News-Press – Page 59

Getting away with it : ‘Loot’ returns to Swinging London for a tale of murder and robbery … and laughs

June 8, 2010June 3, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

From left, Ned Schmidtke as Truscott and Wyatt Fenner as Dennis. DAVID BAZEMORE PHOTOS — From left, Ned Schmidtke as Truscott and Wyatt Fenner as Dennis.
DAVID BAZEMORE PHOTOS

“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there,” said L.P. Hartley in his opening lines to “The Go-Between.” Joe Orton’s “Loot,” which opened this past weekend at the Alhecama Theatre, is very foreign indeed. The farce makes traveling back to the Swinging London of the mid-1960s feel as long a trip as one to Oscar Wilde’s 19th-century Britain. As they say about traveling in new cars, your mileage may vary.

Orton was the enfant terrible of the new playwrights of his time, busting genres like Tom Stoppard but poking the establishment where it irritated them most. With his life cut short at age 34, we wonder where Orton might have gone — more political like Stoppard or Harold Pinter? Would he have been an ambassador of bad taste, like our filmmaker John Waters? Or just petered out?

Hey Ladies – Girls Night Out features comics for a good cause

June 8, 2010June 1, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

For Girls Night Out, a benefit comedy show, this will be an evening of firsts. It’s the opening of the 428 Club, formerly Sevilla, formerly Scotch Bonnet, formerly a whole lot of other venues (but always at the same classy location). And it will be the first comedy benefit the Autism Society has put on, since a karaoke benefit in April.

It will also be the first time these three comedians — organizer Carol Metcalf, along with Jann Karam and Karen Rontowski — will share a stage together, providing the laughs to earn money for a good cause.

Chili’s Grill and Bar’s Freshest Margarita

June 4, 2010June 3, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Is it possible to have a neighborhood bar in a big box mall? Hollister Brewing Co. is having a go at it, and next to them, Chili’s looks dinky by comparison, walled in on the other side by Pastavino and Holdren’s. A 10-seat bar, sports inevitably on the TV, windows that look out over the parking lot…and regulars.

Yes, Chili’s is corporate, but manager Israel Fuentes has been here five years (10 total in the Chili’s chain) and bartender Jen Bradshaw has been here three and a half. And during this economic downturn he hasn’t had to lay anybody off.

Life Imitates Farce – Joe Orton’s ‘Loot’ comes to Ensemble Theatre

June 4, 2010June 3, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Clockwise from top left: Julian Rubel plays policeman Bobby Meadows, Heather Prete is Fay, Kerby Joe Grubb plays Hal and Wyatt Fenner is Dennis in Ensemble's "Loot." David Bazemore Photo — Clockwise from top left: Julian Rubel plays policeman Bobby Meadows, Heather Prete is Fay, Kerby Joe Grubb plays Hal and Wyatt Fenner is Dennis in Ensemble’s “Loot.”
David Bazemore Photo

During the original stage run of Joe Orton’s “Loot,” which features a dead mother as a plot device that spurs the action, the playwright’s mother died.

Orton went to Leicester for the funeral, then returned to London and the production. There is a scene where the dead mother’s false teeth are played like castanets. Backstage, Orton handed his mother’s real set to the actor Kenneth Cranham, who blanched.

The Dawn (Again) of Nights – Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s big summer party returns

June 4, 2010June 3, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

KCRW's DJ Jeremy Sole, below, will spin for SBMA's first (of two) "Nights" events of the summer. Artists and event attendees will also take part in several interactive activities on the theme of "Pairings," and choreographer Robin Bisio returns with three dancers, two musicians, vocalists and film vignettes for a work called "Centered Green." — KCRW’s DJ Jeremy Sole, below, will spin for SBMA’s first (of two) “Nights” events of the summer. Artists and event attendees will also take part in several interactive activities on the theme of “Pairings,” and choreographer Robin Bisio returns with three dancers, two musicians, vocalists and film vignettes for a work called “Centered Green.”

Yes, the sun keeps hiding behind the clouds, but summer is really here, and for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, that means the return of Nights. The early-to-late-evening party is one of downtown’s must-see and must-be-seen events, combining DJs, live music, art-making activities, cocktail bars and mucho opportunities to mingle.

In flusher economic times, Nights went off every third Thursday of the summer months. But that was a bit taxing on the museum and the staff, so last year, only three Nights were scheduled. This year, its seventh, Nights is down to two. But those two are going to be big.

