A reader seeks to bring clarity to panhandling’s place in Santa Cruz’s economy and culture. Others chime in on our coverage of the Santa Cruz Fringe Festival.
‘The Man in The Iron Mask’
Shakespeare Santa Cruz unveiled its world premiere production of The Man in the Iron Mask
with a rollicking flourish on July 28 in the incomparable Festival Glen. The plot-bending reconstruction of the Dumas classic by Scott Wentworth (who also directs this season’s Henry IV: Part II) offered up great helpings of slapstick, melodrama and multiple endings to the energetic tale of aging musketeers recalled to service in the aid of France’s true king, imprisoned in the Bastille.
‘Anything Goes’ at Cabrillo Stage
Cabrillo Stage’s Anything Goes is explosively fun. Each character is as impressive individually as the cast is collectively. Cole Porter classic after impeccably executed Cole Porter classic reminds one how timeless his talent is, and director and choreographer Kikau Alvaro skillfully preserves and translates it for a contemporary audience.
Top 5 Beach Boardwalk Rides
One writer’s take on the Top 5 rides at the Boardwalk, as voted by the readers of Santa Cruz Weekly.
City Staff Hopes Pickleball Will Take Off
Santa Cruz is trying a new sport with a silly name on for size. The Louden Nelson Community Center is hosting a demonstration of pickleball on Friday, July 27, from 10am to 2pm.
Delta Plans Could Harm Salmon
Chinook salmon are abundant this year in one of the best seasons of local fishing memory, with sport and commercial fishermen reeling in easy boatloads of the most prized food and game fish on the Pacific Coast. Still, at least one conservation group warns that all this could change if state officials in Sacramento, now plotting the near future of California’s water-development infrastructure, approve and build a large canal intended to deliver Sacramento River water to Southern California.
California Beer Festival Coming to Aptos
The California Beer Festival, your basic craft beer extravaganza, is coming to Aptos Village Park this Saturday, July 28. Let’s see, that’s 70 craft brews on tap, three live bands including “Foreverland”—an unforgettable tribute to Michael Jackson—plus mouthwatering food and bocce ball. Michael Jackson and bocce ball in one afternoon—life is good! CBF sounds like hog heaven for any beer aficionado, especially fans of handcrafted suds. Know that this event will sell out, space is very limited. Proceeds will benefit student athletes in Santa Cruz County.
Q&A: Chris LaVeque
The owner of the popular Westside butcher shop El Salchichero on handcrafted charcuterie, the first rule of sausage-making and what keeps him sane.
Letters to the Editor: July 25-31
A smorgasbord of reader responses to cartoon changes and recent articles about food trucks and road taxes. One reader takes a crack at the question, “Just how hard can panhandling be?”
Q&A: Marin Alsop
As the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music gears up for its 50th anniversary season, maestra Marin Alsop talks about the festival’s reputation for embracing “the weird and the wonderful” and explains why, despite being insanely busy, she’s “completely satisfied.”
