Tag archives: Granada
“I just thought I had died and gone to heaven,” recalled Bernadette Peters, recounting a childhood memory at Santa Barbara’s Granada Theatre. As a little girl, she explored her parents’ record collection one Sunday morning while they slept, selecting the album with the prettiest cover: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel. As the “Carousel Waltz” began, she […]
By Lisa Duncan By day, Producer Liz Cole helps bring the hit television series Tracker to life. By night, she slips behind the microphone and into a world of jazz, storytelling, and song. The glamorous Los Angeles vocalist arrived in our Eden by the Sea last Saturday for a one-night-only appearance at The Grand on […]
After nearly two months of soft opening evenings, including last weekend’s Tom Scott–Roger Kellaway show that raised the bar musically and otherwise, The Grand on State (right next door to the dear Granada) is having its official (grand) opening on Saturday, May 30. The celebration at the intimate “fine dining and jazz” spot – whose […]
Moving from the subterranean sublime to the ridiculously over-the-top in the space of one week, the Broadway in Santa Barbara Series closes out its 2025-26 season at the Granada this week. Hot on the heels of the regional professional debut of Hadestown – the mesmerizing folk opera musical that reimagines the Greek myth of Orpheus […]
Why would anyone choose to go to the Granada on Saturday night for Santa Barbara Records’ second annual Locals & Legends concert, “Celebrating the Music of James Taylor,” when the iconic 78-year-old singer-songwriter himself will be in town just 11 days later? Well, there’s several reasons aside from the fact that tickets to Taylor’s sold-out […]
The Santa Barbara Symphony took a deep dive across the pond to immerse in Italian classical music for last month’s pair of concerts at the Granada. Music from the continental country was also the focus of three concerts spearheading the indoor part of the La Piazza festival around the corner at the Library Plaza last […]
by Lisa Duncan If Montecito society has a guilty pleasure, it’s clearly the “Red Hot Ferrari” – no, not the car, though there were plenty of those – but the Red Ferrari accordion, gleaming like a cherry-red speed machine. In the bustling Granada Theatre foyer Saturday, tables were dotted with accordions, daring guests to squeeze, […]
Santa Barbara Symphony Music and Artistic Director Nir Kabaretti channels his Italian heritage in this weekend’s pair of concerts at the Granada entitled Bella Italia. The program boasts a four-century journey through Italian masterworks, bookended by the “Winter” movement from one of the defining Baroque concertos in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons opening the concert, and […]
Written by Renee Cooper Over two remarkable days at the Granada Theatre, the Santa Barbara Symphony achieved something genuinely rare: a complete traversal of all five piano concertos by Ludwig van Beethoven, performed with sustained intensity, clarity, and cohesion – and embraced by audiences with near-unanimous enthusiasm. The Beethoven Piano Concerto Marathon this past week […]
Grace Fisher’s annual Winter Music Showcase has become an entrenched highlight of the holiday calendar each December at the Granada. The event celebrates the season and the community through focusing on the diverse array of local talent in town, with boundary-crossing performances that mirror Fisher’s commitment to advance disability inclusion in the arts. It’s a […]
Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan and the other debonair, desperate, debauched, or devoted characters from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic story come to life via dance in World Ballet Company’s The Great Gatsby Ballet. The story of an enigmatic nouveau riche millionaire ambitiously pursuing the American Dream has been considered a literary classic since the […]
The venerable Granada Theatre was socially gridlocked when it held its 9th annual Legends gala with 100 people recognizing the John C. Mithun Foundation, the Lobero Theatre, and esteemed Santa Barbara Symphony maestro Nir Kabaretti. The tony event, which raised around $400,000, was emceed by the ubiquitous Andrew Firestone and co-chaired by Susan Jackson and […]
Although he spent his entire life in Southern California, Brian Wilson never performed at the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara. But it’s hard not to imagine that the founder, chief songwriter and sonic architect behind The Beach Boys would be even more thrilled by the concert coming to the jewel of a theater on September […]
After 23 years on the board of the Granada, philanthropist Sarah Chrisman – wife of fellow philanthropist Roger Chrisman – is retiring and was honored at a reception of the Birnam Wood home of fellow board member Leslie and Harrison Bains for 60 guests. “Sarah’s work has been important and inspiring,” said Caren Rager, the […]
Forced by COVID to find ways to bring the music to a house-bound audience, the Granada Theatre teamed up with the Santa Barbara Symphony to create intimate podcasts that both illuminated and entertained. Out of this collaboration grew the idea of presenting cross-genre performances, the first one being Moondance which featured the music of Van […]
There have been two tribute concerts for David Crosby in the 28 months since the legendary singer-songwriter passed away at his Santa Ynez home in 2023. But Locals and Legends: Celebrating the Music of David Crosby, slated for May 24 at the Granada Theatre, offers two significant additions. The show is co-presented by Santa Barbara […]
The Santa Barbara Symphony’s adventurous 2024-25 season comes to a close this weekend with another unusual entry, as the pair of concerts represent the first time the organization has booked a soloist – in this case the very estimable violinist Gil Shaham – to perform different repertoire in the Saturday and Sunday concert. The Grammy-decorated […]
CAMA – the Community Arts Music Association – closed its 106th season’s International Series with the Los Angeles Philharmonic led by beloved conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, joined by French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard at the Granada. The concert hailed maestro Salonen’s 16th appearance conducting for CAMA over the past three decades – 12 with the L.A. Phil […]
The venerable Granada was packed for a sold-out Rock for First Responders concert, organized by One805. Even Prince Harry turned out for the VIP reception. A guitar signed by HRH and the other performers, including Macy Gray, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald and Alan Parsons, soldfor $9,000. Toad the Wet Sprocket and Hootie & the Blowfish […]
For the past three years, the nonprofit One805 has staged a big boisterous benefit bash in late summer at Kevin Costner’s surfside Summerland spread to raise a big percentage of its funds. The money is earmarked for all the first responder organizations throughout Santa Barbara County to help with equipment, mental health services and more. […]
