San Diego's dining trends, Godzilla's 70th birthday, and arts events

S1: It's time for Midday Edition on Kpbs. Today we're going to take a bite out of San Diego's food scene. I'm Jade Hindman. Here's to conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. San Diego is becoming a foodie town. We'll talk about what to drawing the crowds.

S2: I think that pure access that we have to incredible ingredients has really helped the quality of menus shine through. And of course , we're a border region.

S1: Plus , we'll tell you about a celebration of 70 years of Godzilla and new exhibits to check out in the weekend preview that's ahead on Midday Edition. San Diego's eating scene flourished in 2023 , with Michelin applauding the city's culinary options. With more pop ups throughout town , the city is emerging from its antisocial lockdown days , and the simple fact is people want to go out not just to eat , but to have an experience. But San Diegans aren't only congregating at their favorite spots , they're also connecting with aesthetics. Jackie Bryant , managing editor of San Diego Magazine , is here to tell us what to expect in 2024. Jackie , thanks for joining us and welcome to midday.

S2: Thank you. I'm so happy.

S1: To be here. Glad to have you here. So 2023 was deemed as a prosperous year for foodies. Tell us about the culinary trends you discovered over that year.

S2: All right. So maximalism first and foremost , it's hard to walk into a restaurant in San Diego these days without experiencing an assault on the senses. And I mean that in a good way , because I like maximalism. But , you know , we've got the new Paradise Air , which did just get that Michelin recommendation in bird Rock. They have original Josh Hermann ceramics. He's a very famous ceramicist. They've got custom everything. They've got plants , they've got. You walk in , it feels like Paradise. It feels like Paradise. So that's a big one. Obviously we've got kingfisher , the revamped Mr. A's , especially that blue room for private events. That is very chic. Very. It's all blue velvet. You can't really get more maximalist fancy. Exactly. We have craft house , which , you know , has got all the wood and they've got all the plants. And basically , I mean , I said , if the Medici family dropped acid and embarked on an upscale redesign of the Rainforest Cafe , that pretty much says it all. It's it's it's it's whimsical , it's fun. It's immersive. Like people just want to feel ensconced. You know , what's what's the vegan bar ? That mothership. That's another good example. Mothership and kindred , they do a lot. They've got the loud music , the heavy metal. They've got , you know , all the lights and the installs and the. It's everywhere you go. Yeah.

S1: So maximal ism , you would just describe it as , I don't know , being extra in the dining world. Exactly.

S2: Exactly. You know , we've been inside for so long. We've been ordering takeout , which is not the ideal , you know , format for pretty much any dish , unless you're actually grabbing it and eating it on the go. And so people just want to be somewhere and they want to be pretty. And they I think they just want to feel things like , I think it's honestly the living embodiment of living in an Instagram account.

S1: That's how the word gets out. I mean , Wolfie.

S2: Carousel , no offense , it's a fine restaurant , but have you ever heard anyone talk about the food ? No , but you've seen that carousel a million times , right ? Right.

S1: See ? There you go. It's smart. Um , you know , you noted in your article that you'd want to see more low glycemic choices. Yeah. Um , what does that look like to you ? And what kinds of restaurants would you like to see more of when it comes to health benefits ? Yeah.

S2: So another trend I wrote about is the so-called fringe becoming less fringe. So those would include diet modifications like being a vegan or gluten free , which typically comes with either , you know , a moral decision or a health decision. Diabetes is is a scourge on our country. And I had it while I was pregnant , and I remember just trying to interpret menus and I had no idea. And I would get things. They would spike my blood sugar even though they were supposed to be fine. You know , we had a very detailed diet that I had to follow , and it is quite literally impossible to interpret them on menus. And I am a restaurant reporter. If I can't do it , who is supposed to be able to ? So that was interesting to me , because we have accommodated for all of these other type of diet mods , and now they're normal. We have entire restaurants dedicated to them and entire menus , but we haven't accounted for this one big thing , and it's an easy fix. I mean , if you loosely follow a keto diet , um , which is very protein heavy , lots of vegetables. I mean , Carly , for example , the downtown restaurant Carly , which is one of the best in San Diego and one of my favorites. It's a mediterranean menu. And I actually when I had diabetes , I was able to eat there without even checking anything on the menu. So so protein heavy , vegetable heavy , which is very in line with what we eat in California California cuisine anyway. So it would be cool if maybe not a whole section for it. But if people could denote on menus which options are lower glycemic and if they could not , you know , sneak sugar into there , right. That would be nice.

