Dance

At the Center Stage Theater (751 Paseo Nuevo, 805/963-0408, www.centerstagetheater.org [1], $22–50 depending on show), look for everything from Pulitzer Prize–winning dramas to traveling nouveau ballet companies. Center Stage focuses on dance, offering more ballet and modern dance performances than it does plays.

But the plays, some of which are staged by the Santa Barbara Theater Company, tend to be some of the newest and best in the country. You won’t see much Shakespeare or too many classics—instead you’re likely to see Doubt or The Pillowman or something else that’s fresh from Broadway and the Tony Awards.