Center Stage Theater, Santa Barbara, CACenter Stage Theater

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA

Celebrating 20 Years 1990-2010
An intimate black box theater with weekly performances by a variety of artists, located in the heart of the downtown Santa Barbara cultural district.

Calendar of Events

August 26 through September 5

WTF Productions presents

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Daddy's daughter has a boyfriend named T-Bone and a serious cell phone addiction—not to mention total disrespect for: Daddy. Oh, poor Daddy: a Baby Boomer who has a beef with technology. Daddy would like nothing more than to cut through all the cell phone bullsh*t and have a real conversation, and maybe even form a connection with someone! Like, shocker, his daughter..

Currently, he’s settling for the next best thing: his Dominatrix.

But his daughter’s best friend is pretty hot! She’d like to be Nina in The Seagull—and she has a webcam, which daddy’s best friend gets off on, in between his bong hits.

Welcome to California in the 21st Century! Still tuning in, turning on, and dropping out. But, hey, wait! Does anyone notice those Killer Computers on the horizon? Help! Send human reinforcements soon?

Bad Daddy is a world premiere rock musical written and directed by Rick Cipes. Rick's credits range from being an actor on such television shows as "L.A. Law," "Jake and the Fatman," "Hunter," and "21 Jump Street," to writing for over 40 publications, including L.A. Times, L.A. Weekly, Los Angeles Magazine, Playboy and ESPN Magazine.

For more information, visit www.baddaddythemusical.com.

TIMES: August 26 through 28 at 8:00 P.M.
TIMES: August 29 at 2:00 and 7:00 P.M. (NOTE EARLY TIME)
TIMES: September 1 through 4 at 8:00 P.M.
TIMES: September 5 at 2:00 and 7:00 P.M. (NOTE EARLY TIME)

TICKETS: $20 general, $10 students

TICKETS: $5 student special Friday September 3 and Saturday September 4

All seating is general admission. All ticket sales are final at the time of purchase. There are no refunds or exchanges.

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing

lit moon logoSeptember 10 through 18

Lit Moon Theatre Presents

2010 Lit Moon World Theater Festival

The 2010 Lit Moon World Theater Festival celebrates dynamic, home-grown innovations in intercultural performance, music theatre, music, dance-theatre, solo performance, and performance and technology. 

SHOW TIMES

Fri 10

Sat 11

Sun 12

Fri 17

Sat 18

Adventures of Nils 8 P.M. 4 P.M. 4 P.M.    
It's Only Gravity... . 8 P.M.      
Body/Bach—Min/Max     7 P.M.    
I Was Greta Garbo       9 P.M.  
Fusion 5.0         7 P.M.
The Wedding       7 P.M. 9 P.M.

 

See below for descriptions of the shows.

 

TICKETS FOR EACH SHOW: $15 general, $12 students

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing


Nils photoLit Moon World Theater Festival

The Wonderful Adventures
of Nils

Lit Moon’s New Show! Written by Naomi Iizuka (36 Views, Polaroid Stories, Anon(ymous)) and co-produced with Finland’s Tampereen Teatteri, a new adaptation of the famous Swedish story by Nobel Laureate Selma Lagerlof. Directed by John Blondell.

Charmed by an elf, ne’er-do-well Nils flies toward Lapland on the back of a goose.  Enchantment, magic, and friendship for the ENTIRE FAMILY! 

TIMES: Friday, September 10, at 8:00 P.M.
TIMES: Saturday, September 11, at 4:00 P.M.
TIMES: Sunday, September 12, at 4:00 P.M.

TICKETS: $15 general, $12 students

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing

Gravity artworkLit Moon World Theater Festival

It’s Only Gravity That Makes Wearing a Crown Painful

The Gove County String Quartet
with Anna Abbey

The Gove County String Quartet (Jim Connolly, Sally Barr, Nick Coventry, and Laura Hackstein) will be joined by Anna Abbey to premiere their new CD.  The concert features pieces for quartet, toy piano, and melodica, double bass, and other surprises.  Wild, exuberant music performed by some of Santa Barbara’s best musicians!

TIMES: Saturday, September 11, at 8:00 P.M.

TICKETS: $15 general, $12 students

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing

Ratatat photoLit Moon World Theater Festival

Body/Bach—
Min/Max

Ratatat Theater Group

Ratatat Theater Group invites you to an exploration of the smallest lines of the body, the widest chasms of the mind, the exposure of film, the intimacy of theater, and the far limits of human thought—woven together with Johann Sebastian Bach’s classic cello music…and silly jokes.

TIMES: Sunday, September 12, at 7:00 P.M. (NOTE EARLY TIME)

TICKETS: $15 general, $12 students

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing

Garbo photoLit Moon World Theater Festival

I Was
Greta Garbo:

Hanging on a White Line

Otilliana Rolandson

Adored by millions, she walked away from it all…Swedish actress Otilliana Rolandson in her  play about the enigmatic Swedish film icon Greta Garbo. 