S1: Yeah , I mean it , you know , it just takes a rethinking and reimagining what a square meal is. Exactly.

S2: Exactly. And restaurateurs are hosts , people dining there , their guests. And the number one rule is of being a good host in your home or anywhere , is that you have to accommodate for all of your guests. If not , you're not being a host. So I I'm here for it.

S3: I say I'm with you.

S2: Do it.

S1: The restaurant industry prospered in 2023. All the San. Diego was listed as the most expensive city in the United States.

S2: You'll notice that the restaurants that are doing well are the ones with larger footprints in highly trafficked areas. Whether that be a Liberty station or a Little Italy or something like that. The larger footprint you have , the more butts you get in the seat , the more checks you have. ET cetera , etc. it just those economics works for San Diego. Unfortunately , it's a lot harder to do a smaller operation here , so those bigger restaurants are doing well. Tourism is coming back. It's not all San Diegans , you know , dining in those restaurants. And a lot of them , let's be honest , aren't even necessarily targeted towards San Diegans. But the smaller mom and pop ones are having a really hard time. There's a number of restaurants on convoy that have closed. They got hit especially hard during Covid. All of the closures you see are are because they can't really make it. You know , we've had an increase in labor costs and also inflation , food costs. I mean , I was talking to a chef in the South Bay recently who was telling me about a carton of eggs that cost $100. And that's one of his main ingredients for his Filipino food. What are you supposed to do with that ? So they are doing well. The big ones that are oriented to a certain type of clientele. But the everyday mom and pops are are really struggling. And obviously real estate prices are a huge component of that.

S1: But and I would think that that takes a big bite , no pun intended , out of San Diego's cultural scene. Like , of course , you know.

S2: Yeah , I feel like one of the things San Diego has been marketing itself on lately and what San Diegans have been trying to get out to the world. And me too , is a food writer who used to write for national publications , is we have really good food here , and it's a lot more dynamic than we get credit for. And so to have that get a little gut punched , especially in favor of maybe some tourist spots that are doing a little better , that can hurt. And so , you know , it would be easy to just tell people to eat local and look at your local establishments. And that's what we try to do with the magazine , is to try to shed a light on those places. But the conditions are such that it's going to be hard for a lot of places to make it.

S1: Yeah , well , Mission Valley at least , has transformed in the last few years into a really vibrant neighborhood. And , you know , that includes its food scene. A lot of times , though , people are drawn into a restaurant by their aesthetic. Are any of these eateries simply popular because of their appearance or ambiance ? Maybe.

S2: So what's happening in Mission Valley is really interesting right now. So a lot of those old school car dealerships are selling off their land. That's another Covid inflation economy hangover. So just to drop back a little bit , what is happening in the restaurant world is yes , things are really hard , but you are seeing a lot of new places because there is so much property turnover off of that Covid hangover. Right ? So in Mission Valley , we've seen a lot of these car dealerships sold off , sold off. So these big places are coming in. We have Novo Brazil Brewing , which has got a very large footprint. I can't remember the square footage off the top of my head , but it's very large and a zillion TVs. It's sports. You're going there to watch sports. That's the deal. That's who they think is coming to Mission Valley. It definitely probably has something to do with , you know , Snapdragon and all of those other attractions coming to the area trying to make it a sports area. So that's a big one. Gravity Heights is another one that's coming to Mission Valley. I would say less aesthetics for Mission Valley , more footprint and more experiential. So we're talking sports bars. We're talking , you know , really big restaurants with multiple spaces , outdoor spaces , indoor spaces , a bar , different menus , different kind of bells and whistles , places for your kids to play. So these are more experiential , large footprint places rather than maybe some of the cuter , more beautiful restaurants you might find elsewhere in town. Instagramable.

S1: Instagramable. Exactly.

S3: Exactly. That is definitely the word of 20 2324. Yes.

S1: You know , so San Diego has not always been known as a foodie town. Maybe other than tacos. But today San Diego County has some five Michelin rated restaurants.

