Auditorium History | Renovation Project | Your Seat Is Waiting

Sweetwater’s historic Municipal Auditorium is an 800-seat performing arts center that was built in 1926-1927 – at the time the railroads were the primary means of travel.  Sweetwater has been a major railroad center since 1881, and its location midway between the Atlantic Seaboard and the Pacific coast meant that the Auditorium was a frequent performance venue used extensively by the glittering names during the golden era of traveling entertainment troupes.  Audiences here have experienced the brilliance of Fred and Adele Astaire, the Ziegfeld Follies, John Philip Sousa, tent showman Harley Sadler, Sir Harry Lauder, and Broadway touring companies from such early productions as Seventh Heaven, The Bohemian Girl, Rita Rita, The Rain Maker, and Carmen.

Later, regional audiences enjoyed such musical talents as Eddie Arnold, Roy Acuff, and Jerry Lee Lewis.  Elvis Presley rocked the stage in 1955 – twice!!

Beginning with 1975 summer entertainment revues, dedicated locals swept the dust off of the neglected gem, and since 1982 there has been a constant commitment to renovation and rejuvenation.  From local theater productions of the Sweetwater Little Theatre to local entertainment from the Sweetwater Municipal Band to the independent film “Red Desert Penitentiary”, creative and intensive fundraising efforts have produced dramatic results in polishing this regional showplace and providing a 21^st century venue. 

In 2003, the Sweetwater Municipal Auditorium hosted a reunion concert of the band “America”, screen legend Mickey Rooney, and “Ron Stein’s Hollywood Stars”, a major casino entertainment troupe of celebrity impersonators.  In 2004, Jerry Jeff Walker appears in April.  In October 2004, New York’s Charlotte Kendrick will anchor her U.S. tour by headlining the first edition of the Jim Wortham Memorial Concert Series – a showcase for the nation’s most talented emerging singer-songwriter-musicians.  Jim’s daughter, vocalist Jessika Wortham Damron, will open the concert series.

For more about the history of the Auditorium and the renovation project, click here.

• To book an event at the Sweetwater Municipal Auditorium or for more information, please contact the Auditorium Board at auditorium@WorthamFund.org. 

• You may also contact the Sweetwater Chamber of Commerce at chamber@SweetwaterTexas.org (telephone: 325-235-5488) (P.O. Box 1148, Sweetwater, TX 79556), located in the historic Simmons home at 810 East Broadway www.SweetwaterTexas.org.