Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre Celebrates 150 Years – Celebrities, Playboys, Even Ghosts

Story & Photos by Barbara Beckley

Sipping margaritas and shaking maracas. A perfect way to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of Santa Barbara’s legendary Lobero Theatre.  

Built by Santa Barbara musician – and rumored playboy – Jose Lobero, the 604-seat venue hit the limelight on February 22, 1873 with an opening night concert of Italian opera – directed by Lobero – and has been thrilling audiences ever since. At 150 years young, the Lobero is a landmark, times three. It’s California’s oldest continuously operating theater. The oldest continuously operating theatre west of the Mississippi. And – it’s the fourth oldest continuously operating theatre in the nation! And moving into the 21^st Century – the Lobero is also Santa Barbara County’s first certified Green Theater and the first historic building to earn this designation! Applause, applause please.

As Carol Burnett, one of its many super star actors and fans, said, “I was once quoted as saying ‘The audience is never wrong,’ and I think this sentiment also applies to the Lobero. When it comes to the endurance of this cultural and architectural jewel, it’s no wonder generations of patrons keep coming back.”

What better time than now – during its special 150^th Anniversary “1873-2023 Ovation Season” – to head to Santa Barbara and sit where A-listers Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, Lana Turner, Olivia de Havilland and others sat – watching their peers – Bela Lugosi, W.C. Fields, Vivian Leigh, Ingrid Bergman, Jimmy Stewart, Carol Channing, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Marcel Marceau, Carol Burnett, Bing Crosby, Lucille Ball, Jeff Bridges, Neil Young, even hippie great Joan Baez – perform live on stage.  

Star Power

Sesquicentennial Season headliners include top talent, many celebrating their own milestone anniversaries. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is March 3, celebrating its 50^th anniversary, and jazz virtuoso Charles Lloyd’s “85^th Birthday Celebration” is March 10. Plus A-listers Jack Johnson, multi-platinum-selling singer/songwriter, February 21; Ladysmith Black Mambaza, March 2; Los Romeros – The Royal Family of the Guitar, March 4, celebrating 60 years! Magician extraordinaire Lance Burton “It’s Magic,” March 19 (two performances); John Tesh – “Big Band Live,” March 24, and “An Evening with Graham Nash – 60 Years of Songs & Stories,” July 15 and 16.

The diverse Ovation program is in keeping with the wide variety of performing arts the Lobero has featured throughout its history, Marianne Clark, the theatre Administrative Director, explained during my recent visit. “The Lobero was known for hosting top African American opera talent dating back to 1889, when singer Flora Baston brought the crowd to tears with her beautiful voice, and in the late 1940s was the site of the first African American ballet troupe.” Foregoing entertainment, it was also the site of a stirring speech by Susan B. Anthony in her quest to grant women voting rights.

Did Someone Say “Ghosts?”    

“Are those Greek comedy/tragedy faces?” I asked, looking up at the ceiling. “Yes,” Clark replied. “They were added in 1924, when the theatre was rebuilt to its current Spanish Mediterranean style. Few people recognize them,” she added. I did because the up-lighting gave them an extra eerie appearance. Which prompted my next question. “Does the Lobero have ghosts?”  

“Yes,” she again replied. “But I’ll explain when we’re under the stage.” Following her down a hallway packed with celebrity photos, past the old-school-style dressing room and the cozy green room, we walked down stairs beneath the stage.

A big, well-lit space, with trap doors to the stage. “I’d just been named administrative director and given the key code to enter the theatre by myself,” Clark began. “I was so excited. I let myself and my husband in to look for costumes for an upcoming production. We were here – rummaging through props, when we both heard someone dragging equipment across the stage above. I popped up the stairs and looked. Nope. The stage with empty. No sooner had we resumed looking for costumes… than we heard the equipment being dragged back across the stage in the opposite direction. Got it! We hightailed up the stairs. Out of the theatre. And locked the door!!!”

“They’re harmless,” she confided. “And only a few folks are lucky enough to have an experience. Ours was 22 years ago. I’ve had nothing since.” Going up onstage, I encountered the “ghost light.” Not being a theatre-person, I was surprised. It’s a practicality, Clark told me. A standing utility lamp that’s left on, so staffers won’t be in total darkness when they enter the empty theatre.

As Lobero Theatre Executive Director David Asbell said, “The Ovation Season gives theater lovers the chance to see top talent in a setting hard to find elsewhere in the U.S.”

I totally agree.      

Recommended Stay

Heck, if you’re going, why not make it an overnight? After all it is beautiful Santa Barbara! I did. At the lovely waterfront Harbor View Inn, right on the waterfront. Choose from waterfront and town-view rooms and suites. Mine was a spacious corner suite with a huge patio terrace overlooking a small stream. From the water, the inn extends two blocks up into town, conveniently adjacent to Finney’s Craft House, where I and a friend enjoyed apre-theatre cocktails at the jam-packed bar. And this was a Wednesday night! Pre-show, we’d celebrated with margaritas, mariachi music and maracas at the legendary El Paseo Mexican Restaurant in downtown.