On December 10, the Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts Board Chair Palmer Jackson Jr. and his wife, Susan Jackson, hosted a lovely holiday gathering in their beautiful Montecito home for about 50 major donors and past and present boardmembers. The S.B. Center for the Performing Arts (SBCPA) operates the Granada Theatre and provides production, sales, and admin support to its eight resident companies and to the Lobero Theatre and the New Vic. The event was a lighthearted, relaxing one full of holiday cheer, with Chris Fossek providing delightful music in the dining room and guests mingling throughout the festively decorated and elegantly appointed abode.
Major donors are critically important for the Granada, which does not receive ongoing financial support from any government sources and covers only half its budget through ticket sales and earned income. Donors stepped up on a grand scale to enable the restoration of the theater, which was built in 1924. The restoration was completed in 2008 at an undisclosed cost, but it exceeded the budget by $20 million, largely due to new seismic requirements and increased material costs, which gives one some idea of the magnitude of the undertaking. The result is a world-class theater for all genres of performing arts.
According to SBCPA Chrisman Executive Director and President Caren Rager, the restoration has created a beautiful, state-of-the-art landmark that allows SBCPA to bring the very best in the performing arts from around the world. Rager, who has served in various capacities at SBCPA since 2002, including as director of administration and finance since 2010, assumed the helm last summer upon the retirement of Craig Springer.