The following is a list of events during March and April at the Lobero Theatre. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the box office at 33 E. Canon Perdido St., click here or call 805.963.0761.
April
Opera Santa Barbara will present La Serva Padrona and Trouble in Tahiti at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 8 and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 10. Members of the San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Adler Fellows Program will join the Opera Santa Barbara Orchestra in a fully staged production of two chamber operas presented in the intimacy of the Lobero.
Experience the eternal battle of the sexes played out more than 200 years apart! Pergolesi’s lighthearted comedy La Serva Padrona (1733) and Bernstein’s bittersweet satire Trouble in Tahiti (1952) focus on the struggles of two women. In La Serva Padrona, Serpina is a sassy servant who uses her cunning and wit to manipulate her master, while Trouble in Tahiti’s Dinah is a modern American housewife chipping away at the overlying lacquer of her static suburban life. Two women in two households fight the ties that bind, and yearn for more.
San Francisco-based director and choreographer Joe Goode will provide the stage direction, and Mark Morash, director of musical studies at the San Francisco Opera Center, will conduct this exciting double-bill of theatrical and musical exploration.
Section A tickets are $153, Section B tickets are $103, Section C tickets are $73, Section D tickets are $43 and Section E tickets are $28.
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Lobero Live will present Madeleine Peyroux as part of “A Woman’s Voice” series at 8 p.m. Monday, April 11. With her honey-soaked voice, this vocal phenom draws comparisons to such legends as Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith. As an avid songwriter and lyrical innovator, Peyroux uses these varied influences to prove how far she can stretch stylistically, and reach new heights in the process.
Section A tickets are $43, Section B tickets are $33 and Patron tickets are $103.
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The CAMA Masterseries will present the Tetzlaff Quartet at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 12. Violinist Christian Tetzlaff returns with his quartet, which is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the world’s most fascinating chamber ensembles. The Tetzlaff Quartet includes Tetzlaff on violin, Elizabeth Kufferath on violin, Hanna Weinmeister on viola and Tanja Tetzlaff on cello. Section A tickets are $43 and Section B tickets are $33.
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The Community Environmental Council will present the Green Shorts Film Festival at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 14. The Green Shorts Film Festival is an annual grassroots film festival about saving the planet, improving the environment and being green. The one- to two-minute films, produced by inspired students and adults in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties, are entertaining, humorous and often moving. Slated as one of the premiere Earth Day kick-off events, this film festival has been described as one of the most heartwarming grassroots environmental events in the region.
The event includes a green carpet welcome, film screening, awards ceremony and after-party reception. The Green Shorts Film Festival is a partnership between the Community Environmental Council and SBCAG Traffic Solutions. Ticket prices and on-sale date to be announced.
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The Santa Barbara Dance Alliance will present “BASSH: Ballroom, Aerial, Swing, Salsa, & Hip-Hop” at 8 p.m. Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16. BASSH features local dancers performing today’s hottest dance styles. The ensemble cast will showcase everything from stage scorching salsa to pulsating hip-hop. On opening night, patron ticket holders are invited on stage for a post-performance gala dance with the artists. Tickets and on-sale date to be announced.
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Jazz at the Lobero will present Kurt Elling at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 19. Elling has risen to international prominence as a groundbreaking jazz artist, established himself as a composer and lyricist, and has gone on to write and direct critically acclaimed literary, artistic and musical events. “Dedicated to You” won the Best Male Vocal Grammy for Elling, who was an eight-time Grammy nominee already.
Section A tickets are $48, Section B tickets are $38 and Patron tickets are $103.
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The Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life at UCSB will present Richard Rodriguez in a lecture titled “The Desert and the Experience of God” at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 21. The son of Mexican immigrants — a self-described “scholarship boy” — Rodriguez, in his first and most famous book, Hunger of Memory, wrote about the painful but necessary experience of assimilation and of his difficult Americanization in the classroom. His second book, Days of Obligation: An Argument with My Mexican Father, was a loving but unsentimental assessment of cultural tensions between what he calls “Catholic Mexico” and “Protestant America” and the dilemma of being “Mexican American.” Days of Obligation was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction. This is a free event.
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Sings Like Hell will present “An Evening with David Lindley” at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 23. Lindley, a multi-instrumentalist, performs music that redefines the word “eclectic.” Well-known for his many years as the featured accompanist to Jackson Browne and leader of his own band (El Rayo-X), he has long championed the concept of world music. The Lindley electro-acoustic performance effortlessly combines American folk, blues and bluegrass traditions with elements from African, Arabic, Asian, Celtic, Malagasy and Turkish musical sources. Lindley incorporates an incredible array of stringed instruments including but not limited to Kona and Weissenborn lap steel guitar, Turkish saz and chumbus, Middle Eastern oud, and Irish bouzouki. Series subscriptions are available.
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Sings Like Hell’s The Felice Brothers scheduled for Wednesday, April 27 has been postponed.
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Lobero Live will present The Capitol Steps at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 28. The Capitol Steps is a troupe of former congressional staffers who travel the country satirizing the very people and places that once employed them. During the past 13 years, the group has recorded 15 albums. The Capitol Steps performs more than 300 shows a year all over the country. Section A tickets are $38, Section B tickets are $28 and Patron tickets are $103.
