This edition on ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on July 4, 2025. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.
ON the Page
The long, languid days of summer mean more time to read — there’s truly nothing better than your toes in the sand and your nose in a book, with a cold beverage at the ready.
I just finished a terrific summer read, Sandwich by Catherine Newman. I loved this book so much! It takes place at a family’s annual beach house getaway — empty nesters with their young adult children and aging parents along for part of the time, a scenario myself and about 72 percent of the people I spend my time with can relate to well — and the characters are just so real, so funny, so erratically entertaining. If you like stories that are more people than plot driven, and make you ponder all sorts of your own thoughts and feelings and just, well, life, then I highly recommend this one. As New York Times reviewer Cathi Hanauer put it: “Occasionally, a writer comes along who seems able to turn every domestic triumph and tear, every dinner concocted, co-sleep endured and I.P.A. swallowed (or not) — in other words, the ordinary stuff of first-world life — into a narrative rife with wit, humor, and soul-bearing openness.” She’s right, Newman is a find.
Tessa Reeg, our awesome Copy Chief, took over the All Booked Newsletter about a year ago, and has done a terrific job incorporating her own reading recs with ones from our entire staff. Among my staff favorites are Marketing & Promotions Administrator Richelle Boyd’s “Doomed Girls with a Twist” and Advertising Director (and new Grandma) Sarah Sinclair’s take on “Lit for the Littles.”I also recently gave my own take on a favorite author, “Eavesdropping on the Fascinating World of Elizabeth Strout.” You can check out the entire collection of columns here.
A favorite fall tradition, Santa Barbara Reads is the Santa Barbara Public Library’s annual community reading program. This year’s pick is The Magic Fish, a graphic novel by Trung Le Nguyen. It’s a semi-autobiographic tale about a Vietnamese-American teen who shares fairy tales with his mother to bridge language and cultural gaps. I’m intrigued. Programming begins in October.
For the UCSB Reads Program, another community reading program that takes place in the winter and spring quarters, they are opening the selection process up to the community voting through July 28. The shortlist of books includes A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought this Through? (2023) by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith; Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides (2022) by Geoffrey Cohen; Crying in H Mart (2021) by Michelle Zauner (I loved this book and by the way, Zauner is part of the band Japanese Breakfast, coming to the Bowl on August 23); Everything Is Tuberculosis (2025) by John Green; and Remarkably Bright Creatures (2022) by Shelby Van Pelt (another book I really liked a lot). Click here to cast your vote. The winner will be announced in the fall.
ON the (Theater) Stage
The Theatre Group at SBCC begins its 80th season next week, with the Mel Brooks’s musical Young Frankenstein, based on his legendary comedy starring Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Peter Boyle, and Gene Wilder (who sadly is not related to The Bear star Jeremy Allen White, despite rumors to the contrary). That show runs July 9-26 at the Garvin Theatre, followed by the George Bernard Shaw classic romantic comedy Arms and the Man, October 8-25. Spring 2026 shows include the comedy A Small Family Business (March 4-21) and the yukfest Unnecessary Farce (April 15-May 2). See theatregroupsbcc.com for more information and to buy tickets.
Ensemble Theatre Company’s upcoming season is also shaping up nicely, with the just announced return of Hershey Felder in a new musical master role as Monsieur Chopin, added to a season that includes War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast; The Complete Jane Austen Abridged (I can’t wait for that one!); The Shark Is Broken; A Night With Janis Joplin; and Every Brilliant Thing. See etcsb.org for more information and tickets.
Another theatrical season addition, the always entertaining The Blue Man Group (May 5-6, 2026), is now part of the Broadway in Santa Barbara series at the Granada, which also includes: Kinky Boots (Dec. 9–10), The Book of Mormon (Feb. 24-25, 2026), Pilobolus’s Other Worlds Collection (Mar. 18-19, 2026), and Hadestown (April 28-29, 2026). See BroadwaySantaBarbara.com.
ON the (Music) Stage
“That Little Ol’ Band from Texas” has been at it for well over a half-century, and now ZZ Top is coming to the Bowl on November 4. And then a few days later we’ve got Queens of the Stone Age at the Arlington Theatre on November 8. They’re only doing a limited series of shows for the Catacombs Tour, so this show is definitely something special.
Also recently announced, with tickets going fast, is the Palm Tree Music Festival, taking place October 4 at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club. With headliners John Mayer, KYGO, Austin Millz, and Sofi Tukker announced, tickets are already starting to sell fast.
See palmtreemusicfestival.com for more information.
ON the Play List
I’m With Her, the beloved folk trio comprised of multi-Grammy winners (7 wins, 31 nominations collectively) Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, and Sara Watkins, returns to Santa Barbara on October 3, for a UCSB Arts & Lectures show at Campbell Hall. Meanwhile, you can listen to their new Rounder Records release Wild and Clear and Blue. HAIM — coming to the Santa Barbara Bowl October 11 — also has a highly anticipated new album, I quit when you’re ready to pre-game for that show. Molly Tuttle’s new album So Long Little Miss Sunshine is coming out August 15, but you can check out her trailer video here right now. She’ll also be back for a UCSB Arts & Lectures show at the Arlington on December 7. Get the scoop on that here.
ON the Calendar
If all you need is love to sing and bop along, then the Liverpool Legends complete Beatles experience is for you. Taking place at the Lobero Theatre on Saturday, July 12, this talented group of musicians and actors were handpicked by Louise Harrison — sister of George Harrison, to honor her brother’s legacy and re-create the band that changed the world forever. Experience the complete history of The Beatles, with hits like “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You,” “Get Back,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and “Hey Jude.” Click here for information.
For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events/.
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