Performing Arts Academy of Marin (PAAM), Mill Valley resident Annie Thistle's multi-faceted artistic juggernaut that also now includes tumbling and gymnastics hub Tumblespot, is ramping up for its 2018 MainStage Musical – a production of Into the Woods, which "intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault fairy tales and explores the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests."

As PAAM seeks performers for the musical, Thistle has scheduled auditions for the performance for Jan. 8 (3:30-6:30pm) and Jan. 10 (5:30-7:30pm), with callbacks set for Jan. 10 (7:30pm-9pm). The auditions are for actors ages 10 and up, and require the preparation of a one-minute song selection from a musical. An accompanist is provided – bring sheet music. Placement is by audition only. $450 production fee for all students.

​PAAM's rehearsals are set for Sundays and Fridays between Jan. 14 and March 16, with tech week March 18-22 and performance dates March 23-24. 

The main characters of Into the Woods, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine, are taken from "Little Red Riding Hood", "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Rapunzel", and "Cinderella", as well as several others. The musical is tied together by a story involving a childless baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family (the original beginning of The Grimm Brothers' Rapunzel), their interaction with a witch who has placed a curse on them, and their interaction with other storybook characters during their journey.

Into the Woods was also a 2014 film directed by Rob Marshall, that featured a cast that included Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman, Christine Baranski, Lilla Crawford, Daniel Huttlestone, MacKenzie Mauzy, Billy Magnussen, and Johnny Depp. The film garnered three Academy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations. Here's the trailer for the film:

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What do you do when an integral member of your critically acclaimed Claremont Trio goes on maternity leave mid-tour, with a Mill Valley Chamber Music Society performance set for January 14?

You swap in Harumi Rhodes, the founding violinist of the 2009 Naumburg Award-winning Trio Cavatina, of course. Rhodes, who completed her residency with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two and was recently appointed the newest Artist Member of the Boston Chamber Music Society, is filling in for violinist Emily Bruskin, joining cllist Julia Bruskin and pianist Andrea Lam. 

Widely regarded as one of the premiere piano trios of its generation, the Claremont Trio is acclaimed for its virtuosic and richly communicative performances. First winners of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award and the only piano trio ever to win the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the Claremont Trio has been lauded for their "aesthetic maturity, interpretive depth and exuberance" by the Palm Beach Daily News. The Claremont Trio’s recent seasons have included engagements at Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center. The group formed in 1999 at the Juilliard School. Trio members are all based in Upper West Side area of Manhattan, near their namesake, Claremont Avenue.

The Jan. 14 concert program will feature "Four Andean Songs," by Gabriela Lena Frank. A native of Berkeley, Calif., Frank has been honored with a Latin Grammy and was nominated for Grammys as both composer and pianist. Known for exploring her multicultural heritage through her compositions, Frank has traveled extensively throughout South America. Her pieces often reflect and refract her studies of Latin American folklore, incorporating poetry, mythology and native musical styles into a western classical framework that is uniquely her own. In August 2017, Frank was included in the Washington Post's list of the 35 most significant women composers in history.
 
The Jan. 14 program will also include Smetana: Trio Op. 15 and Beethoven: Trio Op. 97 “Archduke.”

The non-profit, all-volunteer Mill Valley Chamber Music Society was founded in 1973 to present exceptional classical musicians in Mill Valley at affordable ticket prices. For its 2017-18 season, the organization has kept a new wrinkle it unveiled last year: offering free admission for young adults 18-years old and under (audiences members 15 years old and under must be accompanied by an adult).

​The 411: The Mill Valley Chamber Music Society presents the Claremont Trio with special guest violinist Harumi Rhodes on Sunday, January 14 at 5pm at the Mount Tamalpais United Methodist Church, 410 Sycamore Ave. Tix $35 for general admission, under 18 free. MORE INFO & TIX.

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In the years since Jay Tamang, a longtime clerk at Whole Foods Market on East Blithedale, left his native Nepal in 2004, his thoughts have rarely strayed from his home country.

Tamang, who spent years there earning $2/day as a trekking guide in Katmandu before eventually moving to the United States with his wife Biba and their two young children, has maintained strong ties in Nepal, regularly visiting and donating his time and money to lift his former friends, family and neighbors. That was never more true than in April 2015 in the aftermath of the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal, which sent Tamang and his family reeling. 

In the two-plus years since, Tamang has leaned heavily on Nepal FREED (Foundation for Rural Educational & Economic Development), the organization he founded in 2009 to raise money to build schools in the remote villages of Nepal. With the help of his then fellow Park School parents, Nepal FREED has built a school in lower Bhalche, a library in nearby Kahule and paid for teachers to educate children at both facilities. 

