Firehouse Arts Center doubles as a museum/art gallery and a local theater. Located in downtown Pleasanton the building was an old firehouse. Black Badge Yelper Steve T. invited us to a night of Comedy on a Saturday night. On the backside of the Center is the city park were they have free concerts in the summer. The theater is small and intimate. The evening showcased 7 local comedians some of which were better than others. During intermission we browsed the gallery with all of the art work. The art was for sale. All in all a nice evening. read more

Enjoyed an evening of Disney jazz with the Jeff Bordes Quartet and Alanna Vicente. The lovely sounds of the piano, bass, drums, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and vocals paired with an excellent sound setup and lighting in this theater. No concessions were available on site, but they did offer guests free bottled water in the lobby. Photography and video recording was allowed for this particular show. Note, you can't see the full stage from the side balcony section unless you lean forward drastically as the seats are too far from the railing and unmovable. There are also poles in front of some of the side balcony seats with no advanced notice about the obstructed view when purchasing tickets... there's a reason these are the cheapest seats in the house. The performance was great, including beloved tunes from Mary Poppins (Chim Chim Cher-ee), Cinderella (A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes), 101 Dalmations (Cruella De Vil), Aladdin (Never Had a Friend Like Me), The Little Mermaid (Kiss the Girl), Snow White (Some Day My Prince Will Come), Lady and the Tramp, The Princess and the Frog, Jungle Book, and a non-disney encore of What a Wonderful World. read more

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The firehouse arts center is a great venue for performing arts. The acoustics are excellent. As for seeing the stage there isn't a bad seat in the house. The seats are comfortable with enough leg room. The center is kept clean. The art displays are engaging. The concessions are good quality and different than most theater fare. read more

Firehouse Arts Center - Chris Cain and orchestra. - Music Venues Near Me - Pleasanton, California

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A truly beautiful and intimate spot to enjoy a local or national band as well as comedy. We've been here many times, and it's truly a crown jewel of Pleasanton. We look forward to seeing more shows here in 2026! read more

This is a great venue for a concert. It is small and intimate with every seat offering a great view. read more

Firehouse Arts Center - View from back of venue. - Music Venues Near Me - Pleasanton, California

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Wow- the Firehouse Arts Center is beyond great! We thought it was closed but ended up walking in and enjoyed the art exhibit so much! There was a ton of talent. The paintings were creative, professional and beautiful. I will definitely come back. Meanwhile, I will get emails letting me know of the wonderful events (music, art classes, etc.) that I can attend. read more

Went on a Saturday night to listen to jazz ensemble. First time there and was pleasantly surprised at how it was nicely renovated to allow performances in its theater. The venue is small. I sat last row in the balcony and it was a very good seat. Only 2 rows in the balcony and the row ahead of me was pretty steep so no heads in the way. The acoustics were surprisingly pretty good and the music was not too loud. The seats were comfortable good leg room enough to sit for a 2 hour performance with a small intermission in between. All in all, a very nice evening! I'm checking future performances so I can go back! read more

Firehouse Arts Center - View from my seat - Music Venues Near Me - Pleasanton, California

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Love a night out at the Firehouse theater. Excellent entertainment. Not a bad seat I. The theater. I took a group of friends to see Jerod Freiburg just before Christmas. It was a fabulous show. read more

Firehouse Arts Center - An evening with Jared Freiburg. Amazing!. - Music Venues Near Me - Pleasanton, California

Wonderful local art center, built from an old fire station. A variety of live performances, as well as art exhibits in the attached Harrington Art gallery. The gallery is free to visit--but please drop a few bucks In the donation box! Recently saw an exhibit of Holocaust paintings by local artist Larry Lagin. Stark, impactful images. Particularly meaningful, as we recently lost a long-time family friend, who had survived WWII by hiding from the Nazis, first in Germany, then Belgium. Also a handful of interesting sculptures in the gardens surrounding the main building. read more

