The Granada Theatre Celebrates 10th Anniversary

The Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts (SBCPA) celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the completion of the historic Granada Theatre Restoration Project, and recognizes the vast and diverse programming and performances that have taken the stage at the new theater. Based on feedback from the eight organizations that would become The Granada Theatre's resident companies, the goal of the Renovation Project was to build an extraordinary performance hall that would exceed the needs of the Santa Barbara region's performing arts companies for the next century to come. As one of the most anticipated renovations of its time, the curtains rose on March 6, 2008 for the Grand Reopening and unveiled the beautifully restored theater, and a new beacon within the Santa Barbara community.

Since the re-opening, The Granada Theatre is proud to have hosted a total of 1,078 performances, with 835,781 tickets sold to 81,390 unique ticket buyers. The theater has also received donations from 4,595 donors in the performing arts community to continue maintaining this quality of performances. The Granada Theatre is now home to eight resident companies: CAMA, the Choral Society, The Music Academy of the West, Opera Santa Barbara, State Street Ballet, The Santa Barbara Symphony, Theater League, and UCSB Arts & Lectures.

In 2014, The Jurkowitz Center for Community Engagement, a program of the SBCPA, established the Community Access Ticketing (CAT) program. The CAT program addresses the needs of audiences who have an interest in live performing arts programming, but have economic constraints that prevent them from participating as often as they might like. In its four years in existence, the CAT program has distributed approximately 9,000 tickets (over $348,000 in value) for dozens of organizations with underserved audiences, and provided approximately $35,000 in ticket vouchers to hundreds of local nonprofits to support their fundraising efforts.

The Renovation Project succeeded in addressing specific needs of The Granada Theatre's resident companies to create a state of the art facility that would stand for generations. The SBCPA board invested in a higher building cost to ensure the building materials would protect all residents and audiences in an emergency. The Granada Theatre not only serves as a venue for regional and national touring productions, but presents feature length films on Santa Barbara's only state- of-the-art all-digital, 4K HD resolution cinema system, with an accompanying 40 foot screen. With these incredible renovations, The Granada Theatre is a timeless beauty and landmark, equipped with the contemporary developments to accommodate its incredible performers. The theater now stands as an historical icon that speaks to the central role the performing arts play in defining the communal life of Santa Barbara and the Central Coast region.

To learn more about how to support The Granada Theatre, please contact Hayley Firestone Jessup, Vice President for Advancement, at 805-899-3000 or hjessup@granadasb.org. For more information, please visit www.granadasb.org.

The Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts (SBCPA), a privately-funded 501(c)(3) corporation established in 1983, is dedicated to providing best-in-class production, sales and administrative support to arts organizations from throughout the Santa Barbara region, including its Historic Theatre District partners (Lobero Theatre and the New Vic Theatre) as well as its eight resident companies (CAMA, Music Academy of the West, Opera Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Choral Society, Santa Barbara Symphony, State Street Ballet, Theater League and UCSB Arts & Lectures).

The SBCPA's most visible service is operation of The Granada Theatre. Purchased by the SBCPA in 2003, restored and reopened in 2008, The Granada Theatre has state-of-the-art electrical, sound, lighting and fly systems, large and up-to-date dressing rooms, as well as contemporary audience amenities. By providing a world-class venue with skilled house management staff, production staff, marketing and ticketing services staff, the SBCPA is making it possible for many of Santa Barbara's finest performing arts organizations to present their programs with the highest level of contemporary production support and audience comfort. For more information please visit www.granadasb.org.