News-Press – Page 40

Nonna-Generians – Play talks about older victims of broken homes

April 12, 2013November 15, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

It’s an issue that rarely gets discussed when visitation rights are brought up between parents, but there’s a lot of heartbreak regardless. What happens to the grandparents when a grandchild is moved across the country? Do the grandparents have any rights themselves?

Dr. Arthur Kornhaber, now in his early 80s, has been writing on the subject for many years now, with books such as “Grandparents/Grandchildren: The Vital Connection” and “Between Parents and Grandparents.” He’s also been carrying around a play about these same issues, called “Nonna,” which made its way into the hands of Richard Kuhlman, director at Ojai Youth Entertainers Studio. Dr. Kornhaber finally gets his wish tonight as “Nonna” premieres for a three-week run.

One Step Forward, One Back – Elements Theater returns with a time-bending musical

April 12, 2013November 15, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

In “The Last Five Years,” playwright Jason Robert Brown tells a typical love story: boy meets girl, they fall in love, they squabble and split. But here’s the twist: One character in the play lives out the story in linear time. The other character, sharing the same stage, tells the story in reverse order. They only overlap once, right in the middle. Oh, and it’s a musical.

That’s a DramaDesk-award winning musical, mind you, being presented by stage-hopping Elements Theater Collective tonight and running through April 28. As is the company’s wont, the play will be performed at various locations — a coffee shop, the Piano Kitchen, SHIFCO, the retirement community on the Mesa, and others — from Carp to Goleta. All shows are free with suggested donations.

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Reds Bar & Tapas’ El Presidente

April 11, 2013November 15, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

This drink debuted during Fiesta 2012 when Reds Bar & Tapas was packing them in, but once the nights got colder and Dana Walters started reducing hours, the El Presidente vanished off the menu.

On this particular day, it was windy but warm in the Funk Zone, the Urban Wine Trail tourists were off spelunking in tasting rooms, and summer felt nearby. Ms. Walters had even opened an extra day. And so the El Presidente was back on the menu at Reds, where we first tasted it during happy hour. We returned to grab the recipe and chat with Ms. Walters.

Grieving from New York City : Ensemble presents Joan Didion’s play about death

April 10, 2013November 15, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Linda Purl DAVID BAZEMORE PHOTO — Linda Purl
DAVID BAZEMORE PHOTO

Here are the facts: One day in 2003, author Joan Didion sat down for dinner with her husband, writer John Gregory Dunne. After some small talk he keeled over dead from a heart attack. This happened while their daughter, Quintana, was in the hospital in a coma from septic shock. Two years later, she too died.

More facts: Ms. Didion’s memoir of that time, “The Year of Magical Thinking,” was released to great critical acclaim, placing it in the company of other noted writing on grief. After her daughter passed away, she adapted, lengthened, and changed the book into a one-woman show for Broadway, where it starred Vanessa Redgrave. And now Ensemble Theater Company, with Linda Purl starring and Jenny Sullivan directing, opened this last weekend.

The Prophet Motive – SENGA brings the first part of Aeschylus’ ‘The Oresteia’ to Ojai Valley Grange

April 5, 2013November 16, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

The Chorus includes, from left, Chad Parker, George Miller and Jennifer Brown. They are performing a comedic slapstick routine in fear of reprisal as they hear Agamemnon being murdered King Agamemnon (Ronald Rezac) triumphantly addresses the Greeks on his return from the Trojan war while Queen Clytemnestra (Natasha Zavala) plots her revenge for his sacrifice oftheir daughter ten years before Dean Zatkowsky photos — The Chorus includes, from left, Chad Parker, George Miller and Jennifer Brown. They are performing a comedic slapstick routine in fear of reprisal as they hear Agamemnon being murdered
King Agamemnon (Ronald Rezac) triumphantly addresses the Greeks on his return from the Trojan war while Queen Clytemnestra (Natasha Zavala) plots her revenge for his sacrifice oftheir daughter ten years before
Dean Zatkowsky photos

It was “The Reality of the Unreal,” a looming, seven-foot tall sculpture of Oedipus by M.B. Hanrahan, that gave Francisca Beach, artistic director of SENGA Classic Stage Company, the impetus to mount ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus’ trilogy known as “The Oresteia.” Part one, “Agamemnon,” is being premiered tonight under the title “The Curse of the House of Atreus.”

Through a “stroke of luck and generosity” on the sculptor’s part, the large piece Ms. Beach saw now dominates the stage at the Ojai Valley Grange.

