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Oct. 23: Throbbin Williams Cyberpunk Mini-Fest at Sebastopol’s Aubergine
The world is a darker place since Robin Williams passed away. While everyone grieves in their own way, the folks at 775 After Dark are choosing to celebrate the humor and joy that Williams left in our hearts. This week, the venue hosts an experimental art show and concert, the self-described “cyberpunk mini-fest” known as Throbbin Williams. Nine bands take to the stage for a blistering day of music. Oakland electro punks Diesel Dudes and Napa synth sensation Magnanimous headline the event, which happens on Thursday, Oct. 23, at 775 After Dark (Aubergine), 755 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol. 6pm. $5–$10. 707.829.2722.
Oct. 24: Narada Michael Walden at the Throckmorton, Mill Valley
Narada Michael Walden’s musical career spans three decades, and he’s garnered several gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards. He is a drummer, a singer, a composer and a producer; he’s worked with names like Whitney Houston and Diana Ross; and he’s owned Tarpan Studio in San Rafael since the mid-1980s. Walden brings his band to the North Bay. Walden will be filming a music video for a single off their latest album, Thunder, at this show, meaning you get to be a part of the action at this one-of-a-kind concert. Narada Michael Walden Band performs on Friday, Oct. 24, at 142 Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley. 8pm. $30–$45. 415.383.9600.
Oct. 24: Gift of Gab at Zodiacs, Petaluma
He’s best known as the voice of Bay Area hip-hop duo Blackalicious, an MC with powerful rhymes and a streaming, jam-packed delivery. Critics and fans alike have continually hailed Gift of Gab since he came on the scene more than 20 years ago. As a part of Blackalicious and as a solo performer, Gift of Gab displays an astonishing ability for incisive wit and metaphorical storytelling. Also a founding member of Bay Area independent label and collective Quannum Projects. His influence is undeniable. This week, Gift of Gab performs with Norbay award-winner MC RadioActive and San Francisco beat master DJ Zeph on Friday, Oct. 24, at Zodiacs, 256 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma. 9pm. $15. 707.773.7751.
Oct. 25: Laurie Anderson at SSU Green Music Center
Whether she’s creating a tape-bow violin that uses recorded magnetic tape on the bow instead of horsehair, or a six-foot-long talking stick controller, Laurie Anderson has been tapping into previously unheard sounds for more than 30 years. She’s no stranger to performance art or filmmaking, either. Her latest piece, Language of the Future, is a collection of songs and stories. Anderson appears Saturday, Oct. 25, at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park. 7:30pm. $35. 866.955.6040.
St. Murray
Wasn’t it Pascal who said that life is a comedy with a bloody finish? St. Vincent is a comedy with a bloody awful finish, boasting one of cinema’s greatest slouches, Bill Murray.
Employing a lazy Brooklyn accent, Murray plays Vincent, dressed in a wadded pair of gray camouflage cargo shorts and a souvenir shirt from a clam place in Sheepshead Bay. He rejoices in the motto “Ya work, ya get paid, ya drink.” Just as Ben Affleck was given a tom cat to wrangle to show that he cared about stuff in Gone Girl, the shiftless Vincent tends one of those grumpy cats (a white Persian, like the one Blofeld used to stroke). Murray’s Vincent deals with the problems of the day—the bourbon running out, the bank account going dry, the fillies giving him a bad time at Belmont Park.
But then a new neighbor arrives, Oliver, a boy who needs tending (he’s played as an overly polite little man by Jaeden Lieberher). He’s the son of an overworked mom (Melissa McCarthy, demonstrating her talents as a comedy straight woman.) And hanging around is the hardworking Naomi Watts, clearly enjoying herself as the pregnant Russian pole-dancer Vince hires for companionship.
As I’ve said before, Murray is the only man over 60 that anyone under 25 reveres. Murray is respected for his nay-saying and complaint in the same way Bogart was 40 years ago. St. Vincent gives you a handsome portion of this naturally funny performer, never letting his disgust at the world waver. If this film gets Murray a body-of-work Oscar, fair enough. Be warned, though, that this paragon of slack will get the full 24K gold heart transplant. St. Vincent is like what Frank Capra would do if he adapted a Bukowski book: it gets a funny Irish priest (Chris O’Dowd), a sweet old lady with Alzheimer’s, a stirring tale of war heroism, and a hooker turned mommy.
‘St. Vincent’ opens Friday in wide release.
Pop Music
Drummer and conductor Michael Berkowitz has amassed a stunning array of credits in his career. From being one of the busiest studio and television drummers in 1970s Los Angeles, to his time performing and conducting on Broadway, Berkowitz has seen it all and worked with legendary stars and musicians.
This week, as the principle pops conductor for the Santa Rosa Symphony, Berkowitz presents a retrospective look at the work of Marvin Hamlisch, one of his closest friends. “The Way They Were: A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch and Barbra Streisand” kicks off the symphony’s 10th season of pops concerts, a series that highlights contemporary scores from film and theater. Speaking by phone, Berkowitz shares details of his relationship with the late conductor and composer.
“This is really a tribute to Marvin, and because he had such a great relationship with Barbra Streisand, I wanted to do more than just the music he wrote for Broadway and whatnot,” says Berkowitz.
Hamlisch and Streisand first met on the set of Funny Girl, where Hamlisch was the rehearsal pianist and assistant vocal arranger. “I wanted to portray that. So we’re doing a number of songs from Funny Girl, and also we’re doing things that Marvin conducted for her, such as the overture to her 1994 concert tour.”
Berkowitz’s relationship with Hamlisch began in 1980, after moving to New York, where Hamlisch gave him his first break at conducting. “I had recently moved and he needed a drummer,” recalls Berkowitz. “I was the drummer one week, and two weeks after that I became the conductor because the regular conductor wasn’t available and [Hamlisch] said, ‘Let’s just use Mike.'”
For 10 years, Berkowitz was the musical director, conductor and drummer for Hamlisch, who continued to score with a string of hits for film and stage alike. Hamlisch is one of only a dozen people to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award, collectively known as an EGOT. The composer passed away in 2012, at the age of 68.
“He was incredibly brilliant,” remembers Berkowitz. “And we were personal friends, which was great.”
With this upcoming concert, vocalist Haven Burton will join Berkowitz and the Santa Rosa Symphony, fresh off a starring role in the Broadway production of the Cyndi Lauper musical Kinky Boots. There will be heartfelt tributes, joyful music and plenty of surprises in store for this upcoming performance. Before the show, Berkowitz will host a one-hour talk about the afternoon’s concert and share stories from his career.
Symphony Pops: ‘The Way They Were: A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch and Barbra Streisand’ is presented by the Santa Rosa Symphony on Sunday, Oct. 26, at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa. 3pm. $37–$80. 707.546.3600.
Dolls and Puppets
In tone, attitude and style, you cannot find two musicals more different than Guys and Dolls (Spreckels Performing Arts Center) and Avenue Q (Novato Theater Company).
The first features singing gangsters in a family-friendly trifle about luck and love set in Prohibition-era New York City, and the other puts potty-mouthed puppets alongside humans in a contemporary R-rated send-up of Sesame Street. Polar opposites, both shows offer plenty of visual invention, and each shines bright with sensational singing.
Directed by Gene Abravaya, Guys and Dolls is packed with colorful characters: the marriage-phobic Nathan Detroit (Tim Setzer), wealthy gambler Sky Masterson (Anthony Martinez), optimistic sidekicks Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Benny Southstreet (Ted Smith and Kyle Stoner).
The story is slight. As Detroit seeks a location for his illegal, nightly crap game, he avoids committing to his longtime fiancée Miss Adelaide (Denise Elia-Yen), simultaneously attempting to raise cash by betting Masterson that he can’t convince pious Salvation Army missionary Sister Sarah Brown (Stephanie Dietz) to have dinner with him in Cuba.
The tale’s effectiveness is dampened a tad by a lack of chemistry between the romantic leads, but still works on the strength of Frank Loesser’s delightfully off-kilter songs, snappy musical direction by Janis Wilson and a winsome cast and ensemble, with kudos to the engaging Clark Miller as Sarah’s understanding Uncle Arvide.
Rating (out of 5): ★★★½
Avenue Q is directed with obvious glee by Carl Jordan, with superb musical direction by Monica Norcia. The play blends sharp social commentary with outrageously crude puppet shenanigans, and offers a stunningly realistic view of life after college and on the fringes of society and success. Mary Nagler contributed the sensational puppets.
As unemployed idealist Princeton, Robert Nelson soars, and Amanda Morando breaks hearts as Kate Monster, the cuddly object of Princeton’s affections. Nicky (Seth Dahlgren) and Rod (Alexander Belmont) are Bert-and-Ernie-like roommates with a complicated relationship. Trekkie Monster (also Dahlgren) is a grouchy, porn-addicted recluse. Lucy the Slut (Melissa Claire) complicates everything.
The songs are infectious, and the entire cast rocks, energetically co-creating a show that is as fresh as it is hilarious, outrageous, and surprisingly moving.
Rating (out of 5): ★★★★
Debriefer: October 22, 2014
NUDISTS RULE!
The Debriefer always loved the San Francisco Bay Guardian for its annual guide to the Best Nude Beaches in the Bay Area, many of which are in the North Bay. We’ve been to a few of them, and they are awesome. The nudist feature was classic alt-weekly: a service piece in the service of freaks.
Then came terrorism, and everyone had to put their clothes back on or risk the wrath of the Gitmo prudes with their duct tape and shaming ways. And, alas, last week the legendary S.F. alt weekly shut its doors, rather abruptly. Now who’s going to cover all those damn nudes beaches in
the North Bay? Hmmm . . .
FAIR ENOUGH
Two North Bay nonprofits were on a list of 95 housing organizations and agencies from around the country that nabbed part of a $38 million grant announced by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last week.
Fair Housing of Marin and the Greater Napa Fair Housing Center each won grants to fight housing discrimination in those counties. Fair Housing of Marin received about $450,000, split between two grants; the Napa organization got $309,000.
The grants are funded through HUD’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program and will “help enforce the Fair Housing Act through investigation and testing of alleged discriminatory practices,” says a HUD release announcing the grants.
Just last month, as Debriefer reported, Fair Housing of Marin got hooked into a national lawsuit taking aim at what it says are Bank of America’s discriminatory practices in its foreclosure holdings, mostly in Vallejo.
That lawsuit hasn’t gotten traction with HUD—but the grants last week will “enable community groups . . . to help families who are denied equal access to housing,” reports the federal agency.
WHERE’S THE CRIME?
Paul Payne offered compelling read in the Oct. 15 Press Democrat about a Sebastopol pot farm shut down after an August fire. It was one of those stories you read that just doesn’t look right, as Tim Redmond, formerly of the late, great San Francisco Bay Guardian, used to say.
As in: Where is the crime? Where is the money?
Payne reported that the pot business yielded a county record-breaking $1.4 million in cash, “along with 1,421 gold and silver pieces,” a line that struck the Debriefer as plain hilarious—on piratical grounds, mateys.
Seriously, though, Payne also reported that nobody has been charged in the fire and subsequent bust-up of the cannabis business, which apparently operated under the (perhaps?) legitimate aegis of a “marijuana collective,” according to the PD. Yet all the money and treasure was confiscated, as though a crime had been committed.
County assistant district attorney Bud McMahon says the case was kicked to the feds. “We don’t have any local state charges here. We don’t have any identified suspects. All the cash and the precious metals were sent to the federal government for asset forfeiture purposes.”
Nobody’s been identified in the cannabis crackdown except the property owner—who hasn’t been charged with squat.
Letters to the Editor: October 22, 2014
Our Best Hope
We have been long-time financial supporters of Palm Drive Hospital, and have given countless hours of our time as well. As crazy as it may seem to some, we are ready to do it again because we know that a dynamic new Sonoma West Medical Center can be financially viable. It can bring back 175 well-paying jobs to our community, keep our physicians in town and save many lives in the coming years. That looks like a winner to us.
We realize that it takes a leap of faith to envision something wonderful where there has been a great calamity, but isn’t that what life is about—turning our setbacks into new opportunities? Instead of listening to the erroneous reasons why we can’t be successful, lets work together to figure out how we can.
Thomas Edison built 9,000 light bulbs before he built one that worked. Steve Jobs bombed with the Apple 3, the Lisa and Next. Armand Hammer went bankrupt seven times before becoming a billionaire. (He commented late in life that he wished he had done it more often because he learned so much each time.) Marconi built lots of radios that didn’t work before he was able to transmit across the Pacific. All of these people and millions of others became successful for one reason: they didn’t accept failure as their life story, they kept trying.
As Naomi Newman says, “Fall-down-get-up should be all one movement. Some people fall down and just lie there for the rest of their lives.” Is that who we want to be? We think not. West County residents are resilient and community-spirited. Our fire departments are staffed with volunteers, our schools are some of the best in the nation, thanks to parents who take an active role. We stopped PGE from building a nuclear power plant at Bodega Head, we built the Kortum Trail, we saved the Laguna, and we have saved our hospital before, so why stop now?
Having said this, we should learn from the past, not repeat it. The lessons here seem very clear to us: We need a different governance structure for our hospital. Other hospital districts, like Marin, have already learned this lesson and have built large nonprofit boards of business leaders to manage their operations very successfully. Also, healthcare has migrated to outpatient care and we have to build a great ambulatory program. We have to have specialties that are in demand; we have to be better than others at some things and let people know about it; and we have to manage our costs like any other successful business.
The new plan that is forming incorporates these lessons and builds on the clinical excellence of Palm Drive, a superlative small hospital that was rated number one in California for patient safety and number five in the nation by Consumer Reports in the same month it was closed.
