Bay Theater, Movie theater and music venue on Main Street, Seal Beach, United States

Bay Theater is a movie theater and music venue on Main Street in Seal Beach, California, that hosts both film screenings and live performances. The program shifts between current releases and concerts, so what is on stage or screen changes regularly throughout the week.

The theater opened in 1945 as the Beach Theatre. A year later it became a Fox West Coast theater and was renamed the Bay Theatre. Richard Loderhose bought it in 1975 and installed a 1928 Wurlitzer organ, expanding it to 54 ranks. The building closed in August 2012 and was designated a Seal Beach historical landmark in September 2016. It reopened on January 25, 2025, with a documentary about local surfboard maker Rich Harbour.

The Bay Theatre is known for screenings of foreign and independent films and for revival screenings. Steven Spielberg, enrolled at nearby Cal State Long Beach in the mid-1960s, reportedly called it his favorite place to see foreign movies in an unauthorized biography. The building was designated a Seal Beach historical landmark in September 2016.

It is worth checking the program ahead of time, since film nights and concerts are scheduled on different days. The theater is easy to reach on foot from the center of Seal Beach, as it sits right on Main Street.

Steven Spielberg, enrolled at nearby Cal State Long Beach in the mid-1960s, reportedly named the Bay his favourite place to see foreign films, according to an unauthorised biography. The building was closed from August 2012 until it reopened on 25 January 2025 with a documentary about local surfboard maker Rich Harbour, whose shop stood across the street.