Stone Cold Pimpin'

BY TED MILLS, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
February 29, 2008 12:42 PM

"This will not be the Granada you remember."
Marketing Director Vince Coronado's words are confident. For decades, the Granada Theatre has been the theater with an identity problem -- stuck halfway between the 1920s and 1980s, reshaped, abused and partially used. But even those who might still be around to recall its early years will be in for a surprise when the remodeled, refurbished and refitted Granada parts its doors Thursday for its gala opening.
Everything good about the Granada of old has remained or been resurrected, from the Spanish mural that stretches high above the stage to the original reverse illumination chandelier that came out of storage and was returned to its original location in the center of the theater. Everything bad, outdated or unworkable has been replaced, including 21st century acoustic technology, separate entry access for those with special needs and additional restroom stalls for female patrons.
Of course, that will be secondary Thursday night when all eyes will be on the main attraction. A night of music, dance and song will help reintroduce Santa Barbara to the local companies that now have a shared home. To honor the Granada's Spanish theme -- granada means pomegranate, by the way -- the evening will indulge in all things España.

In October, Granada Theatre Executive Director Peter Frische, far left, gave a tour to Granada and Santa Barbara Symphony officials, including conductor Nir Kabaretti, second from left. In July, EverGreene Painting Studios was brought in from New York to help during the final stages of reconstruction. Below, EverGreene artist Jim Ellis applies thin sheets of gold leaf to decorative shields.
MICHAEL MORIATIS, ROBBY BARTHELMESS / NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTOS

Conductor Nir Kabaretti will lead the Santa Barbara Symphony in selections from Rimsky-Korsakov and de Falla in the first half, featuring Warren Jones on piano and Nina Bodnar on violin. Also calling the Granada home, the Santa Barbara Choral Society, backed by the Symphony will perform selections from Orff's "Carmina Burana."
The second half opens with a special appearance by relative newcomers Flamenco Ballet Pablo Pizano. Then with the Symphony relocated down into the pit, the State Street Ballet, Opera Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Choral Society will collaborate on a suite of excerpts from "Carmen."
State Street Ballet director Rodney Gustafson compares these new collaborations to those that happen in places such as the Lincoln Center. "Opera usually has dancing within it," he says, "but we were limited at the Lobero." Now that won't be a problem.
"Having a residence like the Granada will really help the profile of the company," Gustafson says, adding the hardest audience to win over is always the home crowd. Maybe not so, as the company's 15th anniversary will be spent in these new digs.
For Kabaretti, the sound of the Granada already has him rethinking programs.
"At the Arlington, we had to be aware of the acoustics," he says. "There were certain composers we didn't even program." The Symphony no longer has to err on the side of pure volume to reach the far seats. "Next year we are planning more intimate pieces." Some very delicate Mozart is on his mind.
Though Kabaretti leaves the Arlington with fond memories, he also remembers the lack of space backstage. There were nights, he recalls, when Choral Society members had to wait outside in the cold, waiting to go on. At the Granada, that problem no longer exists.

Jed Ellis of Evergreene brushes the gold plating off of a piece that will be displayed in the newly renovated Granada.
Robby Barthelmess/News-Press

In fact, the backstage area has been just as carefully planned and thought out as the public area. In a guided tour during construction a couple weeks ago, Granada Executive Director Peter Frisch pointed out the tiny corridor that used to be the Granada basement. The rest, he says, was dirt.
Now companies can indulge in 10 dressing rooms, all with showers and sinks; two large make-up rooms for choruses and ensembles (altogether a total of 48 make-up stations); sprung-board and sound-proof rehearsal rooms for dancers and musicians; a laundry room; a carpentry room for set maintenance; a wardrobe room; and private rooms for featured artists and conductors. For conductors and performers: brand new Kawai upright pianos for rehearsals. For the main stage: a Steinway grand that, at this time of of writing, was on its way from New York.
Helping move the Steinway is the above-mentioned hydraulic orchestra pit. At its basement level, the pit backs onto a storage area, where the heavy instruments will remain until needed. At its second level, the pit operates as its name suggests, flush with an area underneath the stage that accommodates 54 players -- the largest of its kind between Los Angeles and the Bay Area, according to Frisch. At its top level, the pit is flush with the audience, allowing four rows, or 70 seats, to be added to the floor.
On regular days, pedestrians will be able to look into the front windows of the Granada and see all the way to the stage, part of an intentional design to make the Granada feel like it belongs to all of Santa Barbara, according to Frisch.
"It was a conscious decision: let's do this right," he says, adding he hopes the Granada will be the main entertainment theater on State Street for the next 100 years. There was no way they were going to come back in 30 years, he says, and add things. As costs started to rise after initial estimates, Frisch said he kept in mind the idea of a perfect arts environment. That included the restoration of a marquee that replicates the original 1924 design and bringing back a vertical neon blade that used to hang down the side of the building.
Opening night Thursday will close off a block of State Street to traffic, apart from vintage cars delivering flappers and their dates (actually members of State Street Ballet). Tickets range from $75 to $500, but March 9 features a free open house for the public to see what Frisch says is, for some builders working on the project, a cornerstone in their career. But while on a tour, as construction continued and not even the ground floor seats had been set in place, Frisch was asked how confident he felt in his deadline. As usual, he smiled. In his previous incarnation as a director, he knows all about deadlines and opening nights.
"If we have seats, lights and a stage, we'll be opening."

GRANADA GALA OPENING NIGHT
Where: Granada Theatre, 1216 State St.
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Cost: $75, $250, $500
Information: 899-2222, www.granadasb.org


Post-Gala galvanizing
So the Granada Gala eluded your schedule/wallet/tastes. Don't worry, plenty more events are in store on the upcoming calendar. More is soon to fill out the schedule, but here's what is already available for purchase:
'A Little Night Conversation with Stephen Sondheim & Frank Rich': Legendary theatrical composer Stephen Sondheim will share the stage with New York Times op-ed columnist Frank Rich for what should be an insightful discussion. March 8. $22 to $68
Open house: Can't get seats? This is your chance to see the new building. March 9. Free
Natalie Cole: The soul, R&B and jazz singer opens the Granada's Preview Season with selections from her covers album "Leavin.' " March 14. $65 to $140
'In The Mood: A 1940's Musical Revue': The music of the 1940s takes audiences for a trip back in time. March 18, 19. $30 to $55
NPR's 'Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me': Sit in on a live recording of NPR's nationally broadcast quiz program. March 27. $20 to $40
America: Country-tinged rock, pop, and folk from the band that brought us "A Horse with No Name." April 6. $50 to $70
La La La Human Steps: Award-winning choreographer Édouard Lock guides nine dancers and four musicians in a display of technique, structure and speed. April 8. $20 to $45
Mandy Patinkin: Tony and Emmy Award-winning Patinkin sings popular standards from Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Harry Chapin, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter.April 11. $45 to $100
Bobby McFerrin, Chick Corea and Jack DeJohnette: Grammy Award-winning vocalist McFerrin joins jazz veteran Corea, who boasts a four-decade career and nearly 50 Grammy nominations, and drumming legend DeJohnette, who is widely regarded as one of his genres greats. April 15. $22 to $68
Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular: Dance ensemble combine breathtaking movements set to live DJs and master percussionists. April 25. $30 to $55
The Fresh Aire Music of Mannheim Steamroller: Composer Chip Davis leads his ever-evolving pop classical group through an evening of multimedia and choreographed lighting. April 30. $47 to $57
Salvatore Licitra, tenor: This commanding vocalist continues to perform an impressive repertory that includes the works of Verdi, Puccini and more. Licitra will be joined by pianist Warren Jones, who is noted for his technique and accompaniment. May 8. $22 to $58
Diavolo: Los Angeles based dance company melds body and machine with use of oversized contraptions, structures, doors, stairways and more. May 10. $30 to $55
Marilyn Horne and Barbara Cook: Mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne and Broadway darling Barbara Cook will perform what should be a dynamic duet performance. May 17. $22 to $68
22nd Annual Young Soloists Showcase: A tradition for 22 years, this annual concert features gifted young musicians who have earned the honor of appearing with a professional orchestra. May 18. $25
Mark Morris Dance Group: The Group brings the works of its namesake to reveal the depth of Morris' talents in a display of creativity and masterful modern dance. May 20. $20 to $45
'Carmina Burana': The opening night selection was just a tease. Join the Santa Barbara Ballet Company for William Soleau's choreographed version of the classic Orff opera, featuring the Santa Barbara Symphony and the Santa Barbara Choral Society. May 31, June 1. $20 to $50
--Ted Mills

