Welcome to the 2018-2019 Season at Santa Barbara High School, where we continue our quest to be THE Musical Theatre destination for students, designers, and audiences alike…starting in 2012 when we produced Into the Woods, beginning a string of 15 consecutive musical productions, and an evolution in our program that led to a partnership with Dr. Jon Nathan and the UCSB Jazz Ensemble program.  Most schools have a traditional approach to theatre education and performance, producing a play in the Fall and a musical in the Spring.  Here at SBHS, we do things a little differently, and this year I think we have upped our game—for the first time we will be doing three full-scale musicals (slotting one in the usually empty December slot), as well as the 19th iteration of the wildly popular student-produced, directed, and performed Broadway revue, MUSIC OF THE NIGHT.  In addition, we are making a radical change to our ticket pricing structure and ticket purchasing, offering a season subscription to all three mainstage productions at a bargain price, and throwing in MOTN to boot!  You can go to the Ticket Sales tab on the website to see details, but I think this change will generate more audience able to see incredible work at an extremely affordable price, especially for students, and parents who return night after night to support the actors and technicians in their families.  Our goal, after all, is not to profit, but to be seen and heard.

Welcome back everyone, to another spectacular season at one of the nation’s premiere showcase for the best in high school musical theatre.  With the tremendous input from a creative team comprised of UCSB Director of Music Dr. Jon Nathan, UCSB Dance teacher and choreographer extrordinaire Christina McCarthy,  resident Costume Designer Bonnie Thor, long time lighting designer Mike Madden and the technical expertise of Jonathan Mitchell,  SBHS has garnered a national reputation for innovative approaches to the genre and the artistry and professionalism of their set and light designs.

When we began the year, we took a collective deep breath, and…plunged, headlong, into an enormous challenge: not one, but two big Broadway musicals, including one that had just closed on Broadway and had never been produced at the high school level anywhere.  And in between we saw yet another wonderful iteration of Music of the Night, the student-directed Broadway revue now in its 16th year and getting stronger and bigger every year.

December 6, 2016--Our best wishes for the holidays from the staff here at SBHS Theatre!  What a great start to a new year; not only did we have a highly successful beginning to our season with Young Frankenstein, but we also received news that we are the first high school in the nation to get the rights to Bullets Over Broadway after its recent close on Broadway and subsequent national tour. This continues our recent history of Broadway to high school openings which began with Spamalot and continued with our recent production of Big Fish.  The trickle down from Broadway closing to high school opening is generally between 7-10 years (which is why the chances of seeing a contemporary show is extremely unlikely); we are proud that our local reputation as the best musical theatre in Santa Barbara has translated into national recognition.

”HAIR” is in full swing at Santa Barbara High School, in its 3rd week of rehearsals, and we wanted to find a way to let people see behind the scenes at how a production comes to life—so we have created a daily blog (see “The Making of Hair”, above) so that you get an inside look at the complexity of art.  Creativity is messy and loud, full of halting steps and throw-away ideas, back and forth, tears, laughter , and the accessing and artistic transformation of deep, intense emotions.  The audience sees only the end result—which I think is  why, as much as people say they want creativity at the forefront of education, it can be frightening to the lay public.  Try walking into the middle of a theatre class and getting your bearings!  Theatre is organized chaos, with the process of editing and shaping built in to it—and it is never static.  Theatre is a living organism, and no two performances are ever alike.  It is dangerous and exhilarating, a high-wire act done with a few brave companions in front of an audience with high expectations.  It is unlike any other academic discipline.  Theatre students demonstrate their mastery in real time, and receive feedback in real time.  

Welcome to another year at Santa Barbara High School, my 20th as the head of the Performing Arts Department, and the 91st year in this wonderful space, first unveiled in 1924.  Beginning with Into The Woods we will have done eight consecutive musicals (nine, if you count a summer production of Cabaret!) ; most schools will do a straight play in the Fall and a Musical in the Spring, but I have had the good fortune to have a program with such phenomenal musical talent, and with designers of prodigious talent with whom I love to collaborate, that somehow we have gravitated to the form. With Christina McCarthy (who I first worked with on the Wizard of Oz 13 years ago), and Dr. Jon Nathan, whose first show here was a spectacular production of Spamalot, I am able to work at level of professionalism and creativity with great minds and artists.

I do not know yet what we will do in the Spring; I am waiting to see what becomes available—in the meantime there is the 16th iteration of Music of the Night, the student produced and directed Broadway musical revue that has grown into a major part...

It never is the end, is it?  In a space where theatre has been performed continuously for 90 years, it is another year in an enduring legacy of passionate, intelligent, and often spectacular theatre performed at the highest levels—next year will be twenty years for me at Santa Barbara High School, and to celebrate we will once again do two musicals (and our 8th and 9th consecutive musical) for our season, beginning with Pippin in the Fall. In fact, this will be the first graduating group of seniors who have performed exclusively in musicals.  I love the form, and as long as we have such a talented group of actors I will continue to explore the form and possibilities of musical theatre. So say goodbye (for now) to an amazing senior class, a class that was as tight a class as I have ever seen in my time here—they were leaders and mentors, and took their own particular legacy seriously.  We had a chance to have senior dinner together with the actors and their families, and to show film of their take on their time here at SBHS (you can see it on this website by clicking here).

Welcome to another season of dynamic, boundary-pushing Santa Barbara High School Theatre. This year celebrate the 110th year of theatre at this amazing school, including the last 90 in the same space!  What marks SBHS theatre is a stability that ensures institutional memory, and an embracing of the performing arts by the community and administration unmatched anywhere else.  In those years of theatre in this wonderful space, alive with the passion and energy of countless theatre students and artists, three teachers alone have taught a total of 74 of those 90 years -- Olive Lamb, 38 years; Jack Nakano, 17 years, and Otto Layman, currently in his 19th year at the helm and still going strong, bringing big musicals, edgy contemporary works and classics to Santa Barbara audiences. Along the way, we have expanded the number of musicals and student-produced shows...