychedelics
Neuroscientist Katherine MacLean is set to discuss In her new book, “Midnight Water: A Psychedelic Memoir,” at the Museum of Art & History at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26. The memoir explores MacLean’s personal experiences with psychedelics and their potential for healing after his sister’s death. While MacLean sees psychedelics having medical and therapeutic applications, she emphasizes the importance of psychedelics’ potential for creativity and spirituality.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Moe’s Alley taps into Santa Cruz’s love for country music at Western Wednesdays
Santa Cruz country music fans don’t have to go far to indulge their inner Hank Williams. Every month, Moe’s Alley hosts a special evening called “Western Wednesdays” in which a regional and local act headlines a show devoted to the unabashedly crying-in-your-beer style of country music. Lookout correspondent Wallace Baine and photojournalist Kevin Painchaud took in a recent evening of honky-tonk revelry.
Posted inCoast Life
The wild, colorful, monstrous art of Jimbo Phillips
Santa Cruz’s Jimbo Phillips is the middle link in a three-generation line of great local graphic artists. As the son of the man who invented the Santa Cruz Skateboards logo and the Screaming Hand, he has carved out his own signature style with an aesthetic deeply informed by the 1980s, surfing, skating and punk rock.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
The Shapers: Ceil Cirillo’s get-it-done talents and people skills helped form much of the post-earthquake Santa Cruz we know today
In the debut of Lookout’s series The Shapers, profiles of the people who have shaped and continue to shape Santa Cruz County’s unique culture and spirit, Wallace Baine focuses on Ceil Cirillo, who not only was a driving force behind rebuilding downtown Santa Cruz but also threw her weight behind the landmark Tannery Arts Center.
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Events
Weekender: Turning out for Tammi Brown, folklorico takes center stage and a local Oscar nominee
Hi friends, As someone who fights a sense of doom and ennui whenever the time changes in November, I’d like a word with whoever coined “Seasonal Affective Disorder,” just to create the acronym SAD. Sure, it’s clever. But you’re not helping anyone. I’d call that Brazenly Asinine Disrespect. Now, on with the show. This Just […]
Posted inCoast Life
Judi Oyama’s moment: A local skateboarding legend is still competing strong … at 64
A fixture on the Santa Cruz County skating scene since the 1970s, Judi Oyama hasn’t slowed down, and next up is the 2024 World Skate Games in Rome. Between that milestone and a new documentary about the lasting influence of Northern California’s pioneering skateboarders, Oyama is finally in the spotlight that has shined elsewhere for years.
Posted inHousing & Development
‘Midtown’ vs. ‘Eastside’: Local readers have their say
After Wallace Baine went looking for whether the part of Santa Cruz east of downtown should be called “Midtown” or “Eastside,” we polled Lookout readers for their opinions. Many weighed in, and though one option was the clear favorite, it definitely wasn’t a debate-ending landslide.