Opera Santa Barbara
Goes Grand at the Granada
Following Adaptive Pandemic Seasons,
Company’s Season Launches with Tosca
By Josef Woodard | September 29, 2022
Read all of the stories in our “Fall’s Cultural Harvest” cover here.
It can be said that over the last two-plus years of perilous times for culture in Santa Barbara, opera has been down but never out. Under the intrepid and resourceful guidance of Opera Santa Barbara’s head, Kostis Protopapas, opera has gone to the drive-in and into various humbler and alternative side routes, and finally returned in grand form to the Granada with La Traviata in June.
On Saturday, October 1, at The Granada Theatre (note 6 p.m. start time), the company returns to its operatic grandeur mode, launching its new season with the beloved Puccini opera Tosca. This new production, directed by Layna Chianakas and featuring mezzo-soprano Eleni Calenos and tenor Adam Diegel in lead roles, kicks off a full October-to-May season of Italian, American, and Wagnerian opera fare, in a time still lined with cultural vulnerability but also high hopes.
Among the creative and proactive measures being put into place this season are the “You Decide!” flexible ticket pricing, single performances to reduce overhead, and free tickets for high school students.
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