S.D. Arts & Culture Newsletter: Natalie Merchant to deliver more ‘Merch moments’ at Humphrey’s

Natalie Merchant performs in New York in 2018.

This week, four shows to catch at the San Diego International Fringe Festival, a remount of the musical ‘Pásale Pásale’ and more

May 23, 2024 5:30 AM PT

I call them my “Merch Moments,” musical memories of Natalie Merchant (that’s a lot of alliteration) that I’ve acquired over the years.

The first would be back in her 10,000 Maniacs days and the release of the band’s album “Blind Man’s Zoo” in 1989. Amid all the predominant darkness on the record was the song “Trouble Me,” which Merchant wrote for her then-hospitalized father. It was here that I realized Merchant possessed a distinctive vocal style worth paying attention to.

Next came 1993 when Merchant and REM’s Michael Stipe headlined the Inaugural Ball for the newly installed President Bill Clinton. That’s when Merchant’s “These Are Days” would become my favorite of her songs. Still is.

Of course, there’s the first time I saw Merchant live in concert — in 1999 at Copley Symphony Hall. A wonderful show with one overly cutesy glitch: “spontaneously” bringing a concertgoer’s child up onto the stage to sing with her. Had to be a plant.

One more Merch Moment: the Cowboy Junkies’ album and accompanying film “Trinity Revisited” captured inside the Church of the Trinity in Toronto. Merchant, at her brooding best and performing with a band that broods like few others can, joins Margo Timmins and company on “Misguided Angel” and “To Love Is To Bury.”

Merchant, now in her 40th year in the music business, is at Humphrey’s on Shelter Island Saturday and Sunday nights. I didn’t score a ticket before the show sold out, but that’s all right. I’ve got my trove of Merchant Moments.

Fringe festival

Join the club if you’ve never heard of Connie Converse. Google her, though, and you’ll discover that this woman born Elizabeth Eaton Converse in New Hampshire in 1924 is widely credited by scholars and performers of folk music as being the first modern singer-songwriter. Better yet, hear her music in person.

Actor/musician Hope Levy says she only discovered Converse two years ago, but since last May she’s been telling Connie’s story in music and song. Her solo cabaret show “The Connie Converse Universe” is a definite highlight of the ongoing San Diego International Fringe Festival.

It begins with a question: Why did this gifted though enigmatic woman climb into her VW bug at the age of 50 and drive away, never to be heard from again?

Levy performs 16 songs in 50 minutes at the New Destiny Church in Lincoln Park. Shows upcoming: Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. Tickets must be purchased online at sdfringe.org.

More Fringe

A scene from Riot Productions' "Audition Sides" at the San Diego International Fringe Festival.

The most polished piece I saw last weekend at the Fringe (which ends on Sunday) was Riot Productions’ “Audition Sides,” a world-premiere tale about two married ex-lovers who find themselves auditioning together for a show. The insider actors stuff (cold readings, warmup exercises, etc.) is the most fun, though there are many searing relationship moments to savor as well.

You can catch “Audition Sides” at 9 p.m. Saturday at Wildsong Theatre and Arts Collective (formerly OB Playhouse) in Ocean Beach. For tickets and details, visit sdfringe.org.

Still more Fringe

Swordplay in "Pirates of Hamlet" at the San Diego International Fringe Festival.

If you’re into swordplay and silliness, you’ll want to see Nicolas A. Castillo’s “Pirates of Hamlet,” a costumed comedy that also features puppets and a two-headed judge. Even Shakespeare might chuckle at this one. “Pirates” happens at No Limits Church in Lincoln Park at 9 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday.

One more recommendation: comedian Mark Vigeant’s “The Best Man Show,” which should put the zaniest wedding reception memory you’ve got to shame by comparison. It’s the gift of a drunken toast that keeps on giving. The show reprises at 10:30 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday in the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theatre in Balboa Park. Don’t bring the kiddies.

For a complete rundown on the Fringe Festival go to sdfringe.org.

Theater

A scene from TuYo Theatre's musical "Pásale Pásale."

I first saw TuYo Theatre’s interactive musical “Pásale Pásale” outdoors on the UC San Diego campus at last month’s La Jolla Playhouse’s Without Walls (WOW) Festival and it turned my head around completely about swap meets. They really are slices of life.

Now the immersive, Latinx-centric “Pásale Pásale” is being staged indoors, at Bayfront Charter High School in Chula Vista. Performances begin on Wednesday and will continue through June 30.

For more about “Pásale Pásale,” read Union-Tribune Arts Editor Pam Kragen’s March story on its director, Maria Patrice Amon: Theater artist Maria Patrice Amon aims to expand the Latinx narrative.

U-T arts stories you may have missed this past week

Artist James Hubbell photographed in 2013 in his art studio in Santa Ysabel.

UCTV

University of California Television invites you to enjoy this special selection of programs from throughout the University of California. Descriptions courtesy of and text written by UCTV staff:

“’My Reality is Different’ with Nalini Malani”

Nalini Malani, the 2023 Kyoto Prize Laureate in arts and philosophy, stands as a trailblazer among India’s video artists. In this program, Malani talks about her extensive use of diverse mediums, including theater videos and mixed media installations. Her technique incorporates stop-motion, erasure animations, reverse paintings, and digital animations. Profoundly influenced by her family’s migration during the partition of India, Malani’s artwork also confronts significant feminist themes. Her latest installation, “My Reality is Different,” employs the myth of Cassandra — a prophetess whose truths were disregarded — to symbolize the often-overlooked insights of the female psyche. Through this metaphor, Malani advocates for a societal shift towards more humane civilizational values.

“An Anti-Semitic Double Murder: The Forgotten History of Right-Wing Terrorism in Postwar West Germany”

On Dec. 19, 1980, Shlomo Lewin, former chairman of the Jewish community in Nuremberg, and his partner Frida Poeschke were tragically murdered in their Erlangen home. Initially, investigators focused on Lewin’s social circle rather than pursuing connections to the right-wing extremist group Wehrsportgruppe Hoffmann. As part of UCSD’s Holocaust Living History Workshop, German historian Uffa Jensen meticulously reconstructs this crime and explores its underlying motives. His research reveals a disturbing history of violence, trivialization, and repression that persists today. Jensen, an expert in modern history, also holds the position of deputy director at the Centre for Research on Antisemitism at the Technische Universität in Berlin.

“Ixiles: Voices from the Shadow of Time’”

Filmmaker Alejandro M. Flores Aguilar and moderator Giovanni Batz explore the film “Ixiles: Voices from the Shadows of Time,” which highlights the historical resilience of Guatemala’s Indigenous Ixil community. Aguilar discusses the project’s inception, influenced by the Ixil’s enduring struggle against oppression, particularly during Guatemala’s civil war. The conversation addresses the complexities of ethnographic research, emphasizing the ethical responsibilities of documenting vulnerable groups. Additionally, they consider the future of anti-colonial resistance and the role of academia and media in advocating for Indigenous rights. This discussion not only illuminates the film’s context but also broader issues of cultural preservation and resistance.