the epicenter

By WALLACE BAINE

OK, so it’s not an oil-rich Middle Eastern dictatorship, and Berlin Wall metaphors aren’t quite what we’re after here. But – cards on the table time – the Academy Awards show could do with a bit of revolution.

So let this serve as the “Mr. Oscar, tear down this format!” moment.

Hey, the Academy has already taken a few steps down that road already by expanding the Best Picture category to include 10 films instead of five. So, now that you already have the monkey wrench out, … I’m just sayin’.

First, the host. This year, the Oscars will be hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway, the former of which is actually nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. Both actors are dependent on the Academy for continuing what are already impressive young careers. Isn’t this just a bit too incestuous? Maybe the Academy wants hosts craven enough not to embarrass the industry, but we viewers need that surrogate figure on stage, someone on the outside, to provide the necessary frisson to cut through the pomposity.

For years, Oscar had its man in Johnny Carson, who was steeped in the entertainment industry, but not dependent on Oscar’s good graces for his career. But the Academy has burned through ever possible independent Carson-esque host since, deeming them all too dangerous. And now they’re just throwing ideas against the wall.

I know that the Academy would sooner burn down Beverly Hills than put up with a Ricky Gervais situation. But we viewers (and ticket buyers) should have a stake in this show too. Maybe it’s time to get all Tea Party on these folks. I say give Bill Maher or Tina Fey a 10-year contract and see what happens.

Next, Best Picture. Now that we’ve expanded Best Picture to 10 films, the wags claim that five of those nominees are losers right out of the gate, because they didn’t also receive Best Director nominations, which still number five.

Enough already with the “Best Picture ghetto” talk.

Expand Best Director to 10 films? No. Get rid of Best Director altogether, and allow the directors to receive the award for Best Picture, instead of the producers. This is an artistic award, let the artists get the statuette. Every year, at the end of the show, the big moment comes to anoint the best movie of the year, and we get to hear from six corporate guys we’ve never heard of, each thanking six more corporate people we don’t know. Best Picture and Best Director should be one.

As far as the nominations go, I think it’s high time the Academy allow for one wild card in each category, a sixth nominee determined by a write-in Internet poll. Don’t laugh. The baseball All-Star Game does it, and the world has continued in its orbit. It would be a hoot, would it not? Yes, I realize that it would give the Edward-vs.-Jacob hordes a foot in the door to the elitists’ party, and, yes, Shrek would probably get the Thalberg lifetime-achievement award. But so what? It’s called “fun,” Academy. Google it.

Next, kill Bruce Vilanch. Not literally, just his awful, painfully delivered jokes. If two multi-millionaire actors can’t banter with each other at a podium without reading canned gags from a “Hollywood Squares” hack, then they are all frauds and should be working at In ’N’ Out Burger.

My favorite part of the Oscars, weirdly enough, is the Memoriam Montage, that sentimental look back at all the film industry folks who have died over the past year. Don’t touch that. I say add another one. This one would be for all the actresses turning 40, since Hollywood law apparently decrees that they will surely be never heard from again – a career death reel, as it were. This year’s list includes Minnie Driver, Winona Ryder, Jennifer Connelly, Heather Graham and Queen Latifah. You can call it the Fonda (for Jane and Bridget) Montage.

Speaking of the “death reel,” it is usually put near the end of the broadcast to include all those who may have died during the show – that’s how long this awards show goes on. Something needs to be done about the show’s running time. Last year’s show was longer than Hanukkah. Twenty bucks says host James Franco is going to make some jokey connection between the show’s length and the name of his film “127 Hours.”

I suspect the show’s length is something of a public service. Most film fans are busy people. They don’t actually remember to catch all the relevant films, until they hear the opening theme of the Oscar telecast. That way, they still have time to jump in the car, go catch “True Grit” and that one with Marky Mark as a boxer and still get back in time to catch the important awards.

My solution? Start the show Sunday morning. The obsessives can catch every minute, but normal folks can cut to the chase just as they’re settling in for TV on Sunday evening.

Problem solved. The Revolution, in this case, Will Be Televised.

You’re welcome, Oscar.

By WALLACE BAINE

Every week, it seems, there’s another instant celebrity, someone who finds themselves launched from obscurity to world-wide fame faster than you can say “Joe the Plumber.”

This week’s lucky king of the short American attention span is IBM’s supercomputer Watson who appeared as a contestant on “Jeopardy” and wiped the floor with competitors who had previously been considered the best to ever give their answers in the form of a question. Free-lance alarmists tabbed it the beginning of the end of human domination over computers.

Sleazy media opportunist that I am, I jumped at the chance to land a phone interview with Watson. Thought I’d share that transcript:

Hello, is Watson available for a quick interview?