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

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NIK BLASKOVICH PHOTO
Ted Mills
February 29, 2008 12:02 PM

Café Buenos Aires may have the smallest bar out of all the ones our mixology crew has seen. With room for just four people, we were lucky to get a seat there on the Wednesday night when we turned up. Our timing, as usual, was impeccable -- a half hour later the regular Tango dancers from the Carrillo Recreation Center classes turned up and the restaurant space behind us was turned into a dance-floor filled with sensual, interlocking bodies. I'll drink to that.
Now small doesn't mean barely stocked -- bartender Geoff (no last name given, but ask for him by name, he's been here a year) rules over all sorts of liquors and alcohols. If you're lucky and it's a bit nippy outside, he'll offer up some mulled wine, full of cinnamon, nutmeg, and other spices, kicked up with a little bit of brandy.
But Buenos Aires means cachaça and cachaça means caipirinha, the cocktail that gets easier to pronounce the more you drink it (that's kai-per-ren-ya...). Yes, I know it's the national drink of Brazil, but Argentina likes it too. Anyway, their national drink is matte, and that's the opposite of a cocktail. Moving on...
Geoff's caipirinha is subtle and full of the interplay of bruised mint leaves and sugar and lime juice. Like a mojito, the mint should be muddled with the ingredients, but it shouldn't be smashed beyond recognition.
A few weeks past Valentine's Day, and Geoff can still whip up a romantic, sweet drink. You can ask for the Sweet Tart anytime, really, but it is sweeter than tart. For something that's a mix of green Sour Pucker and purple Chambord, along with vodka and sweet 'n' sour, it's amazingly red. How does the color wheel work again? With a rim of sugar, this drink is cute, so serve it to somebody who is.
Our drink of the week, however, has to go to the Ojos Negros. This is one of the few whiskey-based cocktails that hides its liquor well; as Geoff sums up, it's a mojito but with Jim Beam and orange juice. For those unsure whether they like whiskey, the Ojos Negros makes a great intro. For those who love whiskey, you may order one after the other until it's time to tango.

OJOS NEGROS
1-1/2 oz. bourbon (Jim Beam recommended)
Fresh orange juice
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
Handful of fresh mint

In a Collins glass, gently muddle mint leaves, sugar, and lime juice, making sure the flavors coat the glass. Top up glass with ice, add bourbon and top with orange juice.

Café Buenos Aires
1316 State St.
963-0242
www.cafebuenosaires.com

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

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TED MILLS, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
February 27, 2008 10:22 AM

As in Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem, "Ozymandias," the desert seems an appropriate place for empires to fall. Those sands are metaphorical -- they run through hourglasses, they run through our fingers, they wear down rocks and they corrode the best metal. Playwright Bob Potter returns us to the desert in new play, "The Last Days of Empire," running through the weekend at Center Stage Theater, and to ask what America has done and where our country might be going.
Are we like the Romans, who overextended their empire, overspent militarily, let the gap widen between the rich and poor, and soon found barbarians at the gate? Are we like the Third Reich, with its secret camps and torturers and dreams of global domination? Or are we just Americans, after all, for good or ill, with an ability to change the experiment in democracy before it goes off track?
Mr. Potter's optimism and humanism comes through in "Last Days," more than it did in his last two plays, the dark and satiric "The Space Between the Stars" and "The Last Liberal." Those two played like a requiem for a country hopeless and lost. "Last Days" manages a more reflective, philosophical tone. The three characters that stand in for their empires want no part in it, yet are all, in their way, working for the powers-that-be. And Mr. Potter collects them in a time warp to let them talk, on the verge of death.
Synesius of Cyrene (Tom Hinshaw) is long dead, anyway, gone to hang out with the shades in 4th century B.C. But he still hangs about his fallen villa in the Libyan desert, welcoming in a burnt and bleeding German tank commander, Karl (Matt Tavianini). The officer and his company were retreating to the ocean, giving up the war for good, when bombs destroyed the tank and his company.
Another explosion just over the horizon delivers Mindy (Tiffany Story), a worker for an American petrochemical company. She's been blinded by an act of sabotage, a company-inflicted wound intended to start another invasion on the Middle East. (It's only later in the play that we learn Mr. Potter's "modern day" exists some 15 years in the future, when America is still battling for diminishing resources.)
For the better part of "Last Days," these three meet, talk, play, and look for respite in the face of life. Mindy, blinded and made radioactive in the sabotage, shares Karl's morphine and lets her rowdy Texan cowgirl loose. Karl envisions a visit from his wife, Petra (Devon Bell), a Berlin nightclub singer who bears bad news about herself, his city, and Hitler's plans for the Jews. Is this what Karl was fighting for? He claims not to have known.
There's not much in the way of plot in "Last Days." Karl initially wants to leave, but as Synesius explains, there's no way out . . . except one. Synesius plays cordial host, Karl suffers the pangs of regret and Mindy enjoys the morphine. Initial cattiness between Petra and Mindy evaporates, and a late visit from Synesius' teacher and one-time lover Hypatia (Sylvia Short) pleases everybody -- the wise and sarcastic older woman rules them all.
Mr. Potter asks questions but leaves us to answer them. The America-Reich connections might be there, but Mr. Potter has his eye not on Hitler, but on the complacency of a populace that allows a Final Solution or a Guantanamo Bay.
The weakness is the relative goodness of all his characters and the downside of Mr. Potter's humanism. Karl seems to have no problem with the Jews -- Mindy turns out to be one -- and Mindy has long since finished with any crisis of faith in her country and, it turns out, is set on doing her best to make sure the truth will out. There are no general moments of disagreement in "Last Days," just a shake of the head and a shrug of the shoulders. Yes, they all say, it had to come to this, and death is welcomed. There are certainly better parties there. Life, where is thy sting?
All the actors work with roles that bring them from symbol to individual. Ms. Story, who does best with comedic roles, brings the better laughs of the night, yet still comes out as a real character. If America must be represented in one person, her straight talking, life-by-the-throat Mindy reminds us what makes this country great.
Director Maurice Lord, taking a break from his usual dark preoccupations with Genesis West, works with an amiable, friendly hand, helped by clever abstract lighting from Theodore Michael Dolas. Ellen McBride Sheppard's costumes give us a delightful Roman ensemble for the always-game Mr. Hinshaw, desert tones for the German and American, and a nightclub dress made for a funeral.

THE LAST DAYS OF THE EMPIRE
When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday
Where: Center Stage Theater, Paseo Nuevo, upstairs
Cost: $15 to $18
Information: 963-0408, www.centerstagetheater.org

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

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In Naomi Iizuka's "Anon(ymous)," Anon (Tyler Leivo) becomes the amusing refugee to the spoiled Calista (Sarah Halford).
BRAD ELLIOTT PHOTOS, COURTESY OF WESTMONT COLLEGE
TED MILLS, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
February 27, 2008 7:24 AM

