California’s first theater reopens in Monterey with community celebration

By Joyce Kim

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    MONTEREY, Calif. (KSBW) — California’s first theater in Monterey, which had been closed since 1999, is celebrating its reopening with a festival filled with food, music, and history.

The community is gathering for the second annual First Theater Fest, marking the theater’s comeback with free plays and live music on the historic stage where California’s first paid performance took place in 1848.

Aaron Gilmartin, a California State Parks interpreter at Monterey State Historic Park, explained the challenges faced in restoring the theater.

“It was about 20 years of the building needing restoration work and increasing costs, as well as the recession and the issues around getting the skilled labor to be able to do the very specific restoration work,” Gilmartin said. “It’s not just a construction project. A lot of care and research, and planning have to go into being able to do a project on this scale.”

The festival offers free popcorn and cream soda, and local artists and makers are showcasing their crafts in the garden.

Monterey resident Riley Schwerin expressed enthusiasm for the event, saying, “I think promoting theater in this historical building is a wonderful thing, just because it brings eyes to the people who are visiting, who maybe want to see what Monterey is all about.”

From the longest shutdown to a new tradition, Monterey is proving that history doesn’t just live in museums.

It breathes through community. First Theater Fest is free and a chance to step into history.

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