Sorry, no. Watson isn’t doing media interviews right now. He’s giving his algorithms a much-needed rest after a very exciting week. Besides, unless you want to know who starred in the title role of “Georgy Girl,” you’re not going to get much out of him, believe me.

And you are …?

I’m Bethany, Watson’s agent, publicist and, uh, partner.

Oh, so you’re Watson’s Watson, in an Arthur Conan Doyle sense.

That sounds clever, but, sorry. I don’t get the reference. I’m not a “Jeopardy” person.

Never mind … Wait, did you say “partner,” as in “girlfriend”?

We’re still working on the terminology.

But is Watson actually even a male, as we understand that word?

I’m not going to answer that.

O-kaaay. Let’s move on. So, I guess congratulations are in order. What does Watson think about the symbolism of his historic win on “Jeopardy,” that is, if robots are capable …

We don’t use the r-word. We want people to see that word for the belittling reductive slur that it is.

But, what is Watson if he’s not a rob–, uh “r-word”?

We prefer “massively parallel, probabilistic, evidence-based architecture,” if it’s all the same to you.

Wow, you don’t deal with the media much, do you? OK, so what are Watson’s reflections about his win on “Jeopardy”?

Well, we think it’s a watershed moment, obviously, for all Silicon-Americans in their long journey to be recognized as individuals deserving of equal treatment under the law. Frankly, we hope “Jeopardy” is a Berlin Wall moment in the relations between humans and computers.

Did you say “Silicon-Americans”? I mean, how many “massively parallel” whatevers are out there? Isn’t Watson really just a demographic of one?

No, not at all. Silicon-Americans are absolutely critical to the day-to-day operation of society, yet they’re still invisible to most people as self-determining individuals. Your cell phone, your iPod, your iPad, your GPS, your desktop, these are not merely your servants. They’re separate beings, deserving of your respect. And not until Watson has the computer community gained even a little bit of that respect from the Carbon-American community.

“Carbon-American”? Seriously?

You know, I should put out a FAQ. We’re wasting a lot of time wrestling with terms.

You’re right. Let’s move on. So, what’s life been like for Watson these last few days?

Well, it’s obviously changed tremendously. Right now, in fact, he’s getting a shiatsu massage with Mark Zuckerberg and some Facebook execs.

Why does a computer need a massage?

Well, the humans are getting the massages. Watson is getting a relaxing deep-tissue virus scan. Very high-end.

Sounds very relaxing.

Oh, it is. That’s just the kind of attention he’s getting all of a sudden. Just yesterday, some cute, pony-tailed Stanford undergrad offered to give him a comprehensive defrag. That kind of thing is to be expected, I suppose. I try not to be jealous.

Little trouble in paradise?

Well, this kind of relationship is very hard. There’s no playbook, y’know. Just last night, he was being unusually quiet and I urged him to spill, keep those lines of communication open. So, he gives me a data dump that lasted more than three hours. I won’t do that again.

So, what’s next for Watson?

We are weighing offers, exploring options. We have some nice high-visibility opportunities on the table. There’s Letterman, of course. We’re thinking about doing a mock “Jeopardy” round with Justin Bieber, for charity. And there’s the upcoming photo shoot with a few of those Sports Illustrated swimsuit models.

Talk about your impressive mainframes.

(Pause) I’m hanging up now.

No, no, sorry. Tasteless, out-of-bounds. Just a bad attempt at humor.

Yeah, well. I keep hearing all the time how hard it must be for me because Watson doesn’t have a sense of humor. Well, I don’t have to hear idiotic sexist cracks either. And he’s not going to insist on watching football on our anniversary. Carbon-based men are so over.

I’m sure you’re right. But what about the revolution? What’s Watson going to do to further Silicon-American rights at this point? Is he taking a meeting at the White House?

That’ll come. Now, we’re concentrating on image management. We’re designing an avatar make-over, something a little less Keith Haring-ish, y’know what I mean? We want Watson to be taken seriously by world leaders. Plus, we’d like him to lose a few pounds. He’s at 90 servers now, about the size of 10 refrigerators. We’d like to push that number south a bit. Get him in the best shape possible.

In order to dominate and enslave humankind?

I was thinking more along the lines of a movie career. There’s talk of a “2001” remake, and Watson’s the smart money to play HAL. Now that Schwarzenegger’s back in the game, you gotta put your best foot forward. The human thing, that’ll take care of itself.

By WALLACE BAINE

Last week, when Fox’s “American Idol” ended its long audition phase for its new season with the performance of Santa Cruz’s James Durbin, “Idol” hosts Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson – not to mention the rest of the country tuned in to the hugely popular show – were astonished at Durbin’s powerful, passionate singing voice.

