ON Culture | Bright Lights and Book Recs

The 2024 ZooLights at the Santa Barbara Zoo | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on December 6, 2024. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

ON the Light Shows

It’s that sparkly time of the year, when streets are lit up with holiday cheer and the Santa Barbara Zoo turns into a glowing wonderland. ZooLights, on view through January 12, is always a highlight (no pun intended) of the winter season. Tyler Hayden and Ingrid Bostrom have a great peek into this year’s delights here.

The Holiday GLOW at Sensorio runs through January 1. | Photo: Courtesy

The hills and valleys of SENSORIO in Paso Robles are even more radiant than usual this winter with a unique holiday experience. On view through New Year’s Day, Sensorio’s Holiday GLOW features dazzling lights, live music, and holiday magic with more than 100,000 glowing bulbs and 35+ acres of displays and activities for the whole family. Along with the newest attraction — The “Dimensions” exhibit by HYBYCOZO with more than 40 large-scale LED light sculptures to captivate audiences through light, color shadows, and geometric patterns — other highlights include a holiday craft fair on December 21; Santa at Sensorio on December 14, 15, and 19; and a Sensorio Gives Back during the holidays day on December 22, with $10 donated to nonprofits for every ticket sold. For more information, see sensoriopaso.com.

ON the Stage

From left, Ian Fairlee, Blake Burgess, Nick Voss and Will Riddle star in ‘Million Dollar Quartet.’ | Photo: Zach Mendez

Alison Krauss co-headlined a show with David Gray at the Santa Barbara Bowl in October 2017. She returns with Union Station on July 15, 2025. | Photo: Paul Wellman (file)

Ensemble Theatre’s Million Dollar Quartet opens this week. Directed by Brian McDonald, our affable host from this year’s Indy Awards, this imagined narrative puts Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis into a Sun Records recording session and gives us a fantasy concert for the record books. I’ve been looking forward to this one since they announced it. Read Maggie Yates’s preview here and get ticket info here.

The Santa Barbara Bowl season is starting to shape up nicely, with this week’s announcements of the French electronic duo Justice on May 23 and bluegrass stars Alison Krauss & Union Station, on their first tour in 10 years, coming on July 15 (tickets for those two shows go on sale today, December 6; see sbbowl.com for details), joining the already announced Avett Brothers on April 11, Jack White on May 15, and the Goo Goo Dolls on September 6.

Some other good shows coming our way include Men at Work’s Colin Hay, who was so good in the David Crosby tribute last year, back at the Lobero on January 22, comedian Trae Crowder at the Lobero on January 25, and “modern masters of American folk” Gillian Welch & David Rawlings at the Granada on March 9. Also announced recently are a couple of shows at Vina Robles that are worth the drive: Leon Bridges on June 4 and Rod Stewart on June 15.

ON the Page

The Santa Barbara Public Library Local Author Book Fair 2023 | Photo: Courtesy

Get a jump on your holiday shopping this weekend at the Santa Barbara Public Library’s Annual Local Author Book Festival on Sunday, December 8, 2-4 p.m. We’ve got a new location this year — the beautiful Library Plaza — and a new theme “Books Make Great Gifts, Shop Local!” I couldn’t agree more with BOTH of those sentiments, especially when the impressive lineup of authors attending includes: Adam McHugh, Ana Ellickson, Anita Perez Ferguson, Arthur Hoyle, Betsy J. Green (Independent contributor), Bonnie Lady Lee, Cheri Rae (Independent contributor), DJ Palladino, Darrell McNeill, David Starkey (Independent contributor), Debra Brinkman, Diana Raab, Douglas Hufschmid, Edward Cooper, Elisa Stad, Elisabeth Haggblade, Elizabeth Foscue, Fleurie Leclercq, George Yatchisin (Independent contributor), Gunpowder Press, Hope Christofferson, Honey Boy Press, Jana Goldbloom Brody, Jeanine Kitchel, Jenna Tico, Joan Z. Calder, John McKinney, Josh Shelton, Leah Evert-Burks, Lissa Landry, Melinda Palacio (Independent contributor), Nikki Barthelmess, Patrick Shattuck, River Curls (pen name CM Rivers), Ruth Wishengrad, Shirley Lim, Stephanie Barbé Hammer, Tania Israel, and Taran Collis. There’s also free gift wrap, a crafting table for kids, and Mony’s food truck. For more info on the festival, click here.

