South Pasadena is home to the Fremont Centre Theatre, an intimate professional theatre, housed in a lovely historical 1920s building. The Fremont Centre Theatre not only offers an array of plays and musical performances throughout the year, but is home to The Pasadena Shakespeare Company.

Though South Pasedena is home to only one movie theater, the famed Rialto Theater is a 76-year-old historic gem. The Rialto opened in 1925 to vaudeville, silent movies and finally the "talkies." The theater was designed by noted theatre architect L.A. Smith. It is best described as eclectic in style, featuring Spanish Baroque mixed with touches of Egyptian. When once threatened with redevelopment, the Rialto found South Pasadenans come to its rescue.

Today, the area which is home to the Fremont Centre Theatre and the Rialto Theater is being proposed as a Theater and Arts District in South Pasadena. This new Theater and Arts District could prove to be the most lively and exciting entertainment district in the growing San Gabriel Valley.

Within a few minutes drive there are dozens of entertainment venues operating virtually non-stop, on an around-the-clock basis. Headliners, from rock stars to opera stars, appear nearby at the Music Center, Hollywood Bowl and the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the famed Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

South Pasadena, like many small hometowns, finds its residents eagerly awaiting opening night at the local school play or the library’s Restoration Concerts.

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