Major Milestone for the Marjorie Luke

It was shortly after the dawning of the new millennium that Santa Barbara Unified School District and a new nonprofit got together to upgrade the auditorium at Santa Barbara Junior High that had gone dark and fallen into disrepair. What started as a cleanup turned into a full-blown renovation of the historic Spanish colonial revival theater, originally built in 1933 by WPA craftsmen and artisans. The four-million-dollar project took two years to complete and included donor support from members of the entertainment industry, many of them alums of the school. The actor Anthony Edwards was offered naming rights for the upgraded facility but chose instead to honor his mentor, Marjorie Luke, the beloved drama teacher at Santa Barbara Junior High who had instilled pride and long-term respect for the arts in her students. 

Since its reopening in 2004 as a state-of-the-art performing arts venue, the Luke has hosted such nationally famous entertainers as Judy Collins, Mavis Staples, Canadian Brass, Stephen Stills, Arturo Sandoval, Melissa Manchester, The Muppets, and the creator and cast members of Glee, as well as local luminaries Kenny Loggins, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and James Cameron. Even more importantly, and true to its mission, the facility has also been utilized by over 200 local arts and education organizations, partly through the innovative rent subsidy program for other nonprofit educational organizations that makes the Luke one of the most affordable venues per capacity in Santa Barbara.

As the calendar turns to 2024, the Luke has lined up a number of 20th Anniversary Headliner Shows, which get underway on February 3 with An Evening with Peter Sagal. The founding host of NPR’s comedy-news quiz show Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me! will be providing behind-the-scenes insights on the long-running podcast as well as his own brand of wit-filled humor in his first appearance in town since the show itself was taped live at the Arlington Theatre in 2010. Visit www.LukeTheatre.org for tickets and more information about the show and the theater.