The Lobero Theatre is a historic performing arts theater in Santa Barbara, California. Founded in 1873 by José Lobero, it is California's oldest continuously operating theater.Historic Theatre District Santa Barbara. https://www.granadasb.org/visit/historic-theatre-district/The original opera house was replaced in 1924 by the present theater, designed by George Washington Smith and Lutah Maria Riggs in the Spanish Colonial Revival style.
Throughout its history, the Lobero has served as a center for theater, music, film, and civic events in Santa Barbara. Performers appearing at the theater have included Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Paul Robeson, Marian Anderson, Dave Brubeck, and Bing Crosby. In 2023, Architectural Digest included the theater on its list of the world's eleven most beautiful theaters.Architectural Digest, "The 11 Most Beautiful Theaters in the World," 2023. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/most-beautiful-theaters
History
Founding and José Lobero
Giuseppe Lobero was born in Genoa, Italy, and immigrated to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush in the early 1850s. A trombone player by trade, Lobero performed in San Francisco philharmonic orchestras before relocating to the small coastal town of Santa Barbara. After arriving in predominantly Hispanic Santa Barbara, he adopted the name "José" and became proprietor of the Brewery Saloon at the corner of State and Canon Perdido streets. Lobero also organized a brass band that performed in local parades and funeral processions.
During the mid-nineteenth century, Santa Barbara was transitioning from a small former Mexican pueblo into an increasingly Americanized commercial town. Public entertainment in the city was limited, and theatrical performances, lectures, and musical programs were often held in temporary or improvised venues.
Recognizing the community's growing desire for cultural and civic gathering spaces, José Lobero obtained financing in 1871 from civic leader Colonel William Hollister to convert an adobe schoolhouse on East Canon Perdido Street into Lobero's Theatre. Construction took nearly three years and cost approximately $60,000.Morning Press (Santa Barbara), Volume III, Number 40, August 18, 1874. California Digital Newspaper Collection. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MP18740818.2.6
The official opening took place on February 22, 1873, with a Grand Italian Operatic Concert. In a review several days later, a local newspaper complained that "The outrageous and hideous cat-calls, shrieks and noise of the half-grown, rude boys at the concert on Saturday evening were simply intolerable."Santa Barbara Press (Santa Barbara), Volume I, Number 49, February 26, 1873. California Digital Newspaper Collection. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MP18730226.2.9
According to later accounts, the Lobero was the only opera house south of San Francisco at the time of its opening.Santa Barbara Independent (Santa Barbara), September 14, 2022. https://www.independent.com/2022/09/14/standing-ovation-santa-barbara-lobero-theatre/
Construction of the theater attracted attention elsewhere in Southern California, particularly in Los Angeles. In 1876, the Daily Evening Express observed that "Even Santa Barbara has anticipated us in this matter. The Lobero Theatre there is a creditable building and is far ahead of anything we have in Los Angeles. Santa Barbara has the building without the people, while we have the people without the building."Daily Evening Express (Los Angeles), September 19, 1876. https://www.newspapers.com/image/607608537/
José Lobero's ownership of the theater lasted only twelve years. In 1885, he lost control of the property to creditors following ongoing financial difficulties. On June 28, 1892, Lobero died by suicide in Santa Barbara at the age of 69.The Evening Express (Los Angeles), June 30, 1892. https://www.newspapers.com/image/607583553/
Entertainment and Civic Life at Lobero's Theatre (1873–1924)
Despite its location in the Chinese quarter and red-light district, historian Kevin Starr described the Lobero as Santa Barbara's "window on the world of entertainment" during the late nineteenth century.Kevin Starr, Material Dreams: Southern California Through the 1920s (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), pp. 283–284.