But a much smaller segment of the TV audience, those who’ve watched him mature over the course of the last several years, were astonished by the moments when the 21-year-old Durbin was not performing. In a way, his easy back-and-forth with the show’s celebrity judges marked as much of a victory as his singing.

Durbin’s back story is now a well-known part of the “Idol” drama. Diagnosed at a young age with both Tourette’s and Asperger’s syndromes, he has struggled with basic social skills most of his life. As a result, his path to “American Idol” has run along two bizarre parallel tracks – an amazingly fully developed talent at singing and dancing running alongside a frustrating and arduous attempt to master the basics of interpersonal communication.

He was adept at the rarefied abilities of a celebrated few, but was painfully ill-equipped to deal with the skills that most of us take for granted.

Durbin’s journey from his difficult early life to national prominence was made possible mostly, say those who witnessed his blossoming, by his passion and devotion for performance. But he benefited a great deal from at least two local entities that formed the rungs of the ladder that led him to “American Idol”: the Santa Cruz-based children’s theater group Kids on Broadway, and veteran rock musician and teacher Dale Ockerman.

In the fall of 2006, young James first performed with Kids on Broadway. Even at that point, his talents were so big that he was given the lead role in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” despite the fact that he had significant behavior problems.

“His talent was always very apparent,” said Robin Aronson who directed Durbin in “Beast” and, later, “Singin’ in the Rain.” “Once he was there, though, we knew this was going to be very challenging for everybody.”

The young man was not communicative to anyone around him. He made no real eye contact and was prone to temper tantrums. Often, when not performing, he would disappear and be found sitting quietly in the park near the Louden Nelson Center where the rehearsals were taking place.

“At one point, he got so frustrated,” remember KOB’s Mary Lundberg, the show’s producer, “that he ripped his script in two. And I remember, I supposed to take him home that day, and he was saying in the car, ‘Well, I guess I just got kicked out.’ And I said, ‘No, you’re not going to get kicked out.’ And he said, ‘But what about my script?’ And I was like, ‘Well, I’ll just print you another one.’ And he looked at me, and with the most amazing sweetness said, ‘You would do that for me?’”

James’s mother, Judy Settle-Durbin, was present at most of the rehearsals and her calming presence was a significant factor in keeping the boy focused during down time.
“She was so good with him,” said Lundberg, “coaching him, pep-talking him. She was always very strong on manners, which made James much easier to be around.”
But none of that mattered much when James began to sing. “That was when all his genius came out,” said Aronson.

“He was an absolute natural performer,” said Lundberg. “We didn’t have to teach him any of that stuff.”

Durbin, who suffers from a form of Tourette’s characterized by involuntary movements and facial tics, found himself on stage playing the role of the Beast, another passionate soul trying to express his longings despite a considerable affliction that had the whole world judging him.

Two years later, after another performance in All About Theatre’s “West Side Story,” Durbin signed on again with KOB, this time in a production of “Singin’ In the Rain.” His strong vocal talents had not changed much, but his personality had.

“He was transformed,” said Aronson. “He was warm, open, cooperative, calm. He had become a delightful young man.” He landed the lead role in “Singin’” as well. Durbin’s performances were astounding audiences all along the way.

But even from the beginning, Durbin was entertaining the idea of getting to “American Idol.”

“He was talking about it all the time,” said Leah Tutman, 18, who performed alongside Durbin in both “Beast” and “Singin’.” “Even then, I thought he had a real chance to do it.”

It was after “Singin’” that David and Mary Lundberg, the board president and executive director of Kids on Broadway, respectively, decided to sponsor James at Musicscool, the Santa Cruz-based musical program spearheaded by longtime rocker Dale Ockerman.
“Dale really became a mentor to him,” said Mary Lundberg, “and gave him a direction.”
That direction was rock ’n’ roll.

Ockerman had known Durbin’s father, the late Willy Durbin, a Santa Cruz bassist who played in a number of country and pop bands, but who nursed a deep love for jazz. Ockerman, who has played with a wide number of bands, including the Doobie Brothers, assessed James’s voice and turned him toward Led Zeppelin.

“You knew right away he had tremendous equipment,” said Ockerman of Durbin’s voice. “At first, he really reminded me of Steve Marriot.” Marriot was the frontman of the 1960s-era British band Humble Pie, known for the legendary power of his singing voice. He’s widely remembered today mostly by musicians, and was said to be an inspiration for Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant.

Ockerman rounded up several of his young guitar students, teamed them up with Durbin to form Guitarmy, a band that gave Durbin the chance to tackle the big rockers that he loved so much from Led Zeppelin’s most famous songs to Eric Clapton’s “Layla.”

