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FREE Summer Films: Dog Days of Summer - 7 Film Series

Friday nights under the stars at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden
Visionary director Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs tells the story of Atari Kobayashi, 12-year-old ward to corrupt Mayor Kobayashi. When all the canine pets of Megasaki City are exiled to vast Trash Island, Atari sets off in search of his bodyguard dog, Spots. With the assistance of his newfound mongrel friends, he begins an epic journey that will decide the fate and future of the entire Prefecture. (Wes Anderson, 2018, PG-13, 104 min.)

FREE Summer Films: Dog Days of Summer - 7 Film Series

Friday nights under the stars at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden

In this warmhearted comedy, one boy becomes a part of the crew, nine boys become a team and their leader becomes a legend by confronting the terrifying mystery beyond the left field fence. It’s the early 1960s and 5th-grader Scotty Smalls has just moved to town. He strikes out with the neighborhood kids – especially at baseball – but everything changes when their leader recruits him to play on the nearby sandlot field. It’s the beginning of a magical summer of wild adventures, first kisses and fearsome encounters with the dreaded Beast and its owner. (David Mickey Evans, 1993, PG, 102 min.)

Bring breathable blankets or a low chair, a picnic and your friends!
Check out the summer film FAQs for more attendee information.

FREE Summer Films: Dog Days of Summer - 7 Film Series

Friday nights under the stars at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden

Walt Disney’s beloved animated masterpiece 101 Dalmatians is a spot-on, puppy-filled adventure. When Dalmatians Pongo and Perdita have 15 puppies, Cruella De Vil attempts to buy the litter from its owners. After the couple refuses to sell, Cruella sets the fur-raising adventure in motion by dognapping all of the Dalmatian puppies in London – including Pongo and Perdita’s. Join Pongo and a heroic cast of irresistible tail-wagging characters as they set out to rescue the puppies from one of Disney’s most fabulously outrageous villains of all time. (Wolfgang Reitherman, Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, 1961, G, 79 min.)

Bring breathable blankets or a low chair, a picnic and your friends!
Check out the summer film FAQs for more attendee information.

The Fun Starts Early
Kick off your evening with friends and neighbors! Bring a picnic and join us before the screening to win prizes and enjoy musical entertainment from KLITE morning show host Catherine Remak.

The Good Good Show is a stand up comedy show featuring the hottest comedians working today that you've seen or heard on Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing, Kevin Hart Presents, Amazon Prime, Jimmy Kimmel, MTV, Comedy Dynamics, SiriusXM and more.

FEATURING: Jen Murphy, Jamel Johnson, Julie Weidmann and Chad Opitz.

Come have some laughs with us and enjoy a delicious craft beer (wine available too)!

7:30 p.m. $10

Show is 21+

FREE Summer Films: Dog Days of Summer - 7 Film Series

Friday nights under the stars at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden
In this road-trip comedy, two hard-charging former Army Rangers paired against their will – Briggs (Channing Tatum) and a Belgian Malinois named Lulu – race down the Pacific Coast in hopes of making it to a fellow soldier’s funeral on time. Along the way, they’ll drive each other completely crazy, confront the possibility that pet psychics are real and begin to reckon with the one thing they were trained never to do: surrender. (Reid Carolin, Channing Tatum, 2022, PG-13, 101 min.)

Bring breathable blankets or a low chair, a picnic and your friends!
Check out the summer film FAQs for more attendee information.

In its 41st year, the Santa Barbara Vintners Festival is truly the Original Santa Barbara Wine Festival.

Don’t miss the opportunity to taste wines from 60+ wineries and sample regional cuisine from dozens of restaurants, chefs, and food producers, while strolling through the picturesque vines at Vega Vineyard and Farm. Chat with the winemakers and winery owners and enjoy live music from Generic Clapton. At the Rio Vista Chevrolet Bubble Lounge, sample sparkling wines from some of the region’s top producers.

An Early Entry Admission ticket grants access to the festival at noon, 60 minutes prior to General Admission tickets, providing the opportunity to interact more personally with winemakers, owners, and chefs in a more spacious, open, and uncrowded environment.

Joining the exciting “Black History [every] Month” 2025 line up is Jon Gentry’s delightful comedy.

“Jon Gentry’s Black Bastard leaves audiences screaming for more!” @lahiddengems

Queer. Southern. Creole… Black Bastard transports audiences to 1990s Houston in a humorous, heartfelt coming-of-age tale. Jon, an inquisitive Black boy, develops a love for literature until his family fractures, thrusting him into the role of “man of the house.” A comedic spiral ensues as Jon grapples with his identity(ies). When a bully confronts him at school, Jon begins to search for his absent father, but is he ready for what he may find? Through literature, clowning, self-discovery, and original song, the production invokes 90’s nostalgia in a jambalaya of memoir, embodied character transformation, and socio-cultural commentary. The show confronts stereotypes about absent Black fathers while exploring broader themes of identity, expression, and our collective search for belonging and ultimately home.

Winner of the Hollywood Fringe Soaring Solo Social Impact Award. Directed by Shinelle Azoroh.

Jon Gentry was born and raised in Houston, Texas. He earned his BA in English from Harvard, where he served as President of BlackCAST. He holds an MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater. As a teaching artist, he co-directed “Child Life” with UCSF Children’s Hospital and led acting workshops across the Bay Area. He currently teaches Michael Chekhov Acting Technique at the Los Angeles Performing Arts Conservatory. His regional theater credits include roles in Clybourne Park, A Christmas Carol, and Romeo and Juliet. On screen, he appeared in TEN, Behold a Lady, Meeting Matt Damon and voiced Preston Garvey in Fallout 4, gaining viral fame.

