Best 9: Top events for the week ahead in Santa Cruz County arts & entertainment, March 27-April 3

Here they are, nine necessary know-abouts for the week ahead. It’s the April-foolish B9:

➤ William Shakespeare has been a big player on the local arts scene for more than 40 years, but he’s never been as hot in Santa Cruz as he is now. Last year, Santa Cruz Shakespeare colonized much of the calendar with a summer season, followed by a fall and then a holiday production. Now, for the first time ever, SCS is joining forces with the Santa Cruz Symphony for a spring pop-up. The Symphony’s latest concert — Saturday evening at the Civic, and repeated Sunday afternoon at the Mello Center in Watsonville — features SCS actors Charles Pasternak and Allie Pratt on stage in character, blending in performances from “Romeo & Juliet,” “Macbeth” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” into the Symphony’s take on pieces from Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn and the prominent British-born composer Anna Clyne. “Speaking this language over some of that music,” said Pasternak, “it just sends a shiver down my spine.” Two of the area’s finest actors backed by a full orchestra with the words of Shakespeare, twice in one weekend? — I mean, do we even deserve so much goodness?

➤ A couple of decades ago, Santa Cruz was a hotbed for African music, with several accomplished African musicians and dancers living locally and performing regularly around town. Among them were the gifted Congolese guitarist Samba Ngo and West African singer and dancer Mandjou Koné, who will take the stage together Saturday at Kuumbwa. It’ll certainly be a special moment to honor Santa Cruz’s brilliant African-music subculture. 

➤ Minneapolis-born musician Pamela Valfer performs on stage as Kitty Craft, a project that the artist herself describes as “Simon & Garfunkel, with a chick, and with A Tribe Called Quest.” Indeed, Kitty Craft mixes lo-fi beats with warm and lush yacht-rock mellowness to create an idiosyncratic sound that you and I can hear live on stage Monday at The Catalyst.

➤ The children’s picture book — the beloved titles that served as the first encounter with legitimate art for so many of us — is undergoing a renaissance in the publishing world, and the documentary “Story and Pictures By” chronicles the loving care that so many picture-book authors pour into their projects, all in the name of inspiring and enchanting our children. The film will be screened Sunday at Santa Cruz High, with a Q&A afterward with the filmmaker, for all those whose love of books began early. 

➤ It is officially spring, but the event at Bookshop Santa Cruz on April Fool’s Day is tabbed “Winter in America.” Of course, that’s meant metaphorically and politically, at least for millions of Americans concerned about democracy’s tenuous hold on the country. The event is a celebration of the publication of a book in which many of America’s best poets respond to the 2024 election. Several of those poets will try to make sense of the chaos with a reading at Bookshop on Tuesday. 

➤ Defying science which asserts that banana slugs can’t possibly live that long, the Banana Slug String Band hits 40 years with a celebration show at the Rio on Saturday. Any band that reaches 40 years of continuously performing without any personnel changes is already in rarefied airspace. But how many such bands have devoted that 40 years to saving the planet? The Slugs might be in a club of one on that score. 

➤ You can do a whole lot of “ramblin’” if given 93 years, and the legendary Ramblin’ Jack Elliott is proving it. Just four months away from his 94th birthday, the revered troubadour is still singing and still touring, determined to be the last folksinger standing. See a walkin’ breathin’ ramblin’ piece of history Sunday at Moe’s Alley.

➤ Of all the mellow hits from the 1970s, none may be more mellow than “Angela,” the lilting jazz instrumental that served as the theme song for the sitcom “Taxi.” That sublime piece of Fender Rhodes goodness came to us via the great Bob James, who plays the Kuumbwa on Monday. You may know that song, but James has an enormous catalog of sweet sounds that you’ll be amazed to discover. 

➤ For the third straight year, Santa Cruz High School is the scene for the big, splashy “Dancing With the Santa Cruz Stars” dance competition, with Mayor Fred Keeley in the judge’s seat. This year’s theme is “Battle of the Bands,” and, if last year is any indication, we may see flash mobs, confetti cannons and other crowd-pleasing attractions. It’s all going down Friday at 6 p.m. at the Santa Cruz High gym. Wearing your Cardinal red is appreciated, but not required.