East Sonora Theatre
The East Sonora Theatre is where Sierra Repertory Theatre began. Its story reaches back to the 1970s, when David and Kathryn Kahn, Doug Brennan, and Sara and Dennis Jones met while performing summer stock at the Fallon House Theatre with the University of the Pacific drama program. Between building scenery, working on costumes, and talking late into the night, they began imagining a professional theatre rooted in the Sierra foothills. They wanted to prove that ambitious, beautifully made theatre did not have to belong only to a large city.
The idea was bold, and the beginnings were humble. The five founders pooled their resources, shared a house, took outside jobs, sold season tickets for a company that did not yet have a stage, and set about transforming a tin warehouse in East Sonora into a rustic 99-seat playhouse. They did much of the work themselves, building the theatre piece by piece. On February 29, 1980, the doors opened with a production of Dracula, beginning Sierra Rep’s first season and a new era of year-round theatre in the Mother Lode.
What began as a shoestring venture quickly became a gathering place. As audiences grew, the building grew with them. A major renovation in 1991 expanded and reshaped the theatre, creating the intimate, raked auditorium audiences know today. The house keeps every patron close to the stage, allowing large musicals to feel immediate and quiet plays to unfold with remarkable intimacy. Over the decades, the room has welcomed generations of artists from across the country and audiences from throughout the Sierra foothills and beyond.
When Sierra Rep became the resident company at the Historic Fallon House Theatre in 1997, East Sonora remained its original home and the clearest expression of the founders’ dream. Its stage has held classics, contemporary plays, Broadway musicals, concerts, new works, and countless first encounters with live professional theatre. For many patrons, it is also a place filled with personal history: the first show they saw at Sierra Rep, the production that made them subscribe, or the theatre they have returned to with family and friends year after year.
During the pandemic closure, Sierra Rep once again turned its attention to the building. With extraordinary support from the community, the theatre underwent important renovations designed to make it more welcoming and comfortable for audiences and artists. The work renewed the space without losing the intimacy and character that have always defined it. Like the original conversion of the warehouse, the transformation was made possible by people who believed that professional theatre deserved a permanent home here.
Today, the East Sonora Theatre is a contemporary, air-conditioned, and accessible venue located at 13891 Mono Way in Sonora, approximately one-quarter mile east of The Junction shopping center. Parking is available around the theatre, and patrons are encouraged to arrive at least 30 minutes before curtain. The East Sonora Box Office is open Monday through Friday from 10am to 5pm and opens one hour before curtain on weekend performance days.
From a bare warehouse and a shared dream to a professional stage that has served the region for more than four decades, the East Sonora Theatre remains what its founders imagined: a place where artists and audiences come together and every performance becomes a shared experience.
