Tag archives: Opera Santa Barbara
PCPA’s 2020 Christmas-season treat is called Home for the Holidays, with the subtitle of “… because where else are you going to be?” Fair enough. With the coronavirus raging all over again, the Central Coast conservatory keeps its virtual programs flowing with a holiday cabaret featuring its resident artists. The free streaming event will be […]
In normal times, opera can be an emotional experience, perhaps even a cathartic one, for members of the audience when the music meets the drama with just the right note. But the upcoming Concerts In Your Car version of Carmen has proven to be quite a tear-jerker just for the creative team even before the […]
State Street Ballet was the first arts organization in town to perform the pandemic pivot as the statewide orders that shut down audience events came just two days before their planned premiere of Sleeping Beauty back in March, forcing the company to come up with a new approach quickly, resulting in a studio rehearsal version […]
Opera Santa Barbara is not only eagerly anticipating a return to live performances in front of audiences, the company has already begun taking reservations for its planned production of La Traviata at the Granada Theatre on September 25 and 27. Due to the likely government guidelines about social distancing in public performances, fewer than 500 […]
Opera Santa Barbara’s production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, which ran at the Lobero Theatre in March, 2019, became much more poignant when Maestro Valéry Ryvkin passed away in February. OSB’s Artistic Director and Principal Conductor from 1999-2008 wielded the baton for a final time for the Tchaikovsky work, and this Tuesday, April 21, audiences can […]
The concerts everywhere are all canceled, at least for the remainder of the 2019-20 season, and on into the summer, but the classical music organizations are doing their level best to keep in touch and keep you entertained. Camerata Pacifica might be leading the charge, as the chamber music ensemble is not only upgrading its […]
“Welcome to our first ever production of an opera in Spanish,” said Opera Santa Barbara’s (OSB) artistic and general director Kostis Protopapas and board chair Joan Rutkowski. There was a sold-out audience at the Lobero to see Il Postino (The Postman). Some of you may remember the 1994 Oscar winning film which transferred the action […]
Opera Santa Barbara was on a high note when it performed Mexican composer Daniel Catan‘s Il Postino at the Lobero. The Spanish language production, based on the charming 1994 film, was conducted by maestro Kostis Protopapas and directed by Crystal Manich, who made her debut with the company three years ago with The Cunning Little […]
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 […]
Maybe the Santa Barbara Symphony was taking a cue from the old commercials for Wrigley’s Doublemint chewing gum when they launched a second pops concert last December to go along with its longstanding New Year’s Eve show. As in, “Double your pleasure, double your fun.” Whatever the motivation, Year 2 for the Christmastime concert brings […]
If you have a yen for opera, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Granada was definitely the production for you. Opera Santa Barbara’s 25th anniversary season opener was a cracker with artistic director Kostis Protopapas working musical magic with soprano Eleni Calenos in the pivotal role. She was joined by a superb cast, including tenor Harold […]
As the stars in the sky illuminate our lives, so with the Legends to be honored this autumn night” – Carol Wilburn. The Granada always shines a light on its entertainment, but the annual gala called Legends is one of the biggest illuminations of the year. The honorees who shone were Carol Burnett, Opera Santa […]
Opera Santa Barbara, which is also being honored as a Granada Legend, was founded by Montecito couple Marilyn Gilbert and Nathan Rundlett as Santa Barbara Grand Opera in 1994, with a vision of creating a professional opera company based in town to serve audiences on the Central Coast. From its humble beginnings when the sets […]
The Granada was full of Eastern promise when UCSB’s 6th annual Dhadkan Nachle Deewane dance competition, run by founders Soham Tikekar and Nishu Viswanathan, filled the stage with 20 dancers and 24 a cappella artists. The colorful and energized sold-out show included Hindi-film Fusion and Bhangra dance teams representing a host of colleges, including USC, […]
The Crux of The Crucible Our production of Robert Ward’s The Crucible (based on the Arthur Miller play) was neither conceived nor performed as a political statement about the times in which we live, but rather focused on the allegorical context of the fallible nature of humankind and finding ultimate redemption: often at a heavy […]
It couldn’t have been the more perfect evening when the 25-year-old charity Food From The Heart, which prepares food for 160 clients each week, hosted its 8th annual fundraiser in the historic El Paseo courtyard, with wine provided by Doug Margerum and the Happy Canyon and Grassini vineyards. The organization, with its new executive director […]
Jazz singer Tierney Sutton has such a clear, compelling, and communicative voice, it’s surprising to learn that early on in the 20-plus-year career of the band that carries her name, Sutton was a reluctant focal (and vocal) point for the group. “When I came out to L.A., my heroes were Bobby McFerrin, Al Jarreau, Flora […]
Lotusland hosted a fabulous feast of folded artwork with its new opening representing the work of 12 renowned origami artists throughout the U.S. The overflow crowd for Lotusland in Origami: Flora, Fauna, and Ganna included Asian art historian Meher McArthur and Montecito’s own artist Holly Sherwin, co-curators. Origami is no longer limited to Japan, with […]
Local dance lovers are in for a treat this week when the Joffrey Ballet, the veteran company considered among America’s elite, returns to the Granada for the first time in more than half a decade for two different programs spanning seven works. That’s a tall order even for one of the country’s most revered troupe […]
