Carpenter Performing Arts Center CSULB

Carpenter Performing Arts Center located at Cal State Long Beach, next to the famous blue pyramid.
I came by this performing arts center with my husband last Saturday evening for Ji: A Common Pulse with San Jose Taiko x Bangerz (Japanese drums concert mixed with hip hop music, spun by the talented Bangerz DJ group). I purchased my tickets for this event early on
and sat in row C, seats 18 & 19 (which was pretty close to the stage). The sound of the music was amazing, but being so close, audience members were offered ear plugs.
The padding on the seats were cushy for the most part. I also liked that I was able to walk through the aisle without stepping on a person’s foot as I passed through. So the leg room is not cramped at all.
Restrooms for women is located on one side in the lobby area and the men restrooms are located on the opposite side. The women’s restroom was clean upon this visit, with plenty of stalls.
There is free WiFi here, through the university. If you are not a student or employee of CSULB, you can sign up for a one day (a full 24 hours) free WiFi account with password.
As for the parking situation, there is a lot you can park at in front of the performing art center (but a fee that ranges from $ 5-​$ 10). But we were lucky to find street parking along Atherton Street (20 minutes before our 8 pm show, there were still some parking spots left).
With a small theater, this is a nice place to catch a show. Tickets in generally are pretty affordable (even if you don’t go through
). They offer a variety of shows here, so be sure to check on their website periodically.

What an amazing place to see a play. Great environment, clean and well kept. I suggest getting season tickets.

Came here for the first time for Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo. I parked in the nearby residential area, only took me less than 5 mins to walk to the theater.
It’s a really nice venue, although not too big. The seats are quite comfortable with a lot of leg room, the sound and light system is great. More importantly, the performance was just fantastic! I had a wonderful Sunday afternoon there.
Go Trocks!

What a great venue in Long Beach. Here watching jazz pianist David Benoit perform Charlie Brown tribute. Every seat is a good seat since this is not a huge venue. Seats are comfortable and there’s generous leg room.
Parking is only $ 5.
Love that Charlie Brown!

Came here with the lady this past weekend to see one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, present.
The Carpenter Performing Arts Center is a very nice venue, with comfortable, wide chairs, a skilled backstage crew, and a great sound system. I didn’t love having to check my messenger bag at the security desk, after seeing many women with bags equal sized to mine bring theirs in the center without a hitch.
Despite that, it was an absolute treat getting to see Neil Gaiman, hear his Q&As (wish I would’ve known we could submit our own questions), and listen to him read aloud from a few of his short stories.
I would gladly make the trek out to Long Beach for another performance here.

What a great venue — Carpenter Performing Center! No bad seat in the house. Smallish, great layout, all good seats.
I didn’t read the reviews first so I missed the tip about exact Chang $ 5 to park, but the guy had change and said it wasn’t a problem.
Easy to get to, easy parking, more than reasonable parking fee… I look forward to going again.
My Fair Lady was delightful!

Just saw Singin’ in the Rain here. Lovely theater, not a bad seat in the house. All the ushers and people who worked there were SO NICE. Possibly nicer than any other venue I have been to. Generous glass of champagne before the show for $ 7. Intermission was short (15 minutes), but you can pre-​order an intermission beverage and have it waiting for you when you get out! Easy street parking nearby. Would absolutely come here again.

The Theater: Mid size theater, every seat is good seat. Great sound system. All the ushers are very friendly and helpful. They all look like volunteers. Lobby has pictures, items and story about the Carpenter. They also sell drinks and snacks. Very well maintained theater.
The Show: Singing in The Rain. What a classic musical~ Excellent production! Many hits songs. All the performers have beautiful voice. Very impressive how they bring the «rain» to the stage! Highly recommended show~ Perfect show for the family outing!
The Parking: Big parking lot (fee) and street parking (2 hours free)

Loved the performance of Les Miserables here and the auditorium is lovely but I sat in T-​3 and had an arctic blast blowing on me all through the performance. I was freezing and sure enough got sick the next day. Come with mittens, hats and a parka if you are sitting up top.

Great space, and great view from even the rows near the top. Loved the people working there, very friendly. The wine was also very good.
The musical we saw yesterday was Les Miserables. This is the second time I have seen this musical and I loved the actors here more than the first production except the actor who played Jean Val Jean. He was great, but the other actor I saw last time was brilliant. There was one exception. When he sang «Bring him home» he was STUNNING! The other actors were Superb. The timing was on point and the stage production was very well done.

My first visit here although I’ve been an alumni of CSULB. Such beautiful tribute to the Carpenter’s family in this building.
Here to see Les Miserable. The qualities of some performers were beyond expected but others were disappointing, singing flat and sharp…
This theater is a very nice place to visit. Would visit again.

Parking is $ 5 and right in front of the theater. The theater itself is pretty basic. Nothing too fancy, no Mezzanine. Al Orchestra. Large comfy seats and large rows to make walking past people seated in chairs a fairly easy task.
Qualms I have about this place — No center aisle to get to your seats. If you’re in the middle of the theater you will have to walk in front of 25 or so people to get to your seats so make sure you don’t need to use the restroom or get there late.
The wings of the house are brightly lit and very noticeable. You can’t let your eyes veer anywhere to the sides otherwise you will be taken out of the reality of the play. I just wished they dimmed it a little bit.
Regardless, I think this is a nice theater to see some decent theater. Don’t expect Broadway level but just a notch or two under that.

