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Broadway at the Civic

The Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium will host one-night stagings of three hugely popular Broadway shows in the next few months.

A traveling production of Jonathan Larson’s enormously popular "Rent" will alight at the Civic on Dec. 10.

As many pop-culture watchers know, "Rent" won both the Pulitzer and the Tony in 1996. Neither honor was experienced, however, by the play’s playwright — Larson died unexpectedly of an aneurysm shortly after the play’s final dress rehearsal.

Tickets for "Rent" go on sale Monday at the Civic box office. Expect tickets in the $25 to $45 range.

Following "Rent," similar road shows of "Grease" (Jan. 2) and "Saturday Night Fever" (Feb. 4) will come to the Civic. For information, call 420-5260.

Still Here Now

Anybody who wants to show support for the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana should have a baby-sitter (or pet-sitter) lined up.

You have a date tonight: at the Rio for the screening of Mickey Lemle’s "Fierce Grace," a documentary on the life and times of RAM DASS.

The film screening is a benefit for WAMM, the Santa Cruz-based collective that made national headlines as the object of a DEA bust in September.

Ram Dass is the former Richard Alpert, who achieved counterculture fame in the 1960s for his widely publicized firing from Harvard University when he and fellow academic Timothy Leary experimented with LSD as a door into expanded consciousness.

Since then, as Lemle’s reverential and spirit-lifting film explains, Ram Dass has continued to explore the wider dimensions of the human experience without psychedelics.

"Fierce Grace" chronicles most of the ups and downs of Ram Dass’ amazing life, including his relationship with his father — a privileged and wealthy member of the establishment who became one of his son’s greatest admirers.

It also touches on the 1997 stroke that has made Ram Dass’ recent years a struggle against paralysis and speech aphasia.

The link with WAMM and the "war on drugs," which Ram Dass called in an interview with me last week, a "besmirch on the record of our culture"? He’s a medical marijuana patient himself.

"Fierce Grace" plays tonight at the Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. Tickets are $20, and proceeds go to WAMM. Event organizers expect Ram Dass to make a personal appearance after the film. Details: 423-8209.

Benefit bonanza

The WAMM benefit is only one event asking for your support this weekend.

The Kuumbwa Jazz Center holds a big gala on Saturday to keep the non-profit jazz club healthy.

The dangling-carrot in this case is wine, lots of it. Sure, there’ll be a jazz trio playing. But the attraction is an auction of fine wines from California wineries. Tickets are $100. Details: 427-2227.

There’s also the benefit for the victims of a terrorist attack in Bali on Sunday, and the benefit for Salud Para La Gente on Friday (see the stories in today’s Guide).

Secure your place in heaven: don’t just pick one, pick more than one.

What does the X stand for?

East Bay vocalist AMY X NEUBURG calls herself a cabaret singer, but it’s doubtful what she does would be recognized by Edith Piaf fans.

Neuburg sings a brand of cabaret, musical-theater pop, but with a technological twist.

As one of the rising figures of the West Coast musical avant-garde, Neuburg sings polyrhythmic lines and melodies — she also plays percussion — then uses looping technology to combine them into a richly textured whole.

Looping is a technological phenomenon that has been on prominent display in Santa Cruz in recent months, and Neuburg was part of the Santa Cruz Looping Festival.

"In general, what I do is short-form music," Neuburg says. "I call them ‘songs,’ but they’re very experimental both in composition and performance. I’ll do a wide vocal range from what I call avant- cabaret to low rock ’n’ roll belting."

With a master’s degree in electronic music from Mills College in Oakland, Neuburg is trained to adapt her musical talents to emerging technology, and she’s always on the lookout for the latest electronica "toys."

She appears at the Cayuga Vault on Friday along with Estradasphere’s resident musical genius JOHN WHOOLEY and his side project WHOOLILICIOUS.

Oh, and what does that X stand for?

"Nothing," she says. "My parents didn’t give me a middle name, so I adopted the X."

The X was inspired by the mysterious Racer X in the old "Speed Racer" cartoons. Those of us who grew up in the 1970s know exactly what she’s talking about.

Tickets are $10 at the door. The Cayuga Vault is at 1100 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. Details: 421-9471.

Viva la France

Veteran actress FRANCE NUYEN, who made her film debut back in 1958 in the film version of "South Pacific," will visit Santa Cruz the weekend of Nov. 23 and 24.

As a player in one of the more memorable episodes of "Star Trek," she will make an appearance at Atlantis Fantasy World on Saturday, Nov. 23.

The next day, over at the Nickelodeon, Nuyen will host a special screening of Wayne Wang’s 1993 hit, "The Joy Luck Club," in which she stars.

The 63-year-old Nuyen — of French and Vietnamese ancestry — was a regular on several TV series, including "Santa Barbara," "St. Elsewhere." and "I Spy," which starred her then-husband Robert Culp.

Pac Rim report

First reports from this year’s five-day Pacific Rim Festival, which closed Tuesday, were glowing. MORTON MARCUS, one of the central figures in the free film festival, said that evening screenings were jammed to capacity at the Del Mar, including Sunday’s screening of "Sons of Hawaii," the only screening that charged admission. (The $12 ticket price went to benefit the film festival.)

Looks like a tradition has been reborn.

Contact Wallace Baine atwbaine@santa-cruz.com.

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