Joan Rutkowski and Susan Gulbransen: Legends of the Granada

After seven years of following a broad format for its annual Granada Legends gala, the performing arts venue is turning its attention inward for this year’s fundraising event. Previous galas have called attention to the region’s rich and interconnected cultural heritage of artists, organizations and philanthropists, as the event each year honored one of its eight partner presenting organizations, an entertainer or other arts-related local, and a philanthropist who has supported both the venue and the arts in general in Santa Barbara. 

But as part of its ongoing centennial celebration, the Granada’s major fundraising event has actually chosen itself as the focus, as the 8^th annual Granada Legends is honoring two of the Granada’s own legendary ladies in visionaries Joan Rutkowski and Susan Gulbransen. The two founding board members’ tireless efforts not only paved the way but persevered throughout the entire massive restoration project that turned what was a somewhat neglected trifurcated movie house into the gleaming jewel of Santa Barbara’s downtown performing arts hub. The project began in 1998 with the original concept to create a brand-new performing arts complex, before morphing into purchasing and renovating the Granada – a “renovation” which ended up being more of a gut it to the studs and start all over process. The project culminated more than $50 million dollars later with the grand reopening in 2008. 

“It was Joan and Susan who kept this idea alive and moving forward,” said Jill Seltzer, Vice President for Advancement at the Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts, the official owners of the Granada. “They were the ones who were able to attract financial supporters (Michael Towbes, Sarah and Roger Chrisman, Sara Miller McCune and others), as well as a group of civic leaders who worked to make it all happen. Our 100^th anniversary is a great time to make sure that we honor the two women who kept the idea afloat.” 

Underscoring that sentiment, Palmer Jackson, Jr. – the Granada’s Executive Chairman and current Chairman of the Board – put it very succinctly: “They were absolutely the driving force all along. It definitely wouldn’t have happened without them.” 

Rutkowski, who was on the board of the Santa Barbara Symphony in the 1990s, said the concept came about because of the challenging acoustics at the ensemble’s then-home of the Arlington Theatre. 

“I just thought, Santa Barbara is so blessed to have a lot of first-class performing arts entities. We’ve got to do better for them,” she said. “When I mentioned it to Susan, she was all-in right away.” 

Fast-forwarding to the day the Granada reopened in 2006, Rutkowski recalled walking up the stairs and looking back at the people making their way inside. 

“I saw all these people ready to enjoy something that I had worked so hard for, and I just felt so much joy,” she said. “I saw everyone coming to this magnificent new theater, and I thought, ‘We did good.’”

As for receiving the Legends award, which could be considered Santa Barbara’s equivalent of the Kennedy Center Honors, Rutkowski had a confession. 

“To tell the truth, I’m slightly embarrassed,” she said. “I’m also very grateful and really happy. But it’s not about me, it’s about our community. It means the world to me that everyone is able to use the Granada – young and old, classical, jazz and rock, dance and now even movies. It’s the center of the cultural life of Santa Barbara.”

Gulbransen also gave a great deal of the credit to the community members who quickly signed on to the effort in what eventually became the renovation of the Granada. 

“It was incredible how immediately after we began, so many people stepped up to not only financially support what we were doing, but also joined in helping us,” she said. “Joan and I had no idea it would become something so fantastic and gorgeous. But we kept working on it and people kept joining. And now we have this excellent performance theater, far above and beyond what we had hoped for or dreamed of.” 

Gulbransen recalled her surprise when she found out that the Granada planned to honor the two of them with the Legends Award this year. 

“We’re amazed and so pleased really,” she said. “The Granada is always in our thoughts and our dreams and our appreciations”.

While the choice of honorees has taken a one-off left turn for 2024, what remains the same is the Granada Legends’ fabulously elegant black tie evening that provides guests a rare opportunity to experience the Granada from the stage rather than one of its 1,300 seats, as the event seats patrons around tables on the fully extended stage. All of the activities and presentations – including a gourmet banquet dinner paired with wines and cocktails – takes place from a vantage only the entertainers normally experience. 

The entertainment for the Legends gala is also a bit different, as the lineup parallels the Centennial celebration weekend back in April, taking note of the past, present and future of the Granada. Past is represented by State Street Ballet performing a standalone truncated version of its original 2018 work Chaplin about the early Hollywood legend. The present produces a special performance by the aptly named One-Night-Stand-Band boasting a bevy of Santa Barbara stalwarts put together by Randy Tico and Tariqh Akoni, and featuring Morganfield Burnett, George Friedenthal, Hunter Hawkins, Lois Mahalia, and Herman Matthews. The future finds a return appearance by Euphony, the elite show choir combining high school and SBCC students, who sang the title song of Sweeney Todd in April and will perform “The Nicest Kids in Town” from Hairspray. 

“The idea is that at the end of Legends Gala and the end of the centennial year, it’s not only about looking backwards, but also celebrating what happens in this venue every month and what the future holds,” Seltzer said. “Focusing on local Santa Barbara talent is something we hope will survive and flourish in the future.”

The sponsor-supported gala is what allows the Granada to pause to celebrate each September. “Their generous and unrestricted support lets us keep the building in pristine condition for the eight resident companies and the outside producers that bring high quality talent to Santa Barbara,” Seltzer said. 

The eighth annual Granada Legends Gala takes place Saturday, September 14. Visit www.granadasb.org.