Stepping into the ring clutching a copy of Homer's "The Odyssey," playwright Naomi Iizuka joins a pack of artists, which includes James Joyce and the Coen Brothers, inspired by this epic ode. Her contemporary re-think, "Anon(ymous)," opened last week at Westmont College's Porter Theater and attempts not only to update the tale, but also to pull it back into the mythic, and with varying results.
In Homer's original tale, Ulysses' journey home from the Trojan wars is fraught with diversions, dangers and temptations. Faithful wife Penelope waits and waits, with suitors jockeying for the position, should she be widowed. For Ulysses, he can and can't go home again.
For Anon (Tyler Leivo), and other refugees in Ms. Iizuka's work, home can't be reached because it doesn't exist. Having escaped from war and poverty, the wanderers find themselves adrift in a promised land that confuses and confounds them. Having washed up on a seashore (presumably Florida), Anon dreams of his mother and his homeland, knowing he can never reach them.
Elsewhere, in the play's parallel narrative, Nemasani (Marie Ponce) plays the Penelope role, working in a sweatshop, knitting a shroud for the child she lost at sea. She spurns the advances of shop head Yuri Mackus (Nolan Hamlin) by pledging marriage only when she finishes the shroud (and then she unravels her stitching).
"Anon(ymous)" sets Anon on his journey, though his destination isn't clear. Along the way he meets a raging Cyclops (Diana Small), barfly Lotus Eaters, Nausicaa (Beth Segura) and is watched over by the goddess Athena, here called Naja (also played by Ms. Segura).
Director John Blondell seems to like large ensemble plays, such as "Anon(ymous)," because it gives a seasonal display to the full range of Westmont's drama students. With the play episodic in nature, students get a chance to ham it up -- see Sarah Halford's parody of a spoiled rich girl (Calypso in the play) or Ms. Small's cannibalistic Zyclo -- much to the delight of the audience. There's also a chance an actor will stand out and be the one to watch this season -- this evening it was Anna Lieberman, who breathed life into her brief role as Pascal, Anon's traveling partner.
Mr. Blondell's staging is, as usual, fascinating, with a convincing sweatshop made of chairs and repetitious movements from the actors, and a convincing train tunnel journey lit by flashlight and light bulbs. The simple but mysterious backdrop designed by Darcy Scanlin provides surprising exits and entrances, and the lighting by Jonathan Hicks complements with the appropriate atmosphere.
The play, however, is weak. Ms. Iizuka's characters are all ciphers, stand-ins for the "immigrant experience" or one-to-one versions of their mythical counterparts. All the immigrants in "Anon(ymous)" are noble and goodhearted, and those they come across on land are exploitative, hypocrites and/or evil. There's not much room for discussion after that.
"Anon(ymous)" attempts a mythic understanding of the journeys and experiences many future Americans undergo -- the romanticizing of the home country, the mother worship, the comforts of home cooking, the dehumanization and the Otherness of the subject. "Mythic" here runs the risk of becoming clichè.
But then Ms. Iizuka forces this myth on top of the other, and things get tangled. No version of Ithaca exists for Anon to travel to, so Ms. Iizuka replaces the motherland with the mother. But Anon doesn't know she exists, so where exactly is he heading again? Realistic economics enter into the story when it suits the myth, but disappear when they don't. As for Penelope switching from wife to mother, that's for Oedipus to sort out.
The character of Anon comes across as petulant and directionless. Standing in for everybody, Anon is precisely the "nobody" he claims in the play. But that leaves Mr. Leivo attempting to play a concept instead of a person, and halfway through the play it's hard to find interest in his fate. When he acts the hero -- as in the Cyclops sequence or in the video game fighting-style ending -- the moment springs from nowhere and is never followed up. The rest is wandering.
It's unclear what we are supposed to take from "Anon(ymous)." If we are to see our own stories as part of a collective narrative, then the interest lies where we divert from the story and not remain on the path. If this is a critique of First World exploitation, then it's a cartoon polemic. If there is room for a new myth, a worthy hero needs to rise first.

'ANON(YMOUS)'
When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Porter Theater, Westmont College, 955 La Paz Rd.
Cost: $15 general, $7 students and seniors
Information: 565-7140

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

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NIK BLASKOVICH PHOTO
Ted Mills
February 22, 2008 11:33 AM

A few months ago we had thought of reviewing 31 West, the bar in Hotel Andalucia. But before the ink was dry on our list of watering holes, the place closed down. Suddenly, it was goodbye Hotel Andalucia and hello Hotel Canary, and by extension, goodbye 31 West and hello Coast.
For those who remember the old restaurant/bar layout, the Coast will surprise. There's a more obvious division between lobby and restaurant, and the bar runs lengthwise upon entering, no longer at the far right corner. What feels like a mirrored wall is actually empty space looking out onto diners, Carrillo Street and beyond. No wonder we didn't see our reflections " for a second we worried we had become vampires "
Bartender Harry Congdon has been serving drinks here since the opening of 31 West, whereas his counterpart Jeff Shettler started his tenancy upon Coast's opening in January, but has mixed at the Harbor, Dargan's, and beyond. Both know how to whip up a fancy cocktail.
We started out with an espresso martini. There is a tendency in coffee cocktails to shy away from the innate bitterness of the bean by loading up with sweet additions, but Congdon played it quite close to a chilled espresso drink. The sweet came by way of Bailey's, Godiva liqueur, Kahlua, and Absolut Vanilla. The espresso then balanced these out, allowing the flavor of the vodka to edge through.
A variation on the Lemon Drop came next, with a "crushed raspberry" spin. Delightful and pink, the cocktail starts off with muddled raspberries and lemon wedges where it meets sour mix and Absoluts Vanilla and Citron. The sourness again balances against the sugar around the rim of the glass. Neither sweet nor sour, the drink maintains its strong lemon identity.
Congdon made both these, leaving Shettler to finish us off with a real "dessert." While the Coast offers plenty of such drinks on its menu (along with some yummy appetizers that almost -- almost! -- got delivered to us by mistake), Shettler went off menu to make us a Chocolate Orange Martini. Like his workmate, Shettler delivered a drink that toned down the potential sweetness and highlighted the flavors of the various alcohols. And so, with the recipe for our Drink of the Week, you can see what we mean.

CHOCOLATE ORANGE MARTINI
1-1/2 oz. Absolut Mandarin
1/2 oz. Bailey's Irish Creme
3/4 oz. Godiva Liqueur

Mix together in a shaker over ice, strain into martini glass. Garnish with orange slice.

Coast Restaurant & Bar
31 W. Carrillo
884-0300, www.canarysantabarbara.com

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

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In "Last Days of the Empire," Sylvia Short, left, plays Hypatia, a great intellectual, teacher and wife of Synesius. With her is Devon Bell, who plays Petra, a nightclub singer from Berlin.
COURTESY PHOTO
By Ted Mills, News-Press Correspondent
February 22, 2008 11:16 AM

Bob Potter disappeared for some time inside the coffee shop we agreed to meet at to discuss his next play. The delay, he says, is because he ran into an actor from his very first play, "Where Is Sicily," produced in 1969. That play used the Athenian invasion of Sicily to discuss what was happening in Vietnam. And now, nearly 40 years later, Potter's new play, "Last Days of the Empire," opens tonight at Center Stage Theater, and in three historical eras in the Libyan desert, another unpopular war is discussed.
The difference, Potter explains, is the notion of empire. "In the '50s and '60s, if America was called an empire, people would argue about it," he says. "Now it's a given that it describes our situation." But does Potter believe it? Are we like the Romans? And are we falling?
"In a way it's a facile comparison," he says. "Things move more quickly these days. But I think we are. We didn't start being one until the Spanish-American war " our expansion has been somewhat imperial. I'm trying to explore the period at the end of empires. This is when things go out of control. It becomes a dangerous period and a very dramatic period. All the old assumptions become questioned."
In "Last Days of the Empire," three figures meet in the Libyan desert, near the ruins of a Roman temple and the rusted-out shell of a German WWII tank. One is the philosopher Synesius (Tom Hinshaw), whose life as a slave- and landowner has turned upside down with the fall of Rome. Another is a German tank commander, Karl (Boxtales' Matt Tavianini) who is the sole survivor of a battle following a decision to desert his tank command. Now he feels guilty about what he's done, and the comrades that have fallen. The two meet a Texas woman, Mindy (Tiffany Story), who is working for an oil consortium. She is lost in the desert, having been blinded by an explosion. Sylvia Short and Devon Bell round out the cast.
For those who know Potter for his two previous Bush-era plays, "The Last Liberal" and "The Space Between the Stars," the new play avoids those plays' broad satire.
"This is more ironic and complicated," Potter says. "It's more of a conundrum and a series of questions " I think America has lost its innocence, but in doing so, I hope it's learning some wisdom."
Director Maurice Lord managed to find space in his Genesis West schedule to work with Dramatic Women Theater Company. He and Potter had been meaning to work together for some time.
"He's a generous director," says Potter, but notes that while acting as producer on the project, he's tried to keep the writerly intervention at a minimum. "I've had many years to think about this play. It came out pretty finished."
Potter is an optimist at heart, he says. "To paraphrase Gerald Ford, our long national nightmare is almost over. This has been a very dangerous period that has fractured our (country's) essentials. But we can come out smarter and wiser. Better times are ahead."