S2: I got to San Diego in 2014 when my boss , Troy was was really beginning to banging the drum at San Diego Magazine about San Diego's food scene. And so I joined , you know , the food writing media around then and have been chronicling it ever since. And it really has changed. It's kind of incredible. I mean , Michelin Guide didn't even have a California guide until 2019. So that is just new attention that we've never been able to even wasn't even possible to capture. And you know , our Filipino food is getting attention. Our tacos still get attention. Our fisheries are getting attention. I mean , you look at Mabel's and their restaurant and that's totally based on fish. So I think there's something to the fish portion of this. I think a lot of the restaurants that are catching attention , especially via in Oceanside , they're buying local , they're buying from our fisheries , they're buying from our farms. There is something to be said for the quality of ingredients here. So I think that's another component of why San Diego's restaurant scene has exploded in recent years and why it's it's so quality. We also have the highest amount of small farms per capita in the United States , in San Diego County , and a lot of that produce a lot of it flows out , but some of it flows into more of the conscientious restaurateurs. And so I think that pure access that we have to incredible ingredients has really helped the quality of menus shine through. And of course , we're a border region. We're a multicultural region. We're a majority nonwhite city. And there's so much happening across that border coming in and out and so much good food that comes out of it. Yeah.

S1: Yeah.

S2: And Tijuana has been interesting. So I would say the the boom that everyone saw and many people experienced in in past years was was reaching a fever pitch in like 2016 , 17 , 18 , 19 Covid hit and really did a number on it. Americans stopped going down there , and a lot of the restaurants are are still kicking and they're still humming. But there's definitely not that critical mass influx from San Diego coming down there partying , going to events in the way that there was before Covid. I mean , even just anecdotally , I haven't been going down there and doing things like I usually did because just the same vibe isn't really happening. So I think some of the increase in cartel violence in recent years contributes to this , of course. And I think just the fact that people haven't been used to going down there as much probably contributes to that too. But there's a lot of really good , interesting things going on there. But it's definitely a lot muted from from its heyday before Covid.

S1:

S2: VR is booming , but it also has a water problem.

S3: So it will be.

S2: Very interesting to see how that ends up just very quickly. Although there's no water left in that aquifer below the valley. And so all restaurants and hotels are have to import their water , they truck it in. So that's an interesting problem. But VR is booming. Tourism has come back to the area from in Mexico and from San Diego. A lot of San Diegans are kind of skipping Tijuana , going straight to the VA. There's a whole lot of new restaurants. I can think of at least five off the top of my head from Covid alone , new construction and also taking over old properties. And then you have a banyan tree coming in. They're actually in the middle of constructing it right now , and I think they'll be done sometime this spring or summer. And that's the first luxury international train to come into the Via Guadalupe. So it's a big deal. But there are heavy environmental challenges , so it remains to be seen. But it is booming.

S1: Yeah , climate change hits dining.

S3: It's real. Wow.

S2: And it's very real in San Diego I mean avocados , just the last few nights of freezing , they've been freezing on the freezing on the branch. It's it's gonna get interesting.

S1: Oh my goodness. All right. Best dish around town for you.

S2: This is a really tough one but I'm going. This is it's simple. I'm a simple eater. I don't like things too fussy. I like good ingredients. If you go to Juan Jasper , a little wine bar in Golden Hill , they have counter seating and a few outdoor tables only. And it's owned by Sepulveda Meats. So they have all of their own , you know , butchery and house , and they have a menu and they have specials every day. But you can just go in and ask them , what cuts do you have ? What's the price per pound ? I want it on a plate and they deliver it to you. And it is beautiful , perfectly cooked. The , you know , the best beef you've ever had with a gorgeous glass of wine. Wow. That's how I like to eat.

S3: Well , nice and simple and fresh. Exactly.

S1: All right.

S2: I mean , omakase , everything. Um , Barrio Logan's getting an omakase bar. Sakura. That's going over fish guts , which is ? Everyone should go there. It's one of the best fish taco spots in town. He sources his fish from tuna village. Tommy Gomez in San Diego harbor. And it's. It's the best that fish comes right out of the water. Barely sees the back of a truck. Um , so omakase everything. Like , if you were interested in ordering your own sushi rolls , get over it. They're going to tell you what to eat and you're gonna like it. That's definitely a big trend.

S3: Um , giving.

S1: Up control.