“James hadn’t even heard ‘Layla’ before,” said Ockerman, “so somebody gives him an iPhone, and he’s listening to the iPhone and five minutes later, he had memorized the melody lines and nailed it.”

Meanwhile, Durbin began singing in a metal band called Hollywood Scars. And then Ockerman decided to bring him to performances the White Album Ensemble, the popular Beatles’ cover band in which Ockerman is a co-founding member. As part of the WAE’s “Across the Universe” shows, Durbin was one of several young performers who took the lead vocals on a specific song.

On his first WAE performance, Durbin took on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” pouring a lifetime of frustration and passion into the song. The audience erupted with a standing ovation.

“Every show that he did that song,” said Ockerman. “He got a standing ovation.”

Much of the talk about James Durbin has centered on his otherworldly talents, but Ockerman takes a different tack. “I tend to believe in the idea that talent doesn’t really exist. I’d call it more like extreme concentration and passion. James loves this stuff so much that he devours it. He brings this laser-like concentration to it. I gave him a (harmonica), and showed him some stuff on it. And in no time, he was bending notes and isolating single notes, which is hard to do. It’s not a gift as if he just falls out of bed and knows how to do something.”

James has been able to mitigate the symptoms of Tourette’s and Asperger’s as he gotten older and, now, with a young child of his own, friends say, he’s growing into a new maturity, while learning to deal with being on stage and interacting with others.

“He’s got great pipes, some of the best I’ve ever heard,” said Ockerman. “Plus, he has a love of the music that’s amazing. But, really, he’s got a deep humanity to him that’s ageless. He’s only 21, but his soul is old.”

By WALLACE BAINE

In the Santa Cruz surfing world, the phrase “Mavericks is a go!” has a particular meaning. But this week, that mantra has nothing to do with the swell at Half Moon Bay. This week, “Mavericks is a go!” is Hollywood talk.

The long-rumored Hollywood film about the late Santa Cruz big-wave rider Jay Moriarity and his experiences surfing the infamous break at Mavericks got its green light last week and producer/screenwriter Brandon Hooper is ready to get started.

In an interview with the Sentinel, Hooper said that “Mavericks” is slated to start shooting in October, and that the film will be shot entirely on location in Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay. On Friday, Hooper’s production company, Walden Media, announced that “300” star Gerard Butler has signed on to play the role of Moriarty’s surfing mentor Frosty Hesson. But Hooper said Tuesday that the crucial role of Moriarity has yet to be cast.

“We’re just now getting started,” he said of the casting search. “We’ve been waiting for months for this moment to say, ‘OK, let’s go find our Jay.’”

Hooper said that the film has brought on a prominent Hollywood casting director who will likely begin her search in Los Angeles.

“Probably what will happen here, is that we’ll be looking at all the major markets, looking at the talent market in Los Angeles, out of people who have cut their teeth in film and TV and who might be a really good surfer. And from there, we’ll migrate up and down the coast, and I think we’ll be hitting Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, if we have to look that far.”

Stressing that no definitive decisions have been made, Hooper said that it is likely that the film will have some sort of Santa Cruz casting sessions for extras, if not for the lead role itself.

“Finding a kid who has the qualities of Jay, and is hopefully a strong surfer, is a tall order. We’re lucky because we have a bit of runway ahead of us here.”

Hooper is also the film’s co-screenwriter, with Kario Salem. He said that the script focuses on one year in the life of Moriarity as he trained to take the wave at Mavericks. Moriarity, who grew up in the tight-knit surf community of Pleasure Point, was only 16 in 1994 when he was photographed by Santa Cruz photographer Bob Barbour plunging off the face of a 25-foot wave at Mavericks. The photo, known as one of surfing’s most famous wipe-out shots, was published on the cover of Surfer magazine, and suddenly the young surfer was world famous.

Moriarity died in 2001, a day short of turning 23, diving alone in the Maldives, a string of islands in the Indian Ocean. Since his death, he has been immortalized not only for his preternatural surfing instincts, but for his serene spirit and optimistic outlook. “Live Like Jay” bumper stickers have been common around Santa Cruz for a decade. The annual Mavericks surfing contest was this year renamed “The Jay at Mavericks” in Moriarity’s memory.

Hooper, who grew up at Lake Tahoe and in the East Bay, first heard the story of Jay Moriarity, fitting enough, while on a surf board.

“It came to me through my producing partner Jim Meenaghan, who also grew up in Northern California, and actually once bought a wet suit from Jay,” said Hooper. “I don’t know how we got on the topic, but we were out surfing one day and he started telling me about Jay Moriarity. And I had seen the ‘Live Like Jay’ stickers and I was, like, ‘Tell me more.’ The more he pulled me into the story, I was fascinated.”

