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Covello & Covello Historical Photo Collection Lionel Hampton at the Theatre Del Mar: Lionel Hampton and Santa Cruz High School students posed for this shot in the Theatre Del Mar on Sept. 20, 1960. They called their group Corny and the Corvettes. Left to right, it's Dick Yount, later to be part of the hit group Harper's Bizarre; Lionel Hampton, jazz legend and Republican too; Corny Bumpus on sax, who went on to the Doobie Brothers; Gary Schultz and Danny Long. Jim Scott, who played piano with the Corvettes, missed the photo shoot. The lettering on the Del Mar office door is being considered by the Friends of the Theatre Del Mar in their restoration plans. Bruce Bratton THE DEL MAR GALA. There's no way I can sum up all that's happening outside and inside the Theatre Del Mar on this Gala reopening night starting with the closure of the Del Mar block at 4:30pm this Saturday. Music, woodies, collector car classics, the Santa Cruz High School Marching Band, red carpet, searchlights, the usher/usherette reunion, the first illumination of the entire Del Mar marquee lighting system, and of course, Beverly Roberts, the star of China Clipper, the 1936 film that opened the Theatre Del Mar in August of 1936. The movie star look-alike contest keeps getting bigger and bigger. Be sure to be there to see what should be the wildest collection of characters ever collected on Pacific Avenue. Yes, all tickets to the reception and showing of China Clipper are sold out and you were warned, but come down to the great celebration so you can tell your grandchildren you were at this genuine historic and important event. DARK PLEASURES. I was hoping for at least some great effects or nutso humor by seeing Queen of The Damned, no such luck. I just hope Anne Rice got a lot of money for letting her vampire book get trashed so thoroughly. Kevin Costner as an actor isn't any better in Dragonfly than in any of his other films and the film is bad too. Too bad all the tickets to the one showing of China Clipper are sold out. History enthusiasts will miss seeing actual aerial shots of a China Clipper flying over the half-completed Golden Gate Bridge and the also unfinished Bay Bridge. China Clipper viewers will see Beverly Roberts in a very unusual gutsy woman's role as Pat O' Brien's wife in this film. MY PEOPLE ENDORSEMENTS. As I've said many times before, Mardi Wormhoudt has been and will continue to be not just an excellent Third District supervisor but a committed protector of our precious North Coast. She was a great Santa Cruz mayor; she's united and helped create many strong neighborhood organizations in her district in her years as supervisor. With the enormous pressure from developers to make fortunes from our county, we can't afford electing either of her opponents. Vote for Mardi Wormhoudt for Third District supervisor. Assistant DA Don Gartner called me to say how great Kate Canlis is and how awful Bob Lee would be as district attorney. Gartner suggested I call certain people in the DA's office to verify that. I did one better: I called many, many attorneys, judges and folks I've known for years who work in and with the DA's office. Every one of them agreed that Bob Lee would be far superior to Canlis and that it's time to end her divisive interoffice politics. I'm voting for Bob Lee. Just for conscience's sake, I'm writing in Fred Keeley for governor. Other votes are Cruz Bustamente for lt. governor, Kevin Shelley for secretary of state, Johan Klehs for controller, Angelides for treasurer, Lockyer for attorney general, Garamendi for insurance commissioner, John Laird for state Assembly, naturally, and of course Sam Farr for Congress. Jack O'Connell for state superintendent of public instruction, and the rest only have one person running. If you're a Democrat, vote for Bill Malone, Joyce Malone and Brian Murtha for Third District county committee and Paul Elerick for Second District county committee. MY MEASURE ENDORSEMENTS. Vote yes on 40, the clean water measure; yes on 41 for voting modernization; no on 42 .the gas sales tax allotment; yes on 43, about counting votes; yes on chiropractors and their conduct; 45 is a yes about term limits. Vote NO on L and save our community services; yes on C and yes on D to help our local schools. TWO FINE PLAYS. The Pisces Moon production of The Laramie Project at the Broadway Playhouse is every bit as good as all the reviews say it is. Susan Myer directed it and the cast does an amazing job in some incredibly challenging roles. It plays though March 16. Call 429.2339 and don't miss it. It's also on HBO this weekend sometime. If you're easily offended by nudity and really funny gay jokes don't go see The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. It's a "funny look at creation, religion, and sexuality" written by Paul Rudnick, directed by Danny Scheie and presented by the UCSC Theater Arts Department. I haven't heard so much laughing from an audience in many years. It closes this weekend, so hurry, call 459.2159 for tickets. MORE CULTURE NOTES. Get tickets immediately for Laurie Anderson, who'll be at the Civic Sunday, March 10, at 8pm, presented by UCSC Arts & Lectures. She's doing a new solo work titled Happiness; it has original narratives with her music behind it, and not as much technology as her other originals. Laurie worked at an NYC McDonald's and a Mennonite farm as a spy to get material for this work. She'll be in Berkeley for two nights just before this with ticket prices about double what they are here. Call the Civic box office at 420.5260. That's the only place you can buy nonsubscription tickets. The Players Group, the local theater company that brought us Black Eyes and Teresa and Other Stories, is doing Marco Polo, an original play about Mr. Polo's own book Description of the World. It'll play March 9, 10, 16 and 17 at the Four-Eighteen Project on Front Street. Black Eyes was so good (I missed Teresa) that I'm betting Marco Polo will be equally excellent. Tickets at 831.515.4480. [ Santa Cruz | Metroactive Central | Archives ]