"Now, with the nearby Edwards Cinema closing, there is a demand for an auditorium," Jerold Kappel, chief executive of the Library Foundation of Newport Beach, told the Daily Pilot when Witte Hall opened in July.
That remark ties together the two biggest changes to how Newport Beach spends an evening out this year. Regal Edwards Big Newport opened in 1969. The Daily Pilot reported in March that the Edwards family chose not to extend Regal's operating agreement past June 2027. The Newport Beach Film Festival ran Oct. 15 to 22 with more than 100 features and 250 shorts. The Daily Pilot's festival preview called it a likely farewell to Big Newport as a key venue, since the theater is set to close "in June or sooner."
The new room is on the Central Library campus on Avocado Avenue. Its calendar for the rest of 2026 is mostly free, but the free events don't all work the same way. Some seat people as they arrive, some require registration, and a few are ticketed. Knowing which rule applies to which night decides whether you get a seat.
A Room Built So the Back Row Can See
Witte Hall replaced a real problem. The Central Library's multipurpose room held at most 180 people on flat seating. Kappel told the Daily Pilot that audiences there had trouble seeing speakers at the dais, and that the acoustics didn't suit some programs. The new hall seats about 300 on tiers. It has a sound system designed for the space, three livestream cameras, and assistive listening devices. The library lists the room at 299 seats for its Sunday concerts.
The old room is still in use. Kappel said it continues to host "Medicine In Our Backyard," financial workshops and book discussions. So the library campus now has two rooms. Smaller recurring series stay in the multipurpose room, and Witte Hall gets the concerts, author nights and headline lectures.
Bill Witte and Keiko Sakamoto gave $4 million for the naming rights. The lecture tradition behind the name was inspired by Bill's father, Martin Witte. The Orange County Register put the final project cost at $23.5 million, with the City and the Library Foundation each raising $11.7 million. The Newport Signal reported the figure as $23.4 million.
The November and December Calendar, Sorted by How You Get In
As of late October, the Witte Hall calendar lists these public programs through the end of the year:
| Date | Program | How you get in |
|---|---|---|
| Thu., Nov. 5, 7 p.m. | Library Live: Susan Orlean on Joyride | Ticket, $40, or the $120 season pass |
| Sun., Nov. 8, 3 p.m. | Sunday Musicale: Webern String Quartet | Free, first come, first seated |
| Sat., Nov. 14, 3 p.m. | Creative Pages: Kelly Yang, for ages 8 to 11 and families | Registration required |
| Tue., Nov. 17, 7 p.m. | Meet the Author: Corre Larkin | Free, registration strongly recommended |
| Wed., Nov. 18, 7 p.m. | Spotlight on Science: Earth 2.0 | Free, registration required |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 10 and 11 a.m. | Festival Ballet Theatre Nutcracker for Kids, ages 6 to 11 | Registration required |
| Sun., Dec. 6, 3 p.m. | Sunday Musicale: Seraphour Vocal Quartet | Free, first come, first seated |
Two different groups are behind this calendar. The Friends of the Library fund the Sunday Musicales and the Corre Larkin author night. The Library Foundation funds the Kelly Yang program and the Nutcracker mornings, and it presents the science talk. The library event pages for the Kelly Yang and Nutcracker programs don't list a fee. Check the registration link before you assume the price.
The Registration Nights Fill Before the Doors Open
Opening weekend set the pattern. According to the Newport Signal, surf champion and author Shaun Tomson's July 11 talk was free, but registration was required. The Daily Pilot reported it was over-registered before the hall's first weekend and offered a waitlist. For a free event, registering is what holds your seat.
The two November weeknights are the free events most worth booking ahead. On Nov. 17, the first 25 registered guests to arrive for Corre Larkin's talk get a free copy of Season to Taste. The next night, UCI astronomer Paul Robertson, PhD, gives the Foundation's Earth 2.0 talk, which also requires registration. Kelly Yang on Nov. 14 and the two 30-minute Nutcracker mornings on Dec. 5 have age ranges, which makes them easy to plan around a child's Saturday.
First-Come Sundays and the 150-Space Lot
The Sunday Musicales skip registration entirely. They're hour-long classical and instrumental concerts at 3 p.m., free and open to the public, with first-come seating. The Webern String Quartet plays Nov. 8: Alex Granger, Stella Cho, Chiai Tajima and Benjamin Hoffman. The Seraphour Vocal Quartet sings Dec. 6: Emma Roche, Melissa Birch, Dana Rouse and Heidi Vass.
When seating is first come, parking decides how early you need to arrive. The library's front lot has about 150 spaces. The Daily Pilot reported that when 575 visitors came to the July family open house, parking was at a premium and people also went to the Civic Center garage. The library directs Witte Hall guests to the Central Library lot or the City Hall structure. On a Sunday, the City Hall structure is a short walk away and a reliable fallback.
Where the Ticket Prices Start
Two series charge admission, at two price levels.
- Library Live is the Library Foundation's author series, running September 2026 through April 2027. Tickets are $40 each, or $120 for the season pass. Susan Orlean's Nov. 5 evening on Joyride is the only Library Live date on the hall's calendar this year.
- The Witte Lectures return for their 30th season, January through April 2027. Member passes cost $250 for the Friday series and $180 for the Saturday series. Single tickets are $75 on Fridays and $55 on Saturdays, and Foundation members at the Book Collector level of $250 or above get a discount.
The 2027 season opens with Rutger Bregman on Friday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m., with a repeat Saturday, Jan. 30, at 2 p.m. Sy Montgomery speaks Friday, Feb. 19. The Friday and Saturday sessions run on separate passes, so choose the evening or the matinee before you buy.
The Screen Hasn't Gone Up Yet
The Witte Hall calendar through December lists no film screenings. The Library Foundation does list documentary screenings among the uses it planned for the hall. The only film shown there so far was a short about the library and Witte Hall, screened at the invitation-only opening reception on July 10, according to the Newport Beach Independent.
Community groups can rent the hall and the adjoining Stahr Courtyard through the City's Recreation and Senior Services Department, which lists the venue as available daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Private rentals don't appear on the public calendar. A screening series could arrive through a rental rather than an announcement, so the public calendar is the place to watch.
For now, the next free seat in Newport Beach's newest auditorium is 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8, when the Webern String Quartet plays and the first 299 people through the door get in.
If a Sunday Musicale or a Witte Lecture pass is part of how you picture your weeks near the Central Library, and you'd like to talk about your home or your next one, Aymi Lau would be glad to schedule a confidential consultation or prepare your complimentary home valuation.
