Victoria Theatre

2961 16th Street,
San Francisco, CA 94103

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Related Websites

Victoria Theatre (Official)

Additional Info

Previously operated by: Golden State Theater & Realty Corp.

Architects: Matthew O'Brien, Carl Werner

Firms: Werner & O'Brien

Functions: Live Performances, Movies, Movies (Film Festivals)

Styles: Mission Revival

Previous Names: Brown's Opera House, 16th Street Theatre, Teatro Victoria, New Follies

Phone Numbers: Box Office: 415.863.7576
Manager: 415.863.7576

Nearby Theaters

Victoria Theatre

Brown’s Opera House was built and opened in 1908 as a vaudeville theatre. It later became the 16th Street Theatre. Revitalized in recent years, used mostly for live shows and community events, as well as occasional movies.

Contributed by Garrett Murphy

Recent comments (view all 28 comments)

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on June 20, 2010 at 3:51 am

This house was listed as the 16th Street Theatre in an ad for architects O'Brien & Werner (Matthew O'Brien and Carl Werner) that appeared in the 1907-1908 edition of Henry’s Official Western Theatrical Guide. The ad listed five theaters designed by the firm. The other four were the Orpheum, Valencia Street, Mission, and Princess theaters.

celaniasdawn
celaniasdawn on May 13, 2011 at 10:56 am

My Husband and I went to the Victoria when it was called the Follies in the 60’s to see Tempest Storm. The burlesque was fantastic, beautiful costumes, very talented women with great singing and dancing acts. There was a full orchestra in the pit and a great time was had by all. A few years later in the early 70’s we went another time, and noticed that the signage was changed to the 16th Street Follies. It wasn’t the same, the acts weren’t as good and they stripped totally nude which they didn’t do before. Burlesque was gone. They also showed hardcore movies, I remember how awful the movie was and my husband didn’t even like it. The above posting by Joe Vogel mentions the Princess Theater. I do remember the Princess Theater, for the life of me I cant remember the name of the street it was on, but it was across town. The building looked exactly like the Victoria, and it was a church and torn down in the 70’s. Next to the Princess was another theater, which looked exactly the princess, but the inside was a dance hall, I believe it was called the Eddy.

CSWalczak
CSWalczak on May 13, 2011 at 3:06 pm

There were two theaters that bore the name Princess in San Francisco over the years. The one referred to above is probably the theater called the Ellis (on Ellis) and was demolished in the early 1970’s; its entry here on CT is /theaters/7112/. The other one-time Princess ended its days as the Rita (it had several names) and was demolished in 2009; its entry can be seen here: /theaters/7117/. Both were used as churches after they closed.

theatrebuff333
theatrebuff333 on October 14, 2011 at 11:02 pm

I remember The New Follies Burlesk in the early 1960s. It was towards the end of the original type of burlesque shows. The strippers still wore “pastes” but every now and then they might fall off. They even had the traditional comedy acts (top banana and second banana and these were quite good. The theatre, as I recall, was quite nice and kept in good condition.

NorCal
NorCal on June 23, 2012 at 1:57 pm

I remember Lee very well Lake. Please contact me at

Mikeyisirish
Mikeyisirish on June 26, 2012 at 12:01 pm

A 2011 photo can be seen here.

AndrewBarrett
AndrewBarrett on September 28, 2014 at 10:30 am

This building looks AWESOME. Glad it is still open!

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on June 6, 2020 at 9:18 am

Additional history from below link.

“The five hundred seat Victoria Theater was built in 1908 as a vaudeville house named Brown’s Opera House by Edmund Joseph Brown, grandfather of Governor Jerry Brown.”

https://noehill.com/sf/landmarks/sf215.asp

Pasternak
Pasternak on April 29, 2022 at 8:17 pm

My very short career as a new wave rock musician both began and ended here in the mid-80s. Fond memories of playing here. Great venue for film, music and performance art.

m00se1111
m00se1111 on June 15, 2022 at 4:28 pm

much of the ‘rediscovered’ film from Peaches Christ (and starring Natasha Lyonne) was filmed at the Victoria. A newly remastered blu ray was released. The film is also streaming on Shudder.

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