Many people don’t know that California has an official State Theatre — The Pasadena Playhouse. Initially founded in 1917, the theater was moved to its current South El Molino Avenue location in 1925. In advance of its centennial celebration in May, the Playhouse’s Producing Artistic Director Danny Feldman can explain what the State Theatre of California designation means.
On a nuts-and-bolts level, California’s State Legislature convened in 1937 and decided that The Pasadena Playhouse, of all the theaters in California, was their choice as the state’s official representative. The Playhouse earned this distinction by being the first theater in the country to perform every play by William Shakespeare. The designation honors the fact that the Playhouse brought international attention and acclaim to California.
So many decades later, that’s as true today as it was in 1937; The Playhouse received the Regional Theatre Tony Award in 2023. But being the State Theatre does not, Feldman said, mean that they receive any state funding — a common misconception among patrons. (They do have a very cool plaque, though.)
Being the State Theatre also means being a fixture in the community — and supporting that community in difficult times. In the early days of the Eaton fire, when many area schools were closed, the Playhouse opened its doors and provided a free day camp for local children. The camp was open for multiple weeks at no cost to the families, whether or not their homes had been lost. During 2023’s historically lengthy SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, the Playhouse also provided striking union members with free tickets to their programs.
“It’s a people’s theater,” Feldman stressed. “This is not about just me as the artistic director saying, ‘This is what I want to show you.’ It’s deeply embedded in community from our early, early roots.”
Playhouse founder Gilmore Brown, in his writings, likened the Playhouse to a public library of theater — there for all to benefit.
When asked about the next 100 years and the venue’s role in the community, Feldman talked about youth programs the Playhouse provides and the practical applications of art for the leaders of tomorrow.
“We’re not here trying to create 25, 30 Broadway stars coming out of one class. I hope that happens, but that’s not the reality,” he said. What theater programs really teach is much more fundamental to society: “The point is that we will make better doctors and engineers and thought leaders in the world, who are using skills of empathy and collaboration, and working with one another and using creativity to solve problems.”