Regal Edwards Big Newport is still showing movies on Newport Center Drive. Its replacement for an evening out has already opened a few blocks away at the Central Library, though, and four of the seven events left on that new stage between now and December 6 are free.
A Room Built for an Audience
Witte Hall opened with a ribbon-cutting on July 9, 2026, led by Mayor Lauren Kleiman and the City Council, the Daily Pilot reported. The 10,000-square-foot auditorium cost $23.4 million. The Library Foundation of Newport Beach, the city and private donors paid for it, and it is named for Bill Witte and Keiko Sakamoto, who gave $4 million toward construction.
The new building fixes some real problems. The library's multipurpose room holds a maximum of 180 people, and all of its seating is on one level. Foundation chief executive Jerold Kappel told the Daily Pilot that audiences in that room had trouble seeing speakers at the dais and that the acoustics did not suit some programs. Witte Hall seats 300 and has a sound system that Kappel called acoustically beautiful, three livestream cameras and assistive listening devices. Robert R. Coffee Architect + Associates designed it with a curved roof inspired by the seashells on the city's beaches.
The city's Recreation and Senior Services department runs the hall, which is meant for community groups, music, conferences, lectures and films.
Why the Timing Lines Up With Big Newport
The Foundation tied the demand for an auditorium directly to the cinema down the street. "Now, with the nearby Edwards Cinema closing, there is a demand for an auditorium," Kappel said in the Daily Pilot's opening coverage.
That theater is still open. As of mid-October, Regal still lists Big Newport and its upcoming showings. Its future is already decided, though. In March 2026 the Newport Beach Planning Commission approved a plan to replace the theater with two residential condominium towers, as the Daily Pilot reported. An appeal reached the City Council at a public hearing on April 28. In May, the Daily Pilot reported that the bid to halt demolition had failed. The project calls for 150 condos in two 22-story towers, and the theater was expected to close "by next June or sooner." No final closing date has been announced. Until one is, the theater should be treated as open and on its way out.
That leaves Newport Center with a gap that Witte Hall is filling. It is a different kind of evening, since the hall's fall calendar has no film screenings. Its posted lineup is authors, chamber music, science talks and a children's ballet.
The Calendar From Now to the Holidays
Stephen Witt's Library Live appearance took place on October 15. After that, the next event on the stage is November 5.
| Date | Event | Time | Admission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Nov. 5 | Library Live: Susan Orlean on Joyride | 7 to 8:30 p.m. | $40 general ticket |
| Sun, Nov. 8 | Sunday Musicale: Webern String Quartet | 3 to 4 p.m. | Free, first-come seating |
| Sat, Nov. 14 | Creative Pages: Kelly Yang, ages 8 to 11 | 3 to 4:30 p.m. | Registration required |
| Tue, Nov. 17 | Meet the Author: Corre Larkin | 7 to 8:30 p.m. | Free, registration recommended |
| Wed, Nov. 18 | Spotlight on Science: "Earth 2.0" | 7 to 8:30 p.m. | Free, registration required |
| Sat, Dec. 5 | Festival Ballet Theatre: The Nutcracker for Kids | 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. | Registration required |
| Sun, Dec. 6 | Sunday Musicale: Seraphour Vocal Quartet | 3 to 4 p.m. | Free, first-come seating |
November is the busy month. Five events fall within two weeks, and three of them land on consecutive weeknights or close to it. The first event, Susan Orlean's Library Live talk, is also the only one in this stretch with a set ticket price. General individual tickets are $40, and doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Three days later, the Webern String Quartet plays the Sunday Musicale. The quartet is Alex Granger, Stella Cho, Chiai Tajima and Benjamin Hoffman. The concert is free and open to the public, and seating is first-come. This is the room's strongest use so far. The hall's first musical performance was a Sunday cello quartet at the July grand opening.
Kelly Yang's Creative Pages session on November 14 is for ages 8 to 11 and their families. Registration is required, and children must come with an adult. The listing does not state a price.
The two weeknight talks that follow are both free, and each rewards planning ahead. At Corre Larkin's Meet the Author evening on November 17, the first 25 registered guests to arrive get a free book. The next night, UCI physicist Paul Robertson, PhD, presents "Earth 2.0" for Spotlight on Science. Registration is required, and doors open at 6:30 p.m.
December Belongs to Families
The holiday programming is short and built for children and grandparents. Festival Ballet Theatre brings The Nutcracker for Kids on December 5 in two half-hour sessions, at 10 and 11 a.m. It is for ages 6 to 11, registration is required, and children must attend with an adult.
The next afternoon, the Seraphour Vocal Quartet sings a free holiday Sunday Musicale. The quartet is Emma Roche, Melissa Birch, Dana Rouse and Heidi Vass. That concert is the last event on the hall's calendar before the year ends, ten days before the 118th Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade begins its run on December 16.
After January, the Prices Change
The fall season mostly costs nothing. Winter and spring are anchored by the Foundation's ticketed Witte Lectures series, and each speaker appears twice, on a Friday evening and again on a Saturday afternoon.
- Rutger Bregman, Jan. 29 and 30, on Humankind: A Hopeful History and Moral Ambition. General tickets are $75 for Friday and $55 for Saturday.
- Sy Montgomery, Feb. 19 and 20.
- Ronan Farrow, March 19 and 20.
- Corby Kummer, April 16 and 17.
Library Live and Spotlight on Science continue in between. Lauren Groff appears March 11 and Patrick Ryan on April 8, and the science series returns March 3 with a talk on chemical synthesis. The Bregman Friday ticket costs almost twice as much as the Orlean ticket, so the Saturday matinee is the less expensive way to see each lecture.
Not everything has moved into the new hall. The Foundation's Medicine in Our Backyard lectures and its Book Discussion Group still meet in the Central Library's Friends Room. The campus now runs two rooms at two scales, with the smaller, regular series in the Friends Room and the bigger names on the Witte stage.
Getting There
Witte Hall sits on the Central Library campus at 980 Avocado Avenue, and you can park in the Central Library lot or in the City Hall parking structure. The library's full listings and registration links are on the Witte Hall calendar. Tickets for the Foundation's ticketed series are on the Library Foundation of Newport Beach's Witte Lectures page. For the free Sunday Musicales, seating is first-come, so arriving early is the only way to hold a seat.
Big Newport's final night has not been set, so for now Newport Center has both its old screen and its new stage. If you're weighing how changes like these affect a home near Newport Center, or you're planning a move between the Inland Empire and the coast, Perrie Mundy Group is glad to talk it through. Contact Us.
