Long Beach Playhouse
The Long Beach Playhouse, the first performing arts organization in Long Beach, was established in 1929 and is one of the oldest continually running Community Theaters in the western United States. It moved six times between 1930 and 1935, when it settled into a space at the Union Pacific Depot that had been previously used by an evangelist. The Playhouse bought a lot on Anaheim Street in 1948 for $11,000, which had been raised by purchasing war bonds. When the Anaheim theater opened in 1951, one of the former actors, Robert Mitchum, was there. The first production in the new building charged $6 for admission. The building has two theaters, the Mainstage has a thrust stage with horseshoe seating for 200 on three sides and the Studio Theater with a proscenium stage seating 98 on the second floor.
Long Beach, Los Angeles County
Photographer: Andrew Schmidt