A Towering Cultural Artistic Force

The Granada Theatre has towered over the Santa Barbara area for 100 years, not just as the tallest physical symbol of the area (its 119-foot height is the lone area exception to the 60-foot-maximum-height restriction), but more importantly, as the most influential arts and cultural force in the area. 2024 will mark the organization’s centennial, and a perfect time to help celebrate the event by contributing to its continued successful effort to unite people by bringing them together to experience fantastic artistic performances and celebrations. 

Although COVID was a challenging period for all performing arts organizations, the Granada is surging into its second century of existence with a robust schedule of programming and an optimistic outlook for thriving beyond the next hundred years. “The Granada is a symbol of just how much Santa Barbara values the performing arts and one of the reasons people move to Santa Barbara,” says Jill Seltzer, the Granada’s VP of Advancement.  

The theater’s centennial season is organized precisely to serve that valued community, and to ensure that theatergoers and patrons continue to be uplifted by, entertained by, and saluted by the Granada, “This Is Your Granada” opens with a festival weekend crescendo in April (12-14) that celebrates the past, present, and future of this magnificent theater. On Friday, April 12, the program will celebrate the Granada as a movie palace, its original incarnation, and tickets are priced befitting the founding year of the theater: $19.24. Saturday, April 13 will feature a music concert with a headliner to celebrate the present (ticket price: $20.24). And Sunday will celebrate the theater’s future century with performances by young talent on the cusp of a great career, all nurtured in Santa Barbara, culminating with the three Santa Barbara high school choruses performing together, leading everyone into the street for the “Ultimate Block Party” (ticket price: $21.24, to mark the next century). 

The Granada is dedicated to ensuring that performances in the arts continue to reach across generations, from longtime, stalwart supporters to fresh, young newcomer audiences. Some of the programs will blend performance disciplines and collaborations across art forms to attract and delight tomorrow’s audiences. That includes an evening with the Santa Barbara Symphony and local rock band the Doublewide Kings (whose members include current Granada Chairman, Palmer Jackson) performing an evening of Van Morrison songs together. 

It is a season and a celebration not to be missed.