Now Tamang is looking to further deepen the ties between his adopted hometown and native country. He created Mountain Culture Tours, a tour operator that will take groups on trips that mix volunteering with mountain treks in the mountainous region.

"My goal is to introduce people to the diverse world we live in, and partnering with them to benefit underprivileged children, and serve schools in the remote areas of Nepal by donating a portion of our net proceeds to Nepal F.R.E.E.D," Tamang says. 

Mountain Culture Tours' first such trip is set for April 2018. The 16-day trip kicks off with a volunteering stint at a school in Bhalche before heading onto "a most astounding spiritual journey of the Himalayas for the next eight days," he says. "It's a trekking experience of spectacular views that people won’t soon forget. I hope to share my vast knowledge and experience of these mystical places."

The 16-day trip includes four nights at a hotel in Kathmandu, three days volunteering in Bhalche and transportation and eight days trekking including food, permits, guides and porters. The cost is $2,700 per person.

The 411: MORE INFO on Jay Tamang's Mountain Culture Tours. Email him with questions.
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​From weather-induced emergencies and property crime to helping elderly residents and making small talk in line at the cafe, Mill Valley Police Dept. officers are jacks and jills of all trades.

The department’s newest addition takes that trait to the extreme.

Christopher DeLa Torre is the department’s non-sworn Community Services Officer, a job that primarily focuses on interacting with the community but also a vast list of other duties. They include running the department’s evidence room, assisting on emergency response programs, conducting live scan fingerprinting, checking in with Mill Valley business owners, giving tours to everyone from Boy Scout troops to school groups, and much more.
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“I’m really enjoying the community involvement,” says DeLa Torre, who replaces Allely Albert. “Everyone seems very connected here. Winterfest provided such a great example of that. There’s definitely a small town feel and a cooperative attitude that comes along with that. Someone will come in for live scan fingerprinting and then I’ll see them at the cafe a few days later."

DeLa Torre grew up in American Canyon, Calif., attending Vintage High School in Napa before studying sociology and behavioral science at Napa Valley Junior College and then criminal justice at Sonoma State.

During his senior year of college, DeLa Torre was hired as a police cadet at the San Rafael Police Dept., an internship that propelled him to graduation from Sonoma State's criminal justice program. That laid the groundwork for his role in Mill Valley.

"I’m really grateful that I didn’t have a specific niche there – it really allowed me to get acquainted with all aspects of the department, and has eased my transition into this position,” he says.

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Just a few weeks from becoming the most recently elected official in Marin, Damian Morgan, who won a seat on the Marin City Community Services District board by just a single vote, is seizing the moment. 

Morgan, a community activist who launched Cronkite Development ("CDI") to provide support services to children and families in Marin City, is hosting a benefit specifically designed to raise money for CDI to provide Marin City children with real life experiences they don't often get to have.

"Due to a lack of financial resources, many children growing up in Marin City have never been to the ocean, ran through a grove of redwood trees, sat in a boat, attended a movie at a theater with friends or enjoyed the many fairs and festivals our beautiful county offer," Morgan says. "These activities provide a broader understanding and context of our world, and are important to childhood development, health and sense of well-being."

The fundraiser, dubbed "Creating Connections Live," is set for Friday, January 19 at 7pm at the Community Center. Local business have donated more than 150 items that will be auctioned off, and the likes of Piatti and Sweet Things have donated food, wine and champagne for the occasion. The event will also feature live music from musicians like the ISOJI Wizards. 

CDI is seeking $100 donations via their website for the event, as well as additional sponsors and auction donors. GO HERE for more info.

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Should your favorite grocery clerks at Mill Valley Market be able to live in our community if they want to? How about our firefighters, teachers and police officers? And if the answer’s yes, how do we go about making that happen?

Having that conversation, and identifying short-, medium- and long-term strategies to make sure that those vital contributors to our community can live here, was the driving goal behind the City of Mill Valley’s inaugural Housing Summit on Nov. 30. The lively event was a natural next step on a path that the City has been on since 2013, when the Mill Valley City Council approved its MV2040 General Plan and Housing Element two years later. 
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“When I took office four years ago, I only had one priority and that was to address affordable housing in our community,” then-Mayor Jessica Sloan told the packed house at the Community Center at the outset of the event. “Affordable housing is an issue here in Marin and across the entire state. It doesn’t just affect those who are struggling to afford to live in this county. It affects all of us: business owners struggling to hire, public safety officials whose personnel don’t live in our community, teachers who wish they could live here so they don’t have to race home everyday at 3pm to pick up their own kids.”

