- Went to Whalefest at Fisherman’s Wharf this past weekend. There were remote controlled submersibles and conservation groups and someone walking around in a disconcerting sunfish costume. But it was looking underweight this year, as compared to last year. Until I realized that the festival had actually grown and that half of it – virtual reality undersea goggles, fossil excavation for kids, an inflatable whale that you can crawl inside, even reps from the whale defending Sea Shepherd crew – were set up at the Monterey Conference Center. The U.S. Coast Guard even towed a rescue boat into Custom House Plaza for tours. It was awesome and heartening to witness the event getting bigger, which makes sense seeing as how whale populations are also expanding.
- Jeanine Cummins’ new novel American Dirt is being dragged through the dirt for writing across culture and difference… poorly. David Simon wrote across culture well with The Wire. Apparently, so did DuBose and Dorothy Heyward. They wrote the novel and play, respectively,Porgy and Bess, which George and Ira Gershwin adapted into an English-language opera that’s been a popular and critical hit for decades. The Met is doing an acclaimed production that will be broadcast by satellite to movie theater audiences 9:55am Sat (Feb. 1), 1pm and 6:30pm Wed (Feb. 5), and 12:55pm Sat (Feb. 8), at Century Cinemas at Del Monte Center. fathomevents.com.
- After word got out that the Forest Theater Guild was being shut out of the Outdoor Forest Theatre by Sunset Center, there’s been a reprieve. The Guild will get some dates this summer to do Annie the Musical. Auditions are in February, and Walt deFaria is directing. Sounds promising. wjdefaria@aol.com, yvonnedavida@aol.com.
- Local radio station KRML, also host of Live in the Vines concert series, is getting a new frequency on Feb. 1. General Manager Jeff White expects the new station – 94.7FM (no longer 102.1FM) – “will afford us better coverage.”
- CSU Monterey Bay’s HCOM 350S class, Oral History & Community Memory (partnering withMonterey County Theatre Alliance), is soliciting members of the theater community to share stories and recollections for a spring Oral History Project meant to preserve local theater history. They’re looking to interview 12 people, for 60 to 90 minutes (which should be enough for two questions… these are theater people). Contact Fred Bologna at 559-974-0515 orAndrea McDonald at 831-915-1968 or admin@theatremonterey.org.
A whale skeleton was on display in the Monterey Conference Center’s location of Whalefest last weekend.
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