S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS. Today , we'll tell you where you can find the best recipes from the region. A comedic rendition of Dracula and what NPR's Ari Shapiro is up to in your weekend preview. I'm Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. A new cookbook showcases the diversity of San Diego's culinary landscape and how you can bring it into your own kitchen.
S2: Whether you are a beginner in the kitchen or are looking to level up what you're already doing. You'll find that there are a number of recipes in this cookbook for all home cooks.
S1: Plus , we'll tell you how comedy and Dracula are coming together on stage and your weekend arts preview. That's ahead on Midday Edition. San Diego has a thriving culinary landscape. A new cookbook looks to showcase the best of our local restaurants and what they have to offer , and how you can bring it into your own kitchen. KPBS Metro reporter Andrew Bowen spoke with Ligaya Malones , author of San Diego Cooks , and Karen Krasny , executive pastry chef at Extraordinary Desserts. Here's that conversation.
S3: Ligaya , I'll start with you. How did this cookbook come to be ? I hear it was a very long journey.
S2: It was. It took about five years to produce. And the way it came about , I have been reporting on the local food scene for a number of years , and when the publisher , figure one approached me with this opportunity , I , along with Deanna Sandoval , the photographer on the project , thought what a great opportunity to showcase the culinary diversity of our region.
S3: What do you think makes our regions of San Diego and the food scene here so unique ? Yeah.
S2: I expand on this point in the introduction of San Diego cooks , but a couple of things that immediately come to mind and that have has been echoed by the restaurants and chefs that I've had the opportunity to interview for the book include our great weather , which provides an incredibly long growing season. And so our restaurants have access to produce for longer in the season compared to elsewhere in the country. Our proximity to Mexico and also our the abundance of our oceans and our inland regions as well.
S3: What are some of the restaurants and recipes that you're most excited about featuring in this book.
S2: I'm excited to feature a range of recipes from across the region , and to highlight the various dining styles our region has to offer. And so , you know , you'll find San Diego Cooks includes recipes from everywhere from Bonita with TJ Oyster Bar to Oceanside like Petite Madeline Cafe , from casual spots like Nectarine Grove in Encinitas and Smoke and J's Barbecue , and Poway and the Gaslamp Quarter to our fine dining establishments such as Avon and Rancho Bernardo Valley and Matsu and Oceanside , as well as Karen's establishment. Extraordinary desserts.
S3: Yeah , Karen.
S4: And because I'm a native San Diegan and I've been here with my two restaurants for 30 plus years. It just seemed like a natural fit.
S3: And I'll ask you the same question.
S4: And so I think we're just seeing a lot more restaurateurs and chefs come our way and just sort of enlighten whatever we started , you know , so many years ago. And because of the availability of the , you know , particularly the fruits , the vegetables , the seafood , and , you know , it's really easy to get things here. It seems like even if you are , if they're not local. So I think our relaxed atmosphere , I mean , I think that adds to it. More people are becoming educated about the kinds of things that we all do. So it's just growing and it's kind of exciting to be involved in something that just continues to , you know , move the culinary movement in that way.
S3: Let's talk about some of the recipes in the book. So Extraordinary Desserts is famous for its lemon meringue cake. You also have a cookie recipe in here.
S4: That would take someone too long to do. That would not be interesting. So real accessible. And I wanted something that maybe wasn't focused on berries. So lemon seemed natural. I mean , you can get lemons pretty much any time of the year and anywhere you are. So that that was that. The other with the cookie is I always try to do something for someone who either has a gluten free intolerance or , you know , they eat plant based. And so I wanted to find something alternative that is just as delicious , but very simple and easy to do.
S3: And tell me about how you go about crafting new desserts or new recipes.
S4: I don't really know when and how. I might be reading a magazine about , you know , the Maldives. I could be on an airplane. I could be it just I start getting really into something , and then I , I start seeing it in print or , you know , somewhere I'm in a in a grocery store or something and , you know , it just seems to be on this loop. And then something happens for me. But we're constantly whether it's ice cream or a new scone or a new Danish or something , we're constantly doing something new. I would say at least every week to two.
