Out There!
Oct. 13—SOLAR SYSTEM
Glimpse of fire
The annular eclipse is nearly here, and Santa Fe residents are part of the tiny percentage of the global population — 0.4 percent — who will be in the central path. The eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and sun, and this one will transpire from 9:13 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. on Saturday, October 14. The most striking feature of the phenomenon, the Ring of Fire, will only last for a couple minutes and is expected to reach its maximum effect in Santa Fe at 10:37 a.m.
Viewers in Albuquerque can see the phenomenon for a little bit longer than viewers in Santa Fe and the surrounding areas, but the view will be remarkable from either place. Attendees need to wear proper eye coverings to view the eclipse; the NASA website warns that viewing "any part of the bright sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter ... will instantly cause severe eye injury."
After this annular eclipse, there won't be another one visible in the U.S. until 2039; and that one will only be visible from Alaska.
Here are a few local places where you can safely view the eclipse:
Vladem Contemporary, 404 Montezuma Avenue
Visit the aptly named Shadow and Light, the inaugural exhibition at the new Vladem Contemporary location of the New Mexico Museum of Art. Museum staff will help guests make box pinhole projectors to safely view the eclipse, and when the time comes, everyone will move to the museum's second floor terrace. sfnm.co/VlademViewing
Valles Caldera National Preserve, 39201 New Mexico Highway 4, Jemez Springs
See the cosmic event in one of New Mexico's most wide open spaces. Park rangers at Valles Caldera will designate specific sectors for visitors to park their cars and watch the eclipse, and free solar viewing glasses will be available at a Fiesta Tent near the entrance. Rangers will roam the preserve to answer questions. After the eclipse, visitors can take a hike or ask questions about astronomy and the night sky. nps.gov/vall/planyourvisit/fall-fiesta.htm
Los Alamos High School Courtyard, 1300 Diamond Drive, Los Alamos
Staff from Bandelier National Monument, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, and the Pajarito Astronomers, among others, will be on hand to explain the eclipse. Visitors to the high school receive free eclipse glasses, and an enlarged image of the moon crossing in front of the sun will be projected onto a large outdoor screen. laconm.libcal .com/event/11287985 — Spencer Fordin
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details
* 6 p.m. Wednesday, October 18
* Registration required at surveymonkey.com/r/G8STY89
POETS NOTES
Words on the screen
Santa Fe Community College assistant professor Genevieve Betts will present her poetry collection A New Kind of Tongue (FlowerSong Press) in a fairly new kind of way: online only.
Her work includes centos — works created using other poets' words. Outside texts she "samples" include Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, Tom Robbins' Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, David Mitchell's Ghostwritten, and Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber.
A New Kind of Tongue was released this year. Betts' collection An Unwalled City (Prolific Press) was published in 2015. — Brian Sandford
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Q&A
The pride of Broadway
Darian Sanders is the charismatic performer who takes center stage as Simba in the Broadway production of The Lion King at Albuquerque's Popejoy Hall. But he's also husband to Jessica, father to Titus (age 6), and an ordained pastor based in Louisville, Kentucky. Sanders, 38, recently spoke with Pasatiempo during a tour stop in Monterrey, Mexico, about his life on the road and his role as a famous lion.
Have you been to Santa Fe before?
I have! Prior to being in the theater world, I was in the band world. In the summers, I used to tour with the drum and bugle corps out of Rockford, Illinois, and we had a couple shows in Santa Fe. I'm not just saying this because I'm on the call with you, but Santa Fe is my favorite place. I think it's absolutely gorgeous; I loved the weather. And I'm super-excited to get back. The beauty of the state, the beauty of Santa Fe, the beauty of Albuquerque."
How long has The Lion King tour been going?
Post-pandemic, we're celebrating two years. I was in the ensemble before the pandemic, and then post-pandemic, I took over as Simba full-time.
details
* The Lion King runs at Popejoy Hall, 203 Cornell Drive NE at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, from Wednesday, October 18, through November 5.
* Tickets range from $40 to $179.
* popejoypresents.com; lionking.com/tour
Is it an exhausting grind to be on the road for two years?
It has its challenges, but I love it. It's part of what I do, and it's part of a passion of mine. I'm excited, and I'm loving doing it."
You're a young guy! Did you grow up with The Lion King, the Disney animated movie? Was this role in your wheelhouse?
It was right in my wheelhouse. I was 9 when the movie came out; l loved it. I was obsessed with it. I grew up with it and watched it with my family. I had it on VHS, wore the VHS out, got a new VHS. And then I heard about it coming to Broadway, but ... it wasn't until post-college when I was doing a mission trip in New York that we ended up taking the kiddos that we were with; that's the first time I saw it on stage. I've been obsessed with lions and loved lions since I was a little kid. I used to watch National Geographic and Big Cat Diary. I had a 16-year-old black lab and her name was Nala. It was just a full part of my life and still is now."