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The Santa Barbara Youth Ensemble Theater will present West Side Story at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday, April 30. In its sixth season presenting sensational musical theater entertainment for the entire family, SBYET will present four performances of this unforgettable Tony Award-winning Broadway classic. Actors range in age from 10 to 15. General admission tickets are $23, children age 14 or younger are $13, and family packs are $53 (maximum of two adults).
May
The Santa Barbara Youth Ensemble Theater will present West Side Story at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday, April 30. In its sixth season presenting sensational musical theater entertainment for the entire family, SBYET will present four performances of this unforgettable Tony Award-winning Broadway classic. Actors range in age from 10 to 15. General admission tickets are $23, children age 14 or younger are $13, and family packs are $53 (maximum of two adults).
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The Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra presents Alessio Bax on piano at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 3. The 2010-11 season closes with this performance. The program will include Wolfgang Mozart’s Concerto for Piano No. 27, K. 595 in B-Flat Major and Franz Schubert’s Symphony No.8 in C Major (The Great). Section A tickets are $47 and Section B tickets are $42.
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The Lobero presents “An Evening with the Carl Verheyen Band and Special Guest Haddon Cord” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 6. Verheyen will be joined by drummer Walfredo Reyes Jr. and bassist Dave Marotta. Local teen Haddon Cord will perform a set including tracks from her debut CD, produced by Verheyen.
The evening will benefit Keep the Beat, a Santa Barbara Education Foundation program that encourages music participation in schools. General tickets are $32, and general student tickets are $16.50. VIP tickets are $62, and VIP Student tickets are $32.50.
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Under Our Skin will screen at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 10. As suspenseful and hair-raising as any Hollywood thriller, Under Our Skin is sure to get under yours. A gripping tale of microbes, medicine and money, Under Our Skin exposes the hidden story of Lyme disease, one of the most serious and controversial epidemics of our time. Each year, thousands go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, often told that their symptoms are all in their head.
Following the stories of patients and physicians fighting for their lives and livelihoods, the film brings into focus a haunting picture of the health-care system and a medical establishment all too willing to put profits ahead of patients. From a few brave doctors who risk their medical licenses to patients who once led active lives but now can barely walk, the film uncovers a hidden world that will alarm viewers.
This is a benefit to raise awareness and funds for the prevention and treatment of Lyme disease. General admission is $15.
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The Santa Barbara Birth Center will present its second annual Benefit Concert at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 14. The sold-out 2010 concert raised $90,000, and now the SBBC is raising funds to renovate its new home at 2958 State St. toward a spring 2011 opening. SBBC, the only free-standing birth center in Santa Barbara County, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing complete midwifery care to all women with low-risk pregnancies, regardless of their ability to pay. Ticket prices and on-sale date to be announced.
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The Santa Barbara Dance Institute will present “The World Café” at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 15 at the Marjorie Luke Theatre. The Santa Barbara Dance Institute event of the year, “The World Café” is a mock radio show from radio station SBDI Dance Radio, 805 FM. Listen to the top pop hits from around the world and enjoy 200 dancing schoolchildren, teachers, principals, parents, community members as they become our “live audience.” This original dance/theater piece is written and choreographed by Rosalina Macisco. Admission is $16 for adults and $6 for children.
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Sings Like Hell will present “Ribbon of Highway” at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 21. When Joel Rafael opens the “Ribbon of Highway Endless Skyway” show with narration about riding the rails, he does so to set the proverbial stage. Rafael gives the listener a quick crib sheet to prepare them for their journey. When Jimmy LaFave starts singing “This Train Is Bound for Glory,” the audience has now grabbed ahold of the passing rail, headed into Woody Guthrie’s mind for the next few hours. All of the artists involved (LaFave, Eliza Gilkyson, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, and Rafael) have the emotional and intellectual ability to articulate Guthrie’s thoughts.
The show runs the gamut of Woody’s music and writings through the Dust Bowl years, and touching down as well on his musings about New York and California. The show travels the trains, takes you to a deli in NYC, revels in timeless words about love and war, and leaves the audience standing as they celebrate the life and writings of a one of the greatest American troubadours. Series subscriptions are available.
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The Santa Barbara Youth Symphony will present a Pops Concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 22. The program, yet to be determined, will feature a symphony member performing a solo selection. Ticket prices and on-sale date to be announced.
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Lobero Live will present Rickie Lee Jones as part of “A Woman’s Voice” series at 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 24. With a unique musical range incorporating her breathy folk sensibility, Motown influences and classic rock styling, Jones, the “Duchess of Coolsville,” proves she’s no slave to convention. This May, she offers Lobero audiences a chance to experience a never-before-attempted journey through her early works by performing her debut self-titled album, Rickie Lee Jones, and its critically-acclaimed follow-up, Pirates, live in their entirety with a full band. Many of these songs will be performed for the first time in decades and never before have these two landmark records been performed back-to-back with their original instrumentation.
Section A tickets are $53, Section B tickets are $43 and Patron tickets are $103.
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Gustafson Dance will present Thumbelina at 6 p.m. Friday, May 27, and 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday, May 28. Featuring dancers age 3 and older, Thumbelina tells the story of a tiny fairy lost in a magical garden. As she tries to find her way, she encounters mice, a frog, bees, fairies and many new adventures. Don’t miss this charming family show. Admission is $23 for adults and $15 for children.
— Holly Chadwin is the executive assistant and youth and community programs coordinator for the Lobero Theatre Foundation.