S3: Ligaya Karen mentioned that she likes to include recipes that are accessible , but also maybe have a little bit of a challenge in them.
S2: So San Diego Cooks is For all home cooks to any level. And we were very we meaning de Sandoval , photographer on the project and myself were very intentional about curating of recipes with the with varying degrees of complexity. And so whether you are a beginner in the kitchen or are looking to level up what you're already doing or really want to challenge yourself , you'll find that there are a number of recipes in this cookbook for all home cooks.
S3: And the Gaia.
S2: For example , the geographic diversity of the restaurants and options available to us. We now have more options than ever to dine out and patronize restaurants , cafes , bars across the county from Oceanside to La mesa , where maybe it was a little more difficult. And Karen , correct me if I'm wrong. I mean , just five , ten years ago , it was a little more difficult to just kind of rattle off a number of neighborhoods where you could find some really good food.
S4: Very true , very true. Karen.
S3: Karen. Extraordinary desserts opened back in the late 80s as a small cafe.
S4: Desert. I mean , there was really not much going on. And I've said this many times , there were we were one of five coffee houses in the city , and now there's over 5000. So we were doing a lot of education about olives and lattes and cappuccinos. And , you know , what is ganache and what's what's curd versus marmalade. You know , it's just a lot of talking to people about things they might not have really known that well.
S3: And of course , as you say , the culinary landscape of San Diego is really grown since you first opened your business.
S4: You're seeing where people have worked before and have been trained well. And I think that's something that we lacked maybe a long time ago. We we had a few fine dining restaurants in the city and , you know , you could get really good service there. And then I think as we began to grow , people were moving from different places throughout the United States and Europe , and they'd had a lot of training and whether it was food prep or in customer service , and that just sort of made more of a model for all of us here to kind of aspire to , to get better and do better.
S3: Ligaya , you've mentioned the photographer who you collaborated with on this book. I've always wondered how you get those pictures in these cookbooks that are so perfect.
S2: And what I really appreciate about these food images is that she really focuses on the details and textures of the dish , which I think lend itself To helping our home cooks visualize what they'll be making in their own kitchen.
S3:
S2:
S3:
S2: Or I will say , everything I tasted was delicious. And beyond the photo shoot , I have a couple of go to recipes , so there is one recipe that is a chilaquiles recipe from Mystic Mocha in University Heights. I like to pull that recipe out on the weekends. Um. There is also a brussel sprouts recipe with honey chili glaze and sesame dressing from chef Moira Hill that has made a brussel sprouts believer out of. My boyfriend and I have bookmarked Karen's Aloha Peanut Butter Cookie recipe for a weekend activity to do with my boyfriend's daughter. Karen.
S3: Karen. What do you hope that readers take takeaway. After looking through this book and seeing the recipes that you've contributed to it.
S5: Well , I'm hoping.
S4: That anybody that purchases the book starts to believe that San Diego is more than just a seaside town , and that there's actually really talented artists and and artisans and restaurateurs here in our city , because there definitely are. And it's a reason to come to San Diego for more than just the zoo. And , and , you know , our beautiful weather.
S3: And the Gaia.
S2: We have excellent tacos and craft beer and so much more.
S1: That was KPBS Metro reporter Andrew Bowen speaking with San Diego , Coke's author Ligaya maloney , and Karen Krasny , executive pastry chef at Extraordinary Desserts. Coming up , it is Halloween season and no better time to see a new spin on a classic gothic story. Beth Accomando will preview Dracula at the Old Globe. Hear more when KPBS Midday Edition returns. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. This Halloween season , the play Dracula has taken up residence at the Old Globe Theater , but this time it's taking a comedic spin on the classic gothic tale.