​Over the past two years the City of Mill Valley has passed an inclusionary housing ordinance that significantly stepped up its requirements on new multi-unit development and in September, the Council unanimously backed an affordable housing ordinance that includes a 1 percent City fee that will be applied to all new housing projects and remodels costing $100,000 or more, starting on Nov. 1, 2018. Second-unit projects are exempt.

City officials say the fee would generate approximately $375,000 annually. That revenue would go into a new affordable housing trust fund. What to do with that money was a central focus of the Housing Summit, and will continue to be going forward. The options include acquiring properties, assisting with the building of new dwelling units, building multi-unit projects, renovating existing developments or finding ways to subsidize rental rates for workforce housing, among others.

City Manager Jim McCann said the plan for 2018 is to bring a series of recommendations to the City Council, spanning the range of options, including new regulations, new programs and new projects. “We hope to build on this conversation and move forward with practical decisions in the months and years ahead,” McCann said.

To move the conversation forward and focus on the range of possible Mill Valley-specific, practical strategies, the City gathered a panel of experts including longtime Bay Area housing specialist Karen Warner, who assisted the City in the creation of its Housing Element and moderated the conversation; City Senior Planner Danielle Staude; Bruce Dorfman, a Mill Valley resident and longtime principal at Thompson Dorfman Partners, a development firm that specializes in creating publicly-owned housing communities for teachers and other public sector employees; Lewis Jordan, the executive director of the Marin Housing Authority; Mill Valley Planning Commissioner and Capretta Architecture founder Ric Capretta; Leelee Thomas, Marin County’s Housing Planning Manager and Andrea Osgood, director of real estate development for Eden Housing, which has built projects like the 50-unit affordable housing at the former Fireside Hotel property in Tam Valley.

Warner walked through a number of data points to explain the problem, including:

• 91% of the 4,600 jobs in Mill Valley – largely roles in the service and retail industries –are held by people who live outside the City. One-third of those people commute more than 25 miles each way.
• The cost of housing in Mill Valley far outpaces median income, with a person needing to make $117,000 per year to afford a two-bedroom apartment and $289,000 to afford a median-priced home. That prices out most people in retail jobs, teachers, firefighters, police officers, clergy, physical therapists and even some dentists.
• One-fifth of Mill Valley’s households make less than $50,000 per year, and 24 percent have children under 18. One-fifth of homes have a senior citizen as the head of the household. “Mill Valley is not a homogenous community, no matter what people think or say,” Warner said.
• One-fourth of seniors in Mill Valley are renters, and three-quarters of renters are low income.

The panel focused much of its attention on the following three topics (click each bullet to read more on each topic):

• Protect and enhance the City’s existing affordable units.
• Acquire and convert units to create affordable units.
• Create and build new affordable units.

​The panel concluded by listing the three most important actions – grouped by short-, medium- and long-term – that Mill Valley could take in addressing its affordable housing shortage.

Thomas: Adopt tenant protection for renters; focus on second and junior second units; find a City-owned parcel and “build a jewel of an affordable infill project that could be a model and build goodwill for the future.”

Jordan: Creating a program to give landlords incentives to rent to those that need affordable housing; acquiring property onto which you can build affordable projects.

Staude: Pooling resources with other agencies and firms and to identify local champions for affordable housing.

Dorfman: We definitely need champions locally, but we should be open to looking outside of Mill Valley. There are other opportunities in the general vicinity.”

Osgood: Eliminate minimum parking requirements, especially in commercial corridors; be open to adjusting the rules on density - the number of dwelling units allowed per acre.

Capretta: Create more aggressive policies to disincentivize more of our housing stock from being reduced; the City becoming a buyer in the marketplace with affordable housing trust funds; incentivize developers with density bonuses and fee abatement.

​The rest of the housing summit featured community members providing their own perspectives on the subject, and in that discussion, former Mill Valley Mayor Bob Burton posed a compelling question: “How do we change people’s attitudes? I have been here for 51 years and I’ve seen so many projects go by the wayside. How do we go about of changing the attitudes of a community so that we can get this done.”

“Part of it is dispelling the myth of who these people are who need affordable housing,” Jordan said. At some point, we have to get beyond the stereotypes. People who provide goods and services in our community can live in our community.”

“Sit down and ask yourselves: what’s in it for you as a community?” he added. “If we can provide these affordable opportunities, how does it enhance the community and make it have more long-term viability?”