We invite everyone to join us on this amazing journey of creativity and perseverance that includes our local physicians, leaders like Gail Thomas, Dr. Richard Powers, Dennis Colthurst, Dr. James Gude, and many others. There is still a lot of hard work ahead but we know from history that once the dust settles, people will line up to join the parade. By being a part of this dynamic movement, the life you save may be your own.
Sebastopol
Too Critical?
Is there or has there ever been a movie that Richard von Busack likes?
Santa Rosa
Check the Facts
With over 60 billion food animals on the planet, our best chance to mitigate climate change is to severely reduce consumption of animal foods (“Fight of our Lives,” Oct 15). More than one-third of human-induced warming is attributable to animal agriculture. Methane is 24 times more potent than CO2 but takes only seven years to cycle out of the atmosphere; CO2 takes around a hundred years to come out. Human pursuit of animal protein is the leading cause of methane release and a primary cause of CO2 concentrating in the atmosphere. Check the facts and act!
“As environmental science has advanced, it has become apparent that the human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future: deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease.”—Worldwatch Institute, “Is Meat Sustainable?”
“If every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetables and grains, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads.”—Environmental Defense Fund.
“A 1 percent reduction in world-wide meat intake has the same benefit as a $3 trillion investment in solar energy.”
—Chris Mentzel, CEO of Clean Energy.
Via online
Editor’s note: Read our cover story this week for a different take on beef’s impact on the environment.
Write to us at le*****@******an.com.
Oct. 23: Throbbin Williams Cyberpunk Mini-Fest at Sebastopol’s Aubergine
The world is a darker place since Robin Williams passed away. While everyone grieves in their own way, the folks at 775 After Dark are choosing to celebrate the humor and joy that Williams left in our hearts. This week, the venue hosts an experimental art show and concert, the self-described “cyberpunk mini-fest” known as Throbbin Williams. Nine bands...
Oct. 24: Narada Michael Walden at the Throckmorton, Mill Valley
Narada Michael Walden’s musical career spans three decades, and he’s garnered several gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards. He is a drummer, a singer, a composer and a producer; he’s worked with names like Whitney Houston and Diana Ross; and he’s owned Tarpan Studio in San Rafael since the mid-1980s. Walden brings his band to the North Bay. Walden will...
Oct. 24: Gift of Gab at Zodiacs, Petaluma
He’s best known as the voice of Bay Area hip-hop duo Blackalicious, an MC with powerful rhymes and a streaming, jam-packed delivery. Critics and fans alike have continually hailed Gift of Gab since he came on the scene more than 20 years ago. As a part of Blackalicious and as a solo performer, Gift of Gab displays an astonishing...
Oct. 25: Laurie Anderson at SSU Green Music Center
Whether she’s creating a tape-bow violin that uses recorded magnetic tape on the bow instead of horsehair, or a six-foot-long talking stick controller, Laurie Anderson has been tapping into previously unheard sounds for more than 30 years. She’s no stranger to performance art or filmmaking, either. Her latest piece, Language of the Future, is a collection of songs and...
St. Murray
Wasn't it Pascal who said that life is a comedy with a bloody finish? St. Vincent is a comedy with a bloody awful finish, boasting one of cinema's greatest slouches, Bill Murray.
Employing a lazy Brooklyn accent, Murray plays Vincent, dressed in a wadded pair of gray camouflage cargo shorts and a souvenir shirt from a clam place in Sheepshead...
Pop Music
Drummer and conductor Michael Berkowitz has amassed a stunning array of credits in his career. From being one of the busiest studio and television drummers in 1970s Los Angeles, to his time performing and conducting on Broadway, Berkowitz has seen it all and worked with legendary stars and musicians.
This week, as the principle pops conductor for the Santa Rosa...
Dolls and Puppets
In tone, attitude and style, you cannot find two musicals more different than Guys and Dolls (Spreckels Performing Arts Center) and Avenue Q (Novato Theater Company).
The first features singing gangsters in a family-friendly trifle about luck and love set in Prohibition-era New York City, and the other puts potty-mouthed puppets alongside humans in a contemporary R-rated send-up of Sesame...
Debriefer: October 22, 2014
NUDISTS RULE!
The Debriefer always loved the San Francisco Bay Guardian for its annual guide to the Best Nude Beaches in the Bay Area, many of which are in the North Bay. We've been to a few of them, and they are awesome. The nudist feature was classic alt-weekly: a service piece in the service of freaks.
Then came terrorism, and...
Letters to the Editor: October 22, 2014
Our Best Hope
We have been long-time financial supporters of Palm Drive Hospital, and have given countless hours of our time as well. As crazy as it may seem to some, we are ready to do it again because we know that a dynamic new Sonoma West Medical Center can be financially viable. It can bring back 175 well-paying jobs...