One week only; rated 18+

The Santa Monica Playhouse Black History [every] Month Project presents African-American theatrical creations not just in February, but throughout the year. Seeing a poster on the Playhouse patio wall advertising a production for Black History Month, a Playhouse conservatory student asked, “What about the rest of the year?” Excellent question, one that became the inspiration for the Black History [every] Month project, recognizing, honoring and celebrating the rich heritage of Black arts, artists, and culture in our community, with generous support from the We Are Santa Monica Fund, the City of Santa Monica, the Santa Monica Arts Commission, and Playhouse PALS.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people 50+ years of age, seeking intellectual stimulation through university level courses (without the pressure of grades) for the sake of learning and social engagement.
Schedule for August:
• The Art of Fabergé with Eleanor Schrader | Tuesday, August 5, 10am-12pm (PT), Zoom
• The Vulnerability of Our Interconnected, Resilient, Modern World with Dr. Paul Witman| Wednesday, August 6, 10am-12pm (PT), Zoom
• From Broadway to Movies: Let’s Talk Musicals with Sam and Candy Caponegro | Thursday, August 7, 1:30-3:30pm (PT), Zoom
• The ACE Score Effect: Childhood Trauma, Crime, and the Power of Intervention (Two Parts) with Dr. Molly George | Mondays, August 11 & 18, 10am-12pm (PT), Zoom & Thousand Oaks
• Speech in the Digital Age: Free Expression, Suppression, and the Tools of Control with Dr. Aaron Heresco | Wednesday, August 13, 10am-12pm (PT), Zoom & Thousand Oaks
• “All-Girl” Orchestras and Female Musicians of WWII, featuring the International Sweethearts of Rhythm (Two Parts) with Dave Radlauer | Thursdays, August 14 & 21, 1:30-3:30pm, Zoom
• Religion’s Influence on Key American Figures: Betsy Ross, Phillis Wheatley, Abraham Lincoln, & Frederick Douglass (Two Parts) with Dr. Jason Hensley | Wednesdays, August 20 & 27, 1-3pm (PT), Zoom & Thousand Oaks
• Looking through the Window: The Art of Edward Hopper with Katherine Zoraster | Monday, August 25, 10am-12pm (PT), Zoom & Thousand Oaks

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people 50+ years of age, seeking intellectual stimulation through university level courses (without the pressure of grades) for the sake of learning and social engagement.

Schedule for June:
• History of the Grand Ole Opry and the Renewed Popularity of Country Music (Two Parts) with Tony Moon | Mondays, June 2 & 9, 10am-12pm (PT), Zoom
• The Dead Sea Scrolls in Context (Two Parts) with Dr. Jason Hensley | Thursdays, June 5 & 12, 1:30-3:30pm (PT), Zoom & Thousand Oaks
• From Manhattan to Johannesburg: How Ideologies of Exclusion and Gentrification (Urban Renewal) Expanded Across the Globe with Dr. Lorena Muñoz | Tuesday, June 10, 10am-12pm (PT), Zoom & Thousand Oaks
• The Life and Art of John Singer Sargent: Portraits, Fashion and Travels with Katherine Zoraster | Monday, June 16, 10am-12pm (PT), Zoom & Thousand Oaks
• Producing Well-known and Lesser-known Shakespeare Plays (Twelfth Night and Cymbeline at Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival) with Michael Arndt | Thursday, June 19, 10am-12pm (PT), Zoom
• Liverpool, the City of Seafarers, Immigrants, and The Beatles with Dr. Asya Pereltsvaig | Friday, June 20, 10am-12pm (PT), Zoom & Thousand Oaks
• World War II: From D-Day to the Rhine (Two Parts) with Dr. David Livingstone | Mondays, June 23 & 30, 10am-12pm (PT), Zoom & Thousand Oaks
• Saving the World as We Know it: The Story of a Greek Hoplite with Scott Jones | Wednesday, June 25, 10am-12pm (PT), Zoom & Thousand Oaks

Series continues through August.

“One of the best in the country!” Daily Variety

A spectacular all-day theatre camp where young people make friends, expand their imagination and have fun as they act, sing, dance, play theatre games, and work with costumes and make-up, lighting and sound, sets and props, to help create an awesome fully staged original play or musical production written just for them.

‘I couldn’t stop smiling cheek to cheek!” Maia A, after her first session (age 5)

The respected Playhouse Diversity-in-Education Conservatory program for youth, now celebrating its 56th year, combines the fun and excitement of working as a team to create and perform a brand-new play with the joy and fulfillment of a stress-free, creative, arts-oriented environment in which working actors share their love of the craft with young people in all stages of development. Participants learn to share feelings and responsibilities with a group of their “play”-mates in an engaging and fun atmosphere and get a great physical workout, too.

“Our daughter learned more about drama in one week with SMP than in all the productions she’s ever done – put together. We're absolutely ecstatic!” educator and workshop mom Jennifer D.

No experience needed, but even the most “advanced” young actor will benefit from this unique hands-on method, structured so that each child can be successful.

Eight one-week classes to choose from, each with its own original show at the end of the week. Classes meet Mon – Fri, 9 to 3. June 16-20; June 23-27; July 14-18; July 21-25; July 28-Aug 1; Aug 4-8.

Special Teen Camp (ages 11 to 16, Aug 4-8) and Early Stages classes (ages 4 to 6, June 16-20 and July 28-Aug 1) also available.

“Thank You for giving our four children a priceless theatre experience at the Playhouse and for imparting top-quality values of caring and commitment which will stay with them always. Shiela T.

Playhouse conservatory alumni include Kate Hudson, Oliver Hudson, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Deschanel, Jason Ritter, Jason Segel, 12-year Playhouse alumna Cami Anderson, one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, and Maroon 5’s Mickey Madden, who calls the program “Great in so many ways!”