Freaky Friday’ opens, runs until March 12
The La Jolla Playhouse production of Freaky Friday officially opens February 3 following previews that began Jan.31 in San Diego. Starring as the mother and daughter who swap bodies for a day are Heidi Blickenstaff and Emma Hunton, respectively, reprising their roles from the world-premiere staging last fall.
Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley, who directed Blickenstaff and Hunton in the debut staging at the Signature Theatre in Virginia, returns to direct at La Jolla. The engagement is scheduled to run through March 12 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.
The University of California San Diego’s ‘SlowSD’
SlowSd is a 72-hour free festival of slow music and art that will begin at midnight on Friday, Feb.10, 2017 and last through Sunday, February 12. Presented by Assistant Professor Erik Carlson, SlowSD will feature performances of modern and historic works by current professors, graduate students, and special guests. Please review the festival schedule for information on performance timing and locations. Admission to each festival event is free.
The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library announces ‘A Night at the Library’
The Athenaeum is proud to present a literary and musical journey featuring guitarist Colin McAllister. Drawing inspiration from Alberto Manguel’s “The Library at Night (a series of essays on the idea of the library),” Colin McAllister’s captivating new recital takes the listener on a literary, musical and historical journey through time and place. For several of Manguel’s essays (e.g., “The Library as Imagination”, “The Library as Space”, “The Library as Oblivion”) McAllister interweaves music alongside readings from the book, historical vignettes and visual imagery in an engaging concert-length presentation. The compelling selection of music includes masters of medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque polyphony, the first “Golden Age” of the guitar, sensual rhythms from Latin America, and a newly commissioned work, Spines, by award-winning composer Christopher Adler.
La Jolla Presbyterian to host blood drive
In partnership with the San Diego Blood Bank, the San Diego Blood Bank will accept blood donations at La Jolla Presbyterian Church on Sunday, Feb. 12 from  8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.  The drive will be held at:
 7715 Draper Ave
San Diego, 92037
Life Center Building Room 3
 About 1 in 7 people entering a hospital need blood. One pint of blood, which is the amount volunteers give when they donate blood, can save up to three lives. Approximately, 38% of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood but less than 10% do annually. Since blood is always needed, volunteers are asked to give blood for patients, such as those going through cancer or trauma.
 Donors must meet the following eligibility requirements:
– 17 and older (Age 16 requires a parental consent)
– 114 pounds and in good health
It is recommended that donors consume an adequate meal and plenty of fluids prior to giving. A photo identification must be presented upon signing up to donate. Donors are encouraged to schedule an appointment for their convenience but walk-ins are also welcome. To schedule an appointment, please call 619-469-7322 or visit www.SanDiegoBloodBank.org.
Local authors publish their love story for Valentine’s Day
Local authors Elwin Wallace Law and Dr. Liselotte Mettler address the issue of dual professional relationships with the release of their memoir, Lovers to Spouses. Published by Branden Books, the dual memoir shares the intimate details of a complex relationship between two intrepid young professionals, who fall in love with life as well as each other, begin ambitious careers, then separate, only to reunite 40 years later. Elwin Wallace Law, an expert in finance and investment, conquers the California real estate market in the 1970s; Dr. Liselotte Mettler competes in the 1960 Olympics in Rome, then helps invent minimally invasive surgery. When they finally come back together, they shape their relationship in a way that serves both families as well as each other. “We have a unique relationship that works,” says Law, “one that will not be limited by traditional social rules. We live both together and apart, but always reunite with commitment and plenty of love—this way we can maintain both professional and family relationships.” The book will inspire readers to reevaluate both the quality and the design of their own relationships.
The publication falls in the “biographies & memoir” genre of non-fictional works. It tells the story of a woman learning to survive the constant inequity in the workplace. It tells the story of a man who grapples with the ethics of his employer, only to reinvent his career even stronger. As they mature, they marry, have children, and find themselves both single again—only to find one another again after more than 40 years. As Dr. Paul Wetter, chairman of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons explains in the Foreword of Lovers to Spouses, “This book is about the great gift of a good life.”
UCSD Sports UCSDis coming off a 37-21 overall season and finished fourth in the CCAA with a 23-15 record. The Tritons won the CCAA Tournament with a 3-0 swept and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA West Regionals, where they fell to Central Washington in the second elimination game.
Head coach Patti Gerckens, going into her her 25th season, welcomes back three all-conference players, and two All-West Region honorees, including the CCAA Freshman of the Year, Maddy Lewis. Lewis, a first team all-conference and second team all-region selection, will return for her sophomore year as an infielder for the Tritons. The Alameda product finished sixth in the CCAA in batting average (.367), with 47 hits, 33 RBI, and 16 stolen bases. She also led the conference in sacrifice flies (5) and played in 49 games. First team All-CCAA and second team All-Region honoree, Kelsi Maday, will enter her junior year after starting all 58 games in the outfield last season. In 2016, Maday set a single-season school record with 37 stolen bases and tied a single-season Triton record with 54 runs. The Napa product also finished with a .368 batting average, 40 RBI and 64 hits. Junior Lauren Sanders also returns after finishing the season as an All-CCAA second team selection. Sanders finished the season with 37 RBI and 17 stolen bases.
