Tag archives: Broadway
The musical adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s most famous novel comes to downtown’s grandest theater when Broadway at the Granada presents Little Women – The Musical on April 10–11. The theatrical work, based on Alcott’s 1868–69 semi-autobiographical book follows the adventures of sisters Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy March, each with divergent personalities yet determined […]
Santa Barbara is alive with the sound of music… especially for one young performer! Chance Challen is preparing to leave our cozy community to join the international Broadway tour of the beloved musical, The Sound of Music. This incredible opportunity showcases the talent and dedication of Chance, who has continually demonstrated outstanding ability and passion […]
What’s the buzz? A revolutionary rock musical presented in a revolutionary reinvention in the latest production from Out of the Box Theatre Company; which normally focuses on alternative/contemporary musicals. Jesus Christ Superstar, the sung-through rock opus musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice that stunned Broadway in 1971, juggles the gender in the tale […]
In a strange coincidence, three Broadway music revues have arrived on our shores in sequence, and, as it turns out, you have your choice to see any of them for one night on Thursday, December 7. The Cher Show winds up its two-day run at the Granada, Ensemble’s Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny […]
I recently enjoyed a Sunday evening Broadway Cruise onboard Hiroko Benko’s Condor Express whale-watching vessel here in Santa Barbara. The event featured two young singers – soprano Anikka Abbott and baritone Nicholas Ehlen – who sang classic numbers (accompanied by pianist Renée Hamaty) from a variety of Broadway musicals. The songs featured were such hits […]
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 […]
There has been no dearth of film and Broadway shows about Aretha Franklin since the soul singer-songwriter star died in August 2018. First there was a documentary by Oscar-winning director Sydney Pollack for a documentary about the recording of Franklin’s landmark 1972 Amazing Grace gospel album whose release the singer blocked for decades until after […]
Given that Abraham Lincoln might be the most popular president in U.S. history, one whose story is the stuff of legends, it would seem there isn’t a whole lot left to tell about Abe. And even less likely, that a practicing insurance litigator would be the one to tell it. Yet, here’s Terrence L. Cranert, […]
It wasn’t all Montecito all the time, but there were plenty of Montecito folks who joined a grab bag of Santa Barbarans, Carpinterians, Goletans, Noletans, Mesa denizens, and adventurous tourists, on owner Hiroko Benko’s seventh annual “Broadway Cruise” that took us from Santa Barbara Landing on West Beach – home port of Condor Express – […]
Hospice of Santa Barbara’s free virtual “Illuminate” Speaker Series steps up the star quotient with its next presentation on Wednesday, April 20: Amanda Kloots, the TV host, Broadway actress, award-winning fitness entrepreneur, and recently a finalist on the 30th season of Dancing with the Stars. Kloots might also be the speaker who has been most […]
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 […]
Theater came roaring back to life in town since last we published these pages known as the Sentinel, with every local company save for Ventura’s Rubicon offering something to savor. I caught three of the productions, including the biggest of them all in the revival of Kismet,executive produced and presented by philanthropist/publisher Sara Miller McCune. […]
Montecito über philanthropist Sara Miller McCune certainly knows how to celebrate! For her 80th birthday Sara, a longtime fan of New York’s Great White Way, underwrote the costs of Kismet, which opened on Broadway in 1953 and the following year won a Tony Award for best musical. “Over the years, the music and the words […]
The dictionary says “kismet” is an Arabic word that has come to mean fate or destiny in English. In theater, Kismet was a hit on Broadway back in the 1950s, as the love-and-duty musical about a glib-tongued street poet in old Baghdad whose family encounters princesses and a young caliph was smartly adapted from a […]
“Love is a game that two can play and both win by losing their heart.” – Eva Gabor For Sara Miller McCune, her first crush wasn’t sitting across from her in a classroom or a neighbor from the Queens, New York block she grew up on — her heart belonged to Broadway, a lifelong love […]
It’s not hyperbole at all to suggest that the original production of Kismet that will play three performances at the Granada Theatre later this month might be the most exciting show ever to play in Santa Barbara. While official touring shows of classic Broadway hits and more modern musical fare are still appearing at the […]
As I write this early in October, I can really feel my heart beating just a little bit faster. Kismet, that wonderful musical show, is coming to life once again — right here in Santa Barbara. For one thing, the first week of rehearsals late September in New York City are now over. For that […]
Growing up in New York during the 1950s turned me into a lover of Broadway theatre — especially musicals. By the age of 18 I’d been fortunate enough to see wonderful productions of West Side Story, My Fair Lady, and close to a hundred other musicals, dramas, and comedies. I next fell in love with […]
Montecito mega director Dick Wolf, 74, is coming to the aid of Broadway, which has suffered major damage during the current pandemic. His long-running NBC TV show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which has been on the air for more than two decades, has been turning to actors more used to the stages on […]
Just like redemption doesn’t come easy, recovering from the wounds of 2020 from the COVID pandemic and other tough situations this year will likely take significant time. But perhaps a local take on a legendary allegory can go a short way toward helping the healing, or at least create a satisfying enough diversion to bring […]