A fascinating theatrical portrait of one of the screen’s most mysterious personalities.  

TIMES: Friday, September 17, at 9:00 P.M.

TICKETS: $15 general, $12 students

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing

Fusion photoLit Moon World Theater Festival

Fusion 5.0

Great new and already-established work by Robin Bisio, Victoria Finlayson, Christina McCarthy, and Jeff Mills in pieces that celebrate modern choreography, and contemporary fusions of dance, film, and puppetry.

TIMES: Saturday, September 18, at 7:00 P.M. (NOTE EARLY TIME)

TICKETS: $15 general, $12 students

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing

Cast photoLit Moon World Theater Festival

The Wedding:

A Matrimonial Musical Fantasy

Created for a site-specific festival of world premieres in Legnica, Poland, and inspired by Marriage by Nikolai Gogol, Lit Moon’s pop musical smash about the perils and pitfall of getting married. 

Directed by John Blondell. Original musical score by Jim Connolly and Anna Abbey.   

“Jubilant passion.”  —Charles Donelan, Santa Barbara Independent

TIMES: Friday, September 17, at 7:00 P.M.

TIMES: Saturday, September 18, at 9:00 P.M.

TICKETS: $15 general, $12 students

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing

artist  photo

September 24 and 25

RUCKUS

Art and Technology Collide

Featuring: Dichotomous—a dance/technology piece using wireless sensors, projections, and sounds interacting with movement. Pamela Z—a San Francisco-based innovator of interactive music combining experimental vocal techniques, bel canto, sampled sounds and wireless controllers that manipulate sound with gesture. Cloud Eye Control—a Los Angeles-based performance group combining interactive media with live performance.

For more information, visit www.ruckustheshow.com.
Right-click here to download the press release.

"The kind of creative tension that yields compelling results.”

—The Santa Barbara Independent, on "Dichotomous"

“Pamela Z is…a vocalist who mixes street instincts with vestiges of operatic singing and other between-style sounds, and she also is a gifted improviser and manipulator of delay loops to build up layers of sound.”

—Los Angeles Times

"A transcendently spectacular piece of theater."

—Los Angeles Times, on Cloud Eye Control's "Under Polaris"

TIMES: Friday and Saturday, September 24 and 25, at 8:00 P.M.

TICKETS: $25 general, $20 students

All seating is general admission. All ticket sales are final at the time of purchase. There are no refunds or exchanges.

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing

artist  photo

Sunday, September 26

FLAMENCO ARTS FESTIVAL 2010 Presents
An access to the arts special event

MUSIC OF
DAVID PEÑA DORANTES

Lecture and Demonstration

Moderated by Roger Hernández, News Director at KTAS-TV, and John Haro, FAF Board of Director.

The Flamenco Arts Festival 2010 is proud to offer this amazing opportunity to the Santa Barbara community to hear and meet David Peña Dorantes, special guest artist for Festival 2010.  He is highly regarded as one of the most creative and innovative flamenco virtuosos of our time.  Dorantes, from Sevilla, will discuss the musical history of the piano in flamenco and the different musical pieces in his show, Open Piano, to premiere on September 25 at the Lobero Theatre.  He will demonstrate on the piano and also answer your questions about his background and career.  This event follows in the tradition of the Festival’s Artist Profile and is informal, interactive and enjoyable for all ages.

Visit flamencoarts.org for information on Dorantes’s performance at the Lobero Theatre and other Festival events.

Dorantes’s latest CD, Sin Muros!, will be available for purchase.  Bring your Flamenco Arts Festival audience program for signing. 

Through the Access to the Arts Initiative, the Festival achieves its goal of increasing public knowledge of and appreciation for diversity in the arts through flamenco music and dance.

The Festival may photograph or videotape the lecture for future publicity purposes.

TIMES: Sunday, September 26, at 4:00 P.M.

TICKETS: $15 general, children 12 and under FREE

All seating is general admission. All ticket sales are final at the time of purchase. There are no refunds or exchanges.

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing

photo of dance floor

Saturday, October 9

Center Stage Theater presents

Salsa Night

Join us for a night of hot dance
to benefit Center Stage Theater

Our second annual Salsa Night Benefit. Leslie Sack of Leslie Sack Dance Studio will provide an hour of Salsa Dance instruction from 8 to 9, then we will kick up the Center Stage sound system and open the dance floor for the night.

Beer, Wine and margaritas will be available for sale on the patio, along with complimentary chips, salsa and other goodies for cooling off when you need a break from the sizzling salsa dancing.

All proceeds benefit Center Stage Theater general operating funds to help keep this great venue available and accessible for the community.

TIMES: Saturday, October 9, at 8:00 P.M.

