Opening its doors in 1924, the Pasadena Playhouse with its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture style has seen many renowned theatre professionals and staged many renowned shows, including premiers of plays by Eugene O'Neill, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Tennessee Williams. The venue enters the halls of fame and got recognised as the State Theatre of California in 1937 after a mammoth performance of the entirety of Shakespearean canon in one night. With five venues, the Playhouse became a centre for new forms of theatre, experimenting with theatre-in-the-round and interactive performances. While it used to have a performing arts school once, it was made to shut down and the Playhouse reopened as a non-profit in 1986.

With the reopening and the creation of the surrounding Playhouse District for retail and dining, the Playhouse is a hugely-popular venue that stages many plays by renowned directors and stage performers every year, and also provides training and workshops for people of all ages. Not only can you watch a play at a venue where people like Al Pacino, Leonard Nimoy and Angela Bassett have showcase their talents, you can get a lesson in the arts while in Pasadena too!