Arts Devo

Let’s get weird … again Arts DEVO just got word from Chico Breaks the Record organizer Julian Ruck that he’s getting the band back together. And by band, he means all the bands, all day, every day, for at least 16 days. With last year’s 34-day stab at the world record for longest multi-artist concert in Guinness limbo, Ruck and crew have decided to not sit on their hands waiting for what likely will be a prolonged appeal process. With over a month’s worth of practical knowledge at their disposal, they are going to try for a more modest (and streamlined and organized) approach to breaking the current record of 15-plus days. And instead of returning to the Tackle Box, on April 1, CBTR will move to the DownLo. In addition to raising the profile of the event, being in the heart of downtown likely will provide even more opportunities for sleep-deprived, early morning moments of surreality as Chico’s glorious collection of freaks of all stripes will undoubtedly be drawn to the rhythmic freak light. Find “CBTR: Chico Strikes Back” on Facebook for more info on the many ways you can join the party.

Local theater notes Props to local community-theater actress Erika Soerensen, whose mostly all-chick stage adaptation of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs—titled Reservoir Dolls—has been getting picked up by theaters outside of Chico. Soerensen played Mrs. White for the play’s Chico premiere at the Blue Room Theatre in 2009, and since then, her version has been produced in Seattle and Portland and is playing this month at the Onyx Theatre in Las Vegas. Soerensen is currently performing in the Blue Room’s production of Detroit (see Scene, page 25), so stop by and tell her you talked to Nice Guy Eddie and he says to keep breaking legs.

On a much sadder note, the Chico theater community was rocked this week by the news that one of its favorite sons, Erik Pedersen, had died on Jan. 13 of complications from injuries suffered during an accident in which he was hit while riding his scooter. He was only 47. Before moving to Oakland several years ago (recently, he and his wife, Darcy Reed, had relocated to Santa Cruz), Pedersen was a longtime player on many local stages who was respected by his peers as much for his kindness as for his considerable acting chops (his turn as a conflicted Mormon in Angels in America was one of my personal faves). As of press time, no memorial service had been announced. The CN&R sends its condolences to Reed and the rest of Pedersen’s family and friends.

Corrections As satisfied as I might be with the overall quality of last week’s CN&R, the Jan. 14 issue will not go down as my best work in the editing department. Not only did I misread the age of Bruce Springsteen—listing The Boss in this column at 68 instead of his actual 66—I also didn’t catch an age error when editing our story about local a cappella group the Antidivas (“No Divas,” by Howard Hardee, Jan. 14). The story says that Antidivas founder Ruth Greenfield and her sister-in-law and group member Laura Bogart are in their 40s, when, in fact, Bogart is only 30 years old. What makes my lapse in editing especially lame in this case is the fact that I’ve known Bogart and her family personally for about 20 years, and I know how young she is! Ugh. Sorry, Laura.

Both errors have been corrected online and burned into my psyche.