'LAST DAYS OF THE EMPIRE'
When: 8 tonight and Saturday, and Thursday through March 1
Where: Center Stage Theater, Paseo Nuevo, upstairs
Cost: $35 opening night, $15 to $18
Information: 963-0408, www.centerstagetheater.org

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

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TED MILLS, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
February 19, 2008 7:42 AM

Annie Clark packs a loud sound for someone with such a tiny frame. Seeming almost lost behind three microphones and effects pedals, her four-piece rock ensemble and the monitors, Ms. Clark made her first visit Saturday to Santa Barbara, under the moniker St. Vincent, in an attempt to duplicate the intricacies of her self-titled album at Velvet Jones.
As a trial balloon, it only half flew. For those who know the album and are convinced Ms. Clark's side project was one of the better releases of last year, only the sound mix stood between her and success. For those who had no idea about Ms. Clark (of The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens bands), she had a hard time communicating her idiosyncrasies to the audience.
Take, for instance, the opening salvo on both the album and at Saturday's concert -- the swirling, pounding "Now, Now." Despite the band's hammering drums, Ms. Clark's schizoid character-play had to be dropped for simplicity, as the dynamics between verse and chorus became lost in the wall of sound. Compared to Chuck Prophet's rock show earlier that night at Lobero Theatre, St. Vincent seemed hampered by the venue. It was crowded onstage and even the music needed to spread out.
But as a guitarist, Ms. Clark has much to offer. Her fingers are nimble and spidery, and she often seems surprised by what her instrument says back to her. This quirkiness made St. Vincent endearing. And speaking of quirky, her between-song patter showed a preoccupation with cocktails she assumed Santa Barbarans might drink -- Long Island Iced Teas with Kahlua.
The band -- Billy Flynn on guitar, Daniel Heart on violin and Walker Adams on drums -- expanded its instruments to play bells, melodica, bass pedals and samples (including Ms. Clark's voice as backing vocals and snippets of Mike Garson's piano work). Ms. Clark's diversions into moments of ultra-reflective, quiet guitar work was lost on the crowd, who turned back to their drinks and friends and text messaging and what have you, despite having claimed space near the stage. Were these people fans or did they just want to be seen? Either way, a clueless and rude face was shown Saturday night.
But for those paying attention, Ms. Clark delivered a spot-on "Jesus Saves, I Spend" and her late-period Beatle-esque "Marry Me," the title track on the St. Vincent album. Her vocals were strong, but overwhelmed by the thump of the drums and the heavy bass. Her effect-laden second microphone might have been turned off at times, too.
Ms. Clark's band took a break while she played a solo, accompanied by her harpsichord-like guitar. But the crowd's noise was overwhelming, and just one song in, she called the band back.
Ms. Clark then took the fiery "Paris Is Burning" and slowed it down to a frightening dirge. There was a little too much space in this arrangement, and the song needed a boost. That came in the form of show closer "Your Lips Are Red," which recalls the scary thrust of Peter Gabriel's earlier albums mixed in with the askance look of a Bjork or PJ Harvey. Finally letting go with guitar pyrotechnics, Ms. Clark finished the concert with her guitar left on the floor, feeding back among effects pedals and monitors.

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

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Lauren Lovett, left, plays the title role in Ensemble Theatre's production of "Therese Raquin," alongside Jamison Jones as Laurent.
DAVID BAZEMORE PHOTO
TED MILLS, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
February 19, 2008 7:40 AM

When èmile Zola wrote "Thèrèse Raquin" in 1827, its tale of murder and guilt was seen as part of a new realism. Desperate living conditions, grim lodgings, unhappy marriages -- these were subjects 19th century France hadn't much explored in fiction.
But to our eyes, with its spiraling guilt, insanity and the occasional apparition, Zola's work feels decidedly gothic. Maybe it was the oil lamps and the creaky floorboards. But whatever the outlook, Ensemble Theatre's adaptation of Zola's play succeeds with a slight uncomfortableness coupled with humor.
Thèrèse, played by Lauren Lovett, first appears as a stoic, blank-faced woman. At an early age, she was abandoned before being taken in by Madame Raquin (Barbara Tarbuck). The two live above a shop in a Paris apartment with Camille (Michael Matthys), Raquin's milquetoast son, to whom Thèrèse is now married. As Thèrèse says of their arranged wedding night, she turned left to go into Camille's room instead of going to her old room, and that was the only difference.
Frequent visits from Laurent (Jamison Jones), a starving artist and childhood friend who recently came back into the couple's life, keep Thèrèse quiet through her miserable life. And when no one else is around, Laurent and Thèrèse throw themselves at each other with animalistic abandon.
Zola's play, adapted by Nicholas Wright, kicks into gear when Laurent and Thèrèse wonder if an "accident" might take Camille out of commission and allow them to marry. And what do you know -- Camille invites both out for a boat trip on the River Seine.
Anyone with a nose for noir can guess the plans don't end well. Camille is pushed off the boat, and Zola surrounds his murderous lovebirds with an assortment of gullible characters and fortuitous happenstance that keeps them from becoming found out. If only Laurent and Thèrèse could have kept their guilt at bay, they would have been OK. But in "Thèrèse Raquin," the characters wind up as trapped as they were at the beginning of the play.
But what keeps Zola's play interesting is his astute view of fetish and desire. When Camille was alive, Thèrèse and Laurent would make passionate love, but once he was out of the picture and Thèrèse and Laurent married, their passion dissipated. At one point, Laurent leaves their wedding night chamber and turns up at the secret passage used for their early trysts. It works for a second, before Thèrèse moans, "We can't even fool ourselves!"
Camille gets the first line of the play: "May I speak?" He's sitting for a portrait that soon will be anchored in the bedroom. As Zola shows, Camille spends the rest of the play (alive and dead) trying to dominate the conversation, and he succeeds.
Director Jonathan Fox balances the play's melodrama with comic relief from Camille's oblivious friends, who are too wrapped up in their own concerns to notice what happened to their friend.
Ms. Tarbuck's Madame Raquin dominates the stage -- charming but suffocating, self-pitying and manipulative, and we are never too sure how to feel about her suffering. Ms. Tarbuck plays her role as straightforwardly as possible, and in her final act -- frozen in bitterness and hatred -- such a sad fate seems just as punishment.
As for Ms. Lovett's Thèrèse, she does a lot to make us care about a character that never attains happiness and abuses those who love her. As Laurent, Mr. Jones conceals his motives well -- as is briefly mentioned near the end, he may have struck up his relationship with Thèrèse because prostitutes became too expensive for his income. Put that way, Laurent may be the worst in the bunch -- but Mr. Jones' charisma distracts us.
Scenic designer Harry Feiner keeps the grimy realism coming in this meticulous set, with greens and browns dominating and never enough light.
If the play has a weakness, it's in the third act, where bickering and unpleasantness threaten to turn Zola's play into soap opera. But that is probably how Zola wanted it. Long before the kitchen even had a sink, he knew audiences would love that look inside their neighbor's apartment, or even their own.

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

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Country singer Kelly Wills, center, was joined on a few songs by Chuck Profit and his guitar at Saturday night's Sings Like Hell concert at Lobero Theatre.
DAVID BAZEMORE PHOTO
TED MILLS, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
February 19, 2008 7:39 AM

The Sings Like Hell concert series is slowly turning up the heat with its twofer lineups. With country singer Kelly Willis, we got a rock-solid set of sad tunes. And her small band didn't prepare us for Chuck Prophet's smoking hot pop-rock, which sent us out with our hair singed from Saturday night's concert at Lobero Theatre.
Ms. Willis is rightfully punchy at this time in her life. She burst out of the gate in the late 1980s with an MCA recording contract, but she failed to get the sales she deserved. Many labels, a successful marriage and four children later, Ms. Willis now looks back on her early career as "several lifetimes ago." But those experiences make her good-love-gone-bad tales reverberate now more than ever. One song, she noted, was co-written by both her ex-boyfriend and her current husband (she said both had left her at some point) -- that kind of convolution "qualifies me as a country singer," she laughed.
Ms. Willis' guitar playing remained simple, but she was backed by two fine musicians -- a steady bass player and an amazing lead guitarist who did some fine string-bending on just an acoustic, often sounding like Richard Thompson.
Highlights included a smart cover of the Cannonballs' "Heaven's Just a Sin Away," with lyrics as good as the title sounds, and Jules Shear's warm and poppy "The More That I'm Around You." Ms. Willis also played songs written for her by husband Bruce Robison, including "Wrapped" and "Not Forgotten You," both feeling like intimate glimpses into the couple's home life.
With Chuck Prophet waiting in the wings, Ms. Willis brought him and drummer Todd Roper out to play a few songs, including the rockabilly tune "Teddy Boys" and the aching "Too Much to Lose," for which Mr. Prophet played a sweltering solo.
Mr. Prophet produced and co-wrote many of the songs on Ms. Willis' latest, but his own material only briefly checks in with the tropes of country music. Slide guitar might ring out, but, swathed in echo, the sound feels more psychedelic than anything.
In the '80s, Mr. Prophet was part of the fondly remembered alt-country group Green on Red, and he has since continued to make music that drops hints of Lou Reed, '80s-era Americana and a strange dash of Tom Robinson. In short, Mr. Prophet writes intelligent songs that would be chart hits in a just world.
"Small Town Girl," the second song of his set, explained this musical gumbo -- a funky bassline set against the syncopated rhythms of drummer Mr. Roper, and jazz chords in the chorus over which keyboardist and vocalist Stephanie Finch offered counterpoint. On "Soap and Water," Mr. Prophet's latest album, the song is intimate. At the Lobero, the band took it to an epic status.
The same was done with his two hypnotic numbers, "A Woman's Voice" and the not-too-silly "You Did (Bomp Shooby Dooby Bomp)." Both rose and fell on increasing spaciness and ace guitar work from Mr. Prophet and his band members. Yet the band seemed to know exactly when to rein themselves in and let the words do the work, as they did on "Let's Do Something Stupid." Mr. Prophet's band is so good, in fact, a live album from this tour would be a welcome addition to their discography.