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$30 to hear the Eagles? Well okay, it was an Eagles tribute, not really the Eagles but it was still an outstanding value. Tonight we heard the tribute to a nearly packed out crowd. We have attended many concerts here, and it has always been a great value, and usually a lot of fun as well. Parking is easy, prices are reasonable, and the talent is good. read more

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Fantastic community theater. Excellent stage, lighting, and sound. Tonight I saw Joseph and the amazing Technicolor dreamcoat in both American Sign language and spoken english. I had a front row seat, which was a little bit closer than I was comfortable with. The staff were amazing. read more

Firehouse Arts Center - Joseph and the amazing Technicolor dreamcoat - Music Venues Near Me - Pleasanton, California

I've never been here before, but always wanted to check this out. This is a really small theater, but for what I was seeing, I thought it was the perfect venue. I was here to see an acoustic show by Greg Kihn and Robert Berry. The show was great and would do it over again, but now onto the venue. I appreciated that Firehouse sends out an email on parking. Luckily I scored a spot in front down the street. There is parking in the back of the theater in case you were wondering. The theater is very small. There is a box office inside as you enter, and the concession stand is between the theater entrance on the lower level. They do have restrooms, including one family/gender neutral restroom. Art work is displayed throughout as well. The theater is small, but very intimate. There is seating upstairs as well as on the floor. From what I observed, there's adequate spacing in between the rows. There's also seating along the wall adjacent to the stage. I definitely would go here again. read more

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Saw "Damn Yankees" on Saturday 7 May and it was great! Very inexpensive, no masks, no vaccination proof, refreshments allowed in the theater and the performance was wonderful! Small live theater at its best! Ben F Tarsitano, DDS, MD read more

This is a very intimate performing arts center and I would be surprised if there are 250 seats in the house. We were on the lower level, second to the last row, in the outer seats on the left. I was still able to see every expression displayed on Collin Quinn's face during his show "Unconstitutional". You would have to be working with 20/70+ vision to be disappointed with your seat at the Firehouse Arts Center. You have an option to buy beer and wine in the lobby and you can take it into the theater with you. The seats are my only knock on this place. They are comfortable enough for an hour comedy show but I would think twice about purchasing tickets if I had to sit there any longer than that. read more

Firehouse Arts Center - Even peanut gallery seats are good here - Music Venues Near Me - Pleasanton, California

Best little hometown theater ever!! The shows are great and the theater is very quaint. Customer service is over the top great. There was a mix up with tickets and the box office took care of it without hesitation. She was so kind and said enjoy the show! read more

We had such a great time here. The venue is small, but that makes the show more intimate and helps to bring the entertainers closer. The seats are not traditional theatre seats, but individual chais. Yet, they are comfortable enough to sit through a show. They have a little concession and allow you to take your snacks to your seats. There is no coat check, so be prepared to either hold your coat on your lap or leave it in your car. We had no trouble finding parking, even on a Friday night. To the performers and crew of Noises Off! You guys were great! We laughed till we cried. Perfect! read more

I went here tonight to watch one of my favorite musicals and left feeling so disappointed. The show was amazing and the actors were super talented! The venue itself and ticket purchasing made me disappointed. When purchasing your tickets, you can't select or see the section you sit in. You randomly are given a seat based on the price point you choose. The seat I purchased was on the balcony level and I couldn't see the stage or production at all from the side I sat on. The stage lights were in the way and this wasn't mentioned when purchasing my ticket. If you want to watch a play here, you'll have to fork out more money for the lower level which is like $30 more and was only half way full. I'm so sad that as a college student, I feel like I paid all this money to support my local actors but yet couldn't enjoy the play at all because I couldn't even see the show. :( read more

Horribly disappointed with the balcony seats. The stage was almost entirely obstructed by the railing on either side of the balcony. This came as quite a surprise as there was no notice at the time of purchase (we used a mobile device for the purchase) nor was anything printed on our tickets calling this to attention. Frankly the seats are so bad, they should not offer these for sale at any price. If you choose to come to this theatre, I suggest you only buy seats directly in front of the stage on the main floor. To the management - you really need to address this. You should be embarrassed. read more

