American British-based writer Bill Bryson, 68, was in fine humorous form at the Granada, when he spoke about his extensive work as part of the UCSB Arts & Lectures program. Bryson, who first visited the U.K. in 1973 as part of a European tour, decided to stay after landing a job at a psychiatric hospital […]
One hundred years to the very day the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel performed in a special CAMA – Community Arts Music Association – sold-out concert at the Granada. Both CAMA and the orchestra are celebrating centenaries this year, with the Big Orange musicians having made its Santa Barbara debut at the […]
Longtime Montecito resident Dick Wolf, the creator of Law & Order and the multi-TV show Chicago franchise for NBC, has become the network’s $1 billion man. Wolf, 73, has signed a new five-year deal to stay with NBCUniversal, his studio home for the past 36 years, which includes three-year renewals for Law & Order: Special […]
Sleepless in Seattle star Meg Ryan, 58, is the latest celebrity to call our rarefied enclave home, joining fellow actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Natalie Portman. Ryan, who also appeared in Top Gun, When Harry Met Sally, and Courage Under Fire, has purchased a 4,268 sq. ft. three-bedroom, three and a half bathroom home on one […]
Five of the city’s major entertainment organizations combined forces at the Granada to present a special benefit performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, an enchanting tale of adventure and bravery that transfixed the sold-out young audience. Maestro Nir Kabaretti led the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony, with a narration by English UCSB professor Simon […]
The Luna-tics were out in force when prolific restaurateur Carlos Luna opened his latest Mexican eatery, Flor de Maiz, on Cabrillo Boulevard, just across from Stearns Wharf. The 140-seat eatery, wedged nicely between the Bluewater Grill and the FisHouse, is named after the flower xochimoyahuatl, when the tribes of pre-Hispanic Mexico venerated corn as the […]
It was a very B-list performance when classical guitarist Miloš, who hails from Montenegro, made his debut at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall along with a quintet from the British 12 ensemble, playing works by Bach, Boccherini and the Beatles. The highly entertaining UCSB Arts & Lectures show, part of the Up […]
South African jungle tracker Boyd Varty was the mane attraction when Bobby and Susan Shand opened the doors of their Montecito aerie for a sunset soiree for AHA!, the Santa Barbara non-profit that inspires youth to be safe, seen and celebrated. The bash, described as “a friend raiser,” also focused attention on the 21st anniversary […]
It was an early start when the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation hosted its 6th annual Little Heroes breakfast for 400 guests at the Hilton, which raised more than $60,000 for the popular charity. The boffo bash, co-chaired by Heather Ayer, Matt Fish, and Brittany Dobson, featured the eccentric Patch Adams, better known as a medical […]
Canadian Barbara Robertson, who has held a succession of finance, operations and administrative positions with several area nonprofit organizations, has been named president and CEO of the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. Robertson studied business economics at the University of British Columbia and accounting at the British Columbia Institute of Technology before working as a […]
An old friend, New York interior designer Geoffrey Bradfield sends me his latest 295-page tome A 21st Century Palace Asia, featuring a 250,000 sq. ft. 36-bedroom home in China on 30 acres, which took four years to complete. Geoffrey, who has worked on homes with quite stratospheric budgets in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Jakarta and Japan, […]
Investigative journalist Michael Bowker, 68, who writes on health, science and environmental issues, has written his first novel Gods of Our Time: A Paris Love Story and launched it with a bijou bash at Tecolote, the bustling bibliophile bastion in the upper village. It has now been optioned for a movie. Michael, who lives in […]
The late Montecito actor Kirk Douglas, who died earlier this month aged 103, has left his entire $60 million fortune to charity. Kirk, who was known for his charitable contributions throughout his life, has reportedly left the money to several major beneficiaries, including $50 million distributed by the Douglas Foundation, founded by the actor and […]
