ON Culture | ‘Succession’ in the Hood, Spirits in the Air, and ‘Once’ on the Stage

This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on January 27, 2023. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

ON the (Small) Screen

Hey, Succession fans: If you thought that stunning estate in the premiere episode of season four looked familiar, you were right! The property owned by Nan Pierce, the fictional matriarch of Pierce Global Media, is actually the Peabody Estate, a k a Villa Solana in Montecito. As reported in both Robb Report and Architectural Digest, this palatial hilltop home was constructed in 1914 and designed by politician and architect Francis Townsend Underhill for local businessman Frederick Forrest Peabody. The 11-acre property is now owned by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who bought it for $30.8 million in 2020.

Check out this tour from Luxury Homes:

Unstable, the new Netflix show from S.B. father and son Rob and John Owen Lowe has a very funny premise: Rob plays a renowned and eccentric scientific genius, recently widowed, who sings, dances, and “lets the beauty of the world move him in a profound way,” while John Owen is a sweet guy (also a scientist) who tries his best to ground his wacky pop. Rob Lowe is certainly staying busy. He recently announced that his one-man show, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, will return to the Venetian Resort in Vegas June 9-10.

ON the Page

Cocktails and poetry come together in a loving embrace at the ninth annual “Spirits in the Air: Potent Potable Poetry” reading on April 19. Hosted by Indy writer (among other things) George Yatchisin, this always-entertaining event will bring a boozy shot of verse to The Good Lion (1212 State St.) at 5:30 p.m. that evening.

ON the Walls

Waterhouse Gallery opened a new location in Montecito this week. Owned by Diane and Ralph Waterhouse, the La Arcada Plaza spot is now in its 39th year in Downtown Santa Barbara as the new gallery at 1187 Coast Village Road in Montecito joins the family biz!

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This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on April 12, 2024. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

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ON the Podium

Actor, activist and all-around interesting guy Danny Trejo is coming to UCSB’s Campbell Hall on April 12. Ryan P. Cruz has an excellent interview with Trejo here. And here’s my story about all of the great lectures recently added by A&L.

ON the Stage

There’s lots of great theater coming our way right now. I’m particularly looking forward to Out of the Box Theatre Company’s production of Once at Center Stage Theater (see my interview with director Samantha Eve), Ensemble Theater Company’s The Children, and the Theater Group at SBCC’s George and Emily Get Married. Last week, I had the pleasure of seeing the Rubicon Theatre Company’s premiere of the developmental musical Dark of the Moon, which was so much fun. Stay tuned for my story about what it’s like to create and develop a brand-new musical work of art.

ON the Catwalk

Entrepreneur Kathy Ireland is turning her former Sports Illustrated bathing-suit-issue cover-girl cred into a new line of swimwear and coverups for HSN.

ON the Calendar

It’s the final dance for 2022 Spirit of Fiesta Tata Mata and Junior Spirit Layla Gocong, when auditions for Spirit and Junior Spirit of Fiesta take place on April 15 at the Lobero (here’s the event). A group of 22 finalists will compete for the coveted spots.

For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events.