Facilities

Smothers Theatre holds a capacity of 448, featuring 15 rows of raked seating with superior sight-lines. Behind a hard proscenium, the versatile Smothers Stage can accommodate theatre, ballet, modern dance, contemporary bands, full orchestras and choirs, lectures, and a wide variety of other events.

The Center for the Arts facilities are located on Pepperdine University's scenic Malibu campus, with contemporary architecture and landscaping complementing the area's natural beauty.

Smothers Theatre is equipped with an optional marley floor and is home to several annual dance recitals and Pepperdine's Dance in Flight program, while also hosting professional touring groups such as Pilobolus, MOMIX, Ailey II, and River North Dance Chicago.

The theatre features an orchestra pit that can be lowered to accommodate up to 20 musicians.

The orchestra pit can also be raised to stage level to create an additional 10-foot thrust in front of the proscenium, accommodating orchestras and other large groups or configurations.

If additional seating is needed, the orchestra pit can be set to floor level to add up to 59 seats to the theatre's capacity.

Presenting around 30 professional touring groups and several extended productions each year, our crew has expertise in designing and mixing sound and lighting, rigging and flying soft goods and scenic elements, loading in backline equipment, and theatrical special effects.

The Smothers Theatre lobby is open during performances and an ideal space for meet-and-greets, merchandise sales, concessions sales, and other displays (upon staff approval).

The Gregg G. Juarez Palm Courtyard is a beautiful outdoor space available to rent in conjunction with the theatre for receptions or other events (upon staff approval).

Smothers Theatre works well for speaking engagements or presentations including film screenings, conferences, lectures, and meetings.

The theatre front-of-house staff is well-equipped to handle ticketing, audience services, customer support, and House Management, overseeing dozens of sold-out events each year.

The green room in Smothers Theatre provides a comfortable, welcoming space that can be used as a production office, meet-and-greet area for up to 20 guests, or break area for performers.

The spacious Smothers Theatre dressing room seats 24 with lighted mirrors, wardrobe racks, and an optional partition to provide two private dressing areas.

Lindhurst Theatre, a black box space adjacent to Smothers Theatre, is well suited as an additional holding room, dressing room, or make-up area for larger performances.

Lindhurst Theatre can also be used as a dance studio, rehearsal space, or classroom.

The intimate Raitt Recital Hall seats 124 and is ideal for instrumental recitals, small lectures, and audio recording.