Suddenly, It’s Shakespeare 
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 11, 2025

Shakespeare is hot in the Santa Barbara region: Hot on the heels of Rubicon Theatre presenting The Acting Company’s reinterpreted version of A Comedy of Errors, both Ensemble Theatre Company and PCPA are readying new productions of classics by the Bard. L.A. theater veteran Margaret Shigeko Starbuck is directing her own reimagined adaptation of Hamlet, […]

Highlights from Days of Yore, aka 2024
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 7, 2025

The two theatrical performances that utterly rocked my world and riveted my attention came from UCSB Arts & Lectures dance offerings. Dorrance Dance’s inventive jazz-fueled take on The Nutcracker proved that the old Christmas chestnut can be changed into a charming and cutting-edge work. MOMIX’s Alice showed that the creative mind of artistic director Moses […]

 

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Spam a lot: Huerta Hams it up with ‘Peter Pan’Spoof
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 24, 2024

If Monty Python’s Eric Idle could spoof the Legend of King Arthur with the sweet-and-starchy-ground-pork-and-ham product in Spamalot back in 2004, another expat Brit should be able to do the same for the story of the boy who never grew up. Indeed, it was less than two years later that longtime Santa Barbara theater pro […]

Lights Up! Goes Carnivore for Christmas 
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 10, 2024

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 […]

Christmas Concerts Comes to Town
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 10, 2024

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 […]

A Match Made in Shamayim
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 3, 2024

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 […]

Dorrance Turns ‘Cracker’ into a Downtown Dance Rave 
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 3, 2024

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 […]

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  • Mystery, Mayhem and Mirth: New Broadway Season Opens with ‘Clue’
    By Steven Libowitz   |   November 26, 2024

    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 […]

    Riotous Laughter at ‘39 Steps’
    By Scott Craig   |   November 12, 2024

    The Westmont Theatre Arts Department staged a hilarious version of John Buchan’s The 39 Steps that brought plenty of laughs through an unrelenting barrage of creative set-design gags and physical comedy. Director Mitchell Thomas masterfully squeezes out every laugh while navigating a plot that doesn’t take itself seriously. This was good lighthearted fun at its […]

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    New Beginnings with ‘The Boys’
    By Steven Libowitz   |   November 5, 2024

    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 […]

    All in the Family 
    By Steven Libowitz   |   October 29, 2024

    Out of the Box Theatre Company kicks off its new season with something different a few blocks up from its usual home at Center Stage. Family Album – a song collection by Joe Iconis, composer-lyricist of the Broadway hit Be More Chill and several other musicals – will be performed just once in a concert-style […]

    Doggy Bag of Drama: Theater Company Turns 30 
    By Steven Libowitz   |   October 22, 2024

    DramaDogs Theater Company is celebrating three decades of presenting compelling and largely offbeat theater with a new production called HERE! This Moment for Women, featuring a series of dramatic short plays and monologues by contemporary playwrights E. M. Lewis and James Still. The pieces highlight women’s grit, resiliency, longing, sorrow and wonder, such that, collectively, […]

    Theater Performs ‘39 Steps’ at Speed of Fun
    By Scott Craig   |   October 22, 2024

    Westmont theatre offers The 39 Steps – a fast-paced murder mystery and international espionage plot, encompassing numerous characters played by just five actors – from October 25-26 at 7:30 pm and October 31 at 9 pm, November 1-2 at 7:30 pm and November 2 at 2 pm, all in Porter Theatre. Purchase tickets, which cost […]

    ‘Dracula’ Doesn’t Suck
    By Richard Mineards   |   October 22, 2024

    Ensemble Theatre Company opened its latest season at the New Vic with Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, directed by veteran actor Jamie Torcellini and written by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen. The five-member cast played a variety of characters with the blood-sucking count portrayed perfectly – not to mention amusingly – by muscle-bound hunk Adam […]

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