Lesher Center for the Arts

Very old theatre, but has a lot of old world charm. I loved the show we saw, «Rosemary Clooney Musical, Tenderly. The theatre we were in was on the second floor and I think it was called the Rep Center? The theatre was a it cramped with small chairs and the man next to me made it very clear that he was the owner of the arm rest to my left. Okay then… LOL. Then he dropped his program and it landed in my lap and he literally did nothing about it. I tried to give it back to him and he told me, «Not right now.» LOL. So I threw it on the floor.
Okay, so the weird mean guy next to me is not the theaters fault. lol. But I definitely wish the seats were a teensy bit larger. Im not a big gal by any means, but it was a bit cozy for my personal space’s liking.
Also, they serve drinks (for a fee) outside the theatre and that was a cool plus, but don’t get there 15 minutes prior to the show, because you cannot take your drinks in. I have never been to a theatre that didn’t allow you to take your drinks with you. This kind of forces you to hurry up and chug what you are trying to drink. It is VERY hard to chug a pint of Diet Coke. I ended up throwing half of it away, and $ 4 for a bottle of coke to throw away seems rude to me.
All in all, I picked up a program for the 2016 shows schedule and I will be back. A lot of cool shows coming down the pike and I want to see them.

Today we attended the 2015 Chevron family theater festival. This is a excellent afternoon adventure for families with elementary school kids as well Disney fans and performing arts lovers. There is a multitude of shows, musical performances and kids activities to enjoy for free either inside the Lesher Center or on the stage in the closed section of Locust street. There are several ionic characters strolling around i.e. Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Alice in Wonderland, Mad Hatter, Cruella DeVille, Evil Stepmother, Red queen of Hearts, Dorothy and Toto, Anna Elsa, Prince Charming you get the idea. This is a great event to promote live theater here in surburbia and opportunity for kids to meet their favorite classic book and movie characters in person.
Thank you Chevron for funding this fun filled community event.

Great place to see ballet. Every seat is great!

My grandchildren and I have enjoyed many performances here over the years, particularly during the holidays. This is a wolderful local alternative to SF and we have especially enjoyed the Nutcracker Ballet and Christmas Carol performances that have become a family tradition with us.

Beautiful, the building and the dancers! Tonight was the 21^st anniversary celebration of Diablo ballet.
Arriving at the building you walk into the lobby and get your tickets. From there, you move into the main lobby, up a spiral staircase or the elevators to the auditorium.
Be on time, they close the doors 5 minutes after the time listed on the ticket!
There were seven different sets with two to seven dancers. A few were very traditional, but some reminded me of West side Story or Chicago! There were some sensuous moves in a few of the sets. In addition, there is live music for the pieces!
If you like ballet and want to see it locally (instead of a trek to SF) go to see the diablo ballet.

This is a great venue for live performances. I’ve seen quite a few shows here, there is comfortable seating, excellent sound, great usage of space, and a very well taken care of theater house. I have not been disappointed by attending performances at the Lesher Center. I saw one great Musical production when this African American totally stole the show. She was fabulous!!! It was a very entertaining show, to say the least, she was super. Very convenient to have a great venue for live shows here in CCC-​Contra Costa County

We just saw A Christmas Carol. What a wonderful performance! My son loved it (7yo). They had ice cream at the intermission, which was a huge hit! The concessions were reasonable, except for alcohol. The seats were amazing, the sound was done really well and they had great effects. The fog crept into the audience and made you feel part of the show. I especially loved the snow at the end, which were made of soap bubbles. The theatre and the show get 5 stars!

The management of this facility is pretty horrible. I’m not sure why anyone in the region would come to this theater when there are much better ones in Berkeley and San Francisco nearby.

