David Asbell Steps Down at Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre

Modest people can be the toughest interviews. You ask them to toot their own horns for some well-deserved recognition and they deflect, try to turn the attention elsewhere, or humbly give credit to others. Such is the case with the Lobero Theatre Foundation’s longtime executive director David Asbell, who is stepping down from that position at the end of 2024 after serving in that capacity since 2001.

But it’s high time to give Asbell some well-earned kudos for his excellent stewardship of the historic theater, which is currently celebrating the building’s centennial and last year celebrated the organization’s 150th anniversary. He began his tenure as the theater manager in 1996, thanks to one of those “only in Santa Barbara stories” of serendipity. Asbell was working in Atlanta at the Olympic Village at Georgia Tech, where he met fifth-generation Santa Barbaran Rod Lathim through his work with Access Theatre, a pioneering standard-bearer for equal access and accessibility.

As Asbell explains it, he was working at the Olympic Village, “which, of course, turns into the Paralympic Village two weeks later. And Rod wanted to bring a new production to the Paralympics called Flight. … It was really ambitious. He was flying wheelchairs over the audience. It was fantastic,” said Asbell, smiling at the memory. Lathim had funding from Apple, but the funding dried up, so they brought Storm Reading in instead (which ended up being a
breakout hit for Access Theatre), and in the course of that experience, the two became (and still are) friends.

Asbell grew up in Ventura, and with aging parents, he confided that he’d like to get back to this area. “Rod said, ‘Well, there’s a job opening at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara.’ So, when I was coming out here, this was probably in fall of ’96 when he told me about this, and when I came out to visit my parents for the holidays, I interviewed and got the job.”

Those kinds of relationship stories about Asbell continue. Artist Brad Nack, whose paintings graced the cover of the Lobero’s 150th anniversary program, shared, “When David moved to town, the first place he went out to dinner was Roy, and I was the waiter and one of the first people he met in town. We developed a strong and friendly acquaintanceship that’s lasted for many years. He was an open and charismatic new arrival in town willing to talk to anyone.”

And in fact, continued Nack, “When I was hired as executive director of the Arts Fund, he took time to meet with me and mentor me about board relationships and etiquette.” On the mentor side, Asbell gives a lot of the credit for his own development to Board mentor Steve Cloud, whose many years in the music world continue to benefit Santa Barbara audiences. Together, Asbell and Cloud created Lobero LIVE and Jazz at the Lobero, programs that endure to this day.

Working with DANCEworks founder and executive director Dianne Vapnek was probably the number-one highlight for Asbell, he said. From 1997 to 2009, DANCEworks partnered with the Lobero Theatre Foundation for a residency program for choreographers to initiate major works on the Lobero stage. “She chose the choreographers (the list includes: Doug Elkins, Larry Keigwin, Aszure Barton, Mark Dendy, Kate Weare, Shannon Gillen, Adam Barruch, Brian Brooks, and close to a dozen more, including Mikhail Baryshnikov). She worked very closely with them and what they were going to do and how it was all going to work. But all the activity was here at the theater, a month worth of rehearsal on stage with our tech crew, whatever kind of scenic element. … and it was great and really, really, really great work that we could be really proud of.”

Another highlight was definitely the Sings Like Hell series from producer Peggie Jones, said Asbell. That dynamite monthly subscription concert series ran from 1997 to 2016 and really positioned the Lobero as a noteworthy venue for Americana, folk, and country indie singer/songwriters. Among the artists featured: Randy Newman, Aimee Mann, Marshall Crenshaw, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, Joan Armatrading, David Crosby, Tracy Chapman, Gillian Welch, and T-Bone Burnett, to name just a few.

“We’re just the stewards of the Lobero right now. There were those who came before us, and those who will come after. But we’re proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish during our time,” said Asbell, who has weathered many ups and downs over the years. The theater had never enjoyed financial stability, until recently. Following the completion of a major seismic renovation in the mid-’90s, the Lobero experienced the same ups and downs that the community did, including the housing crisis and a global pandemic. But Asbell and his team more than weathered these tough years, continuing to grow the Lobero’s reputation as a quality venue and completing more than $10 million in capital improvements. In addition, they have built a growing endowment so that the theater is better protected against future financial swings.

In terms of the Lobero’s future, “David Asbell has put in place a fantastic team,” said Board President Charles de L’Arbre. “I think David’s has had a very, very sure hand in terms of guiding things from an administrative standpoint. He’s been fantastic in terms of programming (a role Asbell will continue with on a part-time basis), the Lobero Live shows, which we are essentially the promoter for, those have grown in numbers steadily over the years, and the contribution that they’ve made to the actual bottom line of the theater itself has been fantastic.”

Asbell’s longtime collaborator Marianne Clark — who began working at the Lobero in 1997, just a year after Asbell — will assume the executive director role on January 1. Clark, who had a performance background before becoming an arts administrator, joins an impressive list of women who are now at the helm of Santa Barbara’s cultural institutions, including Celesta M. Billeci at UCSB Arts & Lectures, Kathryn Martin at Santa Barbara Symphony, Amada Cruz at Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Dalia Garcia at Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, and Megan Philipp and Cecily MacDougall at State Street Ballet. 

After serving the longest term as executive director in the Lobero Theatre’s history, Asbell is confident about the transition. “The staff is strong, the organization is financially solid, and I am looking forward to a next chapter with fewer responsibilities,” he said. 

“This is a good opportunity to really celebrate, you know, the last, you know, 28 years. Because, again, it wasn’t just me. I mean, there were a lot of people,” said Asbell. “As Executive Director, I was really fortunate that there was a Steve Cloud and a Todd Jared (technical director and production manager) and a Marianne Clark and a Don McGreevy (controller) and … I could go on forever about the team of people who wanted to do this.”

“We have a lot of staff members who’ve been here for a long time. I think that’s a tribute to David’s leadership and making this a place that you want to work, that people want to stay,” said Clark. “We all really love being here.”