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

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"I'm not here to tell war stories, but to engage the students in a project and get them out in the world . . . I've always liked the idea of using the classroom as a newsroom. "
Sandy Tolan, journalist and author
TED MILLS, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
February 19, 2008 7:33 AM

"Stay on the ground. Get your story from the ground. You'll be okay, just don't decide on what the story is before you go."
Journalist and author Sandy Tolan received that advice from several of his mentors in his early education, including George Stoney, who taught him at New York University, and the New York Times' Wayne King. Over 25 years, several books, award-winning radio shows, articles, and reports, Mr. Tolan has kept to the ground, trying to bring out stories of world conflicts through the people who experience them. His latest book, about which he lectures on Tuesday night, does so in the middle of the contentious Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"The Lemon Tree" tells the tale of one house and one tree, and how the changing hands of ownership allowed Mr. Tolan to impart the story of the conflict through two families. Built by an Arab family, the house was inhabited by the al-Khairis until the creation of the Israeli state in 1948. The al-Khairis left and the house became home to the Eshkenazi family four months later. In 1967, Bashir al-Khairis visited the house and met Dalia Eshkenazi. As the decades passed, both Bashir and Dalia kept in touch.
"The book grew out of the 1998 radio documentary that I did on the 50th anniversary of the war," Mr. Tolan says. "In all our coverage that I've read on the war, of all the forests fallen to make articles and the miles of videotape spilled, so much of it is about the blood and the conflict. There is too little of the human story. Many of us in the U.S., we grew up with the Leon Uris version of history, as in his book 'Exodus.' We learned how the growth of Israel came out of the Holocaust. What we didn't learn was the other side. It doesn't refute the Israeli side, but you must understand the roots of the conflict."
That need led him to the story of Bashir and Dalia. But, he says, he had no idea how the story would evolve or what it might say about the conflict.
"I knew I was going on a pretty long ride. My opinion wasn't changed, but it was deepened."
Unlike in the movies, real life doesn't resolve itself neatly. The lemon tree of the title seemed like a nice metaphor for the conflict -- bearing bitter fruit, planted by Palestinians on Israeli land, etc. -- but its fate ends abruptly, with nothing poetic about it.

When dealing with reality, how does Mr. Tolan know when a story has resolved?
"There's always a deadline," he says. "Thank God for deadlines, or we'd never get things done. This story has no neat and tidy end point. At some point I wanted . . . the ending to be told in the lives of those in which the story goes on. I got a chance to see those two people (Bashir and Dalia) finally meet again face to face. Something in their conversations was powerful and poignant. They were two old friends who disagree deeply, yet were so warm and genuine about their relationship. After seeing them argue and exchange a depth of grieving and kindness, I felt I had the ending."
Mr. Tolan began his journalism career by reporting on the former uranium miners in north Arizona, most of whom were Navajo. He spent months living with and interviewing these men on the reservation, most now dying of cancer. Mr. Tolan says he comes out of an era that was still celebrating the power of journalism working for the public good. This was the post-Watergate era, he says, "when the words journalist and hero could be used in the same sentence. The public had a much better view of journalism in the mid- to late-'70s than they do now . . . There was the idea that you could be involved in making society better by digging for untold stories."
A recent transplant to Los Angeles, Mr. Tolan teaches journalism at the USC Annenberg School of Communication. Working with both undergraduate and graduate students, he helps them learn how to tackle large topics in a real-world setting. Some of these projects have made their way into print (Christian Science Monitor), online (Salon.com), or radio (NPR). It's as close to a real working environment as they're going to get. In 2007 his students won the George Polk Award for reporting on global climate change. It was the first time students had been honored in the history of the award.
"I'm a working journalist," Mr. Tolan says, explaining how he teaches. "I'm not here to tell war stories, but to engage the students in a project and get them out in the world . . . I've always liked the idea of using the classroom as a newsroom."
Mr. Tolan likes to impart to his students the idea of not staying in one medium. Instead, he tells them, focus on storytelling skills.
"I was a freelance radio reporter for years," he explains. "I was doing a story for NPR and then for the New York Times, using the same material. That's a part of the reason I survived. Now that's called multi-media. Reporters are asked to take their own photos. They are asked to do 'Reporters Notebooks' on NPR."
Although Mr. Tolan has realistic expectations about how "The Lemon Tree" will help understanding of the Middle East's situation, he says that desire to have an impact stays with him. Just don't expect Hollywood endings.
"I found that change doesn't come directly," he says. Mr. Tolan cites an article on abuses at a maquiladora on the Arizona-Mexico border that he wrote in the late '80s. "There wasn't much reaction when it ran in the New York Times. But six months to a year later, a board member for one of the companies read the article. He was so disturbed by the living conditions of the workers that he helped sponsor the construction of workers' homes. They built 600.
"But it was partly by chance I heard about it," he says.

SANDY TOLAN
When: Tuesday, February 19, 8:00 p.m.
Where: UCSB's Campbell Hall
Tickets: Free
More info: www.sandytolan.com

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

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NIK BLASKOVICH PHOTO
Ted Mills
February 15, 2008 12:54 PM

Our mixology crew has many magical powers. We can tell Cointreau from Triple Sec and Whiskey from Bourbon. We have ways of making bartenders talk. But we didn't know we had the power of serendipity until our mix-assistant suggested we take in the Ty Lounge at the Four Seasons Biltmore Resort, and we arrived to find ourselves on opening night of a brand new cocktail promotion. It was our lucky night, but apparently if you turn up between 5:30 and 8 p.m. on a Wednesday for the next three months, it can be yours, too.
The "Cocktail Flight Nights" offer three mini cocktails for $12, all highlighting a different spirit each week. Like what you taste? Order the full drink and get 50 percent off, plus free hors d'oeuvres. As we like a bargain (i.e. we're cheap), that sounds like a deal. On this night, the special was Chopin Vodka. Despite our coming off a week of drinking gratis Chopin at Santa Barbara International Film Festival parties, we indulged. In a little wooden holder stood three fluted shot glasses: a Pomtini (Chopin, Grand Marnier, pomegranate juice), a Pear Drop (Chopin, Cointreau, fresh pear juice) and a White Grape Delight (Chopin, Chambord, white grape juice). Created by Bar Manager Sarah Latta, the Flight Nights intend to bring a wine-tasting sensibility to cocktails and to developing the palate, she says. Latta has been managing the Lounge since November -- previously she was at Elements. Of the three we tried, our gang voted the Pear Drop the best. Latta's weekly event may continue beyond its initial three month installment, but for now the menu is set.
But we also had history in mind, and this is the famous Biltmore after all, home to the rich and famous long before Fess Parker had even seen a raccoon hat. Bartender Pedro Rivera has served his share of celebs and stars and counts among his proudest moments the time he tended bar right across from Mikhail Gorbachev. Rivera's been here since 1985, but knows cocktails are older than that. The Whale Watcher is a meditation on a MaiTai, with a mix of rums and Crème de Banana, and a Coral Casino favorite. When guests spotted a whale, they got this very large drink. If you didn't see a whale " you might do so after one of these. Plus, Rivera made us both versions -- the original from back in the day, which is light on the grenadine and the newer, sweeter version. The result from our crew? Old wins, 2-to-1.
The Ty Lounge also makes its own infused tequila, with a heavy citrus blend. This then goes into every Santa Barbara Margarita, giving it a sharp spin that gets counterbalanced by the Cointreau.
Every month, a special cocktail is featured on the menu, so we made sure to try February's concoction, which is pink and sweet. Rivera was happy to share the recipe with us and says, even in March, he'll be glad to make it for you.