The Tritons lost Lexi Edwards, a three-time All-CCAA pitcher. Edwards capped her senior season after starting 26 games, with a 1.96 ERA, 16-9 record, and 80 strikeouts. She also paced the CCAA in saves with eight. UCSD also lost key players in Taylor Abeyta (52 hits, 18 RBI, 17 stolen bases) and Emma Schneider (29 hits, 11 doubles, 13 runs, 21 RBI).
Triton Notes
Since 2006, UCSD is 8-3 in season openers and 7-4 in home openers. Last season, the Tritons opened 9-1, including 8-0 at home. Hannah Brown is the returning leader in the pitching staff in wins (12), innings pitched (105.2) and strikeouts (56). Milana Casillas returns as the leader in ERA (1.74) and opposing batting average (.292). Kelsi Maday was UCSD’s best hitter last season, topping the roster in batting average (.368), runs (54), doubles (12), RBI (40), slugging percentage (.552) and home runs (6).
Maday was also the top base stealer in 2016, swiping 37 bags. In the field, Lauren Sanders posted a team-high 237 putouts in 2015.Maddy Lewis will be the returning leader in assists after totaling 109 last season and triples (4). Rachel Phillips returns after posting the highest fielding percentage (.992) in 2016. Maday sits on the individual career top-ten in several categories including batting average (.345), home runs (10) and steals (52). Lewis currently sits sixth on the career all-time list with a .356 batting average.
The Tritons welcome seven newcomers to the 2017 squad. UCSD has 16 California natives on its roster, with Kendall Baker (Berthoud, Colo.) and freshman Alanna Phillips (Utica, N.Y.) being the only players out of state. The Tritons have two local products on the roster: Mikaila Reyes (San Diego/Torrey Pines HS) and Lauren Brown (San Diego/Academy of Our Lady of Peace).
Kalaba, Mitchell, Silva added to coaching staff
UCSD has added Carissa Kalaba, Carly Mitchell and Liz Silva as the newest members of its coaching staff. Kalaba has 10 years of head coaching experiencing and was most recently the head coach at Utah State from 2009-13 where she coached one All-American and seven all-conference players. Prior to Utah State, Kalaba was the head coach at Biola University from 2004 to 2009, where she compiled a 143-94 record as the all-time winningest coach in program history. She played softball collegiately at UCLA, helping the team win the 1999 NCAA World Series Championship and Pac-10 titles as well as served as an undergraduate assistant coach for the Bruins in 2000.
Mitchell played softball for CSU Dominguez Hills from 2014 to 15, after transferring from San Diego Mesa Junior College, where she played from 2011 to 13. At San Diego Mesa, she helped her team win the PCAC Conference Championship in 2012 and 2013. Silva arrives in La Jolla after spending two years as the assistant coach (2015) and head coach (2016) of the varsity softball team at Hilltop High School in Chula Vista. She guided her team to two Metro-Pacific League titles and a semifinal berth in the CIF Division III Championship. She played softball collegiately for Oklahoma State, primarily as a catcher and second baseman for the Cowgirls. She was an All-Big XII selection and a member of the 1998 Oklahoma State team that finished third in the Women’s College World Series.
Head coach Patti Gerckens
Patti Gerckens is currently in her twenty-fifth season in charge of the UC San Diego softball program in 2017. Gerckens has amassed an overall record of 655-545 (.546) over her 24-year career, with eight straight 30-win seasons among 11 total including 2016’s 37-wins. The Tritons have gone 511-381 (.573) in 16 years since Gerckens guided the team’s transition from Division III to Division II in 2001, including 307-224 (.578) as a member of the ultra-competitive California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), widely considered the best Division II conference in the country. The winningest coach in program history, Gerckens led the Tritons to four straight NCAA postseason berths from 2011-14, beginning with back-to-back school-record 45-win seasons and appearances in the Division II championship game, the first of which brought UCSD its first softball title in 2011. The Tritons finished as national runners-up in her milestone 20th campaign in 2012. Gerckens has led UCSD softball to 11 NCAA postseason appearances, with nine at the Division II level. UCSD is 22-18 (.55) in the NCAA Division II Championship. Since taking over the team in 1993, 30 of Gerckens’ players have combined for 55-All West Region selections. Forty-five of her players have earned All-CCAA honors since 2001. She has also coached four All-Americans. Three of her players have earned CCAA Freshman of the Year honors and two Tritons have won CCAA Player or Pitcher of the year during her tenure. A native of Old Tappan, NJ, Gerckens graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education. She was a four-year starter at second base for the Tar Heels and also played for the New Jersey Blue Jays of the Amateur Softball Association for nine years, winning a championship in 1992.