Nonprofits understandably like to make a big deal about anniversaries, noting with pride and gratitude how long they have been a part of the community and the ways in which they’ve adjusted their services to meet evolving needs. On the other hand, Mission Scholars hasn’t been around long enough to trumpet their decades of service, […]
If you want to take in all of the choral programs happening this weekend, you’d better figure out how to clone yourself quickly. By some quirk of fate, or quirky communication between them, seven different mostly choral concerts are taking place this week, including an astonishing five between Saturday and Sunday, four of them from […]
Those six shows will have to hold you ‘til Tuesday, when the 42nd annual Messiah Sing Along takes place at 7:30 pm in the First Presbyterian Church, a Santa Barbara holiday tradition that benefits Unity Shoppe. Phillip McLendon conducts a performance of Handel’s choral masterpiece – the Christmas portion plus the “Hallelujah” chorus and “Worthy […]
If there were no Pee-wee Herman, there probably wouldn’t have been a Pink Martini. The official story behind the campy, cosmopolitan, globe-trotting, multi-cultural jazz jubilee/baroque pop band is that founder Thomas Lauderdale, at the time a politico who planned to run for mayor of Portland, Oregon, created the ensemble after being annoyed at the vanilla […]
Next year marks the 80th anniversary for Hillside, the residential home for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, who receive not only quality care, but also whatever degree of independence they can handle, as well as integration within our community. Those last two parts weren’t always true. Hillside first opened its doors in the 1940s […]
It’s way too much of a cliché to say that a rock concert blew the roof off the venue, but there’s no doubt that there will be a “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” at the New Vic Theatre when Ensemble Theatre Company performs Million Dollar Quartet from December 4-22. The Jerry Lee Lewis classic is […]
In a quirky coincidence, Rubicon Theatre is also opening a musical mashup this week, one that also takes place in a single setting. A Cowboy Lullaby, the latest original piece by the Ventura company veterans James O’Neil and Dan Wheetman, grew out of a jam session on closing night of a show based on the […]
The teen theatre company Lights Up! launches its seventh season with an unusual offering during the holiday season: the sci-fi horror romantic comedy/rock musical Little Shop of Horrors. An off-beat work from Howard Ashman and Alan Menken – better known for their Disney musicals The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin – Shop […]
Back in the category of regular December doings, the Alcazar Ensemble once again holds forth for the holidays in presenting the beloved holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street remounted for a fourth year. The timeless tale follows the journey of an elderly gentleman, Kris Kringle, who claims to be the real Santa Claus, and the […]
Grace Fisher Foundation’s seventh annual Winter Music Showcase also marks the 10-year milestone since then-high school senior Fisher contracted a rare virus that suddenly spread to her spine, leaving her paralyzed from the neck down. Confined to her wheelchair, Fisher quickly resumed her interest in art and music via specially-adapted devices, and less than three […]
The Lobero Theatre has two holiday concerts in the lineup for this week, including Johnnyswim, the American folk-pop duo of married singer-songwriters Amanda Sudano and Abner Ramirez, presenting their Johnnyswim Christmas show on December 10. Two days later, it’s the return of “Christmas with The Petersens,” the concert full of Christmas classics delivered the way […]
Heading outside, the overwhelming headliner this week – at least in the continuing post-pandemic absence of the Santa Barbara Downtown Holiday Parade – is the 38th annual Parade of Lights on December 8 at the waterfront. The celebration gets underway at 3:30 pm with a Winter Wonderland on the City Pier in the Santa Barbara […]
When Amada Cruz took over as Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s new Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Director and CEO about 13 months ago, she had a clear idea of how she viewed the museum’s evolving role in the community. “I see a lot of value in the arts beyond the aesthetic,” she said in these […]
Violinist Ari Streisfeld has garnered critical acclaim worldwide for his performances of diverse repertoire after originally establishing himself as one of the foremost interpreters of contemporary classical music. He’s also the co-founder of the world-renowned JACK Quartet, the fearless foursome that quickly became one of the experimental engines of new music after forming at Eastman […]
It’s a tradition, or a cliché, that Jewish families head out to Chinese restaurants for dinner on Christmas Day (at least mine always did). So maybe it’s appropriate to think of I Married a Golem!, a new theatrical work by Kalinka founder Fred Nadis, in terms of ordering off a family dinner menu. As in […]
Does Santa Barbara really need another performance of The Nutcracker? What with the long-running productions from Festival Ballet (December 14-15 at the Arlington) and State Street Ballet (December 21-22 at the Granada) – both of which feature large casts, special guest stars and a live orchestra – plus myriad one-offs from several smaller dance schools […]
Livingston Taylor is just two years younger than his famous rock star brother James, and two years behind him in launching his solo singer-songwriter career. Both have written truly memorable songs, including early efforts about growing up in North Carolina, although both returned to their native Boston area early in adulthood and still maintain homes […]
At the end of July, Direct Relief President and CEO Thomas Tighe announced his decision to step down from his role at the end of the year after 24 years leading the organization, a period that saw unprecedented expansion of the nonprofit’s critical work to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty […]
Don’t make this mix-up mistake: The marvelously mesmerizing performance of MOMIX Alice at the Granada in October was actually a make-up from a date postponed by the water damage at the theater last winter. So American Theatre Guild’s 2024-25 season of Broadway at the Granada isn’t getting underway until November 26-27, when the official North […]
Real estate is measured in square feet, the bigger the better, and buyers and renters pay for every one of those 12” x 12” bits of area. But it only takes one square foot to be a part of Ready to Hang, the pop-up style community art show open to all local artists willing to […]
