TheatreWorks

Palo Alto, United States

4.1

Closed now

14 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 650-463-1960
Website:
www.theatreworks.org
Address:
The Lucie Stern Theatre 1305 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA, 94303
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.7 miStanford
1.1 miCalifornia Avenue
1.1 miPalo Alto Transit Center
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Good for Kids
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Palo Alto) 08:16 Wednesday, 2 July 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Sunday 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Description

Specialties

The Nationally-​Acclaimed Theatre of Silicon Valley

With a reputation for artistic excellence, innovation, diversity, and integrity, TheatreWorks is Silicon Valley’s leading professional nonprofit theatre company. TheatreWorks presents a year-​round season of musicals, comedies, and dramas in the state-​of-​the-​art Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts and at the graceful California Mission-​style Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto.

Dedicated to the discovery and development of new voices in the American theatre, TheatreWorks regularly stages new works, many developed in the scompany’s own New Works Initiative … frequent regional and West Coast premieres of important modern and contemporary works from Broadway, off-​Broadway, and beyond … and distinctive re-​imaginings of the classics.

History

Established in 1970.

TheatreWorks was founded by San Francisco Bay Area native Robert Kelley in 1970 as a theatre arts workshop for teenage and college students. Chartered by the City of Palo Alto to produce work that would reflect the concerns of the community during an unsettled period in American life, the company produced 13 wholly original works for the stage in its first three years.

As TheatreWorks celebrates its 40th anniversary season, it is one of California’s largest theatres, with more than 50 permanent staff members, a 22-​member Board of Trustees, nearly 10,000 subscribers, and an annual budget of $ 7.2 million. A pioneer in diversity programming, a regular home to world and regional premieres, and a widely-​hailed source of original new works for the American stage, TheatreWorks has become the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley.

Meet the Business Owner

Kelley R.

Business Owner

Robert Kelley

A Bay Area native and Stanford University graduate, Robert Kelley founded TheatreWorks in 1970 and has been its Artistic Director ever since. He has directed more than 150 TheatreWorks productions, including many world or regional premieres. In 2003 Kelley received the Bay Area Theater Critics Circle (BATCC) Paine Knickerbocker Award for lifetime achievement. He has garnered BATCC Awards for Outstanding Direction for his productions of Into the Woods, Pacific Overtures, Rags, Sweeney Todd, Another Midsummer Night, Sunday in the Park with George, and Jane Eyre; Bay Area Drama-​Logue Awards for his direction of Ah, Wilderness! and Once in a Lifetime; Dean Goodman Choice Awards for Violet, Ragtime, Proof, Dolly West’s Kitchen, and Harold & Maude; and Back Stage West Garland Awards for his direction of Side Show and Sunday in the Park with George.

TheatreWorks also recommends

TheatreWorks

27

reviews

Performing Arts

Kelley R. says,

«Visit our other TheatreWorks venue in Mountain View!»