Love this theatre.
Who knew that Cal State Long Beach had such a fabulous theatre venue and series of entertainment? The Carpenter Center is a great place to see just about any of the arts.
I think I first discovered this place a few years back. I came to see a theatrical show — a musical, and haven’t looked back. They have great shows here! From music (e.g., symphony, etc.), ballets…
Parking is plentiful and $ 5. The docents are plentiful, older, and nice. Will call always has a long line for entrance, but they hold the show for you! Also, they tend to decorate based on the season. And there are always community vendors inside the lobby.
Again a great place to see performing arts!

After taking a theater class in college, I have definitely grown a big interest and appreciation for the arts. I am so glad that the Carpenter Performing Arts Center is available so close to me and offers such great prices on great shows. I have seen a few shows here and they were all very good. There’s not a bad seat in the house!
The last show I saw was BIG FISH and it was worth every single minute and dollar. All the performers were very talented and the costumes were beautiful.
TIP: Parking is $ 5.00 and it’s cash only! (They prefer exact change too!)
TIP: Go to WWW​.GOLD​STAR​.COM before purchasing tickets because they offer a lot of their shows on this website at discounted prices.

Saw «Big Fish» here last week and was thoroughly impressed.
The fire alarm went off halfway through the first act and the actors were so professional and acted right through it without flinching until finally someone came on stage and announced that we had to be evacuated until the fire department came.
The whole process was so smooth (although none of the ushers were actually ushering during the whole fiasco) and we only had to wait outside (most people were still in the lobby so if there was an actual fire we would probably me smoked to death) for about 10 minutes before the fire department came and the alarm was deactivated. We all made it back to our seats and the performance restarted right where it left off.
I will absolutely be back to this theater for as many performances as I can!
Note: you have to pay to park, I didn’t realize that so I didn’t, but was very lucky not to have given a ticket.

It’s awesome!

Beauty & the Beast. Very good show. I enjoyed it a lot. Theater is really big. I sat in the back and I could see pretty well still. Only 1 bathroom location.
Parking lot is pretty big. Costs $ 5 to park.
Only negative is they double booked my seats. I do not know how that could happen.
Would come back if there was a show performing here I wanted to watch.

I don’t often go to shows because they tend to be too loud and I don’t like being crowded in.
That was not a concern here. The seats are comfortable (for the amount of time we were there, at least.) There is plenty of leg room and they aren’t too close together. My niece and I got lucky that we didn’t have anyone on either side of us. Sight lines are all great. There isn’t any bad seat. We were the 2^nd to last row and we could see the action on the stage with no problem.
The bathroom (male) was clean, though, I thought the urinals were a wee bit close together.
Pretty auditorium. Sound was great, not too loud.
Parking was fine. I read about people saying that they couldn’t get out because of the amount of cars, but we had no issues.
We stopped in to see the Peking Acrobats. It was an amazing show. There were multiple times when I thought my heart was going to stop. Funny, dramatic and energetic acts blended together in a wonderful showcase of Chinese culture, classic acrobatic feats and contortionists. This was an absolutely engaging show. I would see this again, in a heartbeat. I also would love to see another show there because the venue is so nice.

******************Killer Props*****************
The first time I attended was for a showing of Man of La Mancha. I had seen it before at the Downey Civic Light Opera and fell in love with the music. So, I knew I just had to see it again. Having never attended any other show here before, I was skeptical about the seats and overall space.
I just hate being in the nose bleed section but I also don’t like looking up the performers noses either from being too close… and I find that seating charts can be pretty deceptive. Luckily we got center (ish) seats and had no visual obstructions, except for the man with the big head two rows in front of us… honestly people with ginormous heads should have their own section.
Second time around my husband I and went to a showing of Young Frankenstein (which we loved by the way); and I must say that again it did not disappoint. I really must commend their creative director and team and the props department. They’ve really done an excellent job thus far.
The accosting are very nice, but the seats could be a bit more comfortable but hey a good performance can take your mind away from the aches a pains an uncomfortable seat can produce.
I didn’t particularly like that they charged for parking, I mean really all that school parking and to have to charge… at least it was only $ 5 and as long as that fees go to the theater group I suppose it’s ok… I don’t know still conflicted.
Overall, I like the ease and accessibility of the theater. Plenty of parking though as mention I’m still iffy on the parking fees. I also like that it’s not an incredibly large venue so even the nose bleed section wouldn’t be too horrible (though I’d never buy tickets in that section). I certainly recommend the shows and the venue and if you’re picky about your seats I recommend that you try and stay within Rows G-​K and seats 21 – 33 or Rows L-​M seats 24 – 40
Till the next show… break a leg!

I’ve been to the Carpenter Performing Arts Center a number of times over the years, mostly for productions put on by Musical Theater West.
This 1074 seat theater has been around since 1994 and honestly, there is NOT a bad seat in the house! It has a great layout, comfortable seats, easy access, a good sound system and headsets are available for those who need a little extra volume. I like everything about this theater.
This evenings performance was Monte Pythons Spamalot! It was a top notch production too! It was a lot of fun and everyone had some great laughs!
As most everyone else has said, they have ample parking @ $ 5 per car. Yes when the performance is over the parking lot turns into a big cluster… but please tell me what other theater does not suffer from this same problem.
Overall it’s a really great, mid-​sized theater that’s local. 4.5 stars rounded up!