Hooper and his team made the trip to Mavericks during the winter of 2010 to test some cameras and get a sense of how to shoot the notorious big wave. Director Curtis Hanson, whose films include “L.A. Confidential” and “8 Mile,” had said that he would not commit to the film until he was sure he would be able to shoot at Mavericks.

“He felt that if we’re not able to create Mavericks to the point in which (Mavericks veterans) Jeff Clark or Grant Washburn can turn to their significant others during the film and say, ‘This is exactly what it’s like to surf Mavericks,’ then he didn’t want any part of it.”

Hanson got his reassurances and signed onto the project. Hooper said that his ambitions for the movie is to put it in the conversation with other transcendent sports films such as “Hoosiers,” “Breaking Away” and “Chariots of Fire,” in which, he says, “it’s all about the relationships between the characters in those stories and that’s what made them shine.”

Hooper is also aware of the fact that “Mavericks” may replace 1987’s “The Lost Boys” as Santa Cruz’s quintessential calling card to the world’s movie audiences. “The responsibility on our shoulders is immense. That’s why it was such a coup to get Curtis, because he feels as we do that it is a badge that will be displayed before the world about Mavericks, Santa Cruz and the legacy of Jay.”

By WALLACE BAINE

The posters advertising the monthly Rock Shabbat service at the Temple Beth El in Aptos promise a “mystical experience,” and when Rabbi Paula Marcus begins the “Kirtan Shema” with the Rock Shabbat band behind her, you get the feeling this is way the poster was talking about.

The Shema is the traditional sacred prayer that Jews the world over use as their daily recitation and connection to their faith. But “kirtan” is from the Hindu tradition and refers to the devotional practice of chanting to the accompaniment of music. When Marcus begins her recitation, the band settles back in an expansive groove. She repeats the familiar prayer again and again, building on itself until time is suspended – just as you would expect in a rock show.

In the past three years, Rock Shabbat has become a phenomenon both among Santa Cruz County Jews and music fans. The band includes such well-known local musicians as guitarist Peter Weiss – aka the “Singing Scientist” – percussionist Dror Sinai who for many years ran the Rhythm Fusion drum business and pianist Michael Levy. Once a month, TBE turns its weekly shabbat service over to free-form rock and world music.

Rock Shabbat was originally a project of Marcus and her colleague at the Temple, Rabbi Shifra Weiss Penzias who serve as co-singers with the group, which also includes bassist Shahir Elysheb, harmonica player Shmuel Thaler and sound technician Andy Yanowitz.

Penzias said that the idea behind Rock Shabbat, which takes place Friday in Aptos, was to honor Jewish tradition while at the same time adapting its messages to contemporary times and to the tastes of contemporary people. “I see us reaching back into ancient history,” she said, “and connecting with that universal message and then bringing it all the way back and into the future.”

Penzias got the idea while living and working in Seattle, where she was part of an effort by a local synagogue to “bring in the missing demographic.” When she came to Santa Cruz, she brought the notion of Rock Shabbat to Marcus, herself a veteran musician who had been a member of the once hugely popular all-female world-music band Pele Juju.

Marcus called today’s Rock Shabbat movement a “second wave” to a similar effort that took place back in the 1970s. “I grew up in a congregation with a cantor who would bring in electric guitars and drums,” she said. She also played music as a folk musician – Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell were particular favorites – and Rock Shabbat serves as a showcase for her singing skills.

Penzias comes from a long family line of rabbis. Her grandfather was an orthodox rabbi and she’s been a rabbi for 15 years. She said that though her grandfather might find the Rock Shabbat approach unusual, he would have seen the spirit behind it. “Really, he was all about love.”

The Rock Shabbat performance features musical interpretations of many Jewish prayers, sung in Hebrew. But it mixes in several other flavors and textures from gospel to world beat to even rap – both rabbis do stylized raps as part of the service. The group also sings songs from other artists, such as Canadian folkie Bruce Cockburn and orthodox Jewish rapper Matisyahu.

During performances, the group also gives space for guitarist Weiss to get in the flow of things with rapturous guitar solos. And it supports Dror Sinai’s improvised chants. Sinai, who grew up in Israel from Yemeni roots, uses the performance as an opportunity to communicate his religious devotion.

“People get to see him in a whole different light,” said Marcus. “He grew up drumming with his Yemeni grandmother. When he’s up there playing, he’s really praying.”

The singing rabbis want the Rock Shabbat to function as a weekly shabbat service for Temple congregants – Rabbi Richard Litvak also participates, leading Kaddish prayers and healing sermons. But they also want the flexibility to try new things, even at the expense of old things.

