Tag archives: Sara Miller McCune

The 9th Annual American Riviera Classic returns to Santa Barbara May 15-17, drawing players from across the country for a weekend of spirited competition and community fun. Athletes from 10 states will compete in one of the region’s premier pickleball events, known as much for its lively atmosphere as its on-court action. Beyond the matches, […]

The Mate Gallery owners Matt Albiani and Ron Brand announce they are now carrying the American West-inspired Ralph Lauren RRL line, affectionately known as Double RL. The line was launched last week in an invite-only opening event that caused a scene in the Montecito Country Mart parking lot in front of the store – not […]

On February 19th, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission approved the proposed changes to the county’s cannabis ordinance in a 5-0 vote. The changes require cannabis operators to install multi-technology carbon filtration or equivalent technology in their greenhouses to effectively mitigate cannabis odor. The commissioners also established an odor threshold, to be measured using a […]

Two of Santa Barbara’s great dames were lauded for their exemplary work at the venerable century-old Granada Theatre’s Legends Gala. The capacious stage was socially gridlocked when 240 guests, marking the 8th anniversary of the popular event, honored Joan Rutkowski, who was a founding board member in 1997, starting the multi-million dollar renovation project the […]

It wasn’t the COVID pandemic that caused Trinity Backstage Coffeehouse to come to a close after a Christmastime holiday show in 2019. The underground listening-room series that spent nearly 20 years bringing some of the finest, if often unheralded, acoustic singer-songwriters to Santa Barbara had already scaled back from monthly shows to quarterly concerts for […]

Cultural gridlock reigned at the Santa Barbara Club when UCSB Arts & Lectures held its new 63rd season reveal party with 150 guests. “It has all been very challenging,” said Miller McCune Executive Director Celesta Billeci. “There have been many unknown hurdles during the pandemic. But we are now standing on the other side. We […]

Munificence reigned supreme when the Santa Barbara Education Foundation held its annual Hope Awards at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum honoring Montecito uber philanthropist Sara Miller McCune and Frank Stevens, who has been involved with the organization for its entire 37-year history. Tributes were paid to the dynamic duo by Barbara Keyani, former executive director […]

It was all tu-tu much when social gridlock reigned at the venerable Lobero when the State Street Ballet closed its season with a gala performance featuring highlights from the company’s repertoire from the past 27 years. The glittering event also paid tribute to philanthropic patrons Sara Miller McCune, Carrie Towbes, Margo Cohen-Feinberg, and Tim Mikel, […]

The Santa Barbara Education Foundation’s annual Hope Awards will mark its return to the Historical Museum on April 28 after the pandemic scuttled the in-person gala in 2021. The doors to the Historical Museum will open at 5:30 pm to an evening of local food, drink, and a chance to show some extra support. The […]

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 […]

It was a year full of questions, sometimes without many answers. But we persevered. As a staff, we took a few moments to reflect on our 2021s, which featured a few tears, triumphant returns, overwhelming innovation, and news that no one likes to report. Here’s a look at eight of our standout stories from the […]

The past 20 months for educators have been ones of great angst and innovation — with the need for patience and a willingness to embrace the unknown paramount to serving thousands of students in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. It has also been thankless. Educators have not only had to teach students through computer […]

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. […]

It’s purely coincidence that this week’s Montecito Journal hits newsstands the same day the Granada Theatre officially unveils Plaza Granada, a new pathway to the theater and the historic arts district in downtown Santa Barbara with a private ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Plaza transforms the formerly barren parking lot behind the theater and the previously dark […]

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 […]

Santa Barbara’s 36-year-old Education Foundation hosted its first Love of Literacy lunch at Godric Grove at Elings Park, attracting 150 guests and raising $50,000 for the cause. The boffo bash, the first in-person event since March 2020, featured Montecito uber philanthropist Sara Miller McCune, who said she became “angry and upset” when she read about […]

A scenic Montecito ranch owned by the late Oscar-nominated actor Stuart Whitman is up for grabs for $62 million, one of our rarefied enclave’s most expensive properties. Stuart, well-known for cowboy roles in films with John Wayne, owned the 13-acre estate in the Santa Ynez Mountains until his death in March at the age of […]