RASPBERRY CHEESECAKETINI
1-1/2 oz. Effen Raspberry Vodka
1-1/2 oz. Stoli Vanilla Vodka
Splash of Chambord
A touch of heavy whipping cream
Fresh raspberries

Combine vodka and Chambord in shaker over ice and agitate, stir in heavy whipping cream, then strain into martini glass. Top with fresh raspberries.

Ty Lounge, at Four Seasons Biltmore Resort
1260 Channel Dr., Montecito
969-2261, www.fourseasons.com/santabarbara/

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

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COURTESY PHOTO
By Ted Mills, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
February 15, 2008 12:31 PM

Taking a break from two of the largest-sounding bands at the moment -- Sufjan Stevens' touring group, and the 23-member Polyphonic Spree -- one might think St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, would reveal herself as a stripped-to-the-basics singer-songwriter. But not so.
"Marry Me," her 2007 solo debut, shows Clark can do the epic thing too. A savvy mix of pop and experimental, of confessional voice and dramatic scope, St. Vincent's album made many print and blog Top 10 lists in December. The multi-instrumentalist brings her four-piece band to Velvet Jones on Saturday. So what feelings does Ms. Clark have for the patron saint of charity?
"It's actually a family name," she says of her alias. "I was going through some old family albums, and " it's my great-grandmother's middle name."
Clark hails from Dallas and spent her early teens learning guitar, first with lessons, then "organically." For a while, Clark did the singer-songwriter thing. "I went to some very terrible open mic nights," she says.
Then the Polyphonic Spree happened. The symphonic-rock group also hails from Dallas, and was out to leave on tour in support of their second album.
"My friend Toby, who played theremin in the band, told me, 'you should try out,' " she says. "Really, I think he wanted someone to hang out with on tour." Clark auditioned as guitarist on a Tuesday -- by the weekend she was flying off for the first leg of the summer 2005 tour.
When she returned home, months later, a song appeared, called "Marry Me."
"It came out in one sitting at the piano," she says of the song which expresses, if not love, a sort of "road-weariness." The tour had been "demoralizing and fun," she says, with the band sometimes playing to near-empty rooms.
"But it builds character," she jokes. "It was good to shake off the cobwebs and play music for myself."
"I was really inspired by that song," she says. "I was at a songwriting level that I could keep at " I decided at that point it would be the linchpin to build an album around that song."
The album that resulted from that initial session in winter and stretched into the fall of 2006 is a "homage to various heroes from a lifetime of listening." Not that Clark wears her references on her sleeve -- this is no pastiche or retro sound.
Playing a majority of the instruments on the album and applying strings and choirs that would make George Martin proud, Clark gladly discusses trying to replicate the drum sound of the first Plastic Ono Band album, or the "gutty" sound of The Breeders on her album's opening track, "Now Now."
If parts sound Bowie-esque, the answer is more obvious: Mike Garson, Bowie's pianist on "Aladdin Sane," adds his signature sound to several songs. The two met in Minneapolis at a Polyphonic Spree session.
"We kept in touch," she says. "I sent him some sketches of songs and he wrote back."
The pianist then sent tracks recorded in California, which Clark added to the studio mixes.
"It was a very 2006 way of recording," she says.
Although Clark has been promoting "Marry Me" with solo guitar appearances, this tour brings out a full band, all handling several instruments each. Clark supplements her own guitar with triggered samples and racks of effects, including her favorite, the Moogerfooger.
"We're able to create a bigger sound than just four people," she says. It's inspired a sort of slogan for the band. "We're four, but exponentially, we're 16."

ST. VINCENT, with Foreign Born, The Coral Sea, and Watercolor Paintings
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Velvet Jones, 423 State St.
Cost: $10
Information: 390-0937, www.clubmercy.com

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

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NIK BLASKOVICH PHOTO
Ted Mills
February 8, 2008 12:21 PM

There are occasional occupational hazards in this job, and meeting a bartender called Nomo at Mel's might constitute one. Nomo has a mission -- and I paraphrase -- to send you out into the night sideways. Not literally, of course, but mentally. Mel's has earned its reputation -- along with a select few -- of some of the strongest drinks in town. There's a reason the bar has weathered all sorts of development since its 1963 inception, and when we walked in there, we were ready to drink that reason.
Nomo -- he wouldn't give his last name -- has been working at Mel's for over a year, after learning how to mix drinks -- and how to drink, period -- down the street at The Study Hall. Those gents may like to know their charge has gone above and beyond their lessons.
First up: Nomo serves us a straightforward Jack and Coke. It's strong, and while many will ride the J&C rail until closing time, it becomes apparent that Nomo has other plans for us. To him, the J&C is a ciabatta-and-butter drink for the main course.
This turns out to be a shot drink in a pint glass.
The FranBomb, named after 18-year Mel's bartending vet, Frannie, is designed to blow-up in the brain by way of the stomach. An entire can of Rockstar energy drink is poured into a beer glass, into which a shot glass of Jagermeister is submerged. A healthy cap of Bacardi 151 completes the cocktail, which, like all "bomb" drinks, is meant to be downed in one. (Did I do so? Only the inhabitants of Mel's will tell you ? and their memory of that night probably isn't the best.)
Nomo seemed pleased and finished (us) off with a drink charmingly named Slippery (Expletive) Nasty.
"This is our signature shot," Nomo said as he started mixing one up.
Fortunately, "nasty" doesn't describe the taste. Its mix of butterscotch and Bailey's makes the drink tasty and easy to down in one.
But make sure to read the ingredients before taking this medicine. The drink's nickname of "a blackout in a glass" wasn't given lightly.
This story has a happy ending -- we made it out of Mel's still upright and satisfied that it had earned its reputation. For those brave enough to continue, we present the recipe for one of the rudest drinks we've had.

SLIPPERY (EXPLETIVE) NASTY
3 parts Absolut 100
2 parts Bailey's Irish Crème
2 parts Bacardi 151
1/2 parts Butterscotch Schnapps

Combine over ice in shaker, agitate, then strain into a large shot glass.

Mel's
6 E. De la Guerra Plaza
963-2211

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Arlington employee Rosanna Ortiz changes out the name of the closing night film of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, marking the end of festivities on Sunday.
MICHAEL MORIATIS / NEWS-PRESS
TED MILLS, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
February 4, 2008 7:24 AM

Rain and thunder ushered in the 23rd Santa Barbara International Film Festival and some 11 days later, rain saw the event out, with only a few days in between letting the sun shine in.
At the fest's closing night ceremony and film on Sunday night, Executive Director Roger Durling thanked the city of Santa Barbara and everybody else from out of town who attended, and called to the Arlington Theatre stage the entire staff of the festival, including the purple T-shirt-wearing volunteers.
The festival closed with the screening of Giuseppe Tornatore's "The Unknown Woman."
Earlier in the evening, the festival honored 11 films in a subdued awards ceremony hosted by KTYD 99.9 FM's Julie Ramos.
Audiences selected Michael Parfit's "Saving Luna," about the fight to save a lone baby killer whale, as their favorite feature.

SBIFF's executive director, Roger Durling, brought all the staff and volunteers of the film festival on stage at the Arlington for a big thank-you for all the help they gave during the festival.

