Christina Waters

Santa Cruz

Contributing Editor at Good Times Santa Cruz

Contributing Editor at Good Times SC

Editor at Freelance

Dr. Waters: Unorthodox sexual therapy/erotic writer

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Articles

Musical Mischief

3 weeks ago | goodtimes.sc | Christina Waters

Levitating with clever ideas, Opera Project won us over in April with a cabaret version of Bach’s saucy Coffee Cantata, performed by three singers and a trio of instrumentalists in the intimate (i.e., small) space of the Mariposa Coffee Cafe. Happily packed into the darkened interior, we joined a standing-room-only crowd for a master class in opera made relevant. A salon, an edgy live performance for invited friends.
Well-Composed Pride

1 month ago | goodtimes.sc | Christina Waters

New Music Works’ final concert of the season, 50 Years of LGBTQ+ Pride in Santa Cruz, is special for several reasons. First, it’s part of a much bigger month-long celebration (visit santacruzpride.org for details). Second, it showcases a new work commissioned by Tom Ellison—Here to there, then to now—with music composed by Michael McGushin. The piece for choral ensemble came about through an alliance between Ellison’s poetic text and McGushin’s original music.
Aloha with a Twist

1 month ago | goodtimes.sc | Christina Waters

With characteristic spunk, veteran mystery ace Leslie Karst has dashed off the second book in her new Hawai’ian Island-based series, Waters of Destruction. Natural elements are wreaking havoc with her deceased victims, as well as with her resourceful investigators. In her first Orchid Isle Mystery installment, Molten Death, Karst’s victim was knocked off by fire in the form of volcanic lava. In her new work, Karst’s victim turns up drowned.
Musical Treasures | Good Times

1 month ago | goodtimes.sc | Christina Waters

Trimmed to fit the space-time needs of youthful Santa Cruz audiences, and sung in Italian with recitative plot lines spoken in English, Mozart’s dazzling comic masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro takes over the UCSC Recital Hall for four performances beginning May 29.
A Musical Legend Leaves the Podium

1 month ago | goodtimes.sc | Christina Waters

Almost every local music-lover has been inspired and touched by Cheryl Anderson, leading lady of the Cabrillo College Music Program, who is now about to lift off into retirement. This weekend she makes her final appearances before moving onto her next phase, leading the Cabrillo Symphonic Chorus in the Santa Cruz Symphony’s presentation of Mozart’s Requiem in D minor.
Spring Sounds: Small Ensembles, and Santa Cruz Opera Project

2 months ago | goodtimes.sc | Christina Waters

Consider this past month’s musical highlights: choral fireworks, chamber players sharing a world premiere, and the special treat of four-hand Debussy blazing with chromaticism. And ahead for April: a caffeinated evening of Bach. On March 7, the UCSC Concert Choir showcased a seismic performance of Lou Harrison’s La Koro Sutra.
Swept Away | Good Times

Mar 4, 2025 | goodtimes.sc | Christina Waters

Shoto Otaguro provided percussion in the New Music Works presentation of ‘Narrow Sea.’Rock-shock percussion, ferocious sonic complexity, luminous vocals. The third concert in the New Music Works season, with Caroline Shaw’s Narrow Sea as the finale, stunned the large audience at UCSC’s Music Center Recital Hall on Feb. 22. The piece explores folk song themes with a widely dispersed soundscape that included ceramic bowls, hammered piano strings, tin toy buckets, bass drums and vibraphone.
Small But Mighty

Feb 26, 2025 | goodtimes.sc | Christina Waters

So many brilliant ensembles packed with elite musicians—Santa Cruz is a full house of musical riches. The seasons are often short and sweet, but the programming is always ferocious. Often transformative. It’s a scene that richly deserves attention, which is why Good Times is launching a monthly spotlight on music and theatrical events. My column will include a look ahead, so devotees can mark their calendars, but will also comment on past highlights.
Short and Sweet | Good Times

Jan 29, 2025 | goodtimes.sc | Christina Waters

Liberally splashed with references to AI, gender confusion, the odd capitalist critique and psychotherapy gone wrong, the Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre stage currently offers an eclectic array of 10-minute attractions. New this season was the use of projected backdrops that changed with each play, adding mood and context. The projected photos by various designers expanded the scenic possibilities of the theater’s small stage, transporting us into the specific world each play required.
Piping Haute | Good Times

Jan 29, 2025 | goodtimes.sc | Christina Waters

Remember cold pizza with warm beer, at dawn, after a late-night party? Or that first bite of charred pizza bianca in Italy that revised your entire concept of the savory pie? Or the life-saving delivery guy showing up with two enormous pies loaded with pepperoni and oozing mozzarella on Oscar Night? Under almost any circumstances everybody loves pizza, and the reason is no mystery: flavor and affordability. Everything else is just fine-tuning. You can eat it with your hands.