Are you a big Josh Brolin fan, especially ever since his character Llewellyn Moss got his buff cowboy body blown away by Javier Bardem’s methodical and passionless hitman Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, one of the Coen Brothers’ finest films? Or perhaps your taste runs to Jeff Bridges, another locally resident actor […]
Hot on the heels of the milestone 25th Ojai Film Festival, and just a week after the launching of the new SBIFF Film Center in the former home of the Fiesta Five, the historic Ojai Playhouse is reopening on November 22 after being closed for a decade. Similarly but on a much smaller scale than […]
Earlier this fall, the Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County (LAFSBC) marked its 65th anniversary with an early evening gathering at the Anchor Rose in Santa Barbara Harbor. LAFSBC – which works tirelessly to close the justice gap for low-income residents in the area – took the occasion to make note of its own […]
If truth be told, UCSB Theater’s Annie Torsiglieri probably would have preferred that The Threepenny Opera, which she is directing at UCSB’s Performing Arts Theater, wouldn’t have turned out quite so resonant for its November 15-23 run. But she very intentionally chose Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s groundbreaking musical – and dark satirical commentary on […]
SBCC Theatre jumps the gun on the holiday season, turning to Tony Award-winning playwright Christopher Durang’s Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge for its student showcase, even before the campus collectively takes a break to talk – er, eat – turkey. A twist on the classic A Christmas Carol, Binge gets all unhinged in a […]
Santa Barbara’s three major public high schools’ theaters are all buzzing this weekend with their big fall productions. SBHS’s Teenage Wasteland is an original piece of theater created by the Theatre Department’s 19 performers, including three student designers and eight ensemble members who have come up with a combined performance, concert, love story, fashion show […]
The world of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival keeps expanding. What started as a tiny weekend film festival 40 years ago – a way to draw tourists to our seaside berg during the winter off-season lull – has exploded into a juggernaut of a festival that boasts more star power than any place outside […]
Although retail shops on State Street may not agree, it’s no exaggeration to say the pandemic is squarely behind us, at least in terms of the Lobero Theatre, where a big percentage of pop concerts have drawn capacity audiences this year. Now, as we head into the holiday season, the trend is continuing, with three […]
Last month, Sansum Diabetes Research Institute (SDRI) reached a major milestone with its year-long $20 million capital campaign to facilitate the renovation of the nonprofit’s current building, breaking ground on the 18,000-square-foot building renovation project. The work is to transform the building, located near Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, into a state-of-the-art diabetes research facility that […]
Tim Matheson has been acting since he was a teenager and has a list of credits that runs to many pages, but the onetime Montecito resident (1994-2010, the only time he lived more than minutes from Hollywood) might still be best known for playing rush chairman Eric “Otter” Stratton in National Lampoon’s Animal House – […]
It was pure serendipity when rock band Doublewide Kings co-founder Palmer Jackson, Jr., met Brett Strader at a social function in San Francisco just shy of two years ago. When Jackson mentioned that his band was planning a collaborative concert of Van Morrison songs with the Santa Barbara Symphony for the following November, Strader – […]
Opera Santa Barbara launches its 2024-25 season with a classic in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci at the Lobero Theatre on November 8 and 10. The tale of lust, jealousy, and murder inside a traveling troop of comedians features the famous aria “Vesti la giubba”, which closes the first act. OSB’s new production of the dramatic thriller, set […]
Santa Barbara chef and author Pascale Beale is booked for two public events this week to celebrate the launch of her new cookbook, FLAVOUR – Savouring The Seasons: Recipes From The Market Table. This is the fourth in the Market Table series from the proprietor of Pascale’s Kitchen, the online culinary boutique. The new book […]
For the last several years, New Beginnings’ annual fall fundraiser has moved beyond the typical wine-and-dine gala concept to actually put the focus on the longtime nonprofit’s areas of service – via presenting a theatrical event that mirrors themes of issues it works to combat. This year’s offering, The Boys Next Door, examines issues of […]
A couple of major theaters in town have been celebrating centennial anniversaries of a sort this year, while in February the Santa Barbara International Film Festival will turn 40. But in between, two well-established art galleries are also having 40th birthdays, and the city’s most enduring bookstore is marking a major milestone as well – […]
Trick question: Is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – one of this summer’s hits –twice as good as the 1988 original? Not so much, which is why seeing Tim Burton’s now-classic 36-year-old Beetlejuice on Halloween seems like a special sort of holiday treat as it opens the Ojai Film Festival with a free screening in Libbey Park. The […]
The Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, aka CADA, is looking to dive deeper into the ARTS. Lest anyone think the seven-decade old nonprofit is planning on building a theater or promoting a series of rock concerts or dance performances, ARTS is the acronym for CADA’s Adult Residential Treatment Services; a residential treatment facility for […]
White Buffalo Land Trust has only been around for six years, and it was only in 2021 that the nonprofit dedicated to restoring our ecosystem through regenerative agriculture acquired the 1,000-acre Jalama Canyon Ranch to establish its center to practice, promote, and develop systems of regenerative agriculture for local, regional, and global impact. Located near […]
The twist is decidedly not part of the ballet repertoire, but State Street Ballet has done some shakin’ for its 30th season, the first one to be entirely programmed without the supervising hand of founding director Rodney Gustafson. New artistic director Megan Philipp and executive director Cecily MacDougall – who worked with Gustafson for more […]
Aimee Mann’s gift for literate lyrics that belie the bright melodies of her chamber folk-pop music has defined her own genre for more than 30 years of a solo career. Her oeuvre is the vulnerable truth laid bare, mostly drawn from her own experiences, but in such refreshing ways that it’s decidedly universal, and healing […]