A jury of filmmakers and actors, chaired by film editor Dave Stein, decided other films.
The Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema went to "Amal," about an auto rickshaw driver who inherits an estate. Director Richie Mehta received a camera package worth about $60,000.
Tao Ruspoli, who directed the buzz-heavy "Fix" -- featured in Saturday's News-Press -- won the Heineken Red Star Award, which honors "the most progressive and gifted independent film director."
Mr. Ruspoli, one of the few filmmakers available to receive the award in person, gave his thanks in a brief few sentences.
Although director Martin Theo Krieger was not present at the event to accept the Best Foreign Film Award for his feature "Beautiful Bitch," a representative read what ended up being the longest thank-you speech of the night.
Mr. Krieger wrote of the "big and warm" response he received from the city on his first-ever visit, and how his preconceived notions of "sunny weather and little attention" were both unfounded.
The Nueva Vision Award for best Spanish-language film went to the Cuban film "Le edad de la peseta" (''The Silly Age"), directed by Pavel Giroud.
A film about the painter the Rev. Albert Wagner, "One Bad Cat," took home The Iconix Video Award for Best Documentary, picked up on stage by Thomas G. Miller.
Two Bruce Corwin Awards for Best Live Action Short Film and Best Animation went to Rob Meyer's "Aquarium" and Joe Tucker's "For the Love of God."
The Fund for Santa Barbara Social Justice Award went to Anne Slick and Danielle Bernstein's film about mining in Ecuador, "When Clouds Clear" (''Despues de la Neblina").
Finally, the 10-10-10 Student Filmmaking Competition, sponsored by Sotheby's International Realty, screened their two winners before the main feature. Both were dramas: Tony Johnson's "The Apple and the Tree" and Daniel Lahr's "Metal Detector Man."
Unlike last year, no red carpet unfurled before the event. Despite this, more than half of the Arlington's 2,000-plus seats were taken by the time of the final feature.
Mr. Durling appeared unfazed. After five years at the head of the fest he said, "I feel as enthusiastic as the first year."

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

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Angelina Jolie, recipient of the SBIFF's Performance of the Year Award, and Brad Pitt laugh on the red carpet of the Arlington on Saturday night.
MICHAEL MORIATIS / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS

TED MILLS, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
February 3, 2008 7:26 AM

If the Santa Barbara International Film Festival has been slightly subdued this year despite the lineup of award winners and nominees appearing nearly every night, the appearance of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt out in front of the Arlington more than made up for it.
More than Cate Blanchett's appearance last week, Saturday's tribute to Ms. Jolie brought out fans in crowds that turned the 1300 block of State into something like Cannes.
And for the fans it was worth it. For over 10 minutes, the two stars stayed away from the red carpet and the paparazzi and worked the crowd, signing autographs and chatting with appreciative teens and adults.

Fans lined up early at the Arlington to see Angelina Jolie on Saturday night.

Giving back to fans is the point, said Ms. Jolie later in her interview with Variety's Peter Hammond. "That's why we make films," she said. It's "for the people that appreciate them."
The idea of giving back has also led to her work with the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees, using the media that follow her and Mr. Pitt around to focus attention on crises in Sierra Leone and beyond.
The Festival honored Ms. Jolie with the Outstanding Performance of the Year Award for her portrayal as Mariane Pearl in Michael Winterbottom's "A Mighty Heart." The role has won her a Golden Globe nomination. Ms. Jolie has previously won Golden Globes for "George Wallace" (1997), "Gia" (1998) and "Girl, Interrupted" (1999), " the latter of which also earned her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Brad Pitt watches on as Angelina Jolie talks to the press on the red carpet at the Arlington on Saturday.

The evening with the actress included clips from a career that started when she was in her teens.
Though known as the daughter of actor Jon Voight, a question about her parents and the acting bug led to tales about her actress mother Marcheline Bertrand.
"I was raised by her," Ms. Jolie said of her mother, who passed away just over a year ago. Ms. Jolie credited her mother with helping her prepare for even the tiniest film. "She'd take me out to thrift stores to buy costumes . . . she'd write me letters addressed to my character."
Mr. Hammond revealed that Ms. Jolie had nearly chosen another career in her early teens -- funeral director. Ms. Jolie admitted that it was true.
"I went to a funeral and thought it was not enough of a celebration of a life of a person." Ms. Jolie earned her mail order degree at 14 years old.
Fortunately, acting was something that followed on from modeling. Her first films were low-budget and sometimes forgettable. (" 'Cyborg 1' was Jean-Claude Van Damme," she said, "and I was 'Cyborg 2' at 17.") Yet on the red carpet, when asked about people who helped her get her start, she singled out another less-known film, 1995's "Without Evidence," as a film that really helped her career get a boost.
In an interview, Ms. Jolie was appreciative and slightly shy. "I feel like I'm in therapy," she joked when asked about her early life.
As an actress, she admitted it was hard to feel confident at first.
"I didn't think I had very much to give," she said. "I thought maybe I had one story to tell. . . . I didn't know myself."
Instead, Ms. Jolie has gone on to a series of sexy and smart roles, including "Beyond Borders," "The Good Shepherd" and her upcoming lead role in Clint Eastwood's "The Changeling."
Mr. Eastwood was on hand to present the award to Ms. Jolie and spoke briefly on the red carpet about the film, based on a true story set in 1920s Los Angeles.
"The film is a lot different from anything that I've done, and it's a lot different from anything that she's done."
As demonstrated Saturday, Ms. Jolie's fans are not going anywhere and will gladly wait and see.

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

Posted by Ted Mills at 07:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

TED MILLS, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
February 2, 2008 7:29 AM

A shaggy-dog travelogue that uncovers a rich Los Angeles landscape, "Fix" has generated enough buzz at this year's Santa Barbara International Film Festival to be given two more screenings, today and Sunday.
Its writer-director and co-star Tao Ruspoli plans to return to Santa Barbara for a second weekend. "Fix" marks the director's stepping up a level after making shorts. "I turned 30 and decided it was time to make a feature film," he said.
"Fix" follows what should be a simple path. Filmmakers Milo and Bella (real-life couple Mr. Ruspoli and Olivia Wilde) detour from a trip north to help pick up Milo's brother Leo (Shawn Andrews) from jail. A heroin addict, Leo has until 8 that night to be dropped off in rehab. Even considering the heavy traffic from Calabasas to the heart of Los Angeles, Leo's plan sounds easy and Milo wants to help his charming but unpredictable brother.
Nothing, of course, goes as planned, and Leo leads the two through a series of misadventures, always with that clock ticking toward 8.
The events are "inspired but not based on" a similar journey Mr. Ruspoli took with his real-life brother, who also suffered from addiction. "Shawn is not imitating my brother," he said. "We fictionalized quite a bit. . . . The film is its own story."
Mr. Ruspoli's journey to this point, like the journey by the Chevy Impala in the film, comes by way of the open road. Once a philosophy major at Berkeley, his mind turned to film, and then, through connections and luck, he got a job in the business. He worked in art departments and assisted the likes of Dino De Laurentiis and Vittorio Storaro. But these were big-budget filmmaking jobs, and Mr. Ruspoli wanted something more homegrown.
"I wanted to pick up a camera like a writer picks up a pencil."
Around 2000, he picked up a digi-camera and then gutted an old school bus, modding it out into a rolling production studio on wheels. He lived in it. When Ms. Wilde and he married, the ceremony was held in the bus. And the "bus" was producing short films and docs, as an extension of Mr. Ruspoli's Los Angeles Filmmakers Co-op (LAFCO).
The hand-held, documentary aesthetic carries over into "Fix," which bends rules of fiction and nonfiction to tell its story. Mr. Ruspoli and editor Paul Forte intercut the narrative with abstract montages of the city, or with time-lapse shots.
Shawn Andrews' role as Leo holds the film together. Although Mr. Ruspoli and his co-writer Jeremy Fels created the female characters for Ms. Wilde and their close friend Megalyn Echikunwoke, the character of Leo was a linchpin that needed serious consideration. "Leo is a role that I knew the film would live or die on, depending on who was cast," said Mr. Ruspoli.
"(Leo) was a sought-after role, a real break-out role," said Mr. Andrews, who started out his film career in 1993 with Richard Linklater's "Dazed and Confused." Mr. Andrews read the script and went to audition. Not just a cold read of the script, Mr. Ruspoli took the actor for a spin -- and they improvised scenes out of the film.
It was a long drive.
"He put me through the wringer," Mr. Andrews says of the process to land the role. Unlike the usual "brooding, emaciated" addict audiences typically see, according to Mr. Andrews, Leo is charming and persuasive.
"There's definitely that kind of person out there," he said. "I've known addicts that are larger than life. . . . You only mean to spend 10 minutes with them and then a whole day has passed."
Once Mr. Ruspoli assembled his cast, the shoot turned out to be as relaxed as hanging out with friends.
"Megalyn and I are so comfortable with each other," said Ms. Wilde of her co-star, who plays Leo's estranged girlfriend, "that we could just 'play.' We can improv for hours."
And although many of Mr. Ruspoli's friends turn up in roles, "Fix" has an equal number of fascinating non-actors who were at the locations. All the domino players sitting around a garden table in the Watts section of the movie were there when the crew turned up. Unlike usual "extras," Mr. Ruspoli gives them a voice in the film.
More than 25 percent of the film is improvised, said the director.
"A lot of magic happened on set."
"Fix" opened at Slamdance, and the cast and director have been riding the buzz straight through to Santa Barbara, with more fests in March. Mr. Ruspoli plans to be in the back of the theater for each screening.
"I love how each audience takes something new out of each scene," he said. "It's almost like going to the theater."
Fix: Official Site