Quebec-based Cirque Eloize showed its boundless acrobatic talents in a 90-minute show Hotel at the Granada, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures series. The talented company has also produced iD, Saloon and Cirkopolis, which have been seen by more than 3.5 million spectators, and performed more than 5,000 times in 550 cities around […]
Longtime Santa Barbara International Film Festival board member Jeff Barbakow and his wife, Margo, are proud parents. Their director son Max‘s existential comedy Palm Springs has just narrowly broken the Sundance Film Festival record for the biggest sale ever! Hulu and indie distributor Neon purchased the film rights for $17,500,000.69, exceeding the previous record set […]
Young Santa Barbara mother of two, Belmi Tepecque, 22, and her family are the latest recipients of the largesse of the Dream Foundation, which has delivered more than 32,000 dreams over the past 22 years. The popular organization is providing Belmi’s final dream of a trip to Maui with her husband, Gustavo, and two children […]
It was a night on the tiles when tony twosome Dan and Meg Burham opened the doors to their Granada penthouse for a bash for supporters of UCSB Arts & Lectures and Harvard University professor Jill Lepore who spoke on This America: The Case for the Nation, based on her latest book, at Campbell Hall. […]
Santa Barbara’s 32-year-old Wildlife Care Network, which is building a two-story, 5,000 sq. ft. animal hospital on its 1.8 acre Goleta property, has raised more than $3 million of its $6 million budget, including a hefty donation of $3 million from News-Press owner Wendy McCaw and $250,000 in a grant from the Oiled Wildlife Care […]
On a personal note, I remember Santa Barbara realtor Chip Lawson, who has moved to more heavenly pastures at the all too early age of 62. A jovial soul, we first met at Cafe Del Sol, the former popular local bar hangout by the Andree Clark Bird Refuge, now the Magic Castle. Chip, a former […]
The World War II years of the ‘40s was wonderfully evoked when Montecito resident Christie Jenkins organized the Mercury Ballroom Supper Club for a six-day run at the Rockwood Woman’s Club to “bring happiness to the community.” Elegantly garbed guests were welcomed with Bees Knee’s cocktails, a heady mix of gin and honey, and other […]
Gung Hay Fat Choy – Wishing You Prosperity and Health – was the motto during the Arthritis Foundation Central Coast’s Chinese New Year dinner at the China Pavilion. The event is the official kick-off for the organization’s popular Taste of the Town on the Riviera being held on September 13, with the Connoisseur’s Circle dinner […]
German conductor Christian Reif, 30, showed off his talents with the Santa Barbara Symphony at the Granada. Reif, who studied at Juilliard in New York and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, was on the top of his form, having just completed a three-year post as resident conductor of the San Francisco Symphony. The entertaining program […]
It wasn’t quite the Olympics, but KEYT-TV reporters Kelsey Gerckens and Tracy Lehr were definitely going for gold at the 70th annual Golden Mike awards in Los Angeles. The ABC affiliate broadcaster on TV Hill won the coveted trophies at a glittering Radio and Television News Association of Southern California gala at the Universal Hilton, […]
Everyone was clearly in the right aria when Opera Santa Barbara, celebrating its 26th anniversary, threw its annual gala at the Biltmore, with the 150 guests raising more than $236,972 for the organization, including $116,400 from a paddle raise conducted by artistic and general director Kostis Protopapas. The boffo bash, co-chaired by Joan Rutkowski, board […]
On a personal note, I remember two very different local icons who have moved to more heavenly pastures. Kirk Douglas, who shuttled between his home in Montecito and Beverly Hills, was one of the last actors from Hollywood’s Golden Age, starring in more than 90 movies and garnering two Oscar nominations. He was also a […]
On the subject of real estate, a 1930s Gilded Age Hot Springs Road property designed by Lutah Maria Riggs, the first licensed female architect in our Eden by the Beach, is being auctioned off. The impressive residence is set to sell without reserve to the highest bidder via leading global firm Concierge Auctions. Previously offered […]
More than 200 years after her death in 1817, Regency writer Jane Austen is as popular as ever. A new film version of her novel Emma, directed by Autumn de Wilde and starring Bill Nighy, Josh O’Connor and Rupert Graves, is being released later this month, and Masterpiece Theatre on PBS is running Sanditon, based […]
