A Midsummer Night’s Preview…

DURING the Great Depression, the entertainment industry offered up escapist enjoyment for the masses eager to forget their woes. Economists are too busy pulling the wool down past their foreheads to mutter the “D” word, but we can see history repeating itself–onstage, anyway. This summer the theaters are all about lighthearted laughs and tall tales, with a touch of art-imitating-life backstabbing. The one place that exemplifies escapism is over the rainbow. Cabrillo Stage brings Santa Cruz the gift of The Wizard of Oz with all the songs that made the film adaptation so popular. Dorothy and the gang travel the Yellow Brick Road with a 20-piece orchestra from July 17 through Aug. 16. Before setting off to see the wizard, Cabrillo Stage goes in search of a more elusive goal–the key to a successful relationship. The musical comedy I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change runs June 26 through July 26 and heralds the return of director Andrew Ceglio from last season’s Forever Plaid. Cabrillo Stage doesn’t corner the market on whimsical worlds and fantastical relationships this season. Shakespeare Santa Cruz is reprising the puckish A Midsummer Night’s Dream. From July 22 through Aug. 30, the Festival Glen will transform into a decimated forest teeming with fairies and lovers growing out of the ashes. As new life and passion grows from Midsummer’s postwar ruins, UCSC’s Mainstage takes theater back to its basics with Shipwrecked! An Entertainment–The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told by Himself.) Aided by simple theatrical effects, de Rougemont takes the audience on a fantastical journey that weaves a wonderful yarn of globetrotting storytelling. Eric Ting, recently named one of the top 25 directors to watch by American Theatre Magazine, directs this adjective-filled tall tale from July 21 through Aug. 30. Adjectives may be a great way to fluff up a fable, but they can also buy you precious seconds as you create your next line. Improvfest returns to the Actors’ Theatre on Fridays and Saturdays between July 10 and Aug. 1. For theater with a little more structure, but not quite a full production, the Actors’ Theatre also hosts regular cold readings. Works in progress and staged readings receive their spotlight with a rotating series of directors and themes throughout the summer months and beyond. As Dorothy taught us, we all have to go home at some point. Still, when it’s time to leave the comedy behind, the summer theater season gives us plenty of reasons not to click our heels together quite yet. Pacific Repertory Theatre on the Monterey Peninsula brings to life the century-old sketches of Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde. Reworked by David Hare, The Blue Room brings the frank sexual politics of the past into stark realization in the present. Playing May 28 through July 18, the interwoven stories of sexual dynamics are sure to ignite the foggy night sky. While The Blue Room hits the bedroom, Shakespeare Santa Cruz’s third offering of the season hits a little closer to home–perhaps closer than one might think. In Julius Caesar, SSC has chosen a classical story of political power wrangling, imperial impulses and underhanded backstabbing. Budget constraints are making for a shorter season, but SSC’s summer offerings lack nothing in potency.

Math Killed the Arts…

The decision by UCSC to gut the Arts & Lectures program after the current season is a decision that ends a 35-year history of bringing well known artists to Santa Cruz. However, no one is wearing a black cowboy hat in this story. What the demise of Arts & Lectures comes down to is that not enough people–UCSC and non-UCSC parties alike–were willing to put enough money into the program to keep it economically viable in these hard times.

“There’s not just one magic bullet,” outgoing Arts & Lectures director Jeanette Pilak admitted in a recent phone interview. “One of the leading issues for A&L was that it had a very dedicated pool of donor members, but it was a very small pool.” Despite a heavy fundraising campaign over the past two seasons, Pilak says the economic interest from the community just wasn’t there. Over the last four years, not only has the donor support dropped by 50 percent, ticket sales have continued to decline as well. And in an effort to keep the program accessible to Santa Cruz residents, the program hasn’t raised ticket prices in the last four years.

“All of that exists against a backdrop where we have to have permanent budget cuts in the amount of $13 million,” explains UCSC Assistant Vice Chancellor Catherine Faris.

Though there are numerous reasons A&L became economically unviable, the UCSC Arts & Lectures Producer Circle Members believe that UCSC had the power to save the program. In an open letter to the media, members Trink Paxel, Ernie Hudson, Chinshu Huang and Gordon Pusser highlighted the positive treatment of the arts programs on the remaining eight UC campuses. They also claimed that while both A&L and Shakespeare Santa Cruz have had running deficits for years, it was the differentiating treatment that the two companies received from the University that doomed A&L. Citing Shakespeare Santa Cruz’s well publicized fundraising push to raise $300,000 in a week to save the company, the letter points out that A&L was not given this option.

In response, Faris says, “A&L tried to raise funds over the last two years. In fact, those numbers decreased.”

Arts & Lectures will finish the current season as planned. Next season, it will focus on campus cultural events, lectures and student and faculty productions. Faris doesn’t discount the possibility of a touring artist here and there, but they will no longer be the core of the program.

For Pilak, the loss of touring artist such as this season’s David Sedaris, Garrison Keillor and Zakir Hussain has a wide reach. “This year, many of the interns who worked with A&L were students who did not have arts or music education in their K-12 schooling, and unless they’re in an arts program in college, I really worry about where we’re going to be in a generation or two. There are a rich number of arts organizations in Santa Cruz and I wish them the best of luck. … But if you look at the quality of the [musicians] who were brought just this year, that would be a huge loss for the community.”

Cedar street blue…

A hop, skip and a jump away from the central branch of the Santa Cruz Library, the soon-to-be-open Pure Pleasure storefront has begun raising eyebrows, among other things. Counting Luscious, Camouflage and Frenchy’s Cruzin Books and Video, Pure Pleasure’s arrival makes the fourth adult store in less than a 5-mile radius. But Nūz wonders if Pure Pleasure offers something that whets our sexual appetite like none other, or is it sexual overkill?

Luscious has you covered when it comes to lingerie, Camouflage ups the ante by adding sex toys, condoms and lube, while Frenchy’s pours on the porn. Pure Pleasure co-owner Amy Baldwin promises something more.

“We’re very selective about what we’ll sell to our customers. We’re an upscale shop that sells high quality products. … We won’t sell any toys that are made with phthalates, we’ll only sell nontoxic toys,” said Baldwin.

“Phthalates”? Now that’s a mouthful, even for a sex toy. Pronounced “thal-ates,” these chemicals act as softeners in beaucoup plastic items, including dildos, and they’re thought to be toxic. Pure Pleasure is taking no chances with your special parts.

Baldwin describes Pure Pleasure as the only store in town that can call itself sex-positive. “We don’t discriminate against any gender or sexual preferences. The store is welcoming, nonjudgmental and has something for everyone. The whole idea is all consensual sex is good sex.”

And what do the neighbors think of a sex shop moving in next door?

There have been some concerned citizens, Baldwin says. While the overwhelming majority is excited, Baldwin says about 10 percent of people are concerned over the placement of the store next to the library. “They say, ‘I can’t believe you’re next to the library! What about the kids?’ But we’re going to have frosted windows and kids can’t see in or walk in. [Our storefront] doesn’t say sex anywhere. … There’s no way a child walking by is going to be harmed by our store.”

Such a family-friendly attitude may seem odd for a sex shop, but the description is truer than you may think. Baldwin co-owns the store with her mother, Janis Baldwin, and her mother’s fiance, Robert Dayton. “People think it’s creepy or weird, but it’s really not,” Amy explained.

Pure Pleasure seems an appealing option for those who find Luscious or Camouflage too mellow and Frenchy’s too wild, but only the grand opening this Friday will reveal if the hype satisfies Nūz. Till then, we’ll just have to use our imagination.