I recently listened to Ina Garten’s new memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, and not only is it a highly entertaining story (and a fun one to hear in Ina’s own voice), but she also name-checks her former food stylist, Santa Barbara ice cream entrepreneur Rori Trovato, of Rori’s Artisanal Creamery, as someone who was pivotal to the success of her early cookbooks. Not only does Rori make an excellent ice cream (Fresh Mint Patty is my favorite), but the former food stylist and recipe developer for the oh-so-exacting Martha Stewart is also the mom of my lovely intern from last summer, Roman Trovato.

ON the (Big) Screen

Cynthia Erivo (right) and Ariana Grande in ‘Wicked’ | Photo: Universal Pictures

The cultural phenomenon of Wicked hit the big screen in a big way recently. I really enjoyed the film (see my review here) and the deluge of Wicked and Wicked-adjacent PR hitting my inbox is also quite entertaining. As of the day before Thanksgiving, the soundtrack has broken records, surpassing 40 million streams (with “Defying Gravity” as most streamed individual track) and Google searches for “Wicked Broadway tickets” in the United States have reached an eight-year high, a new study has found.

‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ screens December 10 at the Granada. | Photo: Courtesy

Wrapping up The Granada Theatre’s centennial celebration is a special screening of Fried Green Tomatoes on Tuesday, December 10. Based on Santa Barbara resident Fannie Flagg’s best-seller Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, the always entertaining Flagg will be on stage for an informal conversation on stage before the screening. And tickets are just $5. Click here for more info.

ON the Walls

“The Rains Came” by Roland Petersen | Photo: Courtesy

Solvang is always charming, but especially this time of the year. One of the most Christmassy towns in America also has a rather special art exhibit on view right now, The Visual Feast of Roland Petersen at Elverhøj Museum. The brightly bold paintings of the 98-year-old Danish-born painter, who now resides in the Bay Area, are well worth the drive. On view through January 5, see Joe Woodard’s review of the show here.

ON the Bandshell

Santa Barbara Strummers will perform a free sing-along show on Sunday at the bandshell at Pershing Park. | Photo: Courtesy

Now that the Plaza Del Mar bandshell at Pershing Park is back in action, we’ve got a great new spot for community events. This weekend the Santa Barbara Strummers — a group of musicians playing and singing with ukuleles and guitars — present a free Holiday Sing-Along on Sunday, December 8, 2-4 p.m. Sponsored by the Parc Foundation Santa Barbara, the all-ages event includes a selection of popular holiday songs and carols like “Jingle Bells,” “Feliz Navidad,” “I Have a Little Dreidel,” and “Joy to the World.” Organizer Steven Sharpe said, “Song books with the lyrics will be available to audience members, and everyone is encouraged to sing along with the musicians.” Adding, “Though the concert is free, guests are invited to make a donation to local charity Food From The Heart, to assist them in providing their holiday meals to those in need.” For more info, click here.

Soujourner Kincaid Rolle | Photo: Courtesy

ON the Calendar

Beloved poet and activist Sojourner Kincaid Rolle will have a King Palm Tree dedicated to her memory on Saturday, December 14, at 1 p.m. The plaque honoring Sojourner is located on Santa Barbara Street behind the County Courthouse, the fifth tree down from Anapamu Street. There will be a reception to follow at the Unitarian Society’s Jefferson Hall (1535 Santa Barbara St.).

For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events/.