S6: On stage , they play Dracula and his nemesis , Doctor Van Helsing. Now , Dracula is a very iconic figure. So first of all , I just wanted to find out. What was your prior knowledge of Dracula or Bram Stoker before you started this project ? And George , do you want to start ? Yeah.
S7: Well , I mean , like everybody , I think we grew up with some version of Dracula or another. My actually , I think my very first introduction to it was the Mel Brooks one , Dracula Dead and loving it. So I think that this is kind of right up my alley of no , I think my first one would be the count from Sesame Street , now that I'm thinking about it. Oh yeah , which is probably where I get my accent from.
S8: I am the count. Ah. Do you know why they call me the count ? Because I love to count thing.
S7: But yeah. No , it was. It's been a constant fixture I think in everyone's pop culture life from Twilight to True Blood to all those things. So I think this is right in line with all of that.
S9: I remember the old the 1931 movie when I like we watched Monster Movie. We loved universal monster movies growing up. So I always loved Dracula. I loved interview with the vampire. I read that that book was obsessed with that it way too young of an age. I've always loved vampires. It's my first time I've ever getting to do anything with , uh , with Dracula or vampires before. So yeah. Same. Yeah. And I saw this play last year in New York. We both saw this play last year in New York and fell in love with it. So it was it's so great to get to come and do it in San Diego now. Yeah.
S6: Yeah. Well one thing it seems to be doing is not so much referencing Bram Stoker's Dracula , but referencing kind of our pop culture knowledge and memories of Dracula. Yes.
S7: Yeah , well , what I think is so great about that is because everyone has a different version that they grew up with. Some people love True Blood or or Twilight , or the books , or interview with the vampire or Brad Pitt as a vampire. So in referencing that , we get to take everyone's collective love for it and turn it into something that's really exciting and really accessible for them and very funny.
S9: I read Bram Stoker's Dracula before I came in to do this , and it's wonderful , but there's very little similarity between this and and the show. But what's so smart about this show is that it gives you what you think you remember , and it's and it's just the thing of like , you don't have to know anything about you. You're like , oh , right. Because everything. I also watched a lot of movies about Dracula. I went and watched All the Hammer , a lot of the hammer movies , and every one of them have different rules about like , you know , it's like , oh , sometimes he can have sunlight , sometimes he's fine with garlic , sometimes you have to invite him in. And so I think the rules change every time. So it gave Gordon and Steve , the writers of our show , just Free Reign , to kind of say , to make their own rules.
S7: And what's fun about it too , is like there's always a different sometimes Dracula is an sexy young guy , and sometimes he's a severe old man with the bun head , you know ? So it's , uh. Yeah , we get to play around with that a lot.
S6: Well , you mentioned accents , and this is a show where , again , it seems to be referencing other kind of accents we may have heard with these characters as opposed to like , oh , I'm going to try and do a really genuine Transylvanian accent.
S7: So , like , I'm taking , again , different versions of things that I've heard in the past and from the the black , old , black and white one , Count Chocula , all sorts and kind of morphing it into my own version.
S9: For Van Helsing , I'm sort of thinking Cloris Leachman and Arnold Schwarzenegger. So every now and then it comes out. I go. Now how ? And I'm like , I'm just doing Arnold. But you know , so what was great in rehearsal was that we absolutely had no dialogue coach whatsoever. And they gave us free rein to just like commit and pick a voice , because again , that's the spirit of the show. It's sort of like we also , you know , the show is we're a company of actors who come out and say , we're going to put on a show for you. And so we put on a bunch of costumes. So it's just sort of like , this is what this actor thinks Van Helsing would sound like , or Dracula or.
S7: Yeah , and allows for so much more freedom because it's silly and we're all laughing together with this , this ridiculous thing that we've , we've come up with. So I think it works really well in line with the show.
S6: Now , there may have been a female Doctor Van Helsing somewhere in history , but I'm pretty sure this might be the only drag version of Van Helsing. I think.
