Tag archives: theater
Congratulations to director Mitchell Thomas, the cast, musicians and creative team for putting together such wonderful performances during Godspell, October 12-15. Unfortunately, the student actors and musicians have other artistic and scholarly commitments and the production has run its course. The enthusiasm and energy that emanated from this tightknit group of actors delighted audience members […]
If the innumerable performances of Shakespeare’s plays are any testament – theater has the ability to preserve a story for centuries. And it is exactly that preservation that the play Survivors hopes to achieve at the Raise Our Voices event at the Marjorie Luke Theatre this Thursday, October 19, at 7 pm. Written by Wendy […]
José Limón – or at least the dance company founded by the famed dancer and choreographer from Mexico who developed a technique that employs visceral gestures to communicate emotions – runs deeply through the new season from Santa Barbara Dance Theater (SBDT), the professional dance company in residence at UCSB. Which is not surprising, given […]
Alan Heeger and Cynthia Brown have joined the board of directors of the Ensemble Theatre Company. These additions underscore the company’s commitment to advancing its mission and expanding its reach within the Santa Barbara community. Both bring a wealth of experience, diverse perspectives, and a shared passion for the arts. Welcome on board…
Given the small and rather insular nature of the local theater scene, Santa Barbara’s Ensemble Theatre Company and Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre Company don’t often open productions the same week, let alone ones that kick off their respective seasons. What’s rarer still is that both of the plays are tackling exceedingly current topics that resonate in […]
Westmont presents Godspell, one of the most popular musicals of all time, on October 12-15 at 7:30 pm and October 14 at 2 pm in Westmont’s Porter Theatre. Music and theater students join together to stage a production for the first time since 2019. Tickets, which cost $20 for general admission and $12 for students […]
The title role in Jesus Christ Superstar was neither the first nor the last major part in a musical or movie for Ted Neeley, as he had a record deal at 22, played the lead role of Claude in both the New York and Los Angeles productions of the breakthrough rock musical Hair, and later […]
Every literate person knows who Shakespeare was, but if a couple of his aging actor friends hadn’t taken it upon themselves to get all of the Bard’s plays published in a single, bound volume after his death in the early 1616, chances are nobody would have ever heard of Romeo or Juliet, or Hamlet, King […]
Santa Barbara’s iconic New Vic theater celebrated its 10th anniversary in energetic style with a Play It Forward on-stage gala starring a colorful cavalcade of talent as the resident Ensemble Theatre Company (ETC) prepares for its 45th season in the West Victoria Street venue. After 25 years at the rustic 140-seat Alhecama Theatre and a […]
Jonathan Fox, who left the Ensemble Theatre Company after 17 years as artistic director, has been spending the summer in Santa Barbara’s sister city Kotor, Montenegro. Jonathan has been presenting a production of An Iliad, a modern-day retelling of Homer’s classic. The opening performance was at the 18th century St. Nicholas Franciscan monastery. The production […]
Guys and Dolls garnered a standing ovation in its glorious opening night at SBCC’s Garvin Theatre last Friday in a production that deserves kudos not only for its smartly-matched and crisply-directly 25-member cast – with plenty of chemistry in the two main couples – but also for its impressive full-scale set, terrific live orchestra, and […]
If Anikka Abbott’s career had taken a different turn, she might be about to sing a soprano role at the Granada in the Music Academy’s opera in Santa Barbara this weekend. As what happens in life, there’s been a bit of a detour, including serving as first runner-up to Miss Washington in the Miss America […]
PCPA Theaterfest kicks off its 2023 summer season on June 22 at the Solvang Festival Theater with Emma in the West Coast premiere of Joseph Hanreddy’s latest adaptation of a beloved Jane Austen novel. Opting to direct the playwright’s new piece was an easy choice for Polly Firestone Walker, a veteran PCPA resident artist (and […]
Travel guru Charles de L’Arbre is the new board president of the Lobero Theatre Foundation. Charles, CEO of the Santa Barbara Travel Bureau, a family company started in 1947, has had a long association with the historic theater. He formerly enjoyed a long career as a stage actor and voiceover artist, performing in several shows […]
Montecito chef Dario Furlati, who owns the Ca’Dario chain of Italian eateries, has been helping out with the Ensemble Theatre Company’s latest production Seared, directed by departing artistic director Jonathan Fox. “The play takes place in a small restaurant kitchen that suddenly gets acclaim in New York Magazine and is absolutely overwhelmed with customers,” says […]
Jonathan Fox, artistic director of the Ensemble Theatre Company for the last 17 years, is moving to newer pastures. Jonathan, who I’ve known since moving to our Eden by the Beach in 2007 when the company performed at the rustic Alhecama Theatre, directs his latest and last play Seared at the New Vic, the final […]
During the lockdown period of the COVID pandemic, the Westmont College-spawned Lit Moon Theatre met online for nearly two years as an international collective of artists and actors. The 18-member group created online versions of Libby Appel’s translations of Chekhov plays: Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters,and Ivanov. This weekend, Lit Moon World emerges in person with […]
The small-town civic theater is an enduring symbol; the unassuming downtown performance company – founded long ago by beloved local dandies – that secretly fuels the community’s daily life. The butcher, baker, and candlestick maker (the professional class, that is) have always been the gray-flannel measure of community progress. The town playhouse, though – dowdy […]
Anastasia – the Broadway musical inspired by the 1997 animated film and the 1956 live-action movie that ran in New York from 2017-2020 and has been performed more than 2,500 times worldwide – has its Santa Barbara debut at The Granada Theatre on April 25-26 as part of The American Theatre Guild’s Broadway in Santa […]
Ensemble Theatre Company’s area premiere of Lucy Kirkwood’s 2016 drama The Children winds up its three-week run at the New Vic on April 23. ETC favorite helmer Jenny Sullivan directs the trio of well-traveled actors Michael Butler, Linda Purl, and Nancy Travis – all of whom are familiar to recent ETC audiences – in the […]