This review is for the theater itself and not for any of the artists who perform there. This is a smaller theater that I really enjoy. The stage is large for the size of the building, it has good fly space for hanging things above the action, and the seating is limited so almost every spot is a good location. Acoustics seem good, I've seen things done without the assistance of the speakers and can hear the performance just fine. There is a snack bar on the first floor with munchies and drinks. The lobby is small, it can get packed on a rainy day, but the site does have its own parking lot (which can fill up so don't get to your show too late). read more

Reason for visit: Darren Carter & David Lew show Visit date: April 12, 2011 First time? Yes. I'm a huge Darren Carter fan so when I found out he'd be around, I had to snag some seats. The Firehouse Arts Center is uber nice. First off, it's an old firehouse -- awesome! And it's in the cute downtown Pleasanton area. The theater boasts comfy chairs and welcoming staff. It's classy, too -- you can have some wine as you enjoy your show. It's an intimate theater so it's a perfect venue when you want it to feel like your very own private performance. read more

Loved coming here to watch a female comedian named Kat from Nevada do her routine. She was very funny and on top of her game. Unfortunately the turn out was poor and there were lots of empty seats. I don't get it as the tickets were only $15 and this was way better than going to the movies. Great place to get some wine and chocolates while seating in the theatre. read more

Nice venue. Clean. Intimate. Serves beer and wine you can take into the theater. Seats were very uncomfortable. Fancier folding chairs basically. read more

Great venue for music, arts, programs and concerts. We saw Jeff Borges here twice at an awesome Blues Christmas concert.Saw Bo Bice Saturday night - he rocked the house Southern Rock style! Great people, good wine bar and snacks, interesting and diverse program materials, lots of parking, and Meadowland Dairy soft serve cones across the street. C'mon people does it get any better than this? read more

Nice intimate theatre, a great place to catch a show or performance. This place has a really nice setup, you almost feel as if your watching from the stage itself. Nice acoustics, and comfortable seating help ensure you will have an enjoyable evening. I look forward to visiting this theatre again. read more

They lied to us. They advertised an exhibit of watercolors. We got there on a day the art center was open, and the exhibit was on. But the exhibit was not open - only the building was. This is not what their website said. Clearly this place is run by amateurs who evidently don't know about customer service, or just don't care. To heck with them. read more

Painfully loud Music... Since this tiny theater changed management the music groups Db levels have progressively become louder to the point of causing a headache. Yesterdays unfortunate "Whitney" group was a prime example. For the majority of the concert the background music was so loud the lead singers voice was totally drowned out. Miserable experience. read more

What a great little theater! Smartly laid out, well staffed, nice little snack bar. Looks brand new! The sound and lighting were great, too. I didn't feel blasted noise-wise at this concert, which was awesome. I just loved it. And they have a parking lot! How great. Definitely doing to keep an eye out for future events here. read more

Love the intimate Firehouse Theater in Downtown Pleasanton. Walking distance from home or restaurants. Prices are reasonable except tonight. Chorus Line cast was not nearly as strong as the director's previous show, Chicago @ the Firehouse in 2011. The show did not flooooow. Stage too crowded? read more

Great show Chorus Line but was somewhat distracted by patrons eating popcorn and some kid with a soda can and making that crackling sound during the quiet parts of the show. Should not allow popcorn in a theatre. I have never been in any theatre where they allow that. Every other aspect of the Firehouse is great and I love the intimacy of the theatre. Just loose the popcorn and the soda!! read more

Cute theater and much-needed arts center in downtown Pleasanton. A little small, but the stage would be perfect for a production of Spring Awakening (hint hint). The art gallery downstairs is a lovely way to spend a few minutes before seeing a show. Warning: side balcony seating is best for very tall people, otherwise there is a railing directly in your line of vision. read more

Fantastic venue, saw the Bee Gees show this past summer and the sound, lighting and production were outstanding. Lovely intimate setting, every seat is great. Good variety of shows and the gallery at the venue is a must see, interesting exhibitions. I plan to attend many shows this season. read more