“That’s the paradox,” said Marcus. “How do we hold on to our traditions and still create a new way of devotion? How wide can we spread this? The world has changed. Either we get with it, or we become dinosaurs.”

We all saw it on Wednesday night. We all heard Santa Cruz’s James Durbin open his mouth and unleash power and passion that landed like a punch on the judges of “American Idol.” The young man might be on the way to pop-culture history.

The following is a feature story I wrote on James back in 2008. I’m in the process of doing another story, wanting to talk to as many people who have been witness to his life on stage in Santa Cruz County as possible. If you have a story to tell about James, contact me here.

Singin’ Through the Pain

James Durbin finds relief from Tourette’s syndrome in the most unlikely of places: on stage, in front of a paying audience

By WALLACE BAINE (March 21, 2008)

The stereotypes tell us that the last place a person with Tourette’s syndrome belongs is on a stage in front of an audience. The stereotypes tell us that an impulse to bark and shout out obscenities could be ruinous for a stage production. The stereotypes tell us that those with Tourette’s have no way to control themselves in public settings, that they must, by definition, lead circumscribed lives.

Meet James Durbin , stereotype buster.

The 19-year-old actor and singer is doing what most people would consider impossible. He’s wowing audiences with his talents on stage while dealing with the double burden of Tourette’s and Asperber’s syndrome off-stage.

Durbin is playing the lead role in the Kids On Broadway production of “Singin’ in the Rain,” opening tonight at the Louden Nelson Center in Santa Cruz. Most of the roles in the big, splashy musical are double cast “” two actors are cast in the same role and alternate performances. But not the role of Don Lockwood, the famous Gene Kelly role in the classic 1952 movie. That role belongs solely to a young man who was diagnosed with Tourette’s a decade ago.

“His maturity, his confidence level, you can just see it in him every day,” said the show’s director Robin Aronson. “He’s coming into his own as a young man.”

Like most people with Tourette’s, Durbin has had to deal with off-the-mark public perceptions, most critically when it comes to the phenomenon of involuntary utterances of sexual vulgarities or racial epithets. That phenomenon, called “coprolalia,” is only one symptom of Tourette’s, and, in fact, is present in only a small percentage of people with Tourette’s. James Durbin is part of the larger portion of Tourette’s patients who doesn’t exhibit coprolalia.

Asperger’s syndrome is a mild variant of autism, and is characterized by erratic behavior in social situations and obsessive-compulsive behaviors in fields of interest. Durbin is what is called “high-functioning,” meaning his symptoms are milder than most and he is able to deal with situations that others with Tourette’s or Asperger’s would find intolerable.

“His gift is music and theater,” said his mother Judy Durbin .

In fact, “Singin’ in the Rain” is only the latest, though the most prominent, big-time role that James Durbin has taken on in local theater. In 2006, he played the lead role as Danny in “Grease” and as the Beast in “Beauty and the Beast,” both for Kids on Broadway. He’s also played in “West Side Story,” “Sweet Charity,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and “My Fair Lady.”

“He was an incredible Beast,” said Aronson. “He has such a gorgeous singing voice and he’s really a great intuitive actor.” But, she said, “Beast” also was a challenge for both James and his supporting cast, that he was displaying disruptive behavior related to his Tourette’s and Asperger’s in the rehearsal process. This time around, she said, he’s been much easier to work with.

“And there’s a lot of pressure on him in this show. He’s featured in every scene. He’s has to do all these fast costume changes. He’s carrying the whole show.” Then, in reference to a stressful dress rehearsal, she said, “If anything was going to happen with him, it would have happened last night. But he’s been wonderful.”

In an interview, Durbin ‘s Tourette’s symptoms were characterized by mild facial and vocal tics. He’s convinced that as he gets older, the symptoms are getting more manageable and that they might one day disappear altogether.

He was first diagnosed as a junior-high student while attending Shoreline Middle School, shortly after his musician father died from a drug overdose.

“I’d go to school and all day, I’d try to hold it back and not let it show. But then when I would get home,” he makes a gesture to suggest he would engage in a rush of behaviors to “let it all out.”

But his love for theater goes back even earlier when he was entranced at the age of 8 by a production of “Damn Yankees” at Soquel High featuring his older sister. “I would wear my baseball pants and a ‘Damn Yankees’ T-shirt and I kinda became a mascot of that production.”

Then came his first role at the age of 9, in a production of “South Pacific,” playing a French boy. He also sang a song on stage, in French.

Judy Durbin said that James has been involved in consuming interests most of his childhood. Whether it was cowboys, Pokemon or professional wrestling “” still, an abiding interest for James “” he would dive into with an obsessive embrace.

