While film lovers will be flocking to Santa Barbara over the next 10 days to watch scores of world premieres and welcome widely loved movie stars in the Arlington and other cinemas, the Ensemble Theatre will be staging a premiere of its own just across Victoria Street in the New Vic, one that also boasts […]
Something rotten happened to Lights Up!, the teen theater conservatory/company, which opened for business back in 2018. That would be the COVID-19 pandemic, which of course has been pretty rotten for all of us. But the pandemic really put Lights Up! through its paces as the company has been operating under the restrictions for more […]
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The Broadway run of the show Waitress may have ended prematurely because of COVID, but the American Theatre Guild’s touring production at the Granada served up a highly entertaining show. With music and lyrics by Grammy winner Sara Bareilles, the production, based on a 2007 comedy-drama film of the same name, is about a young […]
Actress Jisel Soleil Ayon never suspected the casting directors were considering her for the lead role of Jenna when she auditioned for a part as a member of the ensemble for the musical Waitress last year. “I went through the entire process, from Zoom to my last call back in person, thinking I might at […]
All of the five virtuoso string musicians who comprise the Grammy-winning folk-grass band Punch Brothers were fervent fans of Tony Rice. The Brothers – who are led by the MacArthur “Genius Grant’ Award fellow Chris Thile on mandolin and includes bassist Paul Kowert, guitarist Chris Eldridge, banjoist Noam Pikelny, and violinist Gabe Witcher – have […]
The popularity of Simon & Garfunkel, the most famous duo in folk music history, remains unabated more than a half-century since the pair first broke up over artistic differences and personal issues following the release of the groundbreaking album Bridge Over Troubled Water. Problems persisted each time Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel contemplated reuniting after […]
A page from our Eden by the Beach’s own history comes to life when Yankee sailors meet Spanish Rancheros at Casa de la Guerra in the Christmas Revels at the Lobero Theatre. Based on actual events from the 1830s woven into a lavish theatrical experience, the Revels, now in its 14th season, featured a company […]
Some folks spend all year looking forward to the holidays just so they can watch The Nutcracker once again. Others don’t care if they never hear Tchaikovsky’s classic again. There’s no doubt on which side State Street Ballet founder Rodney Gustafson resides. “I’ve seen our production so many times,” said Gustafson, who just returned to […]
The 17th Annual Westmont Christmas Festival appears for the first time at Santa Barbara’s famed Granada Theatre on Saturday, December 4, at 7 pm and Sunday, December 5, at 3 pm. Tickets, which cost $20 each, go on sale Tuesday, November 23, at 5 pm at westmont.edu/festival. Each year, the festival celebrates the birth of […]
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It’s purely coincidence that this week’s Montecito Journal hits newsstands the same day the Granada Theatre officially unveils Plaza Granada, a new pathway to the theater and the historic arts district in downtown Santa Barbara with a private ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Plaza transforms the formerly barren parking lot behind the theater and the previously dark […]
When the musical version of An Officer and a Gentleman plays November 9-10 at the Granada Theatre, it won’t be quite the singular sensation provided by the massive Santa Barbara-only one-off presentation of Kismet at the same venue two weekends ago. But Officer does offer a rare chance for locals to get an early viewing […]
Thirty-three years in, Carrie, the Musical — adapted from Stephen King’s best-selling 1974 novel by a team including Montecito’s own Dean Pitchford, who wrote the lyrics — still stands as one of the most notorious failures in Broadway history. Indeed, the production that closed after just five non-preview performances in 1988 even inspired the title […]
Back in early 2020, Nebula Dance Lab had planned to produce a ballet version of Island of the Blue Dolphins to celebrate the local story’s 60th anniversary since the publication of the novel. But a decision to delve deeper in diversity issues revolving around Dolphin produced a pandemic pivot to adapt another tale of a […]
The Westmont Festival Theatre returns for the first time since March 2020 to stage a new play, Kitty Hawk or Kill Devil, which explores what it means to live in proximity to greatness, October 22-23, 28- 29, 30 at 7:30 pm, and Saturday, October 30 at 2 pm, all in Westmont’s Porter Theater. Tickets, which […]