Room for Cheese – FRENCH SPERM DONOR COMEDY ‘STARBUCK’ IS A VENTI DOSE OF APATOW-SUBSTITUTE

April 5, 2013November 16, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

A hit in its native Canada, the French-language comedy “Starbuck” is already set for a Hollywood remake featuring Vince Vaughn, and it’s easy to see why in its opening minutes. The shlubby, scruffy but good-hearted David Wozniak (Patrick Huard) seems more a Paul Rudd than a Vince Vaughn, to be honest, but his best friend and part-time lawyer Avocat (Antoine Bertrand) is definitely the Seth Rogan/Jonah Hill role.

The setup too, is very Judd Apatow: Back when David was a 20-something slacker, he donated sperm at $35 a pop over 500 times. Through some screw-up that only exists in films, the sperm bank used every single donation, and now there’s over 500 young adults wanting to meet the man who only used the nickname “Starbuck” as identification.

Still in Orbit – SKA LEGENDS THE SKATALITES COME TO SOHO

April 5, 2013November 16, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Lester Sterling can still wail a mean sax at age 77, and as the last surviving original member of the Skatalites, he has a right to. It’s a slinky, almost African sound, reminiscent of not just the history of ska, but of the Ethiopian jazz scene developing a continent away. Mr. Sterling’s band, which reunited in the ’80s and has continued playing ever since, comes to SOhO this Thursday, and should not be taken for granted.

As much as the original Skatalites have contributed to the history of ska and beyond, their ’60s incarnation was as chaotic personally as their storming and sweaty first gigs. Trombonist Don Drummond, who wrote a majority of their material, suffered from bouts of mental illness, checked in and out of sanitariums, and murdered his girlfriend in 1965. When he died four years later, most of Jamaica came out in the streets for the funeral.

Fine Time – New Order’s Bernard Sumner on the new tour, new album, and what Blue Monday is really about

April 1, 2013November 15, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Traditionally you’d take a year or two to write and record an album, then you’d go on tour,” says New Order’s lead singer Bernard Sumner with his soft Mancunian accent. “But things are working differently in the music business these days. The new idea is that we’re going to play concerts in small bursts, like nine dates, then go back and write a bit, and then play another nine concerts. Just so we don’t disappear off the face of the earth for long.”

New Order (along with opening act Johnny Marr) come to the Santa Barbara Bowl on Thursday, but the announcement of this date was indeed a surprise. Following a rancorous split with founding bass player Peter Hook, the band really hasn’t released an album since 2005’s “Waiting for the Siren’s Call” and the 2011 mop-up B-sides release “Lost Sirens.” But no, here they are again.

Year Staring Death in the Face : LINDA PURL PLAYS JOAN DIDION IN ENSEMBLE’S ONE-WOMAN SHOW

March 29, 2013November 17, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Director Jenny Sullivan, left, and Linda Purl David Bazemore photo — Director Jenny Sullivan, left, and Linda Purl
David Bazemore photo

When Joan Didion’s book “The Year of Magical Thinking” debuted in 2005, it gained accolades as one of the finest contemporary books about the grieving process. Written in 88 days, Ms. Didion took on a time of double tragedy: the sudden death of her husband John Gregory Dunne from cardiac arrest, and the long illness of their daughter, who passed away just as Ms. Didion finished the manuscript.

Two years later, with David Hare directing and Vanessa Redgrave starring, “The Year of Magical Thinking” made its way to Broadway with Ms. Didion’s own adaptation of the book into a play. Five years and many accolades later, our Ensemble Theater Company, with Jenny Sullivan directing and Linda Purl starring, bring Ms. Didion’s one-woman play to Santa Barbara.

Porch Tales: THE MOTH KEEPS STORYTELLING FLAME BURNING

March 29, 2013November 17, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Working on The Moth is an endless stream of fascinating,” says Maggie Cino, senior producer, story coach, and director of the Peabody Award-winning organization/ show/workshop/podcast. This evening of storytelling – no scripts, no words on the page – comes to Campbell Hall on Thursday with a cast of familiar and unfamiliar faces.

The Moth has gained notoriety and momentum over the last five years due to its podcast and public radio show, but it was started back in 1997 by George Dawes Green, a poet and novelist who wanted an evening that recreated the sort of laid-back summer evenings of his native Georgia, where funny and poignant yarns would be spun among friends.