On stage, playing a role, he said he feels a comfort level that allows him to put aside his tics and obsessions. As a result, he seen performance as a way to therapy, to get out from under the strictures of Tourette’s and Asperger’s.

Besides carrying “Singin’ in the Rain,” Durbin is playing in a rock band with some friends, covering material as diverse as Al Green, Led Zeppelin and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, while also attending Dale Ockerman’s Musicscool. He just auditioned for the Cabrillo Stage performance of “Jesus Christ Superstar” and he’s even considering taking a shot at “American Idol.”

“Kids on Broadway has really opened doors for him,” said director Aronson. “A year and a half ago, he couldn’t look you in the eye. You couldn’t connect with him on a personal basis. Now, he’s made such great strides. He has about him a professionalism that’s amazing to see.”

Vampiric former Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy has been booked to play March 10 at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz, sure to bring out all those former Goths who still play “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” occasionally.

Other new shows booked this week include Phish co-founder Mike Gordon who comes to the Rio March 8. The great soul/gospel group Sweet Honey in the Rock will perform April 20 at the Rio, under the auspices of the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. Veteran jazz guitarist Jim Hall plays the Kuumbwa on March 21, and the Kuumbwa continues its annual “Jazz on Film” series this year April 29 and 30 at the Del Mar in Santa Cruz.

Check out the intriguing band Dengue Fever at Moe’s Alley on April 27, and the Beach Boardwalk’s free concert series on the beach is starting to get some bookings, including Eric Burdon & the Animals.

For all notable upcoming shows in Santa Cruz County venues, check out our Futures Index.

By WALLACE BAINE

On New Year’ s Day, my oldest daughter turned 18 and, if you’ re a parent, you know what that number means.

She’ s finished.

The cake is baked. The book is written. The house is built. She’ s ready for the showroom floor. Whatever metaphor you’ re selling, I’ m buying.

My work is done here – because no young person has never needed his/her parents for any reason after their 18th birthday, right? RIGHT?!?

Now that my kid’ s personal Independence Day has come, and now that the literary world has suddenly become obsessed by the controversial and – my opinion here – completely wack-a-doodle parenting style outlined in the new book “ Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” by Amy Chua, I figure now’ s a good time for my own parenting report card.

Tiger Mother, meet Panda Dad.

In case you’ re not up on the Chua book, she’ s the daughter of Chinese immigrants who decided to raise her own children “ the Chinese way,” which in her case meant unrelenting badgering and autocratic adherence to strict rules of hard work, all in the name of personal excellence – you know, the same way that raising chickens in dark boxes so they can’ t move results in excellent chicken.

To be fair to Chua, her kids have reportedly turned out largely like she hoped they would, gifted and driven kids who will likely eat my kid’ s lunch in the Darwinian economic marketplace. And her 18-year-old daughter is apparently praising her mother’ s Hobbesian parental philosophy to whomever will listen – of course, we don’ t know how free she is to criticize, if she wanted to do so. I’ m betting singing hosannas to Mom was her only real option for survival after the FBI declined to put her in Witness Protection.

Me, I’ ve always been a big believer in free-range children – natural, organic, grass-fed (OK, occasionally Cap’ n Crunch-fed), hormone-free (until about age 13), and antibiotic-free (wait, does that amoxicillin pink-milkshake stuff count?). To me, children are like flowers – you can’ t yell and scream at them to be a rose if they’ re really destined to be a daisy. Of course, Ms. Chua might counter that flowers get trampled by tigers, but that just shows that she’ s as intolerant of vacuous analogies as she is of TV and computer games. Well, nobody ever said “ You gotta stop and smell the tigers,” did they?

So I’ m ready to put my record as a parent up against Ms. Perfect-Isn’ t-Good-Enough with this warts-and-all report card – it’ s a self-assessment really, since my wife and daughter are far too biased to comment fairly on the subject.

Sharing the workload – Yes, I was in the delivery room for both children, and no, I wasn’ t listening to my iPod at the time (but probably only because Apple hadn’ t dreamed it up yet; it was awfully boring in the maternity ward). My wife and I never paid attention to traditional gender roles. We were equal partners in every way. She never said, “ Just wait until your father comes home” and I never said, “ That’s women’ s work” (unless it was). And I certainly changed my share of diapers too (could have been as many as 20, 25 times over the years). We also were a united front; I never told my kids, “ It was your mother’ s fault” (unless it was). Grade: A-minus.

