California Theatre, Historic performance venue in San Bernardino, United States.
California Theatre is a performance venue in downtown San Bernardino, California, built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. The interior features ornate arches, decorative tilework, and layered details that give the space a strong visual character.
The building opened in 1928, at a time when large theatres were central to American city life and entertainment. Over the decades it shifted between film screenings and live performances before being listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The San Bernardino Symphony has performed here since 1929. The house is run by Theatrical Arts International, the largest theatre company in the Inland Empire, which stages Broadway tours from the national touring circuit. Showtime taped The Latin Divas of Comedy and The Payaso Comedy Slam on this stage.
The theatre sits in central San Bernardino and can be reached on foot or by car, with parking available in the surrounding streets. Arriving a little early gives you time to take in the facade before going inside.
The theatre retains its original Wurlitzer Style 216 pipe organ, installed when the house opened in 1928. In the early Hollywood years, studios used it for test screenings, and audiences there saw King Kong and The Wizard of Oz for the first time in the 1930s. Will Rogers gave his last performance on this stage before his death in a 1935 plane crash.
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