Good morning, and welcome to the U-T Arts & Culture Newsletter.

I’m David L. Coddon, and here’s your guide to all things essential in San Diego’s arts and culture this week.

With the presentation of the Tejano Music Awards last week in San Antonio, I couldn’t help but think of Selena – how it’s been nearly 30 years since her death, and how it never ceases to amaze me how many young people today not only know who she was but listen to her music.

Rightfully considered the “Queen of Tejano Music,” Selena Quintanilla not only achieved tremendous success during her all-too-brief career in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, but she was a pioneer for women in the male-dominated Tejano music world. She was at the peak of her popularity when she was murdered by the head of her fan club in 1995.

Among the new works getting a staged reading at the sixth Latinx New Play Festival that opens Friday is Jessi Realz and Marilet Martinez’s “The Invocation of Selena.” It’s described as a combination sketch comedy and cabaret show. La Jolla Playhouse is hosting the festival, which runs through Sunday, after its previous tenure at the now-closed San Diego Repertory Theatre.

Here is Union-Tribune theater critic Pam Kragen’s preview of the four-play festival. “The Invocation of Selena” will be read at 7 p.m. Saturday, with a directors panel preceding it at 6.

Had she lived, Selena might never have become a pop star — her heart was with the music she grew up with. It doesn’t matter. Her legacy is assured.

READ MORE: La Jolla Playhouse’s inaugural Latinx new play festival opens Oct. 27

READ MORE: Selena’s iconic beauty, kindness and grace inspire my drag persona, Lady Blanca

More music

Anyone who’s followed the local music scene for the past 30 years has probably been to a Rocket From the Crypt show. The band led by John Reis has been around, on and off, for more than three decades. Somewhere I’ve got my copy of the “Scream, Dracula Scream!” album. Now I just need a CD player.

Not to say RFTC is dated. I’m betting they still rock. I, and you, can find out on Saturday night when the band performs at House of Blues downtown. Opening the show is the surf rock band Tijuana Panthers from Long Beach.

Film screening

Many decades before anyone ever heard of Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees, the devil was getting his due in a silent film of Goethe’s “Faust.” Directed by F.W. Murnau and starring Emil Jannings, both of whom I learned about years ago in a cinema class, “Faust – A German Folktale” told the story of a man who makes a bargain with the demon Mephisto.

The 1926 film will be screened Saturday at 6 p.m. somewhat ironically at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Spring Valley with 1927 Wurlitzer organ accompaniment by Rosemary

Trinity Presbyterian Church’s 1927 Wurlitzer organ.

The screening is presented by the Theatre Organ Society of San Diego.

Reading performance

If “Faust” doesn’t get you in the mood for Halloween, an evening of the “Master of the Macabre,” Edgar Allan Poe, should. On Saturday at 6, 7:30 and 9 p.m. the Write Out Loud organization is presenting “Poe & Company,” a story concert featuring readings of works by you know who.

Tickets are $30 for these readings at the Villa Montezuma Museum in Sherman Heights, a fitting location for anything Poe. This one-night-only event is taking the place this year of Write Out Loud’s annual Poefest, which is set to return next year.

If you’re wondering if Poe ever acknowledged Halloween in his many works, he didn’t officially, but his 1847 poem “Ulalume” is set on “a night in the lonesome October of my most immemorial year.” It takes place, in part, in a graveyard. Look it up, and enjoy.

READ MORE: Write Out Loud to recognize student participants in its annual reading and arts program

Festivals

From the creators of the annual “Pageant of the Masters” in Laguna Beach comes the “Pageant of the Monsters,” a Halloween-themed festival opening Friday and continuing through Tuesday night.

Among the attractions is a haunted house, dubbed the “Maze of the Minotaur,” held in the pageant venue’s backstage area. It’s described as family-friendly, but not recommended for kids under 5.

Also on the festival grounds will be a display of the annual monsters pageant’s “Scarecrow Contest,” demonstrating that I’m not the only one who can’t associate scarecrows with the lovable “Wizard of Oz” straw man.

Tickets for the “Pageant of the Monsters” are $20-$25, considerably less than those for the summertime “Pageant of the Masters.”

U-T arts stories you may have missed this past week

UCTV

University of California Television invites you to enjoy this special selection of programs from throughout the University of California. Descriptions courtesy of and text written by UCTV staff:

“’Encanto’: Discussion of the Film”

Yvett Merino (producer, Walt Disney Animation Studios) joins moderator Dolores Inés Casillas (Chicana and Chicano Studies, UCSB) in a post-screening discussion of the film “Encanto,” the acclaimed Disney animation film about a multigenerational family with magical powers in the mountains of Colombia. In their conversation, they discuss the importance of Latinx representation in mainstream media, reflecting on the film’s themes of intergenerational trauma and its power to spark important conversations among family audiences. Merino also shares the significance of including an immigrant story in the film and details the development and release of the film, including the impact the pandemic had on viewing practices.

“Debunking Trust and Safety: Unveiling the Reality Behind Online Integrity”

This episode of TecHype features Yoel Roth, former head of Trust and Safety at Twitter. Yoel provides firsthand insights into how one of the largest online platforms in the world built out its trust and safety operations to better ensure its service was helpful, harmless, and aligned with user expectations. While at Twitter, Roth found himself the target of a coordinated harassment campaign on the platform, one instigated by the current CEO Elon Musk. His years of work building out the trust and safety operations had become personal. In this episode, Dr. Roth provides professional and personal perspectives on the real benefits and risks of platform trust and safety efforts, the current state-of-the-art of the field, and where it’s going.

“La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest: Liszt, Dohnanyi and Schubert”

From the La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest 2022 series, music director Inon Barnatan creates an ambitious program, evocatively titled “Under the Influence,” exploring the muses that seduced and inspired some of the greatest composers in musical history. This program features Liszt’s “At the Grave of Richard Wagner” (arr. Barnatan), Dohnanyi’s “Sextet in C Major, Op. 37” and Schubert’s “String Quartet in D Minor, D.810 “Death and the Maiden” (arr. Mahler).

And finally, top weekend events

The best things to do during Halloween weekend 2023 in San Diego.

Coddon is a freelance writer.