Golden Gate Theatre
1 Taylor Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94102
1 Taylor Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94102
12 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 64 comments found
To bad the front of this RKO Golden Gate Theatre is a mess today in 2013. What is left of the great marquee is now painted a ugly brown color. Even the tall blades that say Golden Gate are painted in brown. The neon is not on or working. The front in the 50’s and 60’s was like a huge neon accordion of color ornage, green, yellow and blue. Please, the Shorenstein’s make big bucks in Broadway shows they play here, why can’t they get a good neon company back in and fix the front up with some color and repair the neon. This is one of the worst spots in SF day or night, even with theatre security you take your life in chance.
RKO Hillstreet Theatre in LA
Hi gomesrox… S.F.’s Golden Gate Theatre once had a twin sister in Los Angeles. I believe it was the Hill Street Theatre?
gomesrox, this is the Golden Gate Theatre you want. The one in East Los Angeles only showed movies. Check with the Public Library or the area newspaper for past listings. Some have converted past to the internet or microfilm.
I recently bought a desk at a thrift store for my daughter, and when we were refinishing it, I found 2 orchestra tickets for the Golden Gate theatre from 1982. As I understand there is a G.G. in L.A. as well? Im not sure if I have the right one or which one they are from, but if anyone has an idea of how i could find information about what show was playing, I would be interested in info.
Should add the Penthouse to the aka list for this theatre. During the theatres Trans-Beacon days of operation as a twin, the balcony was known as the Penthouse.
NICE 1956 PHOTO KEN MC.
A couple photos I took of the Golden Gate Theatre on Feb. 28th can be seen here:
View link
Today it worked.
Not on my end.
The link is already broken
Here is a photo circa 1956:
http://tinyurl.com/yjxdkqe
Regarding the whole issue of how lousy the neighborhood is around the Golden Gate: I can’t resist summarizing the reson in a nutshell. The “City That Knows How” has become “The City That Deliberates.” And as for Mayor Christopher and the Fox, well, there hasn’t been a Republican mayor since. ‘Nuff said. (not that Democrats have exactly been the answer to the city’s prayers, either)
The paint job is a product of what was otherwise a fine late 1970s refurbishing and partial restoration. Those were the colors of the times. Before the refurbishing, the vertical signs were painted in aqua, white, and yellow, and perhaps more. There was neon on both them and the marquee. Originally, all that signage was a darker scheme, but I’ve only seen black and white photos, so I don’t know what the original colors were. The 1920s interior colors had long ago been painted over in a flat pastel scheme—I believe in the 50s. I agree that the Golden Gate is long overdue for a fine 1920s repainting throughout, of the sort that a company like Evergreene Decorative Painting does so perfectly. (no, I don’t work for them, but have seen many examples of what they’ve done in theatres)
I don’t know whether the marquee and the vertical are supposed to be brown, but they sure look that way. The interior is also dreary despite some good architectural points. What a difference a creative paint job would do. The place is really depressing, no matter how lively or colorful any stage presentation might be.
Hello,
I first stepped foot in the Golden Gate to see a sit down production of ANNIE in 1