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Return Run By Karen Reardanz SCOTTS VALLEY PERFORMING ARTS scored a casting coup recently. When theater company president Jon Rosen was planning the upcoming production of The Little Shop of Horrors, he came across the website of Mel Welles, the actor who portrayed the florist Gravis Mushnik in Roger Corman's 1960 spoof. Conversations with the retired actor followed, and Rosen convinced Welles to once again take up the role of Mushnik in Scotts Valley's April production. Welles' involvement in the local Little Shop will be a benefit for the fledgling theater group. Saturday matinees will be sans Welles, so those curious about seeing his stage return should check which shows he'll be in. Acting Lessons UCSC alum Adilah Barnes returns to her old academic stomping grounds on Thursday, March 11, but this time for a dramatic offering. The actress--whose credits since leaving UCSC include a five-year stint on Roseanne and parts in major films like Bulworth and Basic Instinct--will bring a condensed version of her one-woman play, I Am That I Am: Woman, Black, a work about black women, power and inspiration, to the Cowell Dining Hall. The evening is free and starts at 6:45pm. Barnes will also be on hand following the show to answer questions and talk with the audience. Odds at the End Shakespeare Santa Cruz, which is beginning the preparatory hoopla for its upcoming season, is kicking off the festivities with its Masked Ball. Yes, the night of dinner and dancing is not until April 23, but it's best to get those tickets early. Until March 30, they're a bargain $100 a person; after that they go up to $125. Call 459-4697 for info. One note: The meeting about Rosie McCann's entertainment license will be on Thursday, March 25, at 7:30pm. Got tips? Send arts gossip to [email protected] or call 457-9000. [ Santa Cruz | MetroActive Central | Archives ]