The Show Goes On: Camino Real Playhouse Readies to Open Its New Home
- Joel Beers
- 10 minutes ago
- 7 min read
At a time when other theaters are closing their doors, the San Juan Capistrano company will open ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ on Sept. 11 in a new home.
A few months ago, Leslie Eisner thought she might finally have run out of juice.
More precisely, the building she and a dedicated group of volunteers were converting into a new home for the Camino Real Playhouse didn't have enough electricity to run a theater.
The former commercial space at 31896 Plaza Drive, in the outdoor Plaza Del Obispo shopping center about a half-mile south from the theater’s former space near the Mission San Juan Capistrano, had plenty of room to build a theater, lots of free parking and a location the Playhouse could afford. What it didn't have was enough power for theatrical lighting and other equipment.
But after nearly three years of looking for a space and building a theater, the artistic director of the playhouse was used to daunting challenges.
“I will say this is probably the most difficult thing I've ever done logistically — from the packing and moving and dealing with everything from San Diego Gas and Electric and the city of San Juan to ADA requirements,” Eisner said. “It was so difficult.”
Bringing in additional electrical capacity was perhaps the most difficult part. It took months, cost substantially more than anticipated and at one point required the power to be shut off to the strip of businesses where the new playhouse is located. About 10 businesses were affected, some forced to operate on generators rented by the playhouse.
“I don't even want to tell you how much money it took to be able to bring extra power into the building,” Eisner said.
Opening night Sept. 11
But the lights are on now and will be Sept. 11, when the curtain rises on the new Camino Real Playhouse with “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” the 2005 musical comedy based on the 1988 film. It will be its first production in nearly 18 months, and marks an end to nearly a decade of uncertainty.
In 2017, the property containing the playhouse, an approximately 70-year-old building that the playhouse had occupied since the late 1980s, was purchased by a developer. The original plans allowed the theater to remain during the development process and at one point included a performing arts center. Then, in November 2022, the playhouse learned that plans submitted to the city no longer included space for a theater.
That meant two things: It had to find a new home, and it would have to start paying rent.
Its original home had a choice location near the mission, and enough space to eventually accommodate two stages, but the former Pacific Bell telephone office was built in the 1950s.
“It was asbestos and linoleum, but we were grateful to have a roof over our heads,” said Eisner, who has been artistic director for 10 years.
And crucially, the playhouse had a favorable arrangement with the city that allowed it to use the building at minimal cost. That arrangement helped the theater survive for decades and, Eisner believes, helped it survive the pandemic.
“If we’d had to pay rent for the 14 months we were shut down, we wouldn't have survived,” she said.
For two years, Eisner searched properties in and around San Juan Capistrano, looking for the unusual combination of adequate space, sufficient ceiling height, parking and affordability. The search received a major boost in early 2023 when an anonymous donor pledged “a substantial sum” toward a new building with one stipulation: The playhouse had to remain in San Juan Capistrano.
Finally, on Dec. 31, 2024, the playhouse announced that it had signed a lease for 31896 Plaza Drive.
PHOTO 1: The theater’s new lobby is complete. Other areas remain under construction but are expected to be finished by opening night of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” PHOTO 2: The scene shop, while smaller than the one in the former playhouse, is already being put to use. PHOTO 3: In a nod to the playhouse’s history, a sign from the old building now hangs in the new dressing room. Photos by Heide Janssen, Culture OC
New Theater in Challenging Economic Times
That in itself was remarkable. At a time when community theaters throughout Orange County are losing their homes or closing altogether, Camino Real was about to build one.
“I consider us extremely lucky because there is nobody that I know of in Orange County, at least maybe even further — maybe even to San Diego and L.A. — that's building a theater,” Eisner said. “Nobody is opening a theater because they can't afford to do it.”
Its new home occupies Suite C5 on the freeway-facing side of a commercial center, with the 5 Freeway just across the way. The neighbors include a horse-supply business, furniture and home-decor stores, a veterinary practice and The BrewHouse. The theater’s space was previously occupied by a rug store.
It was, in other words, not a theater.