TICKETS: $20 general

All seating is general admission. All ticket sales are final at the time of purchase. There are no refunds or exchanges.

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing

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October 20 through 31

Out of the Box Theatre Company Presents

Hair

The American Tribal
Love-Rock Musical

HAIR follows a group of hopeful, free-spirited young people who advocate a lifestyle of pacifism and free love in a society riddled with intolerance and brutality during the Vietnam War. As they explore sexual identity, challenge racism, experiment with drugs and burn draft cards, the "tribe" in HAIR creates an irresistible message of hope that continues to resonate with audiences 40 years later.

While many have found this show suitable and engaging for young adults (13 and older), parental discretion is advised. There is a dimly lit, 20-second scene with nudity that is non-sexual in nature. Sunday performances will be performed without nudity.

For more information, visit http://www.outoftheboxtheatre.org/ and http://outoftheboxtheatre.blogspot.com

TIMES: Wednesday October 20 through Saturday October 23 at 8:00 P.M.

TIMES: Sunday October 24 at 2:00 P.M. (censored) and 8:00 P.M. (censored)

TIMES: Tuesday October 26 through Saturday October 30 at 8:00 P.M.

TIMES: Sunday October 31 at 2:00 P.M. (censored)

TICKETS: $25 general, $20 students

All seating is general admission. All ticket sales are final at the time of purchase. There are no refunds or exchanges.

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing

November 5 through 20

genesis west Presents

curse of the
starving CLASS

A play by SAM SHEPARD

A dark satire by one of theatre's most respected and celebrated writers, Pulitzer Prize winner and Academy Award nominee Sam Shepard. Curse of the Starving Class is at once a hilarious, profound, frighteningly true, and delightfully surreal story that follows a malnourished and rather bizarre family searching for freedom, security, and their piece of the American pie. As their delusions of a better life fall apart around them, so does their farmhouse and the myth of America it embodies. Warning: Contains adult content, extreme behavior and brief nudity.

“Epic, unpredictable. And deliriously ironic” –The Village Voice

TIMES: November 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, and 20 at 8:00 P.M.

TICKETS: $29 general, $24 students with I.D.

All seating is general admission. All ticket sales are final at the time of purchase. There are no refunds or exchanges.

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing

December 2 through 12

Acting Up Productions as a benefit for K9 Pals presents

It Had to Be You

This delightful Christmastime romantic comedy is about Theda Blau, a failed actress, health food nut, analyst and and would-be playwright who wants to find love and success in New York, and Vito Pignoli, a hugely successful TV commercial director. By hilariously holding him hostage in her apartment on a snowy Christmas Eve, she attempts to convince him to be her partner both on the page and off.

A very engaging , touching play of great dexterity and loving warmth that is sure to add fun to your holiday season!

TIMES: Thursday, December 2, Opening at 8:00 P.M.

TIMES: Friday, December 3, and Saturday, December 4, at 8:00 P.M.

TIMES: Sunday, December 5, at 2:00 and 7:00 P.M.

TIMES: Thursday, December 9, Friday, December 10, and Saturday, December 11, at 8:00 P.M.

TIMES: Sunday, December 12, at 2:00 and 7:00 P.M.

TICKETS: $20 general in advance, $25 general at the door

All seating is general admission. All ticket sales are final at the time of purchase. There are no refunds or exchanges.

 

BOX OFFICE (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE  Click for a complete listing

box office photo

Box Office Information

The Center Stage Theater Box Office is open Wednesday through Friday from noon to 5:00 P.M., and one hour before each performance. Tickets may also be purchased online at any time. See below for location and directions.

TICKETS

Purchase Tickets Online click here

Purchase by Phone with Visa, MC, AmEx: (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD)

Online sales subject to a $1.50 surcharge per ticket.
There are no additional charges to purchase tickets over the phone.

Unless otherwise noted, all seating is general admission. All ticket sales are final at the time of purchase. There are no refunds or exchanges.

NOTE: If online sales are closed, tickets may still be available by phoning the box office at (805) 963-0408 (V/TDD).

PLEASE NOTE: Because of the intimacy of Center Stage Theater, latecomers may be seated at appropriate intervals only. Some performances may not allow late seating. Please arrive 20-30 minutes early if you must purchase a ticket at the door.

logo LOCATION AND DIRECTIONS

Center Stage Theater is located in Paseo Nuevo Center, upstairs at the intersection of Chapala and De la Guerra Streets, Santa Barbara, California. Click here for map.

Take Highway 101 to Carrillo Street, exit and turn toward the mountains (northbound turns right, southbound turns left). Proceed to Chapala Street (fourth light) and turn right. Proceed 1-1/2 blocks and turn left into either of two entrances to Paseo Nuevo. Park near the elevator, or proceed to roof-level parking.

This Project is funded in part by the Organizational Development Grant Program using Funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission.