email: arts@independent.com
Talk like a
W
hen a package arrived at my office from Prospect Park Press containing a new paperback original called Talk Like a Californian by Helena Ventura, I smiled at the clean, sunny layout and laughed at the wit of the more outrageous of the usage examples. Then I tucked the book away with the idea that it might soon come in handy. Four days later, I stood in front of a classroom full of high school juniors and seniors at 2 p.m. on a Friday —the last class period of the week. What could I possibly do to capture the imaginations of this entire group with the freedom of the weekend so near at hand? First, we had a quick look at the classic Saturday Night Live sketch known as “The Californians,” and then we began to play the traditional schoolroom game of Dictionary. It’s the one where people have to guess which of the four contestants has given the real definition of a word, while the other contestants get points for creating false definitions that fool their classmates into thinking they are real. Playing Dictionary with a copy of good old Merriam-Webster is fun, but playing it with Talk Like a Californian is, wait for it, hella fun. Show me a 17-year-old who is tired of making up mock definitions for “tightsauce,” and I’ll show you a child
who is tired of Snapchat. Each round of the game brought new heights of zaniness, especially when it came to writing the usage examples. According to the book, “gandolf ” is surf-speak for “an older, wiser guy,” but my students kept wanting to make it a verb, as in “gandolf — the act of surfing with a midget on your shoulders.” Usage example? “Dude, let’s hit up Steve for a gandolf sesh.” You will
New Gu
ide to Slan from Cul g tu
N o r t h , res of tech, an South, d Surf
have to imagine what they came up with for “tightsauce” yourself; Talk Like a Californian defines it as “outstanding and/or attractive.” A week later, I heard from Prospect Park publisher Colleen Dunn Bates that she would be available to take a call in her capacity as spokesperson for the book’s author, “Helena Ventura.” I asked her if we might do the interview as a conference call so that Helena’s high school fans could listen in and ask questions. What followed was fascinating. The uproarious verbal free-for-all of the California Dictionary game morphed into a sophisticated discussion about etymologies, geographies, databases, and the logic of the research process. Colleen/ Helena’s approach to this seemingly fanci fanciful topic turned out to be quite scientific, and part of a literary history that stretched back to popular glossaries of “cowboy talk” published in the 19th century. Bates told the students that most of all, she enjoyed the human contact that the research afforded her, whether that was talking with her adult daughter about the slang of the film indus industry or exchanging emails with tech bros in order to explore the linguistic subculture of Silicon Valley. Even if you are not in front of a class on a Friday afternoon like I was, Talk Like a Californian could still help you to flip a bitch (to make a sudden U-turn) in the face of life’s eggy (dull, blah, boring) moments and turn them into golden time (superduper overtime that typically kicks in for union workers after 16 hours). —Charles Donelan
Broadway at the Granada and features songs by the acts he made famous including Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, and Michael Jackson. Cyndi Lauper penned the tunes for Theater League’s third offering, the six-time Tony Award– winning musical Kinky Boots (Feb. 20-21), which is based on a true story of a young man who inherits his father’s failing shoe factory, turning the business around by creating ladies footwear for drag queens. Next up is the “singular sensation” A Chorus Line (Mar. 20-21), which exposes and explores the lives of Broadway hopefuls trying to make a living on the stage. Lastly, Let It Be offers up a reimaging of the Beatles’ history, in which John Lennon wasn’t murdered on October 8, 1980, and the legendary band performs together on October 9, 1980. “I have seen all of these shows, and they have amazing production value, compelling stories, and incredible talent,” said York. Season tickets are available at 899-2222 and theaterleague.com/santabarbara. — Michelle Drown Courtesy
If you have the opportunity to travel to New Jersey Boys York City to take in a Broadway musical, good on you. If not, no worries, as the Theater League brings a handful of them to Santa Barbara every year. Although its 201617 season doesn’t wrap until the fall with Dirty Dancing (Oct. 9-10), Theater League has already announced its 2017-18 lineup, which includes Tony Award winners Jersey Boys, Kinky Boots, and A Chorus Line. “We use surveys and the best shows available on national tour to pick a season,” said Reida York, Theater League’s director of advertising and PR, regarding how the lineup is selected. Kicking off the new season is Jersey Boys (Nov. 27-28), which follows the career of the Four Seasons — focusing particularly on frontman Frankie Valli — and includes the group’s hits such as “Sherry” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” Another hit maker is the subject of Motown: The Musical (Jan. 9-10, 2018), which tracks record company founder Berry Gordy’s rise to music mogul
l i f e page 45 pau l we llm an
Californian
A New Home for MCaSB
The Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB) closed escrow on 35 Anacapa Street in February. The organization intends to build a museum that would serve as its permanent home on the one-acre lot at the southwest corner of Anacapa and Mason streets. Positioned in the shadow of the La Entrada project, between lower State Street and the Funk Zone, the museum would occupy a prime location at the center of this rapidly evolving, waterfront-adjacent arts and entertainment district. MCASB Executive Director Miki Garcia described the acquisition as an example of the principle that “luck favors the prepared.” “In 2013, we turned a corner,” she said, referring to the decision to gain accreditation as a museum and change the organization’s name from Contemporary Arts Forum to Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara. “And at that time, we decided that expansion was our ultimate goal. We knew we needed a permanent home here, so that’s when we began positioning ourselves” to make an investment in property. “The land was owned by a family trust,” Garcia said, “and they wanted to see it go to an organization working for the public good.” After due diligence was done as to whether or not the land could be used for a museum, the group closed with the intention to build one there. While Garcia was quite open about how early they are in the fundraising process, saying, “We’re not even in a capital campaign yet,” she praised Tom Parker of the Hutton Foundation for his role in securing favorable terms on a loan. The Hutton Foundation helps Santa Barbara nonprofits achieve sustainability by subsidizing such properties as the Arts Building at State and Sola streets, where the Granada Theatre, S.B. Symphony, Opera S.B., and Ensemble Theatre all have their offices. Asked to put the move in a larger context, Garcia was eager to share her vision for the design process: “This is all part of a bigger conversation about accessibility and connecting with the community.” MCASB plans to initiate a design council this summer and is currently preparing for the March 26 launch of takepart | makeart, a mobile pavilion and artists residency that will travel to several parts of the city. — CD
m o r e a r t s & e n t e r ta i n m e n t > > > independent.com
MarcH 23, 2017
THE INDEPENDENT
45