Opera Santa Barbara, the Central Coast’s very own opera company, returns to the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara for a dazzling new season in the 2025-2026 year. With three productions that are fully-staged and feature talented singers and a professional orchestra and chorus, the company continues its legacy of delivering world-class performances since 1994.
The season opens in November with Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, a timeless story set in Sicily about doomed romances, bad decisions, and their consequences. Singer Max Potter will play her role debut as Santuzza, a woman seeking revenge on her unfaithful lover. Xavier Prado, who “set the stage on fire” as Zorro in 2024, will play Turiddu, a man who “underestimates the wrath of a scorned woman.” Alongside them, Todd Thomas plays Alfio, the betrayed spouse who takes action with his own hands, enforcing the Sicilian code of honor.
From left: Evan Bravos will star in Opera Santa Barbara’s production of ‘Elmer Gantry’ | Photo: Courtesy; Colin Ramsey will star in Opera Santa Barbara’s production of ‘Caesar and Cleopatra’ | Photo: Courtesy
Opera Santa Barbara’s second show will be during the end of February and early March, and will focus on the story between Caesar and Cleopatra. According to a press release by the company, this historical drama composed by George Frideric Handel will feature “steamy passion, ruthless politics, and vocal pyrotechnics — think of House of Cards in ancient Egypt.”
Their final production, Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein’s Elmer Gantry, will be in May and will center “greed, lust, and old-time religion [that] collide[s] in a gospel-infused opera, based on Sinclair Lewis.”
Tickets start at $49 and are available for purchase on the Lobero Theatre website: lobero.org. Performance dates include November 7 and 9, 2025, for Cavalleria Rusticana; February 27 and March 1, 2026, for Caesar and Cleopatra; and May 1 and 3, 2026, for Elmer Gantry. With a third of the seats already sold, audiences are encouraged to purchase early for the best prices and seat selection.
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