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1920: Oct. 22
The Laguna Playhouse is founded. Plays are performed in private homes.
1922: Aug. 11
The first full production, “Suppressed Desires” by Susan Glaspell, is presented in an old vulcanizing shop.
1924
The Playhouse, built at a cost of $5,000, opens at 319 Ocean Ave. and serves as the home of The Laguna Playhouse through 1969.
1942
The Playhouse closes for the first time to temporarily house USO soldiers during WWII.
1950s & 1960s
The Playhouse is rented for many summers to independent producers of summer stock, featuring stars such as Nanette Fabray and Roddy MacDowell, and future stars such as Barbara Eden and Marlo Thomas. Bette Davis and Barry Sullivan perform in a one-night fundraiser for Laguna Playhouse (1960).
1964-65
The first season of South Coast Repertory is presented at The Laguna Playhouse.
1965
A young Harrison Ford appears in Stephen Vincent Benet’s “John Brown’s Body.”
1969: September
The Moulton Theatre opens at 606 Laguna Canyon Road, its current location.
1987-1988
The production of “Quilters” wins the Regional American Association of Community Theatre Finals, directed by Laguna Beach’s own Teri Ralston.
1998
After a smash-hit run and revival, the Playhouse’s West Coast premiere production of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” transfers to a commercial run in Los Angeles.
1999
The Playhouse’s critically acclaimed production of “The Last Session” transfers to a commercial run in Los Angeles.
2000
The Playhouse produces Julie Harris’ “The Belle of Amherst” and tours it nationally to 18 cities.
2002
The Playhouse is the first professional resident theater licensed to produce the Tony Award-winning play “Copenhagen,” and tours it nationally to 24 cities.
2006
The production of “Constant Star” wins five prestigious NAACP Theatre Awards.
2014
First annual Lythgoe Family Panto, “A Snow White Christmas,” is presented.
2015
World premiere of Gretchen Cryer in “I’m Still Getting My Act Together,” produced by Jon Cryer
2016
Rita Rudner and Charles Shaughnessy star in the U.S. premiere of “Act 3.”
2018
Melanie Griffith stars in “The Graduate.”
2020
The Playhouse closes its doors for the first time since WWII because of COVID-19, halting a box office record-breaking run of “Barefoot in the Park” starring Rita Rudner.
2021
The Playhouse returns to live theater after a 19-month break with a revival of “Sh-Boom: Life Could Be a Dream.”
