“A 63-year-old LA icon is closed, and its future is unclear”
“On Tuesday morning, the Los Angeles City Planning Department held a tense virtual public hearing for an ordinarily benign topic: a new conditional use permit, or CUP, application that would allow a property owner to sell alcohol consumed on-site. Dozens of Angelenos, including many people working in the film industry, turned out to voice their frustration concerning the high-profile project: the long-shuttered Cinerama Dome, a towering icon of ’60s-era Hollywood and beloved theater, that has lain empty for six years with no concrete reopening date in sight.”
This theater is now known as the Barbary Stage with the Ray of Light Theatre company producing the shows. Their 2026 season kicked off this month with Mean Girls The Musical. Next up is Urinetown followed by Once Upon a One More Time.
This is now known as The Avalon, harkening back to it’s counterculture days when it was known as the Avalon Ballroom. Chet Helms presented rock bands here that made the San Francisco Sound of the 1960’s famous. Wiki entry:
AvalonBallroom
The Balboa is celebrating it’s 100th anniversary this week. Here is a link to the CinemaSFBay website for the theater (the non profit owners of the theater) announcing this week’s events:
“The SF Historic Preservation Commission on April 1 unanimously endorsed plans to restore historic elements of the Clay while bringing it into the modern age” bringing the theater closer to reopening. Here is a link to the NewFillmore.com article and another link is at the end of the article of the presentation that was made to the Historic Preservation Commission on the new vision for the Clay.
The seating capacity has changed. According to the SF Standard there is room for 1385 inside the theater for a live concert (balcony seating and standing room on the orchestra floor). For films, when the portable seats are in place in the orchestra section, capacity is 1115 (including balcony seating).
waynezimsr…"the dodos" were the voters that turned down the ballot proposition that would have had the City/County buy the Fox from Fox West Coast for about $1million. A major mistake. The marquees…BART could not build it’s 3 level subway with marquees sticking out over the sidewalks because the pile drivers that hammered the side supports for the Market St subway would have damaged them. Or been in the way. Very unfortunate. The Warfield had one of the best marquees on Market St. But looking back from a 2026 viewpoint there would have been just a few of all those theaters left (the Warfield included). Nearly all the have been demolished.
May 6, 1958.
May 6, 1958.
May 6, 1958.
May 6, 1958.
May 6, 1958.
May 6, 1958.
May 13, 2026 SFGate article:
“A 63-year-old LA icon is closed, and its future is unclear”
“On Tuesday morning, the Los Angeles City Planning Department held a tense virtual public hearing for an ordinarily benign topic: a new conditional use permit, or CUP, application that would allow a property owner to sell alcohol consumed on-site. Dozens of Angelenos, including many people working in the film industry, turned out to voice their frustration concerning the high-profile project: the long-shuttered Cinerama Dome, a towering icon of ’60s-era Hollywood and beloved theater, that has lain empty for six years with no concrete reopening date in sight.”
SFGate:
CineramaDome
This photo appeared in a SF Chronicle article this morning and was credited as an SF Chronicle photo file.
This theater is now known as the Barbary Stage with the Ray of Light Theatre company producing the shows. Their 2026 season kicked off this month with Mean Girls The Musical. Next up is Urinetown followed by Once Upon a One More Time.
Their website is here: RayofLight
SFist article here: SFist
I saw this twice at the Regency 2 in 70mm. Nestor Almendros won an Oscar for his cinematography.
New photo of the exterior added.
This is now known as The Avalon, harkening back to it’s counterculture days when it was known as the Avalon Ballroom. Chet Helms presented rock bands here that made the San Francisco Sound of the 1960’s famous. Wiki entry: AvalonBallroom
The Avalon Website here: TheAvalon
The Balboa is celebrating it’s 100th anniversary this week. Here is a link to the CinemaSFBay website for the theater (the non profit owners of the theater) announcing this week’s events:
Balboa
“The SF Historic Preservation Commission on April 1 unanimously endorsed plans to restore historic elements of the Clay while bringing it into the modern age” bringing the theater closer to reopening. Here is a link to the NewFillmore.com article and another link is at the end of the article of the presentation that was made to the Historic Preservation Commission on the new vision for the Clay.
Clay
This is the Market St Granada (Paramount) that has it’s own CT page Paramount
The Grand Lake is celebrating it’s 100th birthday this week. Free films and tours.
Grand Lake
Photo taken 1970-1971.
The seating capacity has changed. According to the SF Standard there is room for 1385 inside the theater for a live concert (balcony seating and standing room on the orchestra floor). For films, when the portable seats are in place in the orchestra section, capacity is 1115 (including balcony seating).
SFStandard
Please update the overview. The former 49 seat second screen theater is now a concert venue. More about it here in this SFGate article.
4Star
Exterior photos posted from last night’s Community Event Grand Reopening. Tickets sold out long ago.
I could not find a “set” either but I did find 2 photos (unknown photographers) doing an image search on DuckDuckGo.
“Historic Empire Theater in San Francisco to be replaced by new apartment complex in West Portal”
Hoodline article here:
Empire
waynezimsr…"the dodos" were the voters that turned down the ballot proposition that would have had the City/County buy the Fox from Fox West Coast for about $1million. A major mistake. The marquees…BART could not build it’s 3 level subway with marquees sticking out over the sidewalks because the pile drivers that hammered the side supports for the Market St subway would have damaged them. Or been in the way. Very unfortunate. The Warfield had one of the best marquees on Market St. But looking back from a 2026 viewpoint there would have been just a few of all those theaters left (the Warfield included). Nearly all the have been demolished.
“The San Francisco Venue Where the Dead Were Kings and Bob Dylan Was Booed”
SFGate article By Jessica Lipsky on the Warfield’s storied history while it was a film theatre and after it became a performance venue.
Warfield
The Curran has been purchased by the San Francisco Giants:
Playbill
New neon for the blade/marquee to be lit tonight.
Vogue