S9: You're correct. I think it is the very first that I know of drag Van Helsing happy to be a part of that lineage , you know ? Yeah. Yeah.
S6: Yeah.
S9: You know , in this show , I play two women in the show , and I never feel like the gender is the joke. So I never feel like , oh , I'm playing a woman. That's inherently funny. I just think of the character as like , you know , who are they ? What do they want to do ? But I always I love playing women because there's such an emotional freedom. There's a range that they're able to play that I don't always feel like men get that those opportunities to to do that. And so I love that. I love that the challenge of that , plus this show has so many jokes about misogyny and about patriarchy. And so it's funny when because Linda muggleton , who's brilliant in all male roles in the show , is constantly , you know , sniping on women. So like , if a man did it , it would be it would be boring and unlikable.
S7: And those are the moments that usually stop the show.
S9: Yes , because it's like , it's fun to have a woman playing a man badmouthing women. A lot of times I play women at , you know , just for the laughs. But in this there's a lot of like , girl power and feminism and it's a lot of fun. I rarely get to stand in that and sort of be proud for women , you know , for this moment. And it's ridiculous. But it's also fun to sort of say a lot of these things for the first time for me , like , you know what ? I get to play. Yeah.
S6: And this particular Dracula does play up on his vanity.
S7: And you picked up on that just a little bit.
S6: And one thing , I was here last night when there was the post-show forum , and you talked about a particular approach you took when you were auditioning and , uh. Oh.
S10: Oh.
S7: I don't know if it worked. It was just.
S9: It did you got the gun here ? Yeah.
S11:
S7: No , I was just saying that because I had seen the show in New York , I kind of knew what was up. Um , those were the moments that where the shirt comes off and everyone's so excited. I am.
S12: Highly desirable. Oh.
S7: That really made an impact. So I was like , okay , well , for my audition , I'm going to wear my tightest shirt. And alongside the callbacks , I'm going to post a bunch of shirtless pictures on Instagram and try and drum up a little bit of attention. And I don't know if it helped , but I went to.
S9: Acting school and I learned , uh.
S7: I never went to acting school.
S11: I oh , neither did I , clearly. Yeah.
S7: So but that's , uh. Yeah , that was that was my God's honest approach.
S6: Well , what do you think it is about Dracula that has kind of given him this longevity and kind of set him up as this romantic figure , too ? Well , I.
S7: Think that there's there's something very seductive about the way that he's been written and the way that he's been played , that he's a lover. It's like , again , kind of seductive that he bites you on the neck. Like how how beautiful and vulnerable is that ? Um , and he only does that by getting close enough to you to be there. So I think that lights up a lot of intrigue and fantasy and people.
S9: And we're obsessed with youth. We're obsessed with staying young. And I think there's something very appealing about like , stay young forever , stay alive forever. So I think that's always one of those appealing things that people , you know , really , really enjoy. Yeah.
S13: Yeah.
S6: Well , in addition to playing Van Helsing , you also play Mina , who has quite an intimate moment with Dracula.
S9: Yes , yes , I do play Mina , which if you follow the book , it's more like Lucy in the book , and Mina is. So they switch the characters around. I play a very unfortunate sister in the house who has a lot of issues. She got all the best. She does the best she can. So she really is excited about this attention from Dracula. And then Dracula realizes that , you know , she's a she's a snack. Yeah.
S11: Yeah.
S6: And one of the things about the show is you play , many of the actors play multiple parts. It's a theater in the round. So talk a little bit about kind of the physicality of this and how that plays into the comedy and just the challenges.
S7: Yeah , well , I think what's really great about doing it in the round is that there's no place to hide , so you have no choice but to be completely invested the entire time. And it's really great because we can see everybody , and there's moments when we can really take the audience and and make them a part of it , so that we're all kind of in on the same thing. And the stage is great because we can't have a very fancy , elaborate set because it would block people's view. So we have to make the story come alive ourselves and with our bodies and with their physicality. And it's like getting to do it in a big open gym. It's really fun. It's really fun.
