Opera Santa Barbara

I don't know about you... but this smells like an opera. 👀

Greed. Lust. A con man selling salvation. The perfect plot for an opera!

Burt Lancaster won the Oscar for it in 1960. Now it's a Grammy-winning opera and it's coming to Santa Barbara.

May 1 & 3 · Lobero Theatre

Get your tickets here:
https://bit.ly/OSB_ElmerGantry

We know what you're thinking. New opera? Probably weird, hard to listen to, not for me. And honestly — we get it. Most people have been burned by contemporary opera that felt more like a puzzle than a performance.

Elmer Gantry is something else entirely. This Grammy Award-winning American opera is based on Sinclair Lewis's legendary novel and the Oscar-winning film starring Burt Lancaster — and it sounds like nothing you'd expect from a new work. The score is gospel-infused, lively, and genuinely beautiful. It's wickedly funny. It's sung entirely in English. And it tells a story that is as gripping today as it was when Lewis first wrote it in 1927.

Opera Santa Barbara is bringing this remarkable work to the Lobero Theatre for two nights only this spring — and we want you there, especially if you've never thought opera was for you.

We've also built an entire new website dedicated to Elmer Gantry, designed to help you find your way into this story no matter where you're starting from. Whether you're a lifelong opera fan, a film buff, or just opera-curious, there's something in this production for you.

🗓 Friday, May 1 at 7:30 PM · Sunday, May 3 at 2:30 PM
📍 Lobero Theatre

🎟 Get your tickets here: https://bit.ly/OSB_ElmerGantry

🌐 Explore the world of Elmer Gantry: elmergantryosb.manus.space

Musical Excerpts:
Orchestra: Brevard Music Center
Elmer Gantry: Evan Bravos
Sharon Falconer: Christina Pezzarossi

Evan Bravos is Elmer Gantry.

Elmer is a charlatan. A preacher who doesn't believe a word he's saying. He's charismatic, dangerous, and impossible to resist. He seduces congregations, manipulates everyone around him, and somewhere along the way, the performance becomes real.

Evan brings vocal power and emotional complexity to a role that demands both.

Watch him embody one of opera's most complicated characters.

Elmer Gantry, May 1 & 3.
https://bit.ly/OSB_ElmerGantry

The Elmer Gantry cast is here! They've had their first sing through and wow, what a group of artists. We are thrilled to welcome back so many singers that we've had here in Santa Barbara in the past and we cannot wait to see how this production unfolds.

Just listen to this music!

Elmer Gantry, May 1 & 3 at the Lobero Theatre
https://bit.ly/OSB_ElmerGantry

🎶 Evan Bravos as Elmer Gantry and Christina Pezzarossi as Sharon Falconer

Kostis Protopapas, Conductor calls it "the first day of school". That moment when the entire Elmer Gantry cast and creative team gather for the first time to sing through the music together.

It's got all the nerves, all the excitement, and with this crew, it always feels like a reunion. They jump around musically, see where everyone's at, reacquaint themselves with the score and each other. Then the real work begins—staging, costumes, all of it.

🎭 Elmer Gantry opens May 1 & 3
https://bit.ly/OSB_ElmerGantry

Some operas you can explain in a sentence. Elmer Gantry is not necessarily one of them. So we gave it a website!

Explore the story of the charlatan evangelist who seduced a nation, and the music that brings his rise and fall to life. Then see it live May 1 & 3 at the Lobero Theatre

Dive in: elmergantryosb.manus.space

For tickets: https://bit.ly/OSB_ElmerGantry