Turning it into one required nearly everything associated with commercial construction: permits, plumbing, ADA compliance, electrical work and enough infrastructure to support two performing spaces.
Eisner estimates the build-out ultimately cost more than 20% above the original budget. The project might have overwhelmed a small nonprofit without volunteers. Instead, people showed up and put in extraordinarily long hours, installing shelves, moving equipment and helping transform the empty space.
“No one's getting paid,” Eisner said. “This group of volunteers believes in this cause and they donate their time. I don't think we could have made all this work without them.”
The new neighbors have embraced the theater, too. The BrewHouse has become particularly close to the playhouse. The two organizations have teamed up for “Broadway & Brew,” fundraising events featuring Broadway performers. The Aug. 22 event will be the fourth and final one held at the brewery before future events move into the playhouse.
“The whole complex has been very welcoming,” Eisner said. “We were kind of worried about losing our old home and our old space, but they've been so welcoming. We feel like we're family over there now.”
The Camino Real Playhouse has two performance spaces in its new building. PHOTOS 1 & 2: The approximately 90-seat mainstage features a proscenium layout and easy access to the backstage area. PHOTO 3: The second stage, an approximately 70-seat black box theater, allows for more experimental configurations. Photos by Heide Janssen, Culture OC
More seats but less room
Though the new playhouse’s stages will seat more patrons (about 90 on the mainstage, up from 75, and 75 on the second stage, up from 56) the new building is smaller than the old one: about 7,500 square feet compared with 11,000, so that means giving up some of the storage that came with the old place.
“There was unlimited storage before,” Eisner said. “We barely have any (now), and that's a problem.”
Costumes and smaller props can be accommodated, along with a small shop for building sets. Couches, tables, chairs and other large pieces now have to be stored elsewhere. But the tradeoff is a space in which virtually everything is new, and where parking, always a hassle at the theater’s old space, is ample and free.
“Everything is brand new and we’re not used to that,” Eisner said. “(But) we're not looking to recreate the Segerstrom Center. We just want to make a home.”
Home is where the people are
Home is a word that comes up often when interviewing people connected to the playhouse.
Katie Nicole, a cast member of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” began performing at the playhouse in 2005. She took a break in 2008 after becoming a mother, then returned several years later and appeared in the playhouse’s final production at its former home, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
“It was sad when we closed down,” Nicole said. “There were a lot of memories there.”
But she has come to realize that while theater needs a space in which to happen, the space itself doesn't make the theater.
“It’s the people that make the theater a home,” she said. “And while I loved the nostalgia of the old theater, the new space has a modern feel and has really given it a bit of a facelift.”
Charlie Blackley, who is directing “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” agrees. He has deep ties to the former playhouse, having directed there for 16 years, but is clearly excited about the new chapter.
“It was a very long process, but it’s a wonderful space, and to direct the show inaugurating it is really special,” Blackley said. “As we’ve been rehearsing, every day it seems new things come — whether it’s a curtain or lights.”
For Blackley, the significance extends beyond Camino Real.
“To open a new theater at a time when so many have closed is a really big deal,” he said.
Community theaters operate on an awkward equation: Keep tickets affordable and audiences coming while absorbing rising costs for rent, insurance, utilities, lumber, storage and construction. Actors aren't paid and much of the work falls to volunteers.
“You need a use-it-or-lose-it sort of mentality when it comes to live theater,” Eisner said. “I just don't think that there's a public that's cognizant of how financially hard it is to run a theater.”
The playhouse plans to rent the new facility to outside productions to help offset those costs. Eisner said there is already interest from groups looking for space for plays and other functions.
For all the work that went into getting here, though, Eisner expects opening night to be about something simpler: Relief. Pride. And probably a few tears.
“I really think that it's going to be overwhelming,” she said. “Because it was so hard for so long.”
‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’
When: Sept. 11 through Oct. 4
Where: Camino Real Playhouse, 31896 Plaza Drive, San Juan Capistrano
Cost: $47-$57
Contact: (949) 489-8082 or caminorealplayhouse.org
