Tag archives: Portia de Rossi

Santa Barbara Choral Society, under veteran conductor Jo Anne Wasserman, was in fine form with its eighth annual Hallelujah Project at the Lobero, which also included Sing! program choral students from the Music Academy and pajama-clad president Scott Reed in a rocking chair reciting ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Accompanied by an orchestra, the enthusiastic […]

To the Rockwood Woman’s Club to hear former British Beefeater Steve McMenamy talk about his life in the notorious fortress The Tower of London built by William the Conqueror. McMenamy served 23 years in the Royal Armored Corps before becoming a Yeoman of the Guard, founded in 1485 by King Henry VII, in 2010. They […]

Racketeers were out in force at La Arcada on State Street when the Santa Barbara School of Squash threw a colorful Viva Las Vegas! bash at the Eleven14 Sports Bar with 100 guests raising more than $50,000. But, laments executive director Robert Graham, it is a squash club without any courts given its regular facility, […]

Horsepower of a very different kind was on display at the Santa Barbara Polo Club when four newly imported Bentley Flying Spur hybrid cars were trucked up from the O’Gara Coach Company in Westlake for three days for members to test drive. The 536 horsepower cars, which have a top speed of 177 mph, run […]

When the Los Angeles Rams take the field against the Cincinnati Bengals at the $5.5 billion SoFi Stadium in the Big Orange on Sunday, Santa Barbara producer David Bolton, director of the California Missions Foundation, will be handling the live international Spanish language broadcast for Fox Sports for the seventh consecutive year. David’s company, Cultural […]

Gourmands and oenophiles were out in force when the Fund for Santa Barbara hosted its 28th Annual Bread and Roses event for 500 guests at Elings Park, a new venue after years at the QAD headquarters in Summerland. The bountiful bash, co-chaired by Gloria Soto and David Moore, raised $165,000 for the 41-year-old nonprofit that […]

It was all Greek to many when Kostis Protopapas, general director of Opera Santa Barbara, celebrated his half-century with a delightful evening of music and song at the University Club. Kostis, who was born in Athens and moved to the U.S. in 1993 on an Onassis scholarship to study piano at The Boston Conservatory and […]

As expected, I was much in demand over the weekend for the somber and muted funeral for Prince Philip at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, built in the 14th century by King Edward III. Most of it was spent on Fox News where I sat for three hours at the CBTV studio downtown with New York […]

Forbes’ 35th annual “World’s Billionaire List” includes a record-breaking 2,755 billionaires, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos topping it for the fourth consecutive year. This year’s billionaires are worth a combined $13.1 trillion, up $8 trillion from last year. “The very, very rich got very, very richer,” says Forbes chief content officer Randall Lane. Needless to […]

Two years after it opened, the owners of Montecito’s Magic Castle Cabaret Milt and Arlene Larsen are moving on, I can exclusively reveal. “The Cabaret has been closed for a long year and we are not getting any younger,” laments Arlene. “When we started, we seemed a lot younger. “After talking it over for many […]

Former TV talk show titan Oprah Winfrey hosted a two-hour, hotly anticipated interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and it was worthy of a royal soap opera! It was certainly an astonishing and incendiary show, with Oprah’s Harpo Productions raking in between $7 and $9 million, according to the Wall Street Journal, and CBS […]

Serial real estate flipper Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, sold their 10,674 sq. ft. Balinese-style Montecito estate for $33.3 million, pocketing a handsome $6.3 million profit in November. But the buyer of the five-bedroom, five-and-a-half bath home on three parcels over 9.3 acres, remained a secret until now. Our rarefied enclave’s […]

Santa Barbara Symphony has appointed Rebecca Roling as vice president of patron and community engagement. A lifelong classical music fan, patron of the arts, and musician, Roling will build upon and leverage the popular organization’s impact and momentum, and be responsible for the growth of donation and ticket revenue through patron connection and loyalty. Five […]

TV talk show host and serial real estate flipper Ellen DeGeneres and her longtime wife-actress Portia de Rossi have put on the market their latest acquisition in our rarefied enclave for $39.9 million. They purchased the bulk of the Bali-esque Montecito spread last year for $27 million, but since then have expanded the complex, which […]

Oliver’s, the Coast Village Road vegetarian restaurant that took five years to transform from the old Peabody’s space under owner cell phone billionaire Craig McCaw, 70, has been sold, says my mole with the martini. McCaw, who has moved back to Seattle, has been divesting himself of his properties in our rarefied enclave, including his […]

Montecito art and car collector Michael Hammer‘s actor son, Armie, 33, is reprising his role in the sequel to the hit film Call Me By Your Name with Oscar nominated Timothee Chalamet, 24. Director Luca Guadagnino, 48, who helmed the original 2017 drama, says both lead actors are keen to reprise their roles in 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 […]

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. […]

Hahn Hall at the Music Academy of the West was socially gridlocked when the Z.E.N. Trio, made up from the initials of pianist Zhang Duo, violinist Esther Yoo, and cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, performed as part of UCSB’s popular Arts & Lectures series. The concert, part of the long-running Robert Weinman-sponsored Up Close & Musical Series, […]