Arts & Entertainment Reviews
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Ragtime, presented by PCPA
At the Solvang Festival Theatre, Saturday, August 2. Shows through August 24.
“We’ll ride on the wheels of a dream,” sings the Harlem ragtime musician Coalhouse Walker Jr., echoing the longing of the many characters in this story who hope to fulfill the American Dream. Read story.
HAIR
At the Santa Barbara High School Theatre, Thursday, July 31.
The split that divided the generation of the 1960s is one that transcends all eras—the massive contradiction of love against hate. Read story.
Swing Vote
Kevin Costner, Madeline Carroll, Kelsey Grammer, and Dennis Hopper star in a film written by Jason Richman and Joshua Michael Stern and directed by Stern.
In the new Kevin Costner film, Swing Vote, about a small-town schlub thrust into the global spotlight by a voting glitch, the obvious Capra-esque quality has eluded nobody. Read story.
The Spin Cycle
At the Rubicon Theatre, Saturday, August 2. Shows through August 24.
“All these baby-boomer women—the biggest number—and all of a sudden the glaciers are melting!” says Mikey (Morgan Rusler), in one of The Spin Cycle’s most humorous moments. Read story.
Summer Dances, presented by UCSB’s Department of Theater and Dance.
At the HSSB Ballet Studio Theater, Wednesday, July 30.
Some of the best artists are untrained, yet training is one of the best ways to become an accomplished artist. Read story.
James Taylor
At the Santa Barbara Bowl, Friday, August 1.
Little besides his hairline has changed about James Taylor over his 40-year career. Read story.
Much Ado About Nothing, presented by Shakespeare Santa Barbara
At Fess Parker’s Winery, Saturday, August 2. Shows at Casa De la Guerra through August 24.
Shakespeare’s glorious language rarely gets upstaged, but it almost happened last Saturday night. Read story.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, and Jet Li star in a film written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and directed by Rob Cohen.
It’s hard to figure why a director like Rob Cohen would suck so abysmally at a film like this. Read story.
Slightly Stoopid
At the Santa Barbara Bowl, Sunday, August 3.
Reggae has most definitely evolved since Bob Marley. Read story.
John Mellencamp and Lucinda Williams
At the Santa Barbara Bowl, Wednesday, July 30.
Recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee John Mellencamp brought his socially conscious Americana to the Bowl last Wednesday night to promote his newest album, Life, Death, Love and Freedom. Read story.
A Beautiful Nothing: The Architecture of Edward A. Killingsworth
At UCSB’s University Art Museum. Shows through October 12.
In discussions of mid-century California architecture, the name Edward A. Killingsworth doesn’t elicit the same round of respectful nods as Richard Neutra or Charles and Ray Eames. Read story.
Step Brothers
Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and Mary Steenburgen star in a film written by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, and directed by McKay.
On the modern-day Hollywood comedy landscape, formulas that work—as in triggering the elusive comic kung-pow whilst raking in the box office bucks—will most likely be returning to a theater near us. Read story.
Isla Vista: The Video Game
At UCSB’s MultiCultural Center Theater, Friday, July 25.
It was through this charming performance by a collection of young adults between 10 and 15 years of age that I learned about the real-life story of Isla Vista’s Teen Center. Read story.
Eye of the Cyclone, First Love, Imagine-Toi
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Actor
Linda Purl set herself a high bar when she announced plans for the Rubicon International Theatre Festival. Read story.
Leading Ladies
At the Circle Bar B Theatre, Saturday, July 26. Shows through September 7.
Irony becomes the most appropriate coping tool early in Circle Bar B's Leading Ladies, as when the most pious Reverend Duncan (Sean O'Shea) remarks of the main characters, "They [actors] lie for a living!" Read story.
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