In 2008 the Lucie Stern Community Theatre will celebrate its 75th Anniversary. The Lucie Stern Community Theatre programs are provided by Palo Alto Players, TheatreWorks, and West Bay Opera. Palo Alto Players has been performing in the theatre since it was built in 1933 and recently celebrated their 75th anniversary. West Bay Opera has been performing in the theatre since 1955 and recently celebrated its 50th anniverary. TheatreWorks originated at the theatre in 1970 and is in its 37th season.

The group now known as the Palo Alto Players was established in June 1931 as the Palo Alto Community Players. They first performed in the Community House, now Macarthur Park Restaurant, on University Avenue near the train station. Mrs. Lucie Stern was a frequent first-nighter, sitting front row center. The Community House was not an ideal location, however, with its 100 seat limit and the proximity of the train station and tracks. The southbound "Lark" stopped nightly and the fast overnight freight trains ran through town evenings.

"Aunt Lucie," whose credo was "The things that will make others happy are the things worth-while," decided to solve the location problem and offered to build a community theatre and deed it to the City if the City would provide the land. The City provided a site in Rinconada Park and the theatre, then known as the Palo Alto Community Theatre, opened to the public on July 7, 1933 with a performance of "Grumpy" by Horace Hodges.

The Lucie Stern Community Theatre, as it is now known, has been a stepping stone into the worlds of theatre and film for many people, among them Olivia de Havilland - a two time Best Actress Oscar winner for "To Each His Own" and "The Heiress," Jack Palance - a best Supporting Actor Oscar winner for "City Slickers," and Waldo Salt - a two time Best Screenplay Oscar winner for "Midnight Cowboy" and "Coming Home", and Kathleen Norris, the highest-paid female writer of her time. To paraphrase a statement in the theatre's 25th anniversay book "1,001 First Nights," from both sides of the footlights, the Community Theatre is rendering a service to everyone in Palo Alto.