Charles de L'Arbre

Charles is a native of Santa Barbara, born in 1952. He attended Laguna Blanca and Cate Schools locally, spent 1969-1970 at Malvern College in England as an English Speaking Union Schoolboy Fellow and took a B.A.in English Literature at Williams College in 1974.

In 1975, he returned to Santa Barbara dividing his time between working at his father's firm, Santa Barbara Travel Bureau, writing for the "Santa Barbara News and Review" (now the "Santa Barbara Independent"),  and
working as a voice-over artist as well as an actor with many local theatres, including the Santa Barbara Playhouse of whose Board of Directors he became President in 1976.

In 1977, he joined the Board of the Lobero Theatre Foundation as the youngest director in Foundation History, spending 12 years on the Foundation Board. During that time, Mr. de L'Arbre became a founding member of the Ensemble Theatre Project (now Ensemble Theatre Company),  serving as the first Managing Director, a member of the Board off and on  for twenty-two years, and appearing in nearly 20 plays as a member of the acting company.  During that period, Mr. de L'Arbre also served as President of the Drama-Dance Affiliates at UCSB.

In 1988, Mr. de L'Arbre joined the Board of the Music Academy of the West as it oversaw the transition from a volunteer-run organization to one managed by professionals under the oversight of the Board of Directors. He
retired from the Music Academy Board in 2000 and resigned from the Ensemble Theatre Company Board in 2002.

His company, Santa Barbara Travel Bureau, is the largest travel agency in the region with offices in Santa Barbara, Montecito, Goleta, Ventura and Lexington, Mass. He is married to Barbara Seward, a board member of the Lobero. His son, Michael is at the Cate School. His daughter Claire is a student at Crane.

While it has been a long stint between theatrical engagements, Mr. de L'Arbre is by no means retired from the theatre.

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