Not too bad for a local theater venue and a great alternative to the SF scene. Have seen two musicals here, Les Miz recently and Beauty and the Beast before that. This 2014 production of Les Miserables is on point. The staging is creatively done; the cast is superb, rivaling some touring companies and even the movie (cough*Russell Crowe*cough). But I digress…
The venue itself is bright and airy, staff was helpful and kept the crowd moving. I did notice that the beverage lines moved slow; however, I also noticed that they let people in with their coffees and waters (not sure of other beverages). Ice cream was sold during intermission (announced at the beginning of the show). Nice perk!
The theaters are… well, intimate. You get up close and personal to these actors, which makes for a great overall experience for the audience.
Parking is adjacent to the theater and event parking fee is a steal!
Some really interesting shows coming up this season so book your tickets now!

Let me first say Thank you to Shirene N. and Unilocal for providing us two tickets to watch the 20^th Anniversary of Diablo Ballet. This was my first ballet (bucket list check). It wasn’t what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it.
My expectation was seeing backdrops and people in costumes. What I watched was several documentaries on a big screen which then followed a ballet routine. There were no costumes or background. Even without all of this, I would have to say the dancing was absolutely amazing. The dedication and passion these dancers have are all laid out on the floor.
I was literally glued to my chair and watched with anticipation for the next move. The grace and beauty on stage was remarkable. It was good that my honey didn’t fall asleep, can you believe it…
What made this ballet performance great for all ages was the location. It wasn’t a large theatre and the people viewing the performance were not your snobby, nose up in the air kind of people. The people at Lesher Center was friendly, they had our tickets at will-​call and helped us to our seat since we were running late.
The spiral «stair case» was absolutely beautiful. It allows people with disability and those with heels to not have to deal with the steps. The auditorium itself was standard, nothing spectacular. The seat on the other hand was not comfortable for someone who is wearing a short dress since the fabric texture made it rough on my legs. Note to those with short dresses: make sure you bring a jacket so you can sit on it.
Once again, thank you Sirene and Unilocal for a wonderful experience that I will always treasure. Thanks honey for coming with me, I know it was not something you wanted to do, but it meant a lot to me.
Parking is available next door in the parking garage. They offer a flat rate event parking.

Over the years I’ve been to several productions at this impressive venue. The seats our comfortable and they all seem to have clear view of the stage. What I really like is the three story windows. I would enjoy just sitting at one of the tables with a cocktail and watch the as the traffic goes by and people walk along the sidewalks.
The Lesher opened in 1990 and it has aged well.

Very disappointed with the theater. I’m shocked it has so many good reviews! The show was great, but I wish they did a show somewhere else locally. Here are the problems:
1. They allowed people to come in late, which disturbed the show. Even the comedian started to make comments! Once the doors close, I don’t want people climbing all over me.
2. During intermission, we stood in the painfully slow line to get drinks. Did they not realize they’d have such a long line? By the time we got them, they were ringing the bells for us to take our seats. When we try to go back in, they tell us no drinks except water! I wish someone had told us earlier! Then I would not have paid an arm and a leg for a drink just to have to throw it away.
3. No ice cream. Sounds silly, but I was promised ice cream would be for sale. I was told that there was and there were signs around. When intermission started, some of us stood in the slow drink line while others looked for ice cream. After searching, they asked an employee. Turns out, it’s only for some shows. Well your sign says differently! I may be too picky, but when you’ve waited for ice cream all evening, then you’re not able to get any, it really put you in a bad mood.
We’re definitely not coming back here.

Chevron family Festival! At Aga-​Boom performance and it was a blast! The activities for the kids were so good from sock puppets to parades and face painting. It was all free! I couldn’t believe it. What was also great was that Chevron employees were giving out hand puppets which I adored.
Also I’ve been to Lesher for 39 Steps and the theater is very homey. The stage was literally next to us and during intermission they sell ice cream in the actual theater. I can’t wait to see my next show here.

Walnut Creek is blessed to have an awesome theater venue so easy to access downtown! I assure you there is great theater to be had outside San Francisco! :)
I’ve attended shows at all 3 stages over decades of visits, from Nutcrackers to comedians to one-​act plays. Prices are quite reasonable too, and their shows do occasionally appear for a deal on Goldstar, so do your homework. Their website is very helpful, and they are great about around town advertising. If you’re an observant driver while exploring Downtown Walnut Creek, you’ll always know what show is at the Lesher!
A really great venue, support local theater and come to the show!

