ON Culture | Everything Everywhere Points to St. Patrick’s Day

ALO comes to SOho on March 16 | Credit: Jay Blakesberg

This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on January 27, 2023. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

ON the Stage

There’s a lot of great entertainment coming our way in the next few weeks, including a two-day “get in the mood for St. Patrick’s Day” event with the Folk Orchestra of Santa Barbara’s all-Irish show on Saturday and Sunday (3/11-12), Opera Santa Barbara’s musical The Light in the Piazza — the story of a wealthy Southern woman and her daughter, who falls in love with a young Italian man during a vacation in Italy — at Center Stage Theatre (3/23-26), another awesome celebration of the Lobero’s 150th anniversary with Charles Lloyd tonight, and Quipster Hale Milgrim (former President/CEO of Capitol Records) and music lover, Richard Salzberg (aka Music Maniac) on 3/18, and ALO’s annual Tour D’Amour stop at SOhO on 3/16.

ON the (Big) Screen

Director Julia Verdin and Billy Baldwin on the set of *No Address* | Credit: Courtesy

Santa Barbara resident William “Billy” Baldwin is currently filming a new feature film No Address, about a group of people experiencing homelessness. Directed by Julia Verdin, who co-wrote the script with James J. Papa, she also recently wrapped principal photography on a documentary titled Americans With No Address (co-directed with Stephen Wollwerth), which portrays America’s homeless crisis and the millions of people that suffer as a result. Presumably the documentary film research — the production team reportedly toured 17 cities by bus to visit rescue missions and encampments and talked with individuals living there about their experiences, challenges, hopes, and dreams — informed the script for the fictional film as well. Could this be a trend? Both films are produced by Robert Craig.

ON the (Small) Screen

Why stay at home on Sunday when the Oscars’ red carpet awaits at the Arlington Theatre? While a WalletHub report says that the average A-list actress attending the festivities will be wearing a look worth $10M, our very own movie palace is hosting a red carpet pre-party on the courtyard patio from 3-5 p.m., where your $15 admission includes the party featuring DJ Darla Bea, priority seating for the Oscars watch party, a walk on the red carpet, free popcorn, one drink ticket, and one raffle ticket — with the possibility of winning a pair of concert tickets and five pairs of movie tickets. Starting at 5 p.m., the actual Oscar’s Watch Party at the Arlington is FREE, with the awards telecast on the big screen and all of the concessions (including a full bar) open for your convenience.

Speaking of Academy Awards, the safest bet is on a sweep for Everything Everywhere All At Once, a movie I loved, but at the time (way before all of the awards buzz), I thought it was a bit too strange for most people I knew to enjoy.

ON the Podium

A&L’s wonderful Speaking With Pico series is back next week: Pico Iyer interviews author and Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Kidder at the New Vic on Tuesday (3/14). Kidder, whose latest book Rough Sleepers chronicles Dr. Jim O’Connell’s mission to bring healing to homeless people, is a fascinating interview (see Nick Welsh’s preview at independent.com). I’m really looking forward to this one.

ON the Phone

Fun with Apps | Credit: Leslie Dinaberg via Lensa

While our family group chat has been sharing articles about ChatGPT for months, I’m equally fascinated by the visual AI applications such as Lensa, FaceApp, etc. And on Instagram (in addition to drooling over everyone’s @sbindependent Burger Week posts), I’ve recently been enthralled by @LizLangeOfficial, the maternity wear fashionista has a fabulous feed starring a retro Hollywood glam squad of big names, vintage videos from the likes of Twiggy, Dinah Shore, Cher, Elizabeth Montgomery and more.

ON the Calendar

The Indy’s Annual St. Patrick’s Day Stroll | Credit: Courtesy

I’m looking forward to my first Annual St. Patrick’s Day Stroll with the Independent on March 17. Our Marketing & Promotions Manager Emily Lee describes it as “the most fun and most weird thing we do at the Independent.” I’ve definitely had a lot of fun and a dollop of weirdness in my time at the paper … so I hope you’ll join us for this one. We’re meeting at HQ (1715 State St.) to start the stroll at 5 p.m. — and there will be bagpipes! For more information, visit .independent.com/events/independents-annual-st-patricks-day-stroll.

For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events/.