S9: And the audience can read your thoughts and it almost is like we're on camera because they're right there. So you realize that it's such a broad , big , campy show and we play such giant characters , but there are other moments that it's like , oh , we can really just kind of throw that away or just kind of have the thought. And so it's it's we get to do a lot of different stuff that you wouldn't get to do in a bigger stage , where you have to be a lot more grand and theatrical.
S6: But it also seems like a like Swiss watch kind of show where if you.
S7: That's a that's such a great way to.
S11: Put it. Yeah , exactly.
S6: Because it seems like if you miss one beat you could like ruin everything.
S9: This script is verbal farce like I have not done in so long , where our director , who also wrote the show , was like one um , or uh , can ruin the rhythm of the line. You have to really be on top of each other's energy , because otherwise it does go go haywire.
S7: And you really have to stay ahead of the audience because they can get to the end of the idea before you do. And then if they do , then the joke isn't going to land. But so it's the pace is so important to to stay ahead.
S6:
S7: Great fun. Sometimes with a script you have to find the jokes in them and like and really do a lot of work to lift it up and make it into something. But this one , a lot of times you just have to say it like the script is already funny , so you don't have to put a lot of extra acting on top of it. So it's been really super fun to get to work this style of comedy with this amazing group of people who really , really get it.
S11: It's a it's.
S9: A play that reads funny because a lot of things don't always read funny. They just it's all about the behavior. But you can read it and the words are there , but it also works on multiple levels because you have very funny jokes , and then you also have bizarre character behavior. And sometimes it's like fun to just watch someone. How are they blowing their nose or how are they sort of walking or how are they moving ? And so like , you get it , it works on multiple levels.
S6: And this isn't the first time that this play has been mounted. Has it changed much ? Has the director who also co-wrote it , uh , has he like , trimmed it or we.
S9: Trimmed we mainly trimmed lines here and there that we're just that we didn't need in the space. The original version of the script was about two hours , I believe , and.
S11: It's the original.
S7: So it started off as a because during Covid , I started as a podcast for 30 minute 30 minutes of this , of this plane. So when they finally did a staged version of it , they had trimmed it down and then trimmed it down again. And this version , I think it's largely the same as the New York version , but there was some New York specific jokes that had to get , um , rejigged so that it wasn't so New York specific.
S6:
S7: I'm not going to spoil it.
S11: But I.
S7: Feel so good in. It.
S11: It.
S9: Everyone loves. It.
S11: It. Yeah , it's it's.
S7: It's a really , um , it's the costumes in the show are fantastic across the board there , but , um , my first costume specifically , I feel really sexy. That's all I'm going to say.
S9: I love for us. The end gets so wild and crazy that we just do not stop moving for the final ten minutes of the play. It's just so fun to feel that physical and running across and throwing wigs on and ripping them off. And it's a play that gets more fun as it goes to do , I think.
S7: And I think my favorite part , honestly , would be the audiences response , because they're having such a good time. Like it's fun to watch them kind of figure out what show they're watching. And the laughter kind of builds and builds and builds and builds towards the end. And it's just it's such a riot like to just look out and see people enjoying themselves because it's , it's it's great fun and it's a great escape. It's 90 minutes , no intermission. And you can just show up and and laugh and just be in a room together. It's so much fun.
S1: That was actors George Krysta and Drew Draghi speaking with KPBS Beth Accomando. Dracula , A Comedy of Terrors , runs through November 3rd at the Old Globe's Cheryl and Harvey White. Theatre. Still ahead , Julia Dickson Evans speaks with Ari Shapiro about his new venture on stage.
S14: It swerves and veers and lands someplace interesting , and it can pivot from pop to Broadway to classical to whatever genre you want to include in the mix.
