A Standing Ovation for Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre

In February 1873, the José Lobero Opera House — a renovated adobe schoolhouse on the corner of Canon Perdido and Anacapa streets — opened to great fanfare. It was the first community playhouse and the second opera house in the state of California. Los Angeles didn’t have an opera house until more than 10 years later.

It was in need of repair by the 1920s, so citizens rallied to build a new theater on the site, and legendary architects George Washington Smith and Lutah Maria Riggs designed a stunning architectural gem. The Lobero Theatre today is a state and city historic landmark and the fourth-oldest performing arts center in the nation. Hundreds of world-class performers, including Paul Robeson, Marian Anderson, Martha Graham, and Mikhail Baryshnikov, have graced the stage over the years.

Since 1873, the Lobero has played a huge role in our region’s cultural life. Artistic and General Director of Opera Santa Barbara Kostis Protopapas, a native of Athens, Greece, previously worked at a number of revered institutions across the U.S., including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Los Angeles Opera, and the Santa Fe Opera, so he knows a thing or two about performance spaces. He says the Lobero is “one of Santa Barbara’s great destinations,” not just for the history and setting but its busy schedule. “Almost every night, there is always something going on there, and every single thing, it has a distinct personality,” he said. “I think that any theater that has the amount and the quality of programming that the Lobero has — it’s one of the most important institutions for any community.”