The Sonoma Planning Commission last week unanimously approved a new screening room and kitchen to be added to the Sebastiani Theatre, signaling the largest physical changes in the venue’s history.
Nearly 5,000 square feet will be added to the back of the theater to add flexibility to host live performances on stage, acquire a wine and beer license, and meet the requirements of movie studios to show movies daily. The expansion of the theater will also provide updates for greater accessibility in line with requirements of the American with Disabilities Act.
“We do a lot more than they probably thought this theater would do back when they built it,” Sebastiani Theatre Foundation Executive Director Roger Rhoten said. “I don’t think the theater has even come close to reaching its potential yet. And I think that we have the ability to renovate it and bring it back to its glorious past.”
The Sebastiani Theatre was built by Samuele Sebastiani in 1933, and the theater’s first movie, “Fugitive Lovers,” premiered a year later when the cost of a ticket was 30 cents. Rhoten and his wife, Diana, have leased the Sebastiani Theatre since 1991. And in 2018, the Sebastiani Theatre became a nonprofit organization after the merger of the theater and the nonprofit Sebastiani Theatre Foundation.
The theater plays an integral part in the Sonoma Film Festival, hosting the opening night screening and the student film showcase from Sonoma Valley High School.
“The value of the theater is clear. And the support that we have in the community is clear. And that is very, very special,” Sebastiani Theatre Foundation Board President Jocelyn Vick said. “And I don’t think we can say that enough.”
The Sebastiani Theatre stage has also hosted performances by ballet groups, live bands and theater acts by actors like John C. Reilly, although the accommodations for performers have not always been ideal, Rhoten said.
“We had John C. Reilly here a couple of weeks ago, and he loved the theater. And I told him about some of our plans, and the first thing he says is, ‘You’re gonna do something about the dressing rooms?’” Rhoten joked. “I said yes, that is in our plan.”
The dressing rooms at the theater have created issues in the past, especially for large groups of performers, Vick said. She recalled an event when 60-plus students had to use pop-up tents outdoors in the back parking lot to dress and prepare for a performance on stage.
“There’s a lot of things that people don’t know about until they get involved with the theater that are just little things like that. But they make a big difference in how smoothly things run,” Vick said. “I like to say that the dressing rooms in the back are so small, you have to go outside of them to change your mind.”
The unanimous approval by the planning commission was a “big milestone,” Rhoten said, and the next step will be to craft working drawings of the expansion to bring to contractors for bids and determine the ultimate cost of the proposal.
The theater will celebrate its 90th year in operation next year, but the reinvention of the historic venue for arts and entertainment will keep moving forward as an iconic part of the Sonoma community.
“We don’t want to disturb the inside of this beautiful theater. And it’s historic nature, its charm and character,” Rhoten said. “This is an opportunity to turn the facility into a really nice performing arts and film center.”
Contact Chase Hunter at [email protected] and follow @Chase_HunterB on Twitter.