Hearts in Song

Still stuck about where to take your sweetheart for Valentine’s Day? SOhO might have the solution. Veteran Santa Barbara songbird Shawn Thies, who has emotional richness amid the silky smoothness, is bringing along a bunch of her musical friends for a Tuesday, Feb. 14, dinner show at 7 p.m. at the restaurant-nightclub, including local stalwarts George Friedenthal, Randy Tico, Maitland Ward, Bill Flores, and David Hunt… Alternately, you can also sip cocktails and/or dine with your dear one block away with Nic & Joe at Crush Bar & Tap, billed as Santa Barbara’s first queer bar, open to people of all identities all the time. That’s where the smoky-sultress jazz pop singer Nicole Lvoff and innovative arranger/guitarist (and Indy arts writer) Joe Woodard, a.k.a. the band Lucinda Lane when they’re doing originals, will perform selections from their ever-expanding songbook of Beatles, Joni Mitchell, bossa novas, jazz standards, and more.

For something edgier, ask your honey to head to Center Stage Theater for the first show from Anima, Theater of the Feminine Underground, since the pandemic. Anima’s mission is to provide a stage for women to share their voices and visions for the purpose of catalyzing collective transformation through creative expression, which takes the form of 10 pieces that might range from spoken word to music, movement, or experimental theater, providing a glimpse into the creator’s
inner world.

Three days earlier, Center Stage also hosts Yulia Maluta’s eighth annual Colors of Love dance show, a celebration of love, cultures, and unity with live dancers and singers including Latin, Samba, Flamenco, Belly Dance, Argentine Tango, Swing, Pole Art, and more. Singer Terrill Williams Carter is featured in the Saturday, Feb. 11, event.