Thomas said that the North Bay fires have opened people’s minds a bit on the subject. “People realized just how dependent we are on Sonoma County and our neighbors to the north. Teachers couldn’t get to work and our schools were closed as a result. People could see and feel the impact on them personally. That goes beyond just that it’s the right thing to do.”
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The meeting was a constructive and informative start to a long conversation on potential solutions to the affordability crisis. As Mayor Sloan remarked, affordable housing “is an issue that really touches our community and one that we are committed to taking a stance on.” The event offered a chance for staff to share information and receive input from the community to allow staff to bring practical ideas to the City Council for discussion and direction.

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​Who's ready for the babyccino?

Inspired by their barista brethren Down Under, the folks at Equator Coffees are rolling out a new kid-friendly drink version of the cappuccino this weekend called the babyccino, essentially a cup of warm steamed milk often accompanied by a dusting of chocolate powder.

To celebrate the rollout, Equator is offering free babyccinos (with purchase of an adult drink). "Our version is warm milk with marshmallow, no cocoa," says Devorah Freudiger, Equator's director of retail. "We think it's just perfect, so we want our little fans to give it a taste, risk free."

"Many of our Mill Valley families have traveled to Australia and have returned asking for a Babyccinos," adds Equator co-founder Helen Russell. "We're excited to make that happen for them."

The babyccino dates back to Australia and New Zealand in the 1990s, according to Lach Ryan's story on the drink for the coffee industry blog Sprudge.

"The overall goal of the babyccino is to produce a two-part response sequence from the child in question: first, squeals of delight when the drink is presented; second, a precious moment of peace and quiet while the drink is consumed," Ryan wrote humorously about babyccinos.

The 411: Equator Coffees unveils the babyccino at its Mill Valley locations starting this weekend, with free babyccinos with the purchase of an adult drink. MORE INFO.
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Is there a better way to say goodbye to a turbulence-stricken 2017 than to laugh for a few hours?

That's the hook for the O'Hanlon Center for the Arts' end-of-year comedy fundraiser, featuring Rita Abrams with new and tried and true musical comedy with singers Kayla Gold and Sean O’Brien, along with comedian Geoff Bolt and humorist, playwright and monologist Margery Kreitman.

In addition to the laughs, O'Hanlon offers the chance to celebrate the coming year one day earlier than everyone else. The event is set for Saturday, December 30. "Skip the chaos, don’t dress up, relax with light meal from Mill Valley’s Vasco Restaurant and wine from Handley Cellars while tickling your funny bone AND support a good cause, the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts!" says Erma Murphy, O'Hanlon's director of programs and outreach.

The 411: The O'Hanlon Center for the Arts' "Beat the Rush to 2018" end-of-year comedy fundraiser is on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 6:30pm. 616 Throckmorton Avenue. Tix $55. MORE INFO & TIX.

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Sometimes Plan B is just as spectacular as Plan A.

Despite the dearth of snow in in the Sierras – where the Enjoy Mill Valley Winterfest event has gotten its snow for several years – the event was a monumental success, drawing thousands to the Downtown Plaza to slide down a massive, 100-foot-long slide! There was also a carousel-themed bounce house, a visit from Santa in an antique fire truck, a photo booth and an array free food from the likes of Piazza D'Angelo, Balboa Cafe, El Paseo, Equator Coffees, Good Earth Natural Foods, Super Duper Burger, Three Twins Ice Cream and Urban Remedy.

As if that wasn't enough, there was a full day of live music and performances from some amazing local arts organizations, including Performing Arts Academy of Marin, Wow! Music Studios, Singers Marin, Rita Abrams, Happy Feet Dance School, Dore Coller & the Millbillies, Roco Dance and Rock the Ages.

Oh, and Santa Claus, with help from Miss Marin County and and Clo the Cow, arrived mid-day to the delights of children of all ages, while a wide range of sponsors, including Redwood Credit Union, Chevron on Ashford Ave., Zephyr Real Estate, Bradley Real Estate, Mathnasium, Park N Fly and Kiddo delighted kids with myriad games and activities. Free bike parking courtesy Marin County Bicycle Coalition and Tam Bikes made it possible to enjoy the whole affair without looking for parking.

Winterfest also had a dedicated Holiday Donation Station where took in dozens of canned food, dry and non-perishable food for the SF-Marin Food Bank, an entire bin of unwrapped toy donations for the Toys for Tots program and the Performing Stars of Marin via the Mill Valley Fire Department and nearly 100 coats for One Warm Coat.

Local resident Josephine Rasella sold Kurt S. Adler holiday ornaments at the event, donating all $3,032 that she raised to the Community Foundation Sonoma County – Sonoma County Resilience Fund. Across the street, Famous4 retail shop owner Larry "the Hat" Lautzker once again had a truck for donations of new or gently used unwrapped toys and bicycles, as well as Target, Walgreens etc. gift cards for victims of the North Bay fires. 

