ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Calendar of Events

by Steven Libowitz

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16

Alchemy at the Alcazar – Carpinteria’s Alcazar Players opens its 2023 season with Now and Then, a romantic comedy/drama by Sean Grennan that one critic said goes into the souls of its four characters and looks at what time and desire did, does, and continues to do. Set in 1981, the play finds a young bartender Jamie (played by Andrew Miller) closing up when there is a flash of red light outside. Thinking it’s an ambulance going by, he ignores it, but moments later an older man named Jimmy (Raymond Wallenthin) comes in for a quick one. The subject shifts to Jamie’s aspiring career as a pianist and his impending choice to quit working to just study and gig. Then his girlfriend Abby (Jadzia Winter) shows up and talks turn to issues of life, careers, and destiny before Jimmy tells them an outlandish story about himself that they don’t believe. But as Jimmy is about to leave, another flash of red light portends the entrance of an older woman (Shannon Saleh), who is not pleased at the turn of events. Past, present, and future collide in the night that serves as a catalyst, unveiling the importance of the choices we make through a lifetime.

WHEN: 7 tonight through Saturday, plus 2 pm Saturday & Sunday

WHERE: Alcazar Theatre, 4916 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria

COST: $20 general, $15 students & seniors

INFO: (805) 684-6380 or www.thealcazar.org/calendar

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17

Camerata Conquers – Apparently, even chamber music cherishers aren’t immune to the powers of Valentine’s Day, as Camerata Pacifica succumbs to both intensely impassioned virtuosity with violinist Paul Huang and pianist Gilles Vonsattel performing Prokofiev’s “Violin Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op 80,” and the heart-touchingly beautiful via Jose Franch-Ballester relishing the reed with violinists Huang and Jason Uyeyama, violist Scott Lee and cellist Ani Aznavoorian, for Brahms’ sublime Clarinet Quintet, perhaps the most romantic piece from the pen of a composer at the height of German Romanticism. In between the extremes, enjoy Schnittke’s “Prelude in Memoriam Dmitri Shostakovich.”

WHEN: 7:30 pm

WHERE: Hahn Hall, Music Academy campus, 1070 Fairway Road

COST: $68

INFO: (805) 884-8410 or www.cameratapacifica.org

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17

Putting on Air – Is it really an appropriate Valentine’s week show when the band in question called its first album Love and Other Bruises and scored an immediate hit with “All Out of Love”? Sure, if said band is the Australian soft-rock duo Air Supply, the alter ego of Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock, who fell into brotherly musical love when they both starred in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar way back in 1975 and have been singing together ever since. Air Supply enjoyed a succession of hits worldwide that rivaled The Beatles’ run, including eight top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100, ranging from “Lost in Love,” “All Out of Love,” and “Every Woman in the World” to “The One That You Love,” “Here I Am,” “Sweet Dreams,” “Even the Nights Are Better,” and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All,” the latter a composition by Jim Steinman (of Meat Loaf fame). That’s a lot of records sold in a short period of time, but apparently the two Russells didn’t have any trouble coming up for air, and they’re still breezing along on those successes in 2023.

WHEN: 8 pm

WHERE: Chumash Casino Resort, 3400 East Highway 246, Santa Ynez COST: $49 to $79

INFO: (800) CHUMASH (248-6274) or www.chumashcasino.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18

Romance in a Sacred Setting – The Santa Barbara Choral Society, at 75, is Santa Barbara’s oldest choir and isn’t shy about slipping in several Valentine’s Day references for its February concerts. Titled “For the Love of Music,” the program features the 80-strong semi-professional community chorus of approximately 80 singers conducted by JoAnne Wasserman offering a rich assortment of familiar works and hidden delights tucked into a program curated to appeal to a wide range of tastes. A bit like a box of chocolates, which they’re also using to promote the concert – pieces you know you like, and then there are those that simply pique your curiosity. Soothing, ethereal, and light as nougat is Morten Lauridsen’s “Sure on This Shining Night.” An arrangement by Rollo Dilworth of “The Gift to Be Free” might feel as familiar as a creamy caramel The flavor of Scottish toffees comes via an assortment that includes Mack Wilberg’s “O Whistle and I’ll Come to Ye.” So, The Choral Society wonders, who will you treat to its musical valentine?

WHEN: 7 tonight, 3 pm tomorrow

WHERE: Trinity Episcopal Church, 1500 State St. COST: $20 general, $10 students & children ($50 VIP tickets include reserved priority seating and a post-concert reception)

Wandering with Westmont – The Westmont Orchestra’s mid-month mini-tour over Presidents’ Day weekend takes the ensemble through three south county locales before winding up back on campus next Sunday. Led by Westmont’s new orchestra conductor Ruth Lin , the ensemble will perform “Amazing Grace,” Bizet’s Carmen Suite , and Franck’s “Symphony in D minor,” the latter two featuring French composers whose work have proven popular over time after cool responses at their premieres. The Westmont Orchestra also alights at a fourth local venue on Tuesday, Feb. 21, performing beloved hymns at a fundraising concert in the sanctuary of Santa Barbara Community Church, 1002 Cieneguitas Road. Admission to all of the concerts is free, but donations are warmly welcomed and always appreciated.