S3: Like that , honestly. Yeah.

S2: I mean , Barrio Logan also , I said Mission Valley , but Barrio Logan is heating up restaurant wise. It's always been a destination. It's always been its own place. It doesn't need any outside validation. But , um , you've got Leia's lumpia , which just opened. You have fish guts , you have sakura , you have chicha osteria , which did get that Michelin recommendation. There's other stuff opening there. There's a lot. Oh , La Bamba just opened. Barrio Logan is coming into its own as a restaurant destination right now. I don't know how everyone in the neighborhood feels about that , but it'll be interesting to see how that shakes out.

S1: Yeah , well , there's lots to check out on the dining scene. Jackie Bryant is managing editor for San Diego Magazine. Thank you so much for being here. Here today. And cheers to you. Thank you. Cheers.

S3: Cheers.

S1: If you want to learn more about the restaurants we mentioned and see a little bit of our behind the scenes conversation , find us on the Kpbs Instagram page. Coming up , our film critic Beth Accomando tells us about a year long film series to celebrate 70 years of Godzilla. We're back after the break. Welcome back to Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman , film Geeks San Diego will celebrate Godzilla's 70th birthday with a year long film series at Digital Gems Cinema. This series , Godzilla Showa era , kicks off Sunday at noon with the original 1954 film. Kpbs arts reporter Beth Accomando helped program the series and speaks with Professor Remi Tadashi , who will be introducing the movies.

S4: I am. So Ramy , this is an exciting year for Godzilla fans because this is Godzilla's 70th birthday. And in honor of that , our Film Geeks group is going to be showing all 15 of the Showa era Godzilla films. And I have invited you to introduce each of the films. We're doing one program a month , and not only are you a fan , but you have actually talked about Godzilla , especially the first film , Gojira.

S5: Yeah , that's right. I teach the first film as part of Introduction to Japanese Cinema , and it's just a great way of talking about Japanese film in the 50s and the kinds of issues that it was dealing with , like the Jedi versus ninja conflict , which is like the conflict between the greater good versus pursuing your individual desires. Certainly the whole issue around the atomic age. One thing I do is I teach Godzilla in relation to Tokyo Story , but also film that both deal with the same sort of basic foundational theme , but in very , very different ways , which is the conflict between the traditional and the modern. And so , you know , that conflict gets expressed in very different ways in these two films. So it's a great film for teaching that , and it's just something that everyone really likes. And it appeals to people thinking that , wow , a movie like this was created back in 1954. And it's just , you know , a great entry point for talking about lots of things related to Japanese history and culture and of course , cinema , how cinema was developing at that time.

S4: Since you're going to be introducing each of these films , I don't want you to necessarily rehash what your first introduction will be this Sunday for Gojira and Godzilla Raids Again , but I wanted to talk about Godzilla in the sense of this is his 70th birthday. He has been around for a long time in a lot of movies , and most recently , at the end of last year , we had a new Toho Godzilla film in Godzilla minus one. That was a film that kind of connects back to the first movie. Gojira , and it's just interesting to see how Godzilla has managed to remain relevant and tackle interesting topics in ways that we don't always expect are like pop culture movies and pop culture icons to do so. Godzilla Minus one is set right after World War Two , and the main character is this kind of dishonored kamikaze pilot who did not fulfill one of his missions.

S5: Certainly that's where the first film started , but you keep seeing it in different iterations and different manifestations as the series goes through. It's like a continuous sort of thematic preoccupation that keeps coming back even than something like , I remember , um , the era when Godzilla fought the giant crayfish. There was a society , red bamboo , that captured the island and was trying to create their own , you know , some kind of atomic or nuclear weapon. That metaphor keeps changing , you know , in relation to what's happening in society. So when we had , for example , Godzilla versus destroyer , I think it was 95 , but let's just say the mid 90s , you know , it took the that fear , that anxiety around nuclear power. So it changed into a nuclear metaphor as opposed to the atomic metaphor from the atomic age in the 50s. What's interesting about the newest one , minus one , is how it's again , dealing with contemporary issues. But it set them back in the 50s , sort of like , you know , when you think of Altman in Mash , you know , that was set in the Korean War but was really about the Vietnam War. And it's kind of the it's kind of a similar thing. I think , you know , I love what Yamazaki did with that film. I mean , I think he's a great director. He wants to try and do something new and , and different. But the way that these ideas are presented. So , um , you know , one interview I read , this Yamazaki was that he really wanted to he he thought fear. He he focused on the horror aspect , the fear from the 1954 film and the way that it constructed and conveyed the sense of fear. And so the way he did it , it would have been really hard to do this , I think , back in the 50s convincingly. But he wanted to show really up close , you know , the people running from Godzilla and you see the feet , you know , slamming down , um , so that real visceral , you know , sense of fear that comes from the contact with the monster. So , yeah , just these different expressions , different manifestations of these fears realized in different ways.