S1: KPBS Midday Edition returns after the break. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. You may recognize Ari Shapiro's voice and name is host of NPR's All Things Considered , but did you also know that he is a published author and often spends his free time on stage performing a cabaret style show with the actor Alan Cumming ? It's called ask and a considered cabaret. They're coming to San Diego to perform at Humphreys by the Bay on Saturday. KPBS arts reporter Julia Dixon Evans sat down with Shapiro to discuss the many ways he shares stories with the world.
S15: Ari , I want to go all the way back to when you first started mixing your public radio career with performance. You've toured and even recorded with Pink Martini , which is an American pop jazz world and kind of retro orchestra.
S14: And when I moved to Washington , D.C. , they would come through town on tour and I would have a cocktail party or brunch or cookout for them whenever they had a free night in Washington. And one year , it was about 2008. I think one of those cookouts turned into a late night singalong around my piano with the members of Pink Martini and the members of another Portland band that happened to be in DC just then called Blind Pilot. And the next day , Pink Martini's bandleader , Thomas Lauderdale , called me and said , you know , we're in the process of writing this song for the next album that we want a man to sing. Why don't you come out to Portland and record it with us ? And the song was called But Now I'm Back , and I first thought it would never happen. And then I thought , well , maybe that would be the one and only time I ever do anything with Pink Martini. And that was about 15 years ago , and now I've done 1 or 2 songs on each of the albums they've released since then. I performed with them at the Hollywood Bowl just this past summer , and I'm joining them on a few selected dates on their 30th anniversary tour , which is just wild to think about. This band being 30 years old and still making great music , and attracting audiences who are still interested in what they have to to do.
S15: Like you said , you are on several of their albums , but my favorite track is one from Jerry Lewis , which is from 2016 , and it is this Armenian love song , this ballad called oh , soon , soon. Let's listen to that. Let's see.
S16: Ah , yeah , tell us that. Yeah.
UU: Yeah. So recently ode. To madness.
S15: I want to talk about cabaret. You're touring with Alan Cumming for a show called annoy , a considered cabaret.
S14: Like I have admired lots of cabaret performers for a very long time. Long before I ever started to make a cabaret show myself. And the thing about cabaret is it takes you on a journey , and it swerves and veers and lands someplace interesting , and it can pivot from pop to Broadway to classical to whatever genre you want to include in the mix. And I think it's a very personal art form where , inevitably , cabaret involves storytelling in addition to singing and doing it with somebody like Alan Cumming , who is such a legend and such a kind of charming , witty. He's almost an older brother figure to me , but I think so many people have so many different associations with him , whether it is from The Good Wife or The Traders or Cabaret , the the musical cabaret on I Could keep Going the many things he's done over his career. It's really fun to share the stage with him , and I think we're kind of this odd couple were not an obvious pairing , and yet what we do has a certain spark to it. That is , I think , hopefully more than the sum of its parts.
S15:
S14: Like I said , I'm paraphrasing. There's something about cabaret that is both inclusive and subversive. It welcomes people in even while undermining their expectations , taking them on a journey that they don't necessarily know where they're going. I mean , like one of the things that this is a random example , but it kind of indicates what I'm talking about in our cabaret show. Alan and I are a little bit bawdy and crack some jokes that are maybe not appropriate for children , and I may even drop an F-bomb or two , which is so not what people expect from the Ari Shapiro they hear every day on public radio. I love that subversive quality to it. I am not going to destroy my credibility as a journalist. I'm not going to contradict the image of myself that is out there in the world on All Things Considered Every day , but I might tweak it a bit , and that's part of the fun. I think both of , you know , living with a queer identity and of playing in the sandbox of cabaret as a genre.
S15: I love that. We all gasped out loud.
S14: When I said I drop F-bombs. Yes.
S15: Yes.