WHEN: All events at 7 pm

WHERE: San Marcos High School, 4750 Hollister Ave. tonight; Santa Ynez Valley Presbyterian Church, 1825 Alamo Pintado Road, Solvang, tomorrow; Calvary Baptist Church, 3355 Constellation Road, Lompoc, Sunday

COST: free

INFO: (805) 565-6051 or www.westmont.edu

INFO: (805) 965-6577 or www.sbchoral.org

February’s Fundraising Friends – Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre has wrangled a bunch of its famous friends to perform concerts on its intimate stage in support of its programs, and the mini-music series provides a swath of styles to sample at a price that isn’t really all that steep. Five-time Grammy Award-winner Noel Paul Stookey (a.k.a. Paul of Peter, Paul & Mary) brings his intimate musicality and whimsical persona back to the Rubicon stage, boasting hits from the PP&M song list, Stookey standards such as “The Wedding Song,” “In These Times,” and “Jean Claude” plus selections from his most recent release Fazz: Now and Then. Next up, it’s Linda Purl, the actress-singer who played Richie Cunningham’s girlfriend and Fonzie’s fiancée on Happy Days, Matlock’s daughter Charlene Matlock, and Pam’s Mom/Steve Carell’s girlfriend on The Office – not to mention Rubicon’s A Streetcar Named Desire and Copenhagen, among others – in a trip through the Great American Songbook for a set called “My Romance.” The series comes to a close with The Folk Legacy Trio (Rick Dougherty, George Grove, and Jerry Siggins), who have been dubbed the “living library” of music of the great folk era as their collective credits include music by The Kingston Trio, The Limeliters, The Weavers, Peter, Paul & Mary, The New Christy Minstrels, Tom Paxton, Joan Baez, Gordon Lightfoot, Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver, and others –the first two of which they were members.

WHEN: Stookey Feb. 18-19, Purl Feb. 22, Legacy Feb. 24 (all concerts 7 pm)

WHERE: Rubicon Theatre Company, 1006 E. Main St., Ventura

COST: $69.50

INFO: (805) 667-2900 or www.rubicontheatre.org

Quartets in Concert – Two highly reputable but divergent string quartets quite familiar to local audiences head back our way today as the Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet alight at the Art Museum for a seventh time while the Takács Quartet lands in Los Olivos.

Founded by the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Organization with a commitment to diversity in 2010, the Catalyst ( Karla Donehew Perez , violin; Abi Fayette , violin; Paul Laraia , viola; and Karlos Rodriguez , cello) imagine their programs and projects toward achieving unity through music. The ensemble, which tours widely throughout the U.S. and abroad, is presenting a program of all female composers including Jessie Montgomery ’s Strum , Teresa Careño’s String Quartet , Germaine Tailleferre’s String Quartet , and Fanny Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E-flat major … The Takács is the Hungary-founded Grammy-winning foursome that has been a residence at the Music Academy over the summer for years and recently usurped new faculty violist Richard O’Neil as its newest member to join Edward Dusinberre , first violin; Harumi Rhodes , second violin and András Fejér , cello. The quartet performs an all-Beethoven concert at St. Mark’s in-the-Valley as part of the Santa Ynez Valley Concert Series in its first visit to the valley in its near half-century of existence, playing two of the late great quartets: “String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat major, Op. 127,” and “String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132.” Got a fast car and a fervor for fiddles? Catch ’em both.

Takács:

WHEN: 4 pm

WHERE: 2901 Nojoqui Ave., Los Olivos COST: $20 general, students free INFO: (805) 705-0938 or www.smitv.org/syv-concert-series

Catalyst:

WHEN: 7:30 pm

WHERE: Mary Craig Auditorium, 1130 State St. COST: $25 general, $20 museum members INFO: (805) 963-4364 or www.sbma.net

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22

Launching the Queen – Despite Margaret of Anjou’s reign as Queen of England having come to a close more than 500 years ago, SHE WOLF playwright Katie Bender finds a lot of parallels between 1400s England and 21st-century America. “Civil unrest, extreme inequality, xenophobia, misogyny, and the plague are all part of our current national conversation,” explains Bender, whose work is getting a full-scale preview production through Launch Pad, the UCSB Department of Theater/Dance’s new play development program. Launch Pad founder/artistic director Risa Brainin will helm the production of SHE WOLF Margaret of Anjou that brings an innovative, remarkably contemporary perspective to the historical figure who posthumously was largely written off as a power-hungry “she-wolf” whose reign brought the country to war, the playwright says. Bender, whose previous plays include Still Now, The Fault, One Night Only, and an immersive adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, has been in residence all quarter with a team of professional designers, UCSB faculty, and student actors to develop the fully staged preview production that will also benefit from audience feedback.

WHEN: Feb. 22 to March 5

WHERE: UCSB Performing Arts Theater COST: $17 general, $13 children & seniors ($2 extra on day of) INFO: (805) 893-2064 or www.theaterdance.ucsb.edu

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