S4: There's obviously some criticism of the US having dropped the bomb and criticism of the destructive power of it , but the film is also somewhat critical of Japan. Hand itself on certain levels in terms of politics and social mores and things like that , and it was an interesting additional layer to this film.

S5: Yeah , it's interesting how the films have always had this layer of criticism in their social cultural criticism , obviously going back to the first film , but even then , something like Godzilla versus the Smog Monster from the early 70s when pollution was a huge , you know , hot button issue because of something called Dream Island , that was an island that was created all out of garbage. And , you know , it attracted all these flies. And that sort of set off this whole debate about pollution. And so Godzilla took that on with this pollution monster. And so , you know , when you get to these , you know , more recent movies , you still have that social element. And yeah , I like how minus one took that on with , you know , the very critical of the effect that the government had upon and the government and their decisions and their actions add upon the ordinary person , which you saw in the original film , but in a different way. I mean , it was really kind of at the heart of a lot of what was happening in minus one and.

S4: Previous to minus one. We had another kind of reboot from Toho of Godzilla , which was Shin Godzilla. And in that one , again , the bomb takes on and the bomb and nuclear energy , nuclear weapons , all that kind of takes on some different resonance. And in this case , you have this kind of irony of Godzilla sort of representing the bomb in its destructive nature. But then the Japanese government possibly needing to get the U.S. help to destroy him. And again , for a pop entertainment film , this raised a lot of really interesting points. Yeah.

S5: Yeah. One thing I've always thought was interesting about dealing with this ultimate weapon issue in the Godzilla films , there was a move toward , I think , in the last two films , making it something less sort of less overtly reductive or the repercussions of it were limited. So , for example , when you look at the original 1954 film , The Oxygen Destroyer was it was this weapon of mass destruction. I mean , that the effects of it were were horrible. We felt that the fish getting skeletonized and , you know , the ripples , you know , in the ocean that it caused , um , and obviously with the flash of Godzilla. So it was a very destructive weapon. Whereas in the last two films. So in Shin Godzilla , I think the method was to freeze Godzilla. That was sort of like the ultimate solution. So again , it's not as overtly catastrophic. The damage is very limited that you cause when you try to deal with Godzilla. And likewise , in this film , I remember there was a the most recent film minus one. There was a really key theme where Noda , the engineer , a guy who came up with a plan to get rid of Godzilla , there was he had a really big speech saying , no , we're going to do this. And , you know , no one's going to get hurt. We have no casualties. So that was like a big , a big thing for him. So that shift , I think , is interesting in looking at these depictions of this kind of ultimate solution , this ultimate.

S4: Weapon we mentioned , this is Godzilla's 70th birthday.

S5: In looking at these , you know , pop culture series that have this kind of longevity , I think about things like James Bond as one Doctor Who , the British series is another one , and then Godzilla , these things that , you know , have this long lifespan. And I think the central character is in each of these things , you know , has a very basic set of characteristics. So it's simple enough that you can take this template and apply it to , you know , whatever is , you know , sort of the milieu of the time and the zeitgeist of the time. And you can just see how do those basic characteristics map on to whatever's going on at the time , and then just let that character go , see , okay , here's this character in the 50s and the 60s , 70s , whatever. And how would they deal with that ? The character is not locked into any particular. Again , milieu. Or it's like Geist. It's there's enough flexibility that you can just take this character , put it into any decade and just sort of let it run loose and see what happens. And so that's part of , you know , Star Trek longevity again , James Bond , that's something similar. And to that list you can add Godzilla.