Popular American melodramas such as Under the Gaslight and Uncle Tom's Cabin were frequently presented by traveling theatrical troupes. Vaudeville acts, blackface minstrel performances, classical music recitals, light opera productions, magic acts, séances, and demonstrations exposing fraudulent spiritualism also appeared regularly at the theater.Santa Barbara Daily Press (Santa Barbara), September 6, 1876. https://www.newspapers.com/image/929517808/
For several months in 1884, all of the seats were removed from the opera house so that it could be converted into a roller-skating rink.Daily Independent (Santa Barbara), December 5, 1883. https://www.newspapers.com/image/625834708/
By 1889, newspaper advertisements were referring to the venue simply as the "Opera House."The Daily Independent (Santa Barbara), October 9, 1889. https://www.newspapers.com/image/625862227/
In addition to entertainment programming, the Lobero hosted political meetings, charitable fundraisers, public lectures, educational ceremonies, and community celebrations. Just months after opening, the theater hosted Santa Barbara's first bipartisan Citizens' Convention in July 1873.Santa Barbara Index (Santa Barbara), July 31, 1873. https://www.newspapers.com/image/931455938/
Educational events were also regularly held at the venue. In May 1880, the theater hosted a graduation ceremony for one of the earliest graduating classes of Santa Barbara High School. The graduating class consisted of only two students.Daily Press (Santa Barbara), May 25, 1880. https://www.newspapers.com/image/996235706/
Charitable activities likewise formed an important part of the theater's civic role. In April 1890, Lobero's Theatre hosted a five-day Grand Charity Carnival benefiting the Cottage Hospital building fund, which contributed to the establishment of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in 1891.The Daily Independent (Santa Barbara), March 28, 1890. https://www.newspapers.com/image/626040473/
Women's suffrage gatherings frequently drew large audiences to the theater and were sometimes conducted in Spanish. On October 17, 1896, women's suffrage advocate Susan B. Anthony spoke at the Lobero Opera House in support of California Amendment 6, a proposed women's voting rights measure. Contemporary accounts reported that the theater's 1,300 seats were filled and that hundreds were turned away.The Daily Independent (Santa Barbara), October 19, 1896. https://www.newspapers.com/image/625912375/
At the turn of the twentieth century, the Lobero adapted to changing forms of entertainment and technology. In July 1897, the opera house hosted a public motion picture exhibition featuring short films projected using Thomas Edison's Vitascope system.Daily News (Santa Barbara), July 12, 1897. https://www.newspapers.com/image/929594791/
By the 1910s, competition from motion pictures and newer theaters, including the Potter Theatre on State Street, contributed to the Lobero's decline. As attendance fell, the theater increasingly relied on temperance lectures, wrestling matches, and smaller vaudeville acts. The final event held in the original Lobero's Theatre took place on October 28, 1916, when California governor Hiram Johnson, then a candidate for the United States Senate, appeared at a campaign rally.Daily News and the Independent (Santa Barbara), October 28, 1916. https://www.newspapers.com/image/929646231/
Reconstruction and the 1924 Lobero Theatre
Community Arts Association and the Little Theater Movement
Following years of declining use and concerns regarding fire safety and earthquake vulnerability, the original Lobero's Theatre stood vacant after its final event in October 1916. As historian Kevin Starr observed, "for the past few years the Opera House had stood condemned, its walls of adobe brick judged unsound."Kevin Starr, Material Dreams: Southern California Through the 1920s (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), p. 286.
In 1919, local residents formed the Community Arts Association (CAA) to organize, foster, and support the arts in Santa Barbara. The association's Music Branch later evolved into the Community Arts Music Association (CAMA). In the fall of 1921, planning began for the purchase of the old Lobero Theatre as a home for the CAA's Drama Branch. In February 1922, a group of citizens purchased the property for $25,000 and raised an additional $100,000 to restore the theatre.San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco), March 19, 1922. https://www.newspapers.com/image/457868229/
The effort to rebuild the Lobero coincided with broader cultural and architectural developments occurring throughout California and the United States during the early twentieth century. During and immediately following World War I, the Little Theatre Movement promoted literary and artistically ambitious amateur theater productions outside the commercial Broadway system. On the West Coast, the movement became closely associated with the Pasadena Playhouse and other community-based performing arts organizations.
The Community Arts Association's plans for the Lobero reflected many of the ideals of the Little Theatre Movement, combining community-based theater with a broader vision for civic and cultural life in Santa Barbara. As plans for the project advanced, the association confronted a practical challenge: the deteriorated condition of the original opera house. After examining the original adobe, brick, and wood structure, architects George Washington Smith and Lutah Maria Riggs determined that a new theater should be constructed on the site rather than remodeling the existing building. Demolition of the original structure began in early 1923,Morning Press (Santa Barbara), December 21, 1922. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MP19221221.2.59 and construction of the new Lobero Theatre commenced in December 1923.Morning Press (Santa Barbara), December 7, 1923. https://www.newspapers.com/image/995871802/
Riggs served as the project's principal designer and created the theater's decorative ceiling. The ceiling design was inspired by a geometric coffered ceiling at the University of Salamanca in Spain that reflected Islamic influences on medieval and Renaissance Spanish architecture.San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco), March 19, 1922. https://www.newspapers.com/image/458035091/ Riggs later became the first woman in California to be named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA)."The Groundbreaking and Adaptable Architecture of Lutah Maria Riggs," Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, https://www.classicist.org/articles/lutah-maria-riggs/
The new Lobero Theatre opened in August 1924. Constructed on the site of the original opera house, the building incorporated elements associated with Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, including stucco walls, tiled roofs, arched openings, wrought-iron detailing, and an intimate courtyard-oriented design.California Southland, No. 57, Vol. VI, September 1924. https://archive.org/details/calsouthl06unse/page/n275/mode/2up
The theater's reopening coincided with Santa Barbara's first Old Spanish Days Fiesta in August 1924, an event organized by civic leaders and the Community Arts Association to celebrate the reopening of the Lobero Theatre, promote tourism, and showcase the city's emerging Spanish Colonial Revival identity.
By 1925 the Lobero's national reputation was reflected in The Little Theatre Monthly, which described it as one of the most important little theaters in America.The Little Theatre Monthly, March 1925, Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 1. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Little_Theatre_Monthly/VGFCAQAAIAAJ