S14: You should hear the radio. It comes at a specific moment in the show , and if you come to the show , I hope you will say hi. And there's a specific moment. One of the nice things is having done the show for a few years now , like we have found. We've honed the jokes , we've tightened the stories , we've figured out how it works best. And so we don't waste that f bomb. We deploy it thoughtfully.
S15: Okay , so take us there. Describe a moment on stage in the show.
S14: Well , the thing that's really fun is that it changes a little bit every time we do it. The basic structure is the same , but there are moments , you know , when we started doing the show , he was not most of the traders and I was not host of The Mole. When we started doing the show a few years ago , I had not written a memoir. He had already written a memoir. But the show is loosely structured around the things that he and I have in common. And what's funny is that that list has grown and grown and grown. And so he recently , for the first time joked that it felt a little bit like All About Eve , like I was coming for his gig. Um , and I suggested that maybe he should try hosting a nightly news program.
S15: I would listen.
S14: I would absolutely listen.
S15:
S14: It was this competition on ABC that Anderson Cooper hosted. It has always been hosted by a journalist. Netflix a couple of years ago revived it with the MSNBC journalist Alex Wagner , who's a friend of mine , and I was so jealous just because I've always loved the show. And then when I found out that she wasn't coming back for the next season and they were looking for a new host , for me , it was not , I want to host a reality show. It was I want to host The Mole. Um.
S17: Um.
S14: It's so fun and glamorous and there's this kind of espionage intrigue aspect to it. And I love that. Every season is in a different country and every episode is in a different location within the country. So my season was set in Malaysia and we filmed for six weeks in the middle of the summer. It was very hot , but I just got to see this country in so much depth and range from islands to jungles , caves and skyscrapers , big cities. It was an incredible experience and I should say people can watch it all on Netflix now. All ten episodes are there.
S15:
S14: I mean , you know , in one day alone , I spoke with this really thoughtful and credible rabbi named Amichai Levy about the anniversary of the October 7th attacks. And in the same day , I spoke with Al Pacino about his new memoir. There are so few jobs in journalism or anywhere that encompassed that range. And to me , one is not like the dues you pay in order to be able to do the other. To me it is the both and that is really fulfilling. So hosting All Things Considered as a job where I know that every day I will learn something new. I will wake up in the morning knowing that by the end of the day , I'll know about something I didn't know when I started the day , and that's such a privilege. It never gets old.
S1: That was Ari Shapiro , host of NPR's All Things Considered. He will take the stage with Alan Cumming in OC and a considered cabaret Saturday night at Humphrey's by the Bay. He spoke with KPBS Julia Dixon Evans , who joins me now. Julia , welcome.
S15: Hey , Jade , thanks for having me.
S1: So glad to have you. Great interview there. And I know that you also , in addition to that , have a lot of weekend events for us to check out. Um , so let's take a look at what's going on in arts and culture this weekend. Illustrator Carson Ellis is coming to the book Catapult Friday night. What can you tell us about her work ? Yeah.
S15: So Carson Ellis , she's this illustrator and illustrated one of my favorite chapter books for for young readers. I read it with my kids. It's called The Wildwood Chronicles. It's a series , and she worked on it with her husband , who is author and musician Colin Meloy from the band Decemberists. And she's also illustrated album art for the band for their entire career. So , um , one of the things that I totally fascinated by with her is this long and creative partnership that she's had with her husband , and this book is like a gift to us because it's a series of paintings that she's made , and it's all based on journal entries from a single week in January. In 2001 , right before she got together with her husband. But she referred to their friendship as , quote , bickering but inseparable friends on the verge of hooking up for the first time. And this was also her first week living in Portland. The book's called One Week in January. New paintings for an old diary. And I really love the idea of like looking back on a journal that you wrote 23 years ago and adding in this new layer of art. And her paintings are so distinct , like she has this really minimal but expressive style feels very , very timeless. So she'll discuss the book at the Book Catapult in South Park on Friday at seven , and the event is free. Wow.