S4: Well you mentioned not locked in. And one of the things that changes for Godzilla in an interesting way is sometimes he is the villain as he is in Minus one , stomping through Japan , wreaking havoc , and sometimes he is the one defending the planet that we need to save us from. Monster Zero or whatever is coming to attack. And it's amazing that he's been able to bounce back and forth in that way and maintain a really devoted following.

S5: Yeah , I think of Batman in that sense that on one hand you've got , you know , The Dark Knight Returns , you have the very dark , you know , the Christopher Nolan's films. On the other hand , you've. Got the Adam West series and , you know , people who are Batman fans or equally fans of both of these versions of the characters , they coexist simultaneously. And Godzilla is something similar to that , isn't it ? You've got , you know , the original 1954 MK. You'll be very , you know , serious takes on the character , but then you have Final Wars at the same time. So that character is flexible enough that , you know , it makes space for any kind of interpretation. And if you're a fan of the thing , you know , you you embrace it all. But part of the fun of it and part of the longevity.

S4: Of it , I think as a kid , I always looked at him as like a bully who he was the only one allowed to stomp Tokyo. Anybody else who came to try and do it , he would fight them off with , you know , great vengeance. But if the outside nemesis went away , then he was back to his old stomping ground.

S5: Yeah , there is a territory. There is kind of a territoriality to it. He's he's like , um , it's like he's like an outdoor cat or something like that , and that's them.

S4: And although you are a professor and an academic , people don't need to be afraid that your presentations are going to be dry. You already have PowerPoints and trivia and like , just wonderful kind of memorabilia and memories of Godzilla to kind of sprinkle through these presentations.

S5: Yeah , I just I don't want to take a dry approach to this. I mean , I want to make it fun. I want to , you know , make it informational and educational. But those don't have to be , you know , dry , pejorative words. You know , it's going to be fun. I want to focus on , um , you know , how history , how culture affected the ways that these films came out , mixing that with , you know , some really deep dives into different types of trivia about how the films were made , technology that went into making the films. So , for example , how changes in the suit making technology , how did that affect the performances of the actors ? You know , look at that. We'll look at how did Inside Industry sort of grow out of Godzilla ? So like the toy industry , the publishing industry , what were some of the outcomes there ? And how did those things add to the the development of this Godzilla fandom ? And part of that longevity that we were talking about earlier. So , yeah , it'll be a a fun , wide ranging assortment of topics that I'll touch on.

S4: Well , I am looking forward not only to seeing some of these films for the first time on a big screen , but to see what kind of insights you will bring to each of the movies. Yeah , I'm.

S5: Looking forward to it. It'll be fun. Thank you.

S1: That was Beth Accomando speaking with Professor Raimi. Tadashi , the Godzilla film series they are co-presenting kicks off this Sunday at noon at Digital Gym Cinema in East Village. Coming up , Kpbs Arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans joins us with this weekend's calendar and a look at a new exhibit.

S3: We can kind of see this this sort of community of of artists that are curious , that are questioning the sort of legacies in and histories of their own practices in the this kind of modern , this modern world that we're in.

S1: You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. Welcome back. You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. For our weekend preview , we have a music and art takeover of An Unlikely Space , a hit Broadway revival , and plenty more. Joining me with all the details is Kpbs arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans. Julia , welcome.

S6: Hey , Jade. Thanks for having me.

S1: So glad to have you here. So Project Blank has an annual event called Working Title that's both an art installation and performances of dance and music. And it's also taking over as much of the cathedral as they could. What do you know ? Yeah.

S6: So Project Blank , they're a nonprofit musical performance group , and they focus on new and contemporary music. And every year they do this collaborative project where they bring in visual artists with their performers. And it is three nights with these immersive art installations from dozens of artists from the region. And then different performances each night from musicians and experimental sound artists and also dancers , and they take over the space.

S1: And this is Saint Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Bankers Hill.

S6: The the artists were asked to create works that look at the connections between the earthly and the worldly , and then also this general sense of the divine. So there are pieces about ancestors and elders. There are pieces about religious upbringing and some about monsters , and some about ghosts too. And I talked to the co-curator artist , Diana Benavides , about this. You may know her as an artist who's been working almost exclusively with pinatas as her medium for years , and she said that it it was really interesting to see how the setting this church space played out. In one sense , it was this way for artists to kind of challenge what we traditionally think of is as a use for a sacred space.

