Enjoying a concert, seeing a play, laughing at your favorite comedian — theatre stages offer something for everyone. But where you see a show can elevate your experience and add another layer of history, drama and entertainment to the show. Let’s pull back the curtain and put these theatrical gems in a spotlight of their own.
Charline McCombs Empire Theatre
Comedy, romance, music and drama — the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre has shared it all with San Antonio since it opened its doors in 1914. The 110-year-old theatre was once the largest movie theatre in San Antonio, with decorations that matched the feature of the week and staff in costumes matching the movies. Roy Rogers even once rode his famous horse, Trigger, between the rows of delighted audience members.
Originally built for silent pictures and vaudeville shows, the Empire has outlived those genres, still welcoming crowds and wowing them with its fantastic architecture and design. And it’s no wonder. After closing its doors in 1978, this golden jewel was restored in 1998. The painstaking process revealed 24 different colors of paint, as well as aluminum and gold leafing — once an inexpensive way to add luster.
But all that beauty was lost when nine feet of water washed through the building in San Antonio’s historic 1921 flood. Rather than redoing the original elaborate design, the interior was repainted in thick white paint, masking both the flood damage and the once gilded interior. To bring the Empire back to its glory, $5.5 million was raised by the Las Casas Foundation, who turned its attention to the Empire after restoring its sister theatre, the Majestic. The Empire’s restored décor includes six pounds of 23 carat gold leafing.
While it no longer shows silent movies, the Empire regularly hosts concerts, comedy shows and performances in its intimate, ornate setting. From Jerry Jeff Walker to the Pink Floyd Laser Show, the theatre’s décor and restored stage make every show shine. You might even say attending a show at the Empire is historic. After all, the Empire is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Magik Children’s Theatre
Taking you away to another time or place — performing arts can be a bit of magic. Since 1994, Magik Theatre has introduced young minds to the magic of the performing arts, nurturing their imagination, promoting literacy and fostering a lifelong appreciation for theatre.
Magik is a 500-seat theatre that presents literature-based productions with nearly 200 performances annually, bringing nationally recognized children’s literature to life. A cherished cultural destination for locals and tourists alike, the theatre itself was rebuilt after a fire in 1913 and was a focal point of the 1968 World’s Fair, San Antonio’s beloved HemisFair.
That location adds to the theatre’s charms. Families can make a day of heading to the theatre by enjoying Magik’s neighboring coffee shops, ice cream parlors, top restaurants and Yanaguana Garden with its splash pads and playgrounds in Hemisfair Park.
More than families are drawn to Magik: approximately 35,000 elementary and middle school students participate in field trips to Magik each year. Another 10,500 attend public performances where families and children delight in seeing stories brought to life. Magik has produced more than 250 main stage and touring shows, and played to more than 2.5 million people.
Part of the magic of Magik is the level of its productions and performances. Each show is brought to life by professional actors and theatre technicians, elevating the productions to a level on par with San Antonio’s finest theatres — but at a fraction of the cost. Performances are infused with elements that engage even the youngest theatergoers and adults, and special sensory-friendly performances create a welcoming environment for all individuals to enjoy an authentic theatre experience.
The Public Theater of San Antonio
Nestled in San Antonio’s San Pedro Park, The Public Theater of San Antonio gives a new meaning to the idea
of playing in the park. And it’s been doing it since 1912, making it San Antonio’s longest running and most successful live theatre.
Through its productions, the non-profit The Public works to inspire, educate and connect communities, and its roots run as deep as the trees in San Pedro Park. Founded as the San Antonio Dramatic Club in 1912, the organization was incorporated as the San Antonio Little Theatre in 1927.
Long-time San Antonians may still think of the theatre and the production company as San Pedro Playhouse or The Playhouse San Antonio — and The Public Theater embraces that rich history as it works to share stories and serve the community from its historic home. It also shares its historic home with The Classic Theatre of San Antonio, which produces shows in the Cellar Theater, the smaller of The Public’s two performance spaces.
The collaboration between the two theatre companies means fantastic productions in both of The Public’s spaces and shared staffing, making the best use of resources and keeping local productions available for San Antonio to enjoy. The Cellar seats 60, providing intimate theatrical experiences, while the Russell Hill Rogers stage is home to spectacular musicals, sweeping dramas and rollicking comedies designed to fill the 350-seat theatre.
Seeing a Public Theater production supports San Antonio’s homegrown performing arts community: nearly 90 percent of the 200 professionally paid performers and technicians who annually participate in productions are from the local region, honoring its origination as the San Antonio Dramatic Club.
Brauntex Performing Arts Theatre
Another historic theatre offering a fantastic array of concerts and performances is in the heart of downtown New Braunfels. Just a month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Brauntex Movie Theatre opened its doors with patrons paying 30 cents admission to see Bing Crosby and Mary Martin in “Birth of Blues.”
Brauntex ultimately grew to two screens in its heyday, but like the Empire, as moviegoers’ tastes changed and larger, more modern theatres opened, the Brauntex fell into disrepair and was shuttered in 1998. Yet locals knew it was a gem that deserved to be reborn.
The building was rescued from the wrecking ball by a group of citizens who recognized, not only its historic value, but also the potential for the Brauntex to fill the need for a performing arts theatre in the growing community of New Braunfels. The theatre reopened in 2000 and was awarded a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
That’s no surprise: one of the most visible aspects of the theatre’s rebirth involves its 37-foot-tall Brauntex neon blade sign and marquee lights, a scene that takes you back to the 1940s. Still standing in front of the theatre is its original free-standing ticket booth, one of only a few still in operation. The lobby has been refurbished, the auditorium floor and original seating were restructured to accommodate seating 600, while the balcony and mezzanine also shine.
The enhancements allow the theatre to be multi-purposed, expanding its capacity to showcase theatre, dance, classical music, chorale, concerts, movies and more. That long-range vision keeps the Brauntex in a prime position to draw the ever-increasing arts industry to New Braunfels — and gives fans of live performances another venue to enjoy.
Above: 2017 Coronation of the Queen of the Order of the Alamo with her full court. 2017. Photo by Gary Stanko.
Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater
A traditional black box theatre that can transform to showcase a performance in the round, with a flat floor or stadium-style seating, the Carlos Alvarez Studio is one of three performance spaces in what was once San Antonio’s historic Municipal Auditorium. While the original structure had only one with a ballroom in the lower level, the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts offers three performance spaces — and simultaneous use of all three spaces.
Featuring the Municipal Auditorium’s original façade, the Tobin is now a performance arts beacon on the River Walk. While an evening on the River Walk Plaza or the state-of-the-art acoustics of the H-E-B Performance Hall are both experiences to enjoy, the Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater offers smaller, more intimate performances, and is just as stunning as the larger performance hall space. It’s also home to 100A Productions, a new live theatre project.
Offering innovative and diverse performances that foster understanding, community and culture in San Antonio, 100A Productions is a theatrical production company focusing on non-musical, established theatrical productions presented in the Carlos Alvarez Studio. In addition to formal productions, the company is using the studio to share staged readings, giving audiences a different glimpse of a production — and an opportunity for dialogue and community input.
As a process-driven artist and audience-focused production company, 100A fits well with the Tobin Center, which believes the arts should be a shared experience for all. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the Tobin has launched “Arts for All,” an initiative that offers a limited number of $10 tickets to every performance to help break down economic barriers and open the doors of creativity and inspiration to everyone in San Antonio. Whether it’s the thrill of live music, the grace of dance or the power of drama, “Arts for All” ensures that these experiences are accessible and enriching for all who seek them.
Stable Hall
The Historic Pearl District has become a must-stop for San Antonio entertainment, drawing people in with food and events. Adding Stable Hall to its mix leaves no doubt that people will continue to gallop to Pearl.
Constructed in the late 19th century to house the brewery’s draft horses, Pearl’s Stable is now Stable Hall, a historic, state-of-the-art venue and a destination for artists and music lovers alike. Stable Hall showcases a diverse array of national, regional and local talent in a one-of-a-kind environment, with every aspect of the venue designed to offer a premium experience to both artists and audiences.
Instead of horses, the 130-year-old building is now a 1,000-person venue with a reclaimed Texas dance hall pine floor, fixed seat mezzanine, hayloft balconies (named for what used to be stored there) and six full-service bars. And it’s hard to imagine the horses prancing with a disco ball overhead, but Stable Hall now features one for everyone taking advantage of that dance hall floor.
The flexibility of the venue means that audiences may watch a show from the dance floor, at high-top cocktail tables or with a view from the hayloft. No matter where
you are, the acoustics are terrific and there’s art throughout the building to enjoy — if you can peel your eyes away from the beautiful stage and top-notch performers filling the space.
An anchor of the historic Pearl neighborhood, Stable Hall bridges San Antonio’s rich music history with a wide-range of talent, elevated hospitality and state-of-the-art production. Thanks to its smaller size, it hopes to feature performances designed for a more intimate stage and offer unique opportunities for artists and audiences to enjoy concerts in a different way.