Animal activist Gretchen Lieff and fiancée Miles Hartfeld opened the doors of their charming Arcady home for a Super Bowl LIV bash. As guests noshed on comestibles by caterer Elena Wagner, Miles mixed lemon drop martinis as the Kansas City Chiefs clobbered the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Miami on a Fox TV show watched […]
The Lobero Theatre Chamber Music Project, which launched with pianist Alessio Bax and violinist Benjamin Beilman last month, had the second performance of its triple feature with pianist Louis Schwizgebel at the weekend. The Swiss keyboardist was accompanied by violinists Beilman and Ida Kavafian – a teacher at the Curtis Institute –, cellist Clive Greensmith […]
Former Los Angeles TV commercial producer Susan Wakeford Angard threw a bijou bash at Tecolote, the lively literary lair in the upper village, to celebrate her first book On Wings of a Lion, The Persian Glories Saga, part of a trilogy set in the days of the Shah of Iran’s deposition in 1978. Susan, an […]
It was an evening of high note when board member Todd and Allyson Aldrich hosted a sunset soirée for Santa Barbara Choral Society at their Montecito ocean view aerie. “It’s a nice way of saying a big thank you to our Canto Society members who are the real foundation of all the work we do,” […]
Eileen Sheridan, partner at the local account firm Bartlett, Pringle & Wolf, is the new board chair of the Music Academy of the West. She has served on the board for nine years and is a former vice chair under Warren Staley. Ellen Barger, who works for the Santa Barbara County Education Office, joins the […]
Former telecommunications executive Terry Valeski is Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s new chair for the board of trustees. Terry, a former Montecito neighbor, served on the museum’s board for six years and previously served as vice chair for finance. “The museum and sea center have evolved magnificently over the years and are truly an […]
Montecito dynamic duo Jon and Brandis Deitelbaum, producers of Beau Joie champagne, have teamed up with the Georgina Chapman, creative director and co-founder of the fashion label Marchesa. The groundbreaking new collaboration will include several new products available on beaujoiechampagne.com and cross-marketed globally beginning with luxury retailers, and eventually rolling out to high-end resorts, hotels […]
There was a lot of sole searching going on at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall when violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja performed in a UCSB Arts & Lectures concert with cellist Jay Campbell, playing on an instrument crafted in the 1750s by Italian luthier Paolo Antonio Testore of Milan. Moldovan Kopatchinskaja, 43, who was […]
It’s third time lucky for Santa Barbara singer Martin Gore and his synth rock band Depeche Mode. Englishman Gore, 58, who plays keyboard and guitar, and his fellow band members Andy Fletcher, Alan Wilder, Vince Clarke, and David Cahan, who have sold more than 100 million records, are being inducted into the iconic Rock & […]
It was major social gridlock at the Rosewood Miramar when the Montecito Firefighter’s Charitable Foundation threw its second annual New Day gala with the 225 guests raising more than $150,000. Nina Terzian, Gretchen Lieff, Cathy Link, Beverlye Hyman Fead, and Wendy Foster were on the boffo bash’s steering committee, which was produced by Judi Weisbart […]
CAMA, now celebrating its 101st year, is having to face the music! The popular organization is justifiably renowned for bringing the world’s top orchestras as part of its International Series to the venerable Granada, with the musicians often booked more than a year in advance to ensure their availability. But sometimes even the best laid […]
CADA – The Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse – hosted a kickoff party for its 34th annual Amethyst Ball Motown at the Miramar on March 27. The bash in the ritzy Rosewood hostelry’s library was to find underwriters for the various components of the popular ball, including invitations, car parking, the band, and decor, so […]
David Bolton, executive director of the California Missions Foundation, has a lucrative sideline with his TV production company, Cultural Global Media. One year after covering his first Super Bowl, the company has been hired again to produce the legendary NFL event from Miami, Florida, on Sunday (February 2) for millions of viewers throughout Latin America. […]