S1: And artist Diana Benavides co-curated this year's event with Project Blanks Lesley-ann Latham. And you had a chance to talk with him both. So let's take a listen to that interview.

S6: Leslie , can you start by giving us the origin story of this program working title ? Yeah.

S3: So in , um.

S6: In our first.

S3: Season in 2020 , we were programming shows at Saint James by the sea , which is where I work as a staff singer. Yeah , I wanted to to find a way to fill and fill the space , not just with sound , which is , you know , my , my practice as a musician , but to just make it feel like it could come alive a little bit more and feel like the that the church were activated in ways that it might not normally be activated. And so I put out a few calls to some of my friends , including Diana , and asked if they had any pieces that they'd like to show that maybe they were doing work , or had ideas about pieces that might kind of contemplate belief or ritual or any of these sorts of like big , big yeah films , topical questions about their history with belief or any of that. Um , and a bunch of , of everybody said yes. And so we , we , uh , felt say James with from floor to ceiling with as many art pieces and , um , music performances , I could as I could come up with. Then after pandemic , um , we wanted to revisit the , the idea again , and this new space became available to us and we we just dove right in and started started making it again.

S6: Diana , you were brought on to help curate the series artists and the production.

S7: I've always been very curious and interested in , you know , doing curatorial work never happened until this moment. And so having the experience of gathering people together , being curious about what artists are doing , and I found this opportunity to not only grow my network , but also grow my skills. So , um , I was very interested in the idea of expanding the artists to not only show local works from San Diego , but also including works and artists from across the border from Tijuana and the the. It was just a great opportunity to kind of have it more more of a transborder feel. So yeah , it was it's been a really lovely experience to work with Leslie and the rest of the project length team.

S6: Diana , is there is there maybe 1 or 2 works in the show that are kind of representative pieces of art in the show that you can tell us about ? Yes.

S7: So we're really. Excited to have. I believe there are three artists from Ensenada. One of them is Estelle Rubio. She's an artist who's going to be doing this ? Uh , it's like a three piece , you know , art installation , performance. So there's like the art installation component , which is a piece called Rituals to Relinquish the Body. And one of the aspects is obviously the art installation. Then there's going to be a performative aspect and a musical component. So that's a really interesting way to activate the cathedral with these like three different , you know , components that I'm really excited for. I'm also very excited for an artist who's local. She's an up and coming artists. Her name is India Thompson. She's a ceramicist. She's interested in , you know , creating this kind of like a labyrinth style inspired piece where visitors can actually be part of the installation by removing their feet and stepping into this like tiles that have textures that kind of , like , grounds you into the the space. But yeah , but we have tons of talent from both sides of the border that I'm really excited to see.

S6: And Leslie , what can you tell us about some of the music ? Uh , each night is slightly different , but each seems to be this mix of of traditional instruments and choirs and then more experimental sounds , whether it be electronics or one I see here is water droplets. Sure.

S3: Sure. So with this year in the expansion of working title , we had a large number of proposals. And so instead of limiting the number of performers to just for performances that repeat each night , I wanted to include as many as we could. And so there was a wide variety , as you mentioned , of types of music being performed , some that are more traditionally played , but most involve some sort of electronic element or improvisation or , yeah , water droplets. So that piece specifically is a percussion solo. And the percussionist is Kosuke Matsuda. He is a graduate student at UCSD. And this piece , there are these glass tubes that are laid on the floor that have microphones and are amplified. And then above it there's this system , this like rig a rack basically where he will dip pieces of cloth in water and then hang them on the rack like you're kind of hanging laundry. And the water droplets kind of fall , of course , at their own speeds. Um , on these different glass tubes that are , that are pitched to different pitches. And so over the course of the piece , the droplets create this beautiful , this beautiful , kind of like chimes. These beautiful wind chimes. But it's using water. Such a beautiful kind of meditative piece. It's it's really it's mesmerizing.

S6: And I also want to talk about the collaborations between visual and performing artists , these these interdisciplinary projects. Leslie , what is the draw there for you and how do you feel ? It influences art and maybe even the audience.

S3: So the relationship between kind of contemporary visual artists and contemporary music practices , I think. I think we're all interrogating our world around us and in similar ways. We're asking kind of similar questions about space or time , the body. Um , and so I think that in bringing these practices together , we can kind of see this , this sort of community of , of artists that are curious , that are questioning the sort of legacies and , and histories of their own practices in the this kind of modern , this modern world that we're in. We work together , we collaborate together. And so it just seems like a no brainer that we that we should do more. There should be more presentations of music and visual art instead of kind of keeping everybody in their little silos that , I mean , why not ? I don't see why not.

S1: That was Diana Benavidez and Lesley Ann Latham , curators of Project Blank's working title. It runs Thursday , Friday and Saturday nights from 6 to 10 at Saint Paul's Cathedral. And we're talking about weekend arts events with Julia Dixon Evans.

S6: In addition to it being free admission , they also have some special events and offerings. The first one this week is their usual play day activities for families and kids. There's going to be a kid friendly tour of the museum and storytimes , and then also a chance for kids to make do some art making. They're doing a color. Field inspired painting project on canvas the whole day. The play day runs from 10 to 1 and then from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.. Artist ML junior is having a pop up activation in X-Line court , which is kind of this big indoor space off to the side of the lobby imagines this really immersive artist , and her work deals with the body. She often prints photography directly onto huge , sheer textiles , and she sometimes zooms way in , so it's not even clear that you're looking at a photograph rather than just colors or shadows. And this is a collaboration between the shop at the museum and Herron Hughes , and they're launching a limited series of merch like clothing and gear with McKinney , and the artist will also perform a live DJ set at the event.

S1: All right. Sounds like a lot of fun. Let's shift gears to Broadway. The 1970s soul adaptation of The Wizard of Oz called The Wiz is finally having a revival , but before it goes back to Broadway , the production is coming here. So tell us about these shows this weekend. This is something I'm really looking forward to.

S6: So this is called a pre-Broadway tour , which sounds a little strange because this musical has already been on Broadway several times , but this is the official revival. It's been 40 years since it was last on Broadway. That was in 1984. I'm going to play you a clip from is On Down the Road from The Wiz.

UU: He must die tomorrow. Don't you care ? I might be among some people. He won't die. He's on time. He's on time. Come on. He's on down. He's on down low. Don't you ? In Athens. I might be alone.

S6: So this is a soul , funk and R&B inspired retelling of The Wizard of Oz , and it tells the story through the lens of contemporary black culture. We follow Dorothy as she gets swept away from her farm and her family during a tornado , only to end up in the Land of Oz. She meets the munchkins , learns about the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch , and meets the lion , the Scarecrow , the Tin Man , and they all take off to find the Wizard to try to rescue each other , and this is on stage at the Civic Theatre through Sunday. Their performances every night , plus matinees on Saturday and Sunday.

S1: Yeah , I mean , The Wiz was certainly a classic that I grew up with , so that should be a lot of fun.

S6: There's performances from Rebecca Jade , saxophonist Wil Denardo , bassist Daryl William , and a bunch more. And then switching gears in indie rock Inland Empire , Pity Party Girl Club. They're playing at Soma on Saturday night. This is their track. I hope that you think of me.

UU: I hope that you think of me. Maybe you know that you're driving me crazy. Ah , I think I'm falling out of love.

S1: Yeah , lots to look forward to. You can find details on these and more arts events , or sign up for Julia's weekly arts newsletter at Kpbs Naugatuck. I've been speaking with Kpbs Arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans. As always , thank you so much for coming on.

S6: Thanks for having me.

UU: Happy to see. You.

S8: You.

UU: Be with me. But you've got. To have time.

S1: Thanks for joining us. Hey , listen , I'd love to hear from you. What are you curious about ? What would you like to hear a show about ? Give us a call at (619) 452-0228. You can leave a message or you can email us at midday at pbs.org. Don't forget to watch Evening Edition tonight at five for in-depth reporting on San Diego issues. And the roundtable is here tomorrow at noon. If you ever miss a show , you can find Kpbs Midday Edition wherever you listen to podcast. And before I go , I'd like to thank the Midday Edition team. Arianna Clay , whose fellowship with us ends this week. We've enjoyed having her remarkable help on the show and wish her the best. Our producing team is Giuliana Domingo , Andrew Bracken and Brooke Ruth. Arts segment contributors are Beth Accomando and Julia Dixon Evans. Technical producers are Ben Red Lusk and Rebecca Chacon. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for listening and have a great rest of the week. Everyone.