The Before the Show

It’s hours before the curtain rises at The Granada Theatre. The leading lady is in her dressing room, moving through her pre-show ritual of warming up her voice and mentally stepping into character. Across town, you’re doing something not so different. You’re choosing your outfit, heading out for a pre-show dinner reservation, and building anticipation for the performance. Going to see live theater is an anticipatory event that starts long before the lights dim, for everyone involved.

 

Actor’s Rituals

 Much like an athlete preparing to take the field, actors rely on pre-show rituals as grounding touchstones before each show. The vocal preparations, mental focusing, and even idiosyncrasies help them shed their identity and step into character.

Actress Hailey Kilgore swears by throat spray, a Ricola, and tea before every show, while Andrew Garfield admits he spits on the stage, which to him says, “I’m not perfect, but I’m going to give you everything I’ve got.”

 

The Audience’s Ritual

As a theater-goer, you probably don’t think much about what happens before you take your seat at The Granada, but your pre-ritual is actually doing more than you think.

In a culture that often rewards instant gratification, we are missing out on the joy of anticipation. When you buy tickets months in advance, you create space to look forward to an experience. When you actually have a chance to anticipate a pleasurable event, your brain releases dopamine, and you feel good. A 2028 study in Frontiers in Psychology found that looking forward to something activates the brain region associated with higher levels of well-being.

Other research shows that people have higher levels of happiness anticipating an experiential purchase, like a theater show, than anticipating a material purchase like new shoes.

In other words, your brain is wired to reward you from the moment you buy your ticket to the moment you walk through The Granada’s State Street doors.

 

The Road Less Taken

The 2020s have often been described as a “homebody decade.” It began with the pandemic and has continued with a world of streaming entertainment, food delivery, and remote work that makes being a couch potato easy. These behaviors might be convenient, but they are counter to connection.

We are increasingly conditioned to being alone. So much so that earlier this year, The Cut coined the term “Friction-maxxing,” as the intentional practice of choosing the less convenient option to preserve meaningful human experiences.

Seeing a show at The Granada isn’t inconvenient, but it does require intention and effort. Deciding to get off the couch, get dressed, drive to the theater, and sit with a large group of strangers provides the type of experience that makes us human and that we can’t afford to lose to technology or convenience.

 

Adding to the Experience

 The Granada is the heart of downtown’s State Street (and Santa Barbara). When you decide to attend a show, you’re not just buying a ticket; you’re potentially buying a full, immersive experience.

Start with dinner at one of the nearby restaurants, stroll past the boutiques, stop to listen to a street performer, or the music floating out of one of the bars. As you pass The Granada’s marquee and open the theater doors, stop and remember, this is what being alive feels like.

 

Where Both Rituals Meet

As you read this, a company of performers is immersed in its rituals. They’re warming up their voices, checking their blocking, laying out their costumes, and performing their unique pre-show routine.

As soon as you buy your ticket to a show, you step into the other side of the ritual. You begin looking forward to the performance, make your dinner reservations, choose your outfit, and set out with intention.

For more than 100 years, The Granada has been where these two rituals have intersected. Every night the theater opens its doors, it’s extending an invitation. The actors are ready. Are you?