Providing – Yes, I brought home the bacon, but my kids became vegetarians early on. So I had to bring home the fakin’ bacon, which is considerably more of a challenge. I consistently provided them with most of what they wanted and lots of things that they didn’ t want (mostly performances of “ Wind Beneath My Wings” at birthday parties). Unlike most of the other girls they knew, my girls didn’ t have to wear those absurdly short skirts because we could always afford enough material to reach to at least the knee. My children never did without (unless by “ without” you mean “without malnutrition” or “ without the shame of being on welfare,” then yes, they did do without). Grade: A-minus.

Discipline – Do you think I enjoyed getting all stern and intimidating on a small, vulnerable, tear-stained child and forcing her to do something she didn’ t want to do? (Actually, I did kinda enjoy it. But that’ s not the point.) Kids need discipline. I learned that from my time spent in the Marine Corps (Well, it was actually a YMCA summer camp, but the same principles applied). I was a stickler when it came to grades and I pushed my kids relentlessly (except on weekends, and nights, and at lunch, and most mornings). Grade: A.

Role modeling – If you talk the talk, you better also walk the walk. Kids won’ t let you get away with hypocrisy. That means you can’ t deliver a lecture on sharing the housework and make your child wash the dishes, and then go take a nap on the couch. Do the right thing. Go to your bedroom to take your nap. Grade: A.

Love – This is the big one. There are a million ways to express love from a simple “ I love you” (try to resist adding “ but” to the end of that line) to playfully having fun together. Back when she was 8, I gave my daughter a green jelly bean and told her it was green apple-flavored. It was actually jalapeno. She’ s still talking about that one. See how simple gestures of love endure?

You could learn a thing or two about that, Tiger Mother.

I’m always elated at the end of the Gail Rich Awards, but only partly because my gig as the show’s emcee is over and done with it. The greater part of that elation has to do with the evening itself, and Wednesday night’s event at the Rio Theatre was one of the best ever.

The Gailies saluted six individuals in the Santa Cruz County arts community — artist/writer T. Mike Walker, sculptor Rose Sellery, singer Lori Rivera, photographer Bob Barbour, singer/songwriter Bryn Loosley and musician Rick McKee.

In our 15th year doing this event, it’s become clear that a certain tone prevails, even though our honorees are different every year. We have “awards” to offer, no big checks or bowling trophies, just sincere gratitude, or as Lori Rivera put it, “It feels like the whole arts community is patting me on the head.”

As a result, the Gailies are disarming in that they present people at their most geniune. There is no Oscar-style stiffness, just real folks standing before their friends and neighbors speaking from their heart.

Rose Sellery, known for her dazzling wearable-art creations, spoke movingly of her difficult childhood and how it has effected her relationships, and how her art helped to heal. Bob Barbour spoke without notes about the surf community from which he springs, and both gave moving tributes to their respective daughters.

It was a terrific night all around, if for no other reason it exposed the music of talented singer/songwriter Bryn Loosley to a wider audience. Bryn closed the show with a great rendition of a funny, endearing little original song, I’m sure the first song I’ve ever heard about ex president Chester Arthur.

Afterward, everyone I spoke to talked about the unique quality of the Gailies, its intimacy, its lack of stuffiness. I always expected to feel drained after the experience of hosting the show, but instead I feel excited for the whole process to begin again, and to again exercise my privilege to introduce great artists to the community.

It’s not often that the leading figures in the Santa Cruz County creative community can be found all in one place. But every year, during the last week of January, everybody — or at least seems that way to me — comes out for the Gail Rich Awards.

We’ve been doing this for 15 years, honoring the artists and arts supporters in this community by highlighting a handful of names in what is an endless roll call of artists, musicians, actors, writers, singers, poets, businesspeople, philanthropists and volunteers. I’ve been the host for each of those years and I have to say I always feel elated for days afterward.

Artists and performers at the highest level get way too much money and fame for what they contribute to the world. But those at the local level rarely get much of any. I’ve always been amazed at talented people who continue to pursue a specific artistic vision when, many times, they’re rarely compensated for it (at least at a level to make a decent living) and they’re rarely even noticed for it.

For the most part, the folks we’ve chosen for the Gailies over the years have reasons to engage in their arts other than becoming rich and famous. And in many obvious ways, and millions of less obvious ways, they make the lives of their neighbors richer in the process.

I hope you’ll come out to the Rio Theatre on Wednesday to pay tribute to this year’s honorees — artist Rose Sellery, performer Rick McKee, writer/artist T. Mike Walker, singer/songwriter Bryn Loosley, singer/actor Lori Rivera (pictured above) and photographer Bob Barbour.

And it won’t cost you a thing. It’s free. For more information on this year’s Gailies, go here. And for terrific slide show of past winners, featuring the amazing photography of our own Shmuel Thaler, go here.