The fantastic event, organized by Steve Bajor's Team Pro Event and Michelle McCarthy, all concluded with a beautiful Tree Lighting Ceremony featuring the Mill Valley City Council and Singers Marin. All photos by Gary Ferber Photography and Resplendent Photography. Thanks to all of the organizers, sponsors, restaurants, performers, volunteers and local officials who helped make this event an amazing success!

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The DIY spirit has long been prevalent in Mill Valley, from its decades-old craft fairs and arts festivals to creative hubs like Once Around and more recent additions like Pollen + Wool and Mint, retail shops that spotlight independent makers.

Now Makers Market, the newest kid on the DIY block in town, is looking to take the celebration of makers to the next level, opening its latest retail shop within the historic Mill Valley Lumber Yard at 129 Miller Ave. in early 2018.

In advance of that, MVLY and Makers Market are co-hosting a Holiday Craft Fair on Saturday, Dec. 16 (10am-5pm), featuring products from more than a dozen Bay Area makers (list below).  The event will also feature current MVLY tenants Guideboat Co., Bloomingayles and Ambatalia, as well as Flour Craft Bakery, which is also set to open there in early 2018, with Bloomingayles hosting wreath making classes and Ambatalia sharing tips for sustainable living during the holidays and throughout the year.

MVLY co-owner Jan Mathews connected with Ekman at her Santana Row store during one of her regular outdoor craft fairs. The two hit it off and decided to have Ekman take about 900 square feet of space in the southern end of the Lumber Yard, which the Mathews family bought in 2012 from the Cerri family, which had owned and maintained it as a lumber yard and True Value hardware store for the previous 14 years. The property was built by lumber magnate Robert Dollar in 1892 as Dollar Lumber Company.

The Mathews steered their plans to renovate the 42,500-square-foot property through the Planning Commission and City Council before garnering approval in July 2016. They’re now on the home stretch of that vast renovation.

The concept for Makers Market spawned in Ekman’s vivid memories of helping her father in his workshop as a girl growing up in Huntsville, Alabama. “We just had such great access to so many different kinds of people who made things,” she says. “As a result, I grew up with a great appreciation for that and loved the type of people that do that type of thing for a living, just  - extremely genuine and down to earth, resourceful people.”

Ekman went cross-country to Cal Poly for college, majoring in business before moving into a long career in the tech consulting world.“After 25-30 years of doing that, it became time to do what I was super passionate about which was the American craft collectors for my entire life,” she says.

Ekman originally planned to open a business that provided equipment, technological and marketing support for makers, but as she dug into the business, she realized that retail, specifically an online store for makers, was a better idea.

She launched in June 2014, and opened a pop-up shop in the Westfield Center in San Francisco five months later. Ekman moved the shop to a larger space within Westfield for one year through late 2015, and then opened a shop in Santana Row in San Jose. In July 2017, she opened another store in Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek.

One of the distinctive elements of Makers Market are the regular events that step beyond the confines of the retail space. Ekman hosts monthly outdoor markets, providing an opportunity for artists whose work is not yet on Makers Market shelves to showcase their work in that setting. The typical event hosts about 50 artists, featuring live music and drinks. The MVLY location will host at least six outdoor markets a year, Ekman says.

“We use it as a test market for what products sell well in that marketplace,” she says. “That’s a big way that we learn what will end up in Makers Market. We are all about letting local makers get exposure.”

Ekman is steeped in the world of makers and craftspeople. She’s a national curator for the American Craft Council, the oldest nonprofit supporting American crafts in the country.

“That means that I get to review thousands of artisans across the country every year,” Ekman says. “A lot of those products end up being in our stores and at our markets.”

For the past several years, Ekman has also served on a panel of experts that also includes reps from Etsy and Kickstarter to determine USA Today’s annual “10Best Makers in the USA.” “The beauty of it is that I wind up nominating a lot of the makers I work with,” she says.

The key to Makers Market, Ekman says, is that each location features local makers.

“A big thing for us is to have it be as local as possible,” she says.

The 411: Makers Market, which is set to open in the Mill Valley Lumber Yard in early 2018, hosts and curates a holiday craft fair on Saturday, Dec. 16 (10am-5pm). The event will also feature current MVLY tenants Guideboat Co., Bloomingayles, Ambatalia, as well as Flour Craft Bakery, which is also set to open there in early 2018. At the Dec. 16th event, Bloomingayles hosts wreath making classes and Ambatalia shares tips for sustainable living during the holidays and throughout the year. MORE INFO. Here's a list of some of the makers who will be showcasing their products at the Holiday Craft Fair on Dec. 16: