Saratoga Sampler
Saratoga's Roben is a real 'Song and Dance' man
By Mary Ann Cook
SONG AND DANCE: Matt Roben, a former Saratogan, is part of the cast of Song and Dance, the latest offering at Theatre on San Pedro Square. Roben has performed in Teatro Zinzani and Cirque du Soleil. The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical will run through June 9 at 29 N. San Pedro, San Jose.
Gary De Mattei, owner/founder of the theater, lives in Saratoga. And his partner, Michael Smythe, is a Los Gatan. De Mattei directs this show. Song and Dance plays Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. The box office number is 408.283.0200; the website's URL is www.tosps.com.
This is probably the fourth production for the fledgling company. Tickets are $24.50-$42.50. Bernadette Peters played in the Broadway version of Song and Dance; Jennifer Fagundes plays her role here.
ART WINNERS: Locals won top places in the oils, watercolors, and photography and mixed media categories in the juried show at the Art Museum of Los Gatos recently.
First places went to Maralyn Miller of Los Gatos for oils; Kay Duffy of Saratoga for watercolors; Carolyn Ramsay of Los Gatos for photography; and Catherine Dudley of Los Gatos for mixed media.
Genie Even of Los Gatos won second place in watercolors; Prudence Victor of Saratoga snagged second place in oils; and Kenneth Johnson of Los Gatos won second in the three-dimensional art category.
Third place in oils went to Helen Scheel of Saratoga. Third place in watercolors was won by Mary Ann Henderson of Saratoga. Henderson also claimed an honorable mention in pastels. Honorable mention in oils went to Connie Klass of Los Gatos. Honorable mention in watercolors went to Dan Tellep of Saratoga. And honorable mention to Michiko Shimoda of Saratoga for her untitled three-dimensional work.
Rita Wilson and Ella Fisher were co-chairwomen of the exhibit.
LUNCH WITH THE PREZ: Marjan Fariba is lunching with our elected leaders these days. She was one of those who had lunch with President Bush when he was in our area recently. And two weeks before that, she had lunch with Gov. Gray Davis. She had her picture taken with both.
Fariba is the owner of the preschool Future Assets, is active in Little League baseball and is a dedicated community volunteer. The lunch with Davis came about because she's working on a child care project in San Jose.
Education-wise, we're all in the same boat, she said: wanting to improve education. About meeting Bush: He's very warm and personable, "like shaking hands with your neighbor." She was honored, but bemused. "I'm very much a liberal," she says.
MISS TEEN CHINATOWN: Monica Young of Monte Sereno was crowned Miss Teen Chinatown 2002 by the San Francisco Chinatown Lions Club. Young is a senior at Los Gatos High and the recipient of many academic awards and honors. She is the daughter of Sunah and Charlie Young.
Monica says about winning Miss Teen Chinatown, "It didn't seem to be my thing, but I'm glad I did it." A school counselor suggested she fill out an application. She was editor of the senior issue of El Gato, was captain of the water polo team, is active in student government, and has played the piano since age 5.
She has done volunteer work in Indian health and at a family shelter. She gets straight As. Whew. She intends to pursue a neuroscience degree at Brown University.
HIGH-DENSITY HOUSING: The League of Women Voters is offering a bus tour of affordable, high-density, and mixed-use housing on May 23. Participants will gather at 9:15 a.m. at the Saratoga Senior Center parking lot, where a bus is provided, along with water and soft drinks.
The tour is a chance for people to see from the inside out what affordable, high-density and mixed-use housing is all about. Tour guides will explain the purpose of these developments and how they came to be. This overview should help people decide whether they want one in their own backyard.
Participants bring a bag lunch. The bus returns about 2:30 p.m. Checks for $20 should be made out to League of Women Voters of Southwest Santa Clara Valley and sent to Dale Hill, 150 Robin Way, Los Gatos, 95032. The registration deadline is May 16. For more information, call 408.867.VOTE for visit the website at www.lwv-sw-santaclara-valley.org.
NEW CD: Jennifer Small Steinberg's sixth CD, Positive Persistence, is out, and the composer will donate 50 percent of her album proceeds to the Performing Arts and Lecture Center Building Fund at Saratoga High. Here's the URL: http://www.cdbaby.com/jennifersmall or http://www.amazon.com (search for it in the classical music section).
Saratoga, California Since 1955
