ON Culture | Movie Discount Mania, Pride Fest, and Pool-Less Pool Parties

ON The (Music) Stage

Keep an eye out for indie artist Nicole Sophia this weekend; she’ll be showcasing her new single “Pancakes” (from her debut EP Reveal Your Heart) onstage at the Pacific Pride Festival on Saturday, August 26, at approximately 2 p.m. An openly queer singer-songwriter, Nicole Sophia’s music tells the story of her personal journey of self-discovery and embracing vulnerability, as well as self-described badassery. Also hitting the stage at the Fest (11 a.m.–7 p.m. at Chase Palm Park Field) are DJ Darla Bea, Calypso Jetè Balmain, LG Team Genius, the Vivian Storm Experience, Santa Barbara Gay Men’s Chorus, and the La Boheme Dancers, among others. Visit PacificPrideFoundation.org for all of the scoop. 

One805LIVE! is heading our way on September 22 with an amazing benefit concert for our Santa Barbara County first responders. It will be headlined by Maroon 5, who is donating 100 percent of their performance to the cause, with more performers to be announced soon. Not only that, the Grammy-winning band will join the party at Kevin Costner’s oceanside estate in Summerland. I’ll have a full story about the work of the organization soon, but tickets are available here now. In addition, there’s an online auction leading up to the event, featuring a whole slew of fun stuff — everything from signed guitars from Robby Krieger (The Doors), Katy Perry, Kevin Costner, Maroon 5, and Elliot Easton (The Cars); a signed drum from Travis Barker and one from Danny Seraphine; a VIP Depeche Mode concert experience; and a luxury cruise from the Dominican Republic, St. Barts, Antigua, the Virgin Islands, and much more. Click here to bid and get in on giving back for a good cause! 

ON The (Dance) Stage

I’m looking forward to Sunday’s joyful performance of “Dancing Out Loud,” a free public event presented by award-winning dancer, choreographer, and deaf artist and advocate Antoine Hunter and members of the Urban Jazz Dance Company, which he founded. Taking place on August 27 at 5 p.m. and again at 5:30 p.m. at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art front terrace, Hunter describes his piece by saying it  “puts the capital D in Deaf, representing power, culture, and strength.” The public performance accompanies the current (and excellent) exhibition The Private Universe of James Castle: Drawings from the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation and James Castle Collection and Archive. Read Josef Woodard’s story about the exhibition here. 

ON The Page

Scribe alert: If you’re a Santa Barbara County author who would like to see your book on our library shelves, the Santa Barbara Public Library System offers a small display area at the Central Library downtown for local authors who want to make their work available to library patrons (woo-hoo)! “This collection is designed to give new and emerging writers, especially those whose books are not yet widely reviewed or stocked by libraries and bookstores, an opportunity to be read by other members of their community,” said a library spokesperson. More details and the submittal form are here. 

Tracy Shawn and Michael Cregan will moderate a panel on “Inviting the Muse” on Friday, August 25, at 6:30 p.m. at the Fine Line Gallery at La Cumbre Plaza (near Pottery Barn). Panelists at the free event include singer-songwriter Dan Diamond; writer Janet Lucy (whose book The Three Sunflowers I wrote about recently); and Melinda Palacio, Santa Barbara Poet Laureate and our very own Poetry Connection columnist. 

Mark your calendars and get out your checkbooks (do people still have those?), because Planned Parenthood’s colossal Annual Book Sale (the 49th) will be back September 14-24 at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in the giant exhibit hall. The opening night festivities ($30, all other dates are free admission) get you first crack at titles like Why My Cat is More Impressive than Your Baby and Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. Click here to purchase tickets. And for more information about the whole shebang, visit booksale.ppcentralcoast.org.

Jane Hulse, whose name you may remember from the good years of the Santa Barbara News-Press, is signing her new book, Prisoner of Wallabout Bay, on Monday, September 11, at 6 p.m. at Chaucer’s Books. It’s a work of historical fiction, with the main character described as “a lowly apprentice at a newspaper where her foul-mouthed, ill-tempered boss keeps assigning her stories on ladies’ hair trends instead of the Revolutionary War intrigue she so wants to cover. Sarah’s relentless digging uncovers a story that nobody wants to even talk about, no less print. The British have set up decaying prison ships in the waters off New York. Risking everything, Sarah fights to expose rampant cruelty and wretched conditions, and in the process just happens to find love.” Sounds pretty interesting to me.

ON The (Big) Screen

In case you missed out on the Barbenheimer wave this summer, now’s your chance to hit a double feature at the lovely air-conditioned Metropolitan Theatres for National Cinema Day on Sunday, August 27. All of the Metropolitan Theatres locations in Santa Barbara and Goleta (which is basically ALL of the theaters in town other than the SBIFF-owned Riviera) will be participating in the one-day event, which celebrates movies and offers all seats at just $4 per ticket. Per the Metro team, “Moviegoers will be able to enjoy dozens of movies including new films opening this weekend like Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story, Golda, The Hill, and Retribution, current box office hits like Barbie, Oppenheimer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Blue Beetle, Strays, Meg 2: The Trench, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1, and Sound of Freedom, plus recent hits returns like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Little Mermaid, and Asteroid City.

ON The (Small) Screen

The wait is over: Deltopia the movie drops on digital and on demand on August 29 and it looks, well, absolutely nothing like the real Isla Vista. The late Olivia Newton-John was apparently a producer on the film, produced by Lionsgate. Starring Luna Blaise (Manifest, Fresh Off the Boat), Madison Pettis (He’s All That, The Game Plan, Cory in the House) and Charlie Gillespie (Julie and the Phantoms, Charmed, Degrassi: Next Class) the production description is: “Every spring break, tens of thousands of college kids descend upon Isla Vista, California, for Deltopia — the ultimate street party with no rules and no boundaries. Inspired by true events, Deltopia follows a group of recent high school grads who join the party, looking to celebrate their newfound freedom. But nothing can prepare these friends for Deltopia’s volatile mix of sex, drugs, and rebellion, as they unite for a life-changing adventure that brings exhilaration, heartbreak, and, ultimately, hope.”  Check out the trailer here. I don’t think I’m quite the target demo, but I am strangely curious about this one.

ON The Walls

There’s always something cool going on at CAW. Indy photographer Carl Perry’s show LUNCH is August 29 (see Josef Woodard’s story here), and following that is a group show, The Future That Never Came, featuring eight assemblage and collage artists exploring the show’s theme of retrofuturism — a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. Artist organizer Sue Van Horsen, inspired by sci-fi shows like Star Trek, Lost in Space, Gigantor and Jonny Quest is bringing together some of Santa Barbara’s coolest collage and assemblage artists for a 10-day show beginning September 15 at the Community Arts Workshop Gallery (CAW). Artists include: Adrienne De Guevara, Dan Le Vin, Michael Long, Jami Nielsen, Norm Reed, Dug Uyesaka, Frank Whipple, and Sue Van Horsen.

The Santa Barbara Sea Glass & Ocean Arts Festival Returns on September 9-10, and this time it’s coming to the Santa Barbara Elks Lodge (which is, confusingly, in Goleta). There’s sure to be all sorts of beautiful beach-inspired art and other treasures, as well as multiple artisans presenting workshops on how to transform your beachcombing booty into hand-crafted pieces. For more details, click here.

ON the Calendar

A Joystix and DJ Darla Bea dance party is always a joyful occasion, and Saturday’s (August 26) non-poolside pool dance party at 1129 State Street in the Mosaic Locale Courtyard is sure to be an ’80s-themed blast. Check out this link for tickets and more information about the “Totally ’80s Pool-Less Pool Party.” 

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