S1: Wow. That's something you definitely don't want to miss there. The San Diego Ballet has a big production this weekend. What caught your attention about that ? Yeah.
S15: So this is two ballets in one , and they're both just really quintessential San Diego Ballet pieces , Firebird and Mambo Mania. So Firebird is by Javier Velasquez , the choreographer , and he's the longtime artistic director of San Diego Ballet. And this piece is like a folklore , funk and hip hop inspired piece of ballet. And then they also have Mambo Mania , which is what they refer to as a signature piece of theirs. It's an audience favorite , and the ballet uses the music of Perez Prado , who is this legendary Cuban composer and performer known , of course , for his mambo. And they're doing two shows , Friday Night at seven and then a Saturday matinee at two. And these are both at the Joan Blackrock Theater in Rolando.
S1: And the monthly barrio Art crawl is this Saturday.
S15: All the galleries and the shops and restaurants are open , and you can also check out the Logan Avenue Artisan Market. They're doing like a spooky season version. And that's from 12 to 6. That's at 2100 Logan Avenue , which is right by the VFW , and then at Bread and Salt in Logan Heights from 5 to 8. They're having their their monthly open house at the New Bern All Books newsstand. Artist Philip Brindle Ray is doing a graph print pop up , which we really fascinating. I love his work , and it's also a great time to check out all the current exhibits in the space. Like you Go Cross Waits. There's a new work in The Quint one gallery by Lisa Siegel , and you can visit the Bread and Salt Impact Artist in Residence , who right now is Koi Son. He is the sign painter and content creator who's who's gone viral several times over the last couple of years , including when he made a video about applying for this very artist residency. And I recently visited Carson in his studio , where he is wrapping up the residency , and I really loved what he said when I asked him where sign painting falls on the spectrum of art and craft and trade.
S18: You know , as a trade , like a it wasn't it wasn't that different from a plumber or a mechanic or something like that. And what I love about sign painting is , is the mix of trade in how I can functionally help people while still being artsy and doing design and having fun and being silly. One of the key signs when you're when anybody is painting a mural is if you have people walking by and the first thing they ask is , oh , what's this business about ? And if they ask that question , it means you kind of did a bad job prepping , prepping the storefront.
S15: Yeah , his signs are so great. It's really beautiful craftsmanship and lettering , kind of witty , but still , these just really essentially honor the point of sign making. And when we visited , he was making a sign for his studio that said fresh paint smell. Guaranteed. Wow. And he's there at Bread and Salt through the end of the month , so this will be your last chance to check him out during the Open Studios for barrio Art crawl. So yeah , 5 to 8 on Saturday and this is always free.
S1: All right. And before we go , what's going on in live music this weekend ? You've always got the show.
S15: So tonight there is a band from Nigeria playing at the Casbah. This should be such a fun and unique show. This band , it's called Itron. They perform this sort of guitar heavy blues that's really popular in the Sahara region , and this is a track from their latest album. The album is called 100% Sahara Guitar.
UU: La la la la. Is this about. La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la. Um.
S15: Um. Friday night at courtyard. Locals. Mr. Tube and the flying objects they're playing with unwound. Unwound is an indie kind of DIY punk band from Portland , but Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects , they're locals. They're long running project of Paul Jenkins , who was also the frontman of three mile pilot Blackheart Procession , those really legendary local bands. This is a track called No Brains.
UU: In the air for one season.
S15: And then on Saturday we have an all ages show. It's kind of lo fi music. At the chain cafe. We have Fog Lake playing with foxes in fiction , and this is a track from Fog Lake called motorcade. This just came out last year. It's really lovely from afar.
UU: But I feel not as bad as This.
S1: Is a very mellow tune there. Well , I tell you what , you can find details on these and more arts events , or sign up for Julia's weekly newsletter at pbs.org. Smarts. I've been speaking with KPBS Arts reporter Julia Dixon Evans. Julia. Thank you.
S15: Thank you. Jade. This was fun. You. Know.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