What's it like for your family to see you on stage?
It's a dream that came true that I didn't realize was a dream until it became reality. Everybody is drawn into the beauty of this Disney story, and it's timeless, and it's tugged on our heartstrings since we were little children.
People come to the show and see "Circle of Life," and it takes them right back to the first moment they saw the movie. And I get to play this iconic role.
Was it far-fetched for a guy from Kentucky to imagine he'd be on Broadway one day? Or did you believe in your talent so much that you thought it would be inevitable?
It wasn't far-fetched at all because I didn't plan on doing Broadway by any means. I wanted to be a high school band director ever since the fourth grade when I picked up a trumpet. And that's kind of what I launched myself into.
That was my primary focus, so much so that I had a full ride scholarship to the University of Kentucky. I was going to be a high school band director but God had different plans for me. I ended up leaving college and doing ministry full-time and did that for 16 years. I did Broadway after that.
What's cool about the tour is that you and the performers travel from town to town with this world class production. It's almost like you're rock stars.
I have a 6-year-old boy, and he comes on and off the road with me. One of the things my wife and I try to instill in him is that we're just as normal and just as common as everybody else. Our job is pretty cool. And we know it's pretty cool. We have a unique opportunity to do what we do. But we love going into the schools and doing talkbacks of the shows and breaking down that barrier between us. We're just real people telling a story that can resonate with a lot of people.
Tell me about how your time in the ministry informed your life as a performer. Did it make you better at talking to people?
People ask about my path to Broadway, and the beautiful part about it is everyone's path is unique and different. For me, I didn't get a true training ground of going to school to learn acting and singing and dancing. I learned on the job in regional theater, but also from a stage presence aspect, I was a worship pastor at one of the largest churches in America [Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky]. It's crazy to think about but we had 40,000 people at nine different campuses.
I wasn't one who loved to talk on stage, but it was something that came about as I moved from church to church, job to job, and stage to stage. Being able to teach in schools with special education and highly structured classrooms allows me to now do workshops. I'm going to a couple schools in Lubbock, Texas, and being able to talk and share my story is a cool part of this.
Are you still a pastor when you're not on tour?
I'm still going to do what I was called to do. I got ordained before coming on tour because being on Broadway just wasn't in the cards for me at the time. ... My church now, Northeast Christian Church, partnered with me and during some time off from the tour, I was able to put together a little worship tour. I could go back home, bring some castmates and friends from around the country who are performers and musicians, and collectively bring everyone together.
Isn't it incredible how The Lion King is received across the world?
It's performed in over nine languages: English, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Dutch, Spanish, Mandarin, and Portuguese.
In the U.S., we have Broadway and [this troupe] as the touring company, and then we also have productions in London and Paris, Hamburg and Tokyo, Madrid, and I believe one in Sao Paulo and touring the U.K. and Ireland. I think that's all of them.
That's the whole world. I think you mentioned everywhere but Antarctica.
I'm working on it! I'm trying to get there. — S.F.
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FOR THE EARS
Strong winds expected
details
* 2 p.m. Sunday, October 15
* New Mexico Museum of Art, St. Francis Auditorium, 107 W. Palace Avenue
* Donations accepted
Fall would seem an appropriate time for winds.
It also happens to mark the start of High Desert Winds Santa Fe's 2023-24 season. The group, led by artistic director Jann Gaynor, features work by Giroux, Schubert, Saint-Saëns, and others. Guest April Pickrell is set to conduct R.W. Smith's The Gathering of the Yeoman. Also, the group's woodwind quintet is set to perform David Gillingham's Concerto for Wind Ensemble.
High Desert Winds Santa Fe consists primarily of wind and percussion instrumentalists. It's always seeking musicians and volunteers; email riahernandez@sbcglobal.net.
The group also is set to perform February 4 and May 5, 2024. Programs for those dates haven't been determined. — B.S.
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NIGHT ON THE TOWN
History after hours
It's Night at the Museum, Santa Fe style.
details
* 113 Lincoln Avenue
* 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, October 13, and October 20 and 27
* $7 for New Mexico residents (free during Late Night Friday events); $12 for non-residents
* 505-476-5200; museumfoundation.org/events/late-night-friday-18
The New Mexico History Museum extends its hours for three Late Night Friday events in October, allowing guests to explore its collections after hours from 5 to 7 p.m. The museum's final Late Night Friday events are October 13, 20, and 27.