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

Posted by Ted Mills at 07:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Actor Tommy Lee Jones poses for photographers on the red carpet outside the Arlington Theatre on Friday. Mr. Jones was there to receive the American Riviera Award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
MICHAEL MORIATIS / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
TED MILLS, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT

February 2, 2008 7:18 AM

Tommy Lee Jones is not one to buy into the myth-making of Hollywood. Yes, he shared his Harvard dorm room with Al Gore, but no, he said, he was not the inspiration for Ryan O'Neill's character in "Love Story," Mr. Jones' first film, as is often reported. Yes, he plays characters that often stand in for America. No, he's not like any of those characters. Oscars and other awards are "good for business." It's just, as he's said before, a job. The Santa Barbara International Film Festival honored the actor for being so good at that job on Friday night, with the American Riviera Award. The career-spanning retrospective and interview at the Arlington Theatre drew nearly a full house.
This year, Mr. Jones has been nominated for two Oscars -- one as Best Actor for Paul Haggis' "In the Valley of Elah," and one for Best Supporting Actor in the Coen Brothers' "No Country for Old Men." The former nomination is his first in that category.

Andy Davis, who directed Mr. Jones in "The Fugitive," presented the award.

Variety's Pete Hammond took on the task of interviewing Mr. Jones. An opening montage sped back and forth over the actors' history: young and tough in "Love Story," commanding in "The Fugitive," "U.S. Marshalls" and "The Hunted," and willing to look silly (but still dangerous) in pop blockbusters like "Men in Black" and "Batman Forever." It's his presence in such films however, that have earned him a new generation of fans that have followed him into more complex films.
Introducing the actor, Mr. Hammond described Mr. Jones' performance in "In the Valley of Elah" as "so subtle, you never catch him acting." He's one of the great American actors, Mr. Hammond said, comparing him to classic movie stars such as Cary Grant, James Stewart and Gary Cooper. Yet Mr. Jones is also a great character actor, he said.

Tommy Lee Jones answers questions from Jared Winslow, 11, at the Arlington Theatre on Friday.

His fans agree. Phoenix native Paul Kinsinger managed to snag tickets to the show while passing through on vacation and calls Mr. Jones "the quintessential American actor. He has a quiet, male strength." A fan since 1977's "Rolling Thunder," Mr. Kinsinger said the actor "says more with what he doesn't say. . . . He lets his face talk for him."
"I'm not that introspective," Mr. Jones admitted to a question on the red carpet about his past. However, he does like to talk about things other than acting, including his interest in playing polo (he first came to Santa Barbara in 1978 to play at the club here and bought a condo near the first field), his ranch outside San Antonio, Texas, 100 miles or so south of his birthplace, San Saba. Early on in the interview, he revealed that he was part of the Harvard football team and on the field for the infamous 1968 Harvard-Yale game that resulted in a 29-29 tie in the last 42 seconds. But, the towering Mr. Jones said, he was too short and small to continue in a football career. "I was the smallest in the Ivy League," he said.
Asked if there were any directors he'd love to work with, Mr. Jones said there are many and smiled. "I'm always looking for a job."

Members of the media speak with actor Tommy Lee Jones on the red carpet of the Arlington Theatre on Friday.

Santa Barbara resident, director and friend Andrew Davis presented the award and was a bit more elucidating on Mr. Jones' qualities, having directed him in three films since 1987's "The Package."
"He's incredibly capable," Mr. Davis said. "He's going to find a way to make it work . . . and to bring his own talents to the service of the film."

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

Posted by Ted Mills at 07:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Feeling film festival fatigue, or still can't get enough? Or a little of both? With three days left in another successful (and 23rd annual) installment of the Santa Barbara Film Festival, it's time to dive back in and enjoy what's left. Check with the Film Festival hub at Hotel Santa Barbara for an updated schedule -- films that get a buzz often receive third and fourth screenings on this weekend. The free family film section, APPLEBOX, returns for a second round of weekend mornings for the kids. There's still plenty of star power lighting up the evenings: tonight the Fest honors Tommy Lee Jones and tomorrow Angelina Jolie comes to town, so expect red carpet mayhem. Sunday night's closing ceremonies will present awards to all the films you may have been lucky enough to see in the week previous. But if you missed them, fear not, because the SBIFF's Third Weekend (February 8-10) at the Riviera shows a majority of the winners at a series of absolutely free screenings. All the films with none of the out-of-towners! But then again, that mix of locals and cinema touristas is what makes the Festival such fun.

—Ted Mills

Posted by Ted Mills at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NIK BLASKOVICH PHOTO
Ted Mills
February 1, 2008 10:41 AM

We like someone who rises to a challenge when our mixology tour pulls up at a freshly wiped down bar. And we love someone who goes above and beyond our expectations. So it was with Esther Rogers, who tends bar at Roy four nights a week. When we threw down our kindly gauntlet, Rogers took to it like a contestant on Iron Chef ? but with booze.
Rogers hails from Portland, but she's been all over the American map presumably picking up mixology knowledge. Her most recent stint was in New Orleans, where she studied how to make a proper Sazerac among other beloved Big Easy cocktails. She knows her Rye Whiskey and when to use it. She's picky about her bitters.
Like a good chef, she's eyeing the fresh ingredients of the day, wondering if she can incorporate them. Our first example was her Clementine mojito, which took advantage of the fresh Clementines that had come in. Adding orange flower water to the usual mojito ingredients and turning to a citrus-based rum (Bacardi Limon), as well as garnishing the tall glass with speared Clementine segments, turned a regular mojito into something fresher. Some mojito-makers go heavy on the sugar, but not here.
Rogers no doubt wears the influence of her boss, Roy Gandy, who designs the menu, occasionally takes his turn in the kitchen and keeps an eye on local produce and meat for special dishes. The restaurant has been serving since 1994.
When we gave this the seal of approval, Rogers disappeared to work on the second cocktail with a foodie bend, and returned with a surprising Sugar Beet & Basil Martini. Blood red and garnished with ribbed slices of beet and basil, the drink looked like it would tend towards a Bloody Mary style flavor. Only it didn't -- light and sweet, but tempered with fresh lemon juice, the vodka-based martini didn't overwhelm with a heavy vegetable flavor, nor did it shy away from it.
Near the end of our evening, Rogers was seen busy in the kitchen, which looks out over the bar, prepping something. We felt a bit guilty having a look, so we turned our backs and waited to be surprised.
The Chocolate Raspberry Mousse-tini would wrap up any meal. It's a fine dessert drink, with a mix of Bailey's, vodka, Aqua Perfecta, all in a martini glass, drizzled with a berry reduction sauce. The cute bonus was the garnish, several spoons of fresh whipped cream in an orange-leaf tube. Most excellent, we thought, as the creamy Bailey's complemented the strength of the vodka.

CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY MOUSSE-TINI
1 part Absolut Razz
1 part Three Olives Chocolate Vodka
1 part Bailey's Irish Crème
1/2 part Aqua Perfecta framboise
A dash of Kahlua
Strawberry reduction sauce
Whipped cream (unsweetened)
Orange leaves, washed and patted down

Prep garnish by rolling up leaves into a funnel and spearing one end shut with a toothpick. Whip the cream and fill the tube nearly to the top.
Prep martini glass by drizzling some strawberry reduction sauce around the inside of the glass. Use a squeeze bottle. Do not overdo.
Combine vodkas, Bailey's, Aqua Perfecta, and Kahlua into a shaker, add ice, agitate, then strain very slowly into glass. Garnish with the leaf tube, sprinkle some cocoa powder on top of cream.

Restaurant Roy
7 W. Carrillo St.
966-5636, www.restaurantroy.com

©2008 Santa Barbara News-Press

Posted by Ted Mills at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)