Historic Theatre

Browsing the calendar of events at American theaters and opera houses in the late 1800’s can be an uncomfortable experience for the modern sensibility. It was a time when stage...

On a wintery evening in February 1938, American singer Marian Anderson enthralled a Lobero audience with her extraordinary contralto voice. Known for her warm and modest personality, few audience members...

On Saturday, October 17, 1896, the Lobero Opera House’s 1300 seats were filled - and hundreds were turned away at the door - when women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony...

Jazz pianist McCoy Tyner and the Lobero Theatre had a relationship that spanned 34 years and helped establish the Lobero as one of the premier live jazz venues in the...

By Lobero Theatre Director of Development, Brandon Mowery Over the past few COVID influenced months, the Lobero has worked hard to keep the theater relevant, and one avenue we’ve managed...

On the evening of October 4, 1977, a petite woman with a Swiss-German accent held a standing-room-only Lobero audience spellbound as she spoke about what she called the greatest mystery...

On September 15, 1988, Burl Ives, a 79-year-old, white-bearded icon of music and film took to the Lobero stage in a one-man show about another American legend, poet, and essayist...

On Saturday evening, September 8, 1962, jazz singer Sarah Vaughan stepped onto the Lobero stage. Almost exactly 20 years earlier, her career had begun on a dare when she had...

On the night of September 7, 1903, the Lobero Opera House curtain rose and a Santa Barbara audience was introduced to Zamloch the Great, immodestly promoted as “The Wonder Worker...

On this day in 1943, 27-year-old violin prodigy Yehudi Menuhin stepped onto the Lobero stage with his 1733 “Prince Khevenhüller” Stradivarius and mesmerized the audience with his flamboyant virtuosity. His Lobero...