The Holiday Spirit Hits the Stage in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara certainly won’t have a “white” Christmas, but that doesn’t mean locals and visitors alike can’t enjoy holiday festivities — including a variety of lively offerings from the performing arts community. Don your gay apparel and experience music, dance, and theater that celebrates the season with classic holiday fare and Santa Barbara traditions.

For those who crave traditional holiday stories, Santa Barbara’s theater and ballet companies will mount productions of A Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker. Ensemble Theatre Company presents Charles Dickens’s beloved tale of Christmastide hauntings in Patrick Barlow’s adaptation for the stage. Through December 18, the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future take the stage at the New Vic in a show of comedy, drama, music, and theater magic (including puppetry!). Meanwhile, in the magical kingdom of the nutcracker, Clara and her prince dance in the land of the sweets. There are several opportunities to catch The Nutcracker this season, including shows from Santa Barbara Festival Ballet (The Arlington Theatre, Dec. 10-11), and from State Street Ballet (The Granada Theatre, Dec. 17-18). S.B. Festival Ballet’s cast features guest artists Misa Kuranaga and Angelo Greco (principal dancers at San Francisco Ballet), and Alexandra Hutchinson and Kouadio Davis (principal dancers from Dance Theater of Harlem), along with student dancers. Elise Unruh conducts an orchestra of local and regional professional musicians. The State Street Ballet production features the Opera San Luis Obispo Grand Orchestra, along with State Street Ballet Academy students dancing with the company’s professional dancers.

Other Santa Barbara traditions include the Christmas Revels and An Irish Christmas, both at the Lobero Theatre. This is the 15th year of the Christmas Revels, the singing and dancing theatrical extravaganza that celebrates winter rituals from around the world. This season’s show is A Scottish Celebration of the Winter Solstice (expect bagpipes!). The Revels bring audiences back to the 18th century to see a rich gathering of clans in the highlands of Scotland for a rousing celebration of winter holidays (Dec. 17-18).