California Theatre of the Performing Arts

The California Theatre opened on September 1, 1928 — at the absolute peak of the American movie-palace boom and just one year after the release of The Jazz Singer had launched the talkies revolution. The theatre was designed by John Paxton Perrine, a Los Angeles-based architect who specialized in motion-picture venues and went on to design several other Southern California movie palaces during the late silent and early sound eras. The Spanish Colonial Revival style was chosen to harmonize with San Bernardino's then-developing downtown architectural identity (the nearby California Hotel and several commercial blocks of the era share similar stylistic vocabulary); the lavish budget for ornate interior detail reflected the period's expectation that movie-going was a substantively theatrical experience worth substantial architectural investment.

The opening-night film was an early talkie production. Through the late 1920s and 1930s the theatre operated as a standard first-run movie house with occasional vaudeville and live-performance bookings — a common operational pattern for Southern California movie palaces of the era. The Route 66 era through San Bernardino was at its commercial peak during the theatre's first decades; Foothill Boulevard, Fifth Street, and the surrounding downtown grid produced steady evening foot traffic and the California Theatre was a primary entertainment anchor.

Will Rogers's August 11, 1935 appearance was a one-night stand on what was effectively a farewell tour. Rogers was at the time the most popular entertainer in America — a syndicated newspaper columnist, radio host, and film star whose folksy commentary defined a particular strain of Depression-era American humor. He spent the evening on the California Theatre stage delivering his usual mix of monologue, comic observation, and rope tricks; four days later he died in a plane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska, alongside aviator Wiley Post. The California Theatre performance is among Rogers's final documented live appearances, and the connection to Route 66 (which was designated the Will Rogers Highway 17 years later) gives the venue a particular resonance for Mother Road travelers.

Downtown San Bernardino's commercial decline through the second half of the 20th century mirrored the trajectory of countless American small-city downtowns. The opening of suburban shopping malls in the 1960s and 1970s, the decommissioning of Route 66 in 1985, the steady relocation of regional employers, and the general urban disinvestment of the 1980s and 1990s combined to produce a downtown that by the mid-1990s had largely lost its evening foot-traffic economy. The California Theatre remained operational but with declining attendance, periodic ownership transitions, and an increasingly serious maintenance backlog on the 70-year-old building.

A 2009 electrical fire in the building's stage area caused substantial damage to the proscenium, the curtains, and portions of the ornate plasterwork in the upper interior. The theatre closed for a period that ran longer than the immediate repair would have required, partly because the fire revealed extensive earlier deferred maintenance and partly because the City of San Bernardino entered serious fiscal distress (the city filed for Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy in 2012, one of the larger municipal bankruptcies in American history). For several years the future of the building was uncertain.

The restoration that ultimately reopened the theatre was completed in stages through the 2010s with a combination of city funds, state historic-preservation grants, and private donations. The painted ceiling murals were restored, the proscenium arch reconstructed, the vintage Wurlitzer organ refurbished, the seating reupholstered, and the modern HVAC, electrical, and accessibility systems brought up to current code. The theatre reopened for regular bookings in stages and now hosts a full annual calendar of touring concerts, Broadway productions, San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra performances, and occasional film screenings on the original-format screen.

The exterior is Spanish Colonial Revival with terra-cotta detailing concentrated around the entrance marquee and the upper-story windows. The main entrance is set back slightly from the West 4th Street sidewalk to allow a lobby vestibule; the original 1928 marquee was replaced in the late 20th century and the current marquee is a sympathetic but not original element. The terra-cotta detailing — particularly the figurative ornaments above the second-story windows — is original 1928 work and represents some of the better surviving examples of the technique on a single Southern California building.

The lobby is the first interior space visitors encounter and is freely accessible during box-office hours. The painted ceiling, the ornate plaster detailing along the cornices, the original 1928 light fixtures (restored rather than replaced during the recent renovation), and the small commemorative plaque marking Will Rogers's 1935 performance are the lobby's primary features. The lobby connects to the main auditorium through several sets of substantial wooden doors.

The auditorium itself seats 1,700 across a main floor and a single balcony level. The atmospheric proscenium arch, the painted ceiling murals (extensively restored after the 2009 fire), and the painted side-wall details produce one of the more substantively decorated interior spaces in Southern California outside the larger Los Angeles theaters. The vintage Wurlitzer organ — installed in 1928 as a silent-film accompaniment instrument — sits in its original position to the right of the stage and is occasionally played during organ-music concerts and specific film-screening events.

The theatre's annual programming calendar typically includes 60-80 ticketed performances across the September-through-May main season, with a lighter summer schedule. The mix runs across touring Broadway productions (national tours of major shows often play 2-4 night San Bernardino engagements), concerts spanning rock, country, classical, jazz, and Latin music, San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra subscription performances, comedy specials, dance productions, and occasional film screenings. Ticket prices typically run $25 to $85 depending on the production and seat location; major touring Broadway shows can run higher.

The box office is open Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 5pm during the main season and on performance nights starting two hours before curtain. Tickets can also be purchased online through the theatre's website or through Ticketmaster for some productions. The theatre's e-mail newsletter is the most reliable way to learn about upcoming performances and is worth subscribing to during a San Bernardino visit even if you cannot attend on your specific dates.

Even visitors who cannot attend a performance are welcome to enter the lobby during box-office hours, view the Will Rogers plaque, and photograph the architectural details. Box-office staff are generally willing to spend a few minutes describing the theatre's history and pointing out details for serious architectural visitors. A formal docent-led tour program operates intermittently — typically Saturday mornings during the main season — and can be booked in advance through the theatre's website.

The California Theatre fits naturally into a downtown San Bernardino evening. Plan an early dinner at Mitla Cafe (just over a mile west, on Mount Vernon Avenue) at 5:30pm, walk or drive the short distance to the theatre for a 7:30pm or 8pm curtain, and have a post-show coffee or dessert at one of the small downtown San Bernardino cafes that have opened during the gradual downtown revitalization of the late 2010s and 2020s. For Route 66 travelers continuing west the next morning, an overnight at the Wigwam Motel in Rialto (eight miles west) sets up the next day's drive into Rancho Cucamonga and the Inland Empire stretch of Foothill Boulevard.

Daytime visits combine well with the Original McDonald's Site & Museum at 1398 North E Street (about 1.5 miles north). A natural mid-morning sequence runs McDonald's museum at 10am, drive south to downtown for a noon lunch at Mitla, and a 1pm walking tour of the California Theatre lobby (and the surrounding downtown blocks, several of which retain interesting 1920s and 1930s commercial architecture).

Beyond San Bernardino itself, the California Theatre is one of the few substantial cultural venues between Los Angeles and Las Vegas on Route 66 alignment. For travelers based in the Inland Empire who occasionally attend evening performances, the theatre offers programming that would otherwise require driving to downtown Los Angeles or Hollywood. The combination of historic-venue character and accessible non-LA-traffic location is a meaningful regional asset.