Swinging ’60s – ‘Girl in the Freudian Slip’ surfaces at Circle Bar B Dinner Theatre

May 28, 2010May 26, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

The bedroom/analyst's office farce "Girl in the Freudian Slip" deals with Dewey Maugham, a married psychoanalyst who secretly lusts after his shapely and sex-positive patient, Barbara Leonard, played by Nicole Hollenitsch, above. — The bedroom/analyst’s office farce “Girl in the Freudian Slip” deals with Dewey Maugham, a married psychoanalyst who secretly lusts after his shapely and sex-positive patient, Barbara Leonard, played by Nicole Hollenitsch, above.

“The Girl in the Freudian Slip” would have been lost to the sands of Broadway time in the 1960s if opening night reviews were anything to go by. It didn’t last too long in 1967, but Bernadette Peters, who made her debut in the original cast, did (to the tune of seven Tony nominations, two of which she won). As did playwright William F. Brown, who went on to write a musical called “The Wiz.”

Circle Bar B Theatre has made a successful run of resurrecting light comedic fare and plans to do so again this weekend, when Joe Beck directs its next production.

Mulligan’s Sangria

May 28, 2010May 26, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Back in the day when this cocktail chaser was a young lad, he used to play golf. And being young, he looked forward to the day when a strong 18 holes would end with a celebratory drink at the clubhouse bar. Only later did he realize the shocking facts of life: you can drink at the clubhouse and never raise a club.

That’s what keeps Mulligan’s going after all these years. According to bartender (and owner’s daughter) Melissa Osuna, patrons come from all over for a drink and a meal. The bar is small — four seats — but the happy hour menu is extensive and rather complicated, with special drinks and dishes for each day.

SCENE ARTS : COLOR SPINNING : The crackling, psychedelic sculpture/performances of John Williams come to CAF

May 28, 2010May 26, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Above and below: John Williams performs "Record Projection" in 2009, with the help of record players, slides, Super-8 projectors and other mixed media. Courtesy photos — Above and below: John Williams performs “Record Projection” in 2009, with the help of record players, slides, Super-8 projectors and other mixed media.
Courtesy photos

Artist John Williams works in sound, light and color in a way that’s polar-opposite to the film composer who shares his name and makes Internet searching difficult. His work has vacillated between photography and sculpture since his days at CalArts, but all the while, his 2-D work has been trying to leap or peel itself off walls.

Still evolving after all these years, his “Record Projection” series comes to Contemporary Arts Forum this Thursday night as part of First Thursdays. The 45-minute piece is part-installation, part projection, part performance, part sound collision. It’s all Williams, though.

The call of history : Ken Burns delivers a classic speech at A&L’s anniversary event

May 26, 2010May 26, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

UCSB’s Arts & Lectures capped off its 50th anniversary season with a special dinner, auction and lecture event at the Coral Casino on Monday night. With the Pacific Ocean rolling and crashing right up to the rocky berm not that far below the resort, the evening reminded the $350/plate guests how their support plays out in season after season of musicians at the top of their game, stellar dance and theater companies, humorists, intellectuals and the best in cinema. Part fund-raiser for next season, part thank-you, and part private party, the evening ended with a special appearance by documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.

In his 50s now, but still looking a boyish early-30s, Mr. Burns is coming off his most recent multi-part documentary for PBS: a history of the National Parks. In the style that he made famous through docs on the Civil War, baseball and jazz, this journey through our national treasures once again made centuries-old voices come alive, still photographs look like they were shot yesterday, and revealed the weird and wonderful fabric of America.

Tre Lune’s Negroni

May 21, 2010May 26, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Tre Lune on Coast Village Road offers Italian food, Italian wine, Italian(ish) photos on the walls…but would it serve Italian cocktails? We drove over at early dinner time last week to check out this very small bar in a very busy restaurant. Behind the bar we ran into several people we knew already. One was a former neighbor of mine. Another was Gabriel, who we had just met a few weeks ago at Las Aves. Another was Steven Goularte, who we swear has made us a cocktail before, but where, oh, where?

Patrick Rathbun and Goularte tag-teamed the bar for our sampling of cocktails, and we enjoyed watching them dance around each other while making various drinks and dodging the other servers coming in for orders.