Back in 2003, when former Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr brought his All Starr Band to Easton’s State Theatre Center for the Arts for the first time in 2003, venue Chief Executive Officer Shelley Brown said you could sense he might have been thinking, “Why am I at this small theater?”

Starr, 86, returned to the State Theatre for a sold-out concert Sept. 24.

Brown says Starr established a relationship with the venue. It was his fifth performance there, and it again sold out.

“People are here to see Ringo and, you know? It’s a love fest. Let’s put it that way,” says Brown.

It was a coincidence, Brown says, that the State Theatre was able to get Starr for a concert during the historic theater’s 100th season, which kicked off Sept. 13 with a concert by The Moody Blues singer Justin Hayward.

The season continues through June 16, 2027, with a lineup of 46 concerts, comedians, musical stage plays, magic shows and more.

They include such high-profile performers as comedians Lewis Black and Bobby Collins, radio favorites Air Supply, viral a cappella group Straight No Chaser, guitar wonder Joe Bonamassa and musicals “The Music Man,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Nutcracker” Christmas ballet, “Waitress” and “Stomp.”

Starr’s concert helped demonstrate how successful the State Theatre has been over the years, the level of its offerings, and what it means to its audiences and many of its performers, according to Brown:

“The building itself holds memories that are different for every patron. I look at my bulletin board and I have tacked up notes from people over the years. … And there are letters from people or notes from people saying, like, ‘Wow this really meant something to me.’

“And so the 100th year has been a year for those of us that have been here a long time a celebration, but also a reflection of things.”

Brown says the staff at The State has “been approaching the 100th year for the last couple of years as this monumental time and achievement.

“And then when it starts getting closer, it’s like, ‘How are we going to celebrate this?’

“We’ve always played headliner artists and great shows, I mean, top quality, at least. And what do you do to make it more special?

“Wow: The 100”

“And so we thought, well, special artists, new artists, artists that we love dearly that we’d love to see again, and a commemorative spirit of the history of this building and the achievement of still standing and presenting theater in the 100th year.

“We went after people we couldn’t get, we went after people that we were lucky enough that they accepted our invitation and we’re still going to add a few shows. We’re always trying to do something special and interesting, but there’s no question; you look at it as “Wow the 100.”

Brown says The State serves “many different audiences. For some people, State Theatre is where they see Martina McBride [Sept. 26] or they saw Willie Nelson for years. And for others, it’s some rock ‘n’ roll rental show, or for others it’s some Broadway.

“We serve many different audiences and I learned that when I first came here was to just scatter the kind of programming wide because it’s different things to different people.”

The State presented Hayward with singer Christopher Cross in 2023 and several times before that with The Moody Blues. Says Brown:

“The Moodys once did an event over one Thanksgiving and my crew had Thanksgiving with the Moodys and no one ever knew they were here. You know, some of the artists don’t allow us to say that they’re here, but we go way back with that relationship.

“Then he was here with Christopher Cross and it was so wonderful, we enjoyed it so much … so we made an offer.”

Lewis Black

There are other returning favorites, as well, among them popular comedian Lewis Black, who performed Oct. 9 at the State Theatre.

“Lewis used to come every year or every two years back before the world went crazy,” Brown says.

“Once, he was backstage waiting to go on when we did our very first from-the-stage building campaign and I pitched the fact that we needed a new curtain.

“And when his show was over, he gave me a personal check, a contribution, for the curtain and he said, ‘I love this theater, it’s beautiful.’”

In 2024, Black announced his “farewell tour,” and Brown says she called his agent and said, “Please, is there any way I can get Lewis just one last time?’ And she said, ‘Shelly, it’s so funny. He gave me a list of theaters he wants to go back to and yours was at the top of the list.’

“We booked Lewis and he came last year and it was like old home week. … I asked his manager if I could say that he had donated to the theater and he was, like, ‘Sure why not? Lewis loves this theater.’

“Lewis went out when he was introduced and he told the story of how he loved the theater so much and it was so beautiful, and then he told this hilarious story of how ‘I was lured away [to play the nearby Wind Creek Casino] by all this money ... they sent naked women with cash or arms full of cash.’

“Everybody was howling. But then he said at the end, ‘I love this theater and I wanted to come back and I’m so grateful to be here.’ And I thought, ‘Wow, that was really nice; that was really warm and sweet and nice.‘“

Joe Bonamassa

Another returning favorite is guitar virtuoso Joe Bonamassa, who performs March 2, 2027. The theater did not book the concert. It’s an artist rental. But that indicates how well the theater is regarded, according to Brown:

“We have a wonderful relationship with him. I don’t want to speak for him, but I would assume since he comes through regularly that we are one of his places that he likes to be and we love having him.

“Audiences go crazy for him and … I’m assuming he loves being here. He seems very happy and he can go pretty much anywhere he wants.”

The State Theatre was a frequent stop for Bonamassa’s mentor, the late B.B. King. Says Brown:

“God, what a character. And every show and as he got older, he would slow down. He would play less; he would come out and sit down. But, I mean, what a sweetheart, what a sweet man, and oh my gosh, we loved having him here.”

Other returning favorites include comedian Bobby Collins, who recorded a live comedy DVD at The State in 2015; well-known Beatles tribute band The Fab Faux, Oct. 30, and 1980s soft-rock chart-toppers Air Supply, Nov. 6,

Country chart-topper Martina McBride made her first appearance at The State, Sept. 26. Another first-timer was classical violinist Itzhak Perlman, Oct. 1, at the State Theatre.

“We don’t have a lot of classical artists here and this [brought] an audience to us that some may never have been here before. [It was] a beautiful evening no matter what, but ... a totally different evening than a boot-stomper a couple weeks before.”

Filled with memories

While many artists appreciate what The State offers, perhaps what makes the venue most special is the memories it has created for audiences.

“I’ve said a million times about it’s about being here with other people,” Brown says. “It’s about being around other people; that they bring with them their own sort of aura. Is it the building? Is it the company? Is it the act? Is it the history?

“Probably the single thing people tell me more than anything is that they remember the balcony, either from when they were a kid or … If I had a dollar for everybody that had a first date in the balcony we’d never have to do another fundraiser.

“It’s just that memory or learning to dance in the dance studio when it was upstairs, where the ballroom is now. Everybody over 40 in the Easton area learned how to dance in there. So it’s just this place that’s full of memories.

“We had a psychic come in here … and she said, ‘The thing about these theaters, every theater like this, if you go up to the ceiling you can hear a little bit of everybody that was ever here.’

“And I love that image … You know, over there’s a little opera, over there’s voices. … They respect the building and the beauty of it and the acoustics of it and the history of it.

“And when you’re [an artist] on the road, there are some that just walk out ... I mean, I’ve heard this from them ... where they just walk out and go, ‘Oh my God, look at this, will you? Look at this.’ You know what a great theater you have.”

And Ringo Starr is among them.

State Theatre Center for the Arts, 453 Northampton St., Easton. Box Office: 610- 252-3132; 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Tuesday - Friday; two hours prior to shows; https://www.statetheatre.org/show-information/