I’ve been attending performances at the Lesher Center for the Arts for years. It’s great to have a local theatre where you can see mainstream performances and smaller productions and not need to go all the way into the city.
It’s a two-​story building with three theatres, an art gallery, and a spacious main hall.
The tiny Knight Stage is a black-​box theatre located directly next to the box office — walk through the main doors and you’ll miss it!
In the main hall, elevators will take you to the large Hofmann Theatre or the Margaret Lesher Theatre where they stage musicals and dramatic productions.
Acoustics and sightlines are good in all three theatres and the seating is comfortable. The caliber of actors are a step above what you’d expect in a local theatre production.
The space is available for rentals for events. We had our opening event for a green non-​profit here, and the main hall was perfect for mingling with guests — and the Knight Stage was an intimate enough setting to accommodate our presenters and guests.
In July, they have their annual Chevron Family Theatre Festival, which is super popular.
*Tip: If you take BART, it’s a 10-​minute walk — or take the Free Ride Trolley — which stops next to the center.

Oh sing that $h!+ girrrl… and boys!
Got to watch [title of show] this past wknd at Lesher Arts Center. Found a spot to in a residential area about 2 blocks from the place. Sweet!
The theatre is very cozy with limited seats so wherever you sit you are going to get an awesome view of the performance.
This place is clean & pretty cool looking. I like the spiral stairs area with the lights – so pretty! Located in downtown Walnut Creek, there’s plenty of diff eateries around & the mall and movie theatre is nearby as well.
My only gripe is that the staff weren’t that helpful or friendly to us.
[title of show] was def entertaining full of singing & comedy. I def enjoyed it & the seats were really great. At the end of show, they gave out rice krispy treats?! My fave! Yum :)
Thanks, Johnny W., for having me as your +1! :D

Saw [title of show] here on Friday evening and loved it. I highly recommend trying to catch the show during its limited engagement through September 1, 2013.
This Tony nominated musical is hilarious and performed by a small, but mighty, cast. I was very impressed by both their talent and comedic timing. I don’t want to give any details away, but there were many moments when I laughed until I cried. [title of show] is performed in the intimate downstairs theater which I thought was the perfect setting.
More information:

Went to «Title of Show» last night, and all in all it was a great experience. Unfortunately our dinner ran late so we didn’t have time to peruse the center and instead walked straight into the performance. The theater was wonderfully small and there was not a bad seat in the house. We had no difficulty seeing or hearing the actors. Picking up the tickets at will call was very easy and fast. I like that the will call is inside — even though it is beautiful weather right now I know this winter I’ll be back and it will be nice to be inside if there is any line.
The performance itself was excellent. Very funny and tongue in cheek. I definitely recommend it and this is a great venue for a small production like this one.
I subtracted one star because the seats were difficult to find with itty bitty labels on the tops of the seats. We also had to walk onto the stage to get to them and the usher made very little effort to help us, despite our obvious confusion.
I will definitely be keeping an eye on the calendar for this great venue.

Solid Venue, great for smaller performances when you don’t want to go out to the city.
I’ve seen two very respectable shows here, one was last night, «Disenchanted», the other was a year or so ago, a «Reduced Shakespeare Company» performance.
For Disenchanted, we were in the smaller, side theater «Knight», which was very intimate, but because we ended up sitting off to the side, did miss some of the action in front of us, unfortunately, despite being 5 – 10 ft from the stage.
For RSC, we were in the largest, Hoffman theater. Not really a bad seat in the house, and the acoustics were good.
The little bart car upstairs is kinda overpriced, but what can you expect.
Final thought, are the people working the adjacent parking lot really necessary? They seem to slow things down more than help out; at least its only 5 dollars.

Perfect venue for a trip with the little ones to see *The Story of the Nutcracker* performed by the CCB.
$ 3 buck event parking was worth every penny on a rainy evening.
The performance was perfect in length and content for the small ones present in the audience.
A new family tradition is born!