Tomlinson\u2019s San Diego County roots are well documented. She attended both Palomar College and Cal State San Marcos, though while still in her teens she decided that her future resided in standup. A little more than 10 years later, her resume includes three Netflix comedy specials, the \u201cAfter Midnight\u201d gig and a high profile on social media, to say nothing of the comedy-club circuit.<\/p>\n
Yet I still think not enough people know her work and how funny Taylor Tomlinson can be. If you\u2019re among them, this weekend\u2019s your chance to find out.<\/p>\n
Theater<\/p>\n
Meow. Soroya Rowley, who conceived the immersive \u201cSan Diego, I Love You City Heights\u201d last March, is bringing a new work to that neighborhood\u2019s Key and Cleaver caf\u00e9, which was one of the venues used in the spring. It\u2019s an hourlong comedy she calls \u201cCats (not the musical).\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Directed by Crystal Brandan, the play written by Rowley grew out of the relationship with stray cats that she and her partner forged from their balcony during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cI was excited to have a new take on a similar (to the original \u2018Cats\u2019) idea,\u201d Rowley said. \u201cThe individual personalities of all these cats.\u201d<\/p>\n One of those cats Rowley took into her life, Toaster, is among the three felines portrayed by actors in the play. The other characters are humans, and a racoon. Amid the comedy, look for some commentary as well on the state of healthcare and medical debt.<\/p>\n \u201cCats (not the musical)\u201d opens on Saturday with performances at 3 and 5 p.m. There will be additional performances at 3 and 5 p.m. on Aug. 16 and 17. Ironically, dogs are welcome at the caf\u00e9 \u2013 cats are not.<\/p>\n Leonard Cohen\u2019s emotional \u201cHallelujah\u2019s been covered by everyone from Bob Dylan to Bono to Kate McKinnon on \u201cSaturday Night Live,\u201d and Cohen\u2019s own rendition is much admired. But the song was and ever will be first identified with the late Jeff Buckley<\/a>.<\/p>\n The son of singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, Jeff was a versatile and sensitive musician who lived to be only 30 and who\u2019s been a cult favorite of fans and fellow music-makers since that passing in 1997. All of this and more is revealed in the new documentary \u201cIt\u2019s Never Over, Jeff Buckley.\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The film directed by Amy Berg opens Friday for a weeklong run at Media Arts Center San Diego\u2019s Digital Gym Cinema downtown<\/a>.\u00a0 The trailer alone gets to me, so I hope I can handle the whole movie.<\/p>\n When network television during the 1950s and even the supposed free-thinking \u201860s was denying Black artists the opportunity to perform on national TV, Ed Sullivan was giving them that chance. On first his \u201cToast of the Town\u201d variety show and then \u201cThe Ed Sullivan Show\u201d he defied network execs, politicians and critics by booking musicians like Jackie Wilson, Ray Charles, Harry Belafonte, Nina Simone and many, many more.<\/p>\n Hear and learn about this in the compelling new documentary \u201cSunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan\u201d on Netflix. Watching it I gained fresh respect for Sullivan and for the many Black musicians and singers who performed on his shows, sometimes under threats.<\/p>\n The musical clips from the documentary are short but exciting, including the Jackson 5\u2019s \u201cThe Love You Save,\u201d Belafonte\u2019s \u201cMuleskinner,\u201d Simone\u2019s \u201cLove Me Or Leave Me\u201d and Nat King Cole\u2019s keyboard solo on \u201cJust One Of Those Things.\u201d<\/p>\n The three-piece from Athens, Ala., known as Alabama Shakes is on a reunion tour after a hiatus of eight years. Luckily for us, one of the tour stops is San Diego State\u2019s Open Air Theatre on Sunday night<\/a>. Oakland\u2019s Shannon and the Clams opens the show.<\/p>\n Soul-fusion is the label most often given the musical style of Alabama Shakes, whose roots date back to 2009 and which is fronted by singer\/guitarist Brittany Howard. But this is a band that defies labeling, sometimes sounding steeped in hard rock, other times in blues and roots music.<\/p>\n I personally was late to the Alabama Shakes party, unaware of them until I saw the band perform on an episode of \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d four years after their formation. Then I got my copy of their debut album \u201cBoys & Girls.\u201d It\u2019s still a great listen.<\/p>\n U-T arts and dining stories you may have missed this week UCTV<\/p>\n University of California Television<\/a> invites you\u00a0to enjoy this special selection of programs from throughout the University of California. Descriptions courtesy of and text written by UCTV staff:<\/p>\n \u201cSeas the Day: A New Narrative for the Ocean\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Jane Lubchenco, marine ecologist and professor of marine biology at Oregon State University, calls for a transformative new narrative about the ocean \u2014 one grounded in science, solutions and partnerships. She critiques two outdated views: one that the ocean is too big to fail, which has driven overuse and pollution; and another that it\u2019s too big to fix, which leads to inaction. Lubchenco presents a third, science-based perspective: The ocean is central to a healthy, just and prosperous future. Drawing on her experience, including service in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, she emphasizes that the ocean is neither too vast to break nor too damaged to heal \u2014 it\u2019s too important to ignore.<\/p>\n![\"Jeff](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sut-l-music-buckley.jpg\")
Jeff Buckley appears in the documentary \u201cIt\u2019s Never Over, Jeff Buckley\u201d by Amy Berg. Sundance
\nFilm<\/p>\n![\"Ed](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sut-z-tv-sullivan.jpg\")
Ed Sullivan, center, with members of the Temptations vocal group. Sullivan\u2019s support of Black artists is the focus of the new Netflix documentary \u201cThe Untold Story of Ed Sullivan. (Netflix)
\nStreaming<\/p>\n![\"Alabama](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sut-z-music-shakes.jpg\")
Alabama Shakes, led by singer and guitarist Brittany Howard, will perform Sunday in San Diego. (Chicago Tribune)
\nPop music<\/p>\n
\n![\"Sisters](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754584150_119_SUT-L-MUSIC-HEARTINTERVIEW-0803.jpg\")
Sisters Ann, left, and Nancy Wilson of Heart are still on the road together 52 years after launching their band. They will perform with Heart Aug. 13 at Pechanga Arena San Diego. (Chris Cain)<\/p>\n