Lyceum Theatre San Diego

Location: Downtown San Diego (Horton Plaza / Core District)

Performances: September through March

Cost: Theatre – $34 and Up ($18 for Students); Ballet – $40 ($20 for Students)

Features: Home to the Progressive San Diego Repertory Theatre and the Contemporary San Diego Ballet

Lyceum Theatre Highlights: The Lyceum Theatre consists of two separate stage facilities below Horton Plaza. The smaller, more intimate 255 seat theatre is home to its main resident, the San Diego Repertory Theatre company. The Lyceum is also home to a few San Diego Ballet productions each season.

San Diego Repertory Theatre

Since its beginning in 1976, the San Diego Repertory Theatre has become the third largest theatre company in San Diego. Its productions focus on progressive themes and innovative interpretations of classic pieces. The San Diego Rep will provide you with an exotic and provocative theatre experience. Tickets do sell out so get your tickets in advance. The prices are highest for the Saturday Evening and Sunday Matinee performances, starting at about $42. Other evening performances, starting at $34, are generally offered from Wednesday through Sunday. View the current season productions for the San Diego Repertory Theatre. You can buy your tickets online. Once you select the desired number of seats, seniors and students can then select discounted pricing for their tickets.

San Diego Ballet

The San Diego Ballet has been entertaining audiences since 1991. It focuses on producing more contemporary versions of classical pieces, aiming to attract a new generation of viewers. Don’t be surprised to even see the ballet performers dancing to Hip Hop or Rap. Two of their productions are performed at the Lyceum Theatre each season. The others take place in nearby Point Loma and La Jolla, in addition to the road tours taken to other parts of the country. Look at the upcoming ballet schedule at the Lyceum Theatre or view the full season schedule at the San Diego Ballet web site.

Nearby Dining – There are plenty of dining options within walking distance of the Lyceum Theatre. Across Broadway from Horton Plaza are a few restaurants that are popular for the theatre crowds looking for upscale dining. They include The Westgate Room in the Westgate Hotel, the award winning Grant Grill in the U.S. Grant Hotel, and Dobson’s Bar and Restaurant, a long-time favorite for city business leaders and politicians. Horton Plaza also has a few fine dining restaurants. For a list of restaurants in the Gaslamp Quarter, visit the Gaslamp Quarter Association web site. After theatre, you will find plenty of nightlife in the Gaslamp. One particular attraction for the after theatre crowds is the Plaza Bar in the Westgate Hotel, an intimate piano bar where you will often see amateur and professional performers sharing their talents after the shows. (You will find it by walking a half a block north of Horton Plaza on 2nd Avenue.)

Information on Visiting the Lyceum Theatre at Horton Plaza

Directions from Google Maps to 324 Horton Plaza in San Diego, CA 92101. (The Lyceum Theatre is located below the Horton Plaza Shopping Mall, which is located next to the Gaslamp Quarter. The Lyceum theatre entrance is on the north side of the mall facing Broadway Circle. Don’t get confused with the Balboa Theatre, which is on the east side of Horton Plaza. )

Parking – The Horton Plaza Parking Garage can be entered at the intersection of 4th Avenue and F Street or at the intersection of 3rd Avenue and G Street. (These are all one-way streets.) Get your parking ticket validated by the Lyceum Theatre. Otherwise, you will be required to pay the normal rate, which is typically $8 per hour. Pay attention to where you parked. The Horton Plaza garage is a maze. Each parking level has separate areas signified by a fruit or vegetable painted on the walls to help you remember where you parked. Note that the parking garage is on the southeast side of Horton Plaza so you will have a few minute walk to reach the Theatre on the north side.

You may also want to consider street parking, which is free after 6PM, on the streets north of Horton Plaza. This is also closer to some of the fine dining establishments frequented by theatre goers.

Traffic – Getting in and out of downtown using highways I-5, SR-163, and SR-94 is relatively easy. Downtown San Diego is not a major employment center and thus there is very little rush hour traffic. Watch for slower traffic on the I-5 where it does a tight S-curve through downtown San Diego near the SR-163 interchange. When heading southbound on SR-163, stay to the left side unless you want to get on the I-5. (You will encounter a slight delay getting on the I-5 from SR-163.) You will also encounter a slight delay on SR-163 going into downtown when there is an event at Petco Park. If the San Diego Padres play a daytime game, it usually start at 1:05PM. Otherwise, games start at 7:05PM. Even though traffic backs up a little on SR-163, it continues to move along. When leaving downtown, remember that:

1st Avenue will get you to the I-5 North,
11th Avenue will get you to SR-163 and the I-5 North,
E & J Streets will get you to the I-5 South, and
G Street will get you to SR-94.

The traffic lights on these streets are synchronized and will generally move you along without delay. (Learn how to get the latest highway traffic updates.)

Once you are downtown, you will find most of the streets are one-way, on an alternating basis. (You can see them if you zoom in on Google Maps.) Broadway, which runs along the north side of Horton Plaza, and Market Street are both two-way streets running east-west. You will find that at several intersections you are not allowed to make a left turn off of Broadway or Market. Thus, if you need to make a left turn, it is often better to use a one-way street rather than Broadway and Market Streets. For the other streets running along the outside of Horton Plaza, Fourth Avenue is a one-way street heading south, First Avenue is a one-way street heading north, and G Street is a one-way street heading east.

All of the streets downtown move along quite well. The only exceptions are 4th and 5th Avenues through the Gaslamp Quarter in the evenings and around Petco Park before and after events. One other exception is crossing train tracks that run along Harbor Drive in front of the Convention Center. You can cross over the train tracks at Market, Front, 1st, and 5th. Sometimes, freight trains block the latter few crossover streets. If you see them sitting still, it means they are checking their brakes, so it could take a while. Don’t wait. Move farther north towards Market Street to cross over the tracks.

Transit – Both the Blue and Orange Trolley Lines move through Downtown San Diego and get you within four blocks of most attractions. Both lines stop at the Civic Center station, which is the closest to Horton Plaza. (The mall is two blocks south of the station.) However, other downtown trolley stops are also within manageable walking distance for most people. (See San Diego Transit Information for the downtown transit map and information for the online Transit Planner.) Walking around Downtown San Diego is easy since it is flat with the exception of the northeast corner near Cortez Hill.