The museum resumes its Late Night Friday events in May 2024.
Current exhibits at the museum include Palace Seen and Unseen, an archaeological study of the Palace of the Governors complete with documents and artifacts, and Working on the Railroad, a tribute to the generations of people who worked in the New Mexico railroad industry. — S.F.
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RANDOM ACT
Guitar hero
Pat Metheny was once a prodigy, but he's matured into a jazz guitar giant.
details
* Lensic 360 Presents Pat Metheny
* KiMo Theatre
* 423 Central Avenue NW, Albuquerque
* 7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 14
* $55 to $80
* lensic360.org, patmetheny.com
Metheny, a 20-time Grammy Award-winner, has always been an innovator, and you can see him play his custom-made 42-string Pikasso guitar on Saturday, October 14, at the Kimo Theatre in Albuquerque. Decades ago, Metheny wasn early advocate of both the 12-string guitar and guitar synthesizer, and he's also distinguished himself to great acclaim on the hollow-bodied guitar.
Metheny became the youngest teacher at the University of Miami at 18 years old and at the Berklee College of Music in Boston as a 19-year-old, and he later received an honorary doctorate from latter. His groundbreaking band, the Pat Metheny Group, won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance five times between the years of 1983 and 1990.
The group also won Grammys for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2003 and 2006. Metheny has been named Guitarist of the Year in DownBeat readers' poll more than 10 times, and he was honored by the National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters Program in 2018. — S.F.
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Reading room
Embracing 'Myth'
The 2023 Santa Fe Literary Review leaves a powerful impression before one has even opened the book.
Artist and College of Santa Fe graduate Rebecca Lee Kunz created the striking cover image, depicting a coyote seemingly dangling in suspended animation, stalks of corn superimposed vertically over its diagonally positioned body. Other plants appear to grow from the bottom of the image, while stars shine above.
The colors are shades of burnt orange and red, evoking thoughts of fall and harvest. Appropriately, the book's public unveiling is set to take place in the thick of fall, even though the publication has been available since August at libraries in Santa Fe and Eldorado, as well as at Santa Fe Community College.
Kunz (Cherokee) says the cover image, Untethered :: At the Gate, came from a vision she had of a coyote falling from the sky.
The 135-page literary review is created by students, faculty members, and alumni and published by the Santa Fe Community College School of Liberal Arts. The book is in its 18th year and has featured a distinctive square shape since 2018, says literary review faculty adviser Kate McCahill. This year's theme is "Myth: Invention, Legend, and Lore."
The latest edition features the work of 47 writers, as well as an interview with artist Amber McCrary (Diné), the founder of Abalone Mountain Press. The writings are divided into categories: creative nonfiction, fiction, interview, poetry, and visual art.
The review accepts submissions from around the world, and McCahill estimates that 1 percent to 3 percent of them are accepted. That number likely is even lower for poetry, the most commonly submitted form of writing.
"Each poet is permitted five poems per submission," she says. "We might get thousands of poems, and we end up publishing 30 on average per year. So the poetry editor, Maira Rodriguez, has a huge job."
Thursday's reading is the first in-person public event involving literary review staff members since 2019, McCahill says. She and Kunz both are set to attend. While it's exciting to reunite, McCahill says, migrating some of the work online during the pandemic has had long-term benefits.
"We now have a poetry editor who lives in Colorado," McCahill says of Rodriguez. "It's a huge job. She wouldn't be able to work with us if it weren't for our ability to work online, and she's an amazing editor. We're able to collaborate with her in real time."
The review's masthead lists Tintawi Kaigziabiher as creative nonfiction editor; Austin Eichelberger, fiction editor; Jade McLellan and Rodriguez, poetry editors; Brittney Beauregard, art editor; editors at large Isaac Burdwell, Lily Powers-Gold, and AJ Wood, all student interns; and McCahill.
Many of the pieces in the book transport readers to places beyond time and geography, the words gaining impact from a lack of context. The poem Not Far From Fallen Poulsbo, by Gordon Kippola, is one example. It begins:
Clarissa Grunwald's Labyrinth is another example. It follows, in its entirety.
A free reading from the Santa Fe Literary Review is 5-7 p.m. Thursday, October 19, at the Santa Fe Community College Visual Arts Gallery, 6401 Richards Avenue. Registration is required; visit bit.ly/sflr2023. The online version of the Santa Fe Literary Review is available at bit.ly/sflronline. Submissions for the 2024 edition are open, and the suggested theme is "Lovely, Dark and Deep: Journeys Real and Imagined." Find more information at sfcc.edu/call-for-submissions/. — B.S.