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14 reviews of TheatreWorks

No registration required
Place rating: 4
San Leandro, CA
We saw a musical production of Jane Austen’s Emma here and really enjoyed it. The stage play was very faithful to the book and translated all the humor that’s in the book onto the stage. The set was well done and the actors all very good too!
I am a Jane Austen fanatic, so whenever I get a chance to see a stage or film production of any of her works, I take it. Luckily, I was still able to get fairly inexpensive tickets (~$ 30) to this showing a couple of days before. We were in the first row, in the middle of the row, so we were very close to the orchestra below the stage and the stage itself. We could see all of the actors’ expressions, all their laugh lines and wrinkles!
I bought the tickets online on my phone and it was a breeze. I always appreciate it when businesses make it easy for you to buy stuff on your phone. We collected our tickets at Will Call and found our seats with no problem. Too bad you can’t bring food and beverages inside the theatre. I would have bought a glass of wine to enjoy during the performance. Lots of theaters allow customers to bring their beverages in the theatre now, so it would behoove TW to do follow the trend. They’d sell more beverages and food!
If you don’t want to deal with the usual parking lot mess after a performance, park on Middlefield. You’d be on your way a lot faster.
Place rating: 2
San Diego, CA
Be advised that this theatre is open seating so get here early. There are no restaurants nearby either. But the actual show was very good.
Place rating: 1
Mountain View, CA
Lucie Stern Theatre is an incredible historic landmark. Five stars.
But this is not a page for the tiny playhouse founded many decades ago by Lucie Stern. This page is for Theatreworks.
If I could choose zero stars, I would.
Been wanting to get involved for roughly eight — and now counting — years. Very rude to me; incredibly and consistently. Lied to me more than once; causing me to assume that I had an equal opportunity. As such, I quit supporting them years ago. Very stuck-​up and full of themselves. Ironic for a community theatre.
I am also physically disabled, which makes everything look a whole lot worse. I have taken a number of theatre classes over the years, yet apparently they don’t take this into consideration. Over the years, it’s like people would contact me, and then after two or three exchanges back and forth, they would quit; all future attempts at communication would go unanswered. As if the staff could use these brief exchanges with me as «proof» that they tried their best.
Two application packets mailed in, and I have YET to be interviewed for a simple internship position.
I do not drive. Yet the website says that reliable transportation is a requirement. And I do have reliable transportation.
My passion for this field is very much evident; Billy Liberatore, my former teacher, can definitely confirm this.
Refusing to interview me, to even consider me for a job, screams discrimination. Theatreworks is so well-​known, and on a national scale. Working with them is the best shot at moving forward; at getting both feet in the door, per se.
A few years back, theatres all over were screaming at how they needed to attract younger people, an\d to diversify. And with a few exceptions, «all in all,» I am not seeing anything. The median age of a Theatreworks audience member is over 55, and they don’t have any educational programs for artists between the ages of 18 and mid-60’s (yes, mid-60’s).
This field remains home to some of the cruelest egos in all the arts, and things need to CHANGE. If they don’t, the thing that happened to San Jose Rep (who also refused to interview me after years of failed attempts) will happen to Theatreworks.
Top-​notch productions, though.
Place rating: 5
San Mateo, CA
i’ve come here 2x now (last year to see «little women» and recently for «the great pretender»). Both shows were excellent and i enjoyed it very much. The acting was very good. The auditorium was nice, too. I may consider becoming a subscriber even though i live abit far from the venue.
Place rating: 5
Berkeley, CA
An outstanding professional theatre company in every sense of the word. Thank-​you for all of the wonderful work that you produce.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Came to TheatreWorks for the first time to see ONCE ON THIS ISLAND
Wow & double wow! WHAT a talented acting troupe! I can’t believe these people were a community theater group — they were so incredibly talented & perfectly — & I mean PERFECTLY — choreographed; voices were phenomenal; & the facial expressions & inflictions & tones were outstanding.
The venue itself is set among the most pleasant, quiet, inviting area. There is a small park area holding lovely cherry-​blossoming trees w/​lights all over the place. But watch out for mosquitoes! They were brutal!
There is very limited parking however as the venue is set in a residential neighborhood, there is plenty of close-​by spots to grab & the area is so pleasant, it’s no big deal if you need to walk a few min
The staff of Lucie Stern Theatre was nice as could be & even though we were sitting in the back of the venue, we had a perfect sightline & sound was likewise right on target. Nice legroom & seats themselves were comfy
I want to totally check out more, coming out of this company — super impressed!
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
I saw The Mountaintop by Katori Hall recently. I’ve seen a few of their shows; most of which were seen as a part of an internship in their education department about six years ago. The company is run by the same man that started it over thirty years ago. The parking is difficult at the Lucie Stern. Arrive early if you want to park in the lot, otherwise you will need to find a spot on one of the neighboring residential streets.
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
Get here early for parking!
Quality work. Positive and skilled staff. Great show offerings. Big River was an awesome holiday show. Did you know Memphis the Musical got it’s start here before moving on to Broadway? Like I said, quality theatre right in your backyard. Can’t wait to see more!
Place rating: 5
Santa Clara, CA
We’ve been season subscribers for about 7 years. Consistently high quality — I’d say that for every 10 shows, I end up strongly encouraging folks to go to 7 – 8 of them, and only about 1 out of 10 ends up so-​so for us. We have found TheatreWorks to be much more rewarding than A.C.T. in SF, or the mega-​productions at the big SF theaters.
Shows alternate between Mtn View CPA theater and Lucie Stern theater. The latter is not as nice a space — it’s somewhat older and not a very wide hall — but I have certainly seen many memorable TW shows at Lucie nonetheless.
We are very fortunate to have live theater of this quality in the south bay /​peninsula area.
Place rating: 3
Fremont, CA
We got preview tickets to see «It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues» at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto. It was an ok show.
It started a bit after 8pm & finished at 10:15pm. There’s a 15-​min intermission.
It’s a lot of songs w/​some story before some of the songs. Lots Traditional African songs in Act 1 — 23 songs. Act 2 had 19 songs of Blues.
7 members in the cast — all were good singers.
I liked:
Rag Man
Fever
Good Night Irene
Members Only
Small parking lot so get there early (before 7 – 7:30pm), but there’s lots of street parking nearby.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
I saw the recently closed Long Story Short two person musical here and was blown away. so much talent and such a fun story. a romantic comedy about a jewish dude and an AZN american female. falling in and out and in love over the course of adult hood. nice performances especially by Pearl Sun, whose next gig is on NYC Broadway where she can bless others on a massive stage. Theatreworks uses Lucie Stern as a charming venue and is a tight theatre company. No doubt a five star company.
Place rating: 4
Oakland, CA
TheatreWorks is one of what I call the big three in the SF Bay Area (along with ACT and Berkeley Rep). The big three are just that, well funded, well established big regional theatres. As part of the big three, production values are usually high, but you sometimes have to deal with some snobbery and pretension. That being said, TheatreWorks does a nice job.
I’m a huge fan and advocate of TheatreWorks New Works Festival. It’s a great place to see new works often at the end of their development before they open Off-​Broadway or at other regional theatres around the country. If you get a chance, check it out.
Place rating: 5
Mountain View, CA
A very good, professional, theatre company right here in Palo Alto and Mountain View. They use both the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto and the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts for their stages. The tech crew and actors are often quite good.
Their New Works Festival is always worth checking out. They present plays and musicals in development during the festival week. Many of these works go on to be better pieces from the experience the writers and composers gain from the festival.
I highly recommend seeing any of their plays or musicals.
Place rating: 5
Elk Grove, CA
I recently saw «Brooklyn Boy» at the Lucy Stern Theatre – and it was great! The acting was superb, as was the direction and stage art. TheatreWorks has been putting out high-​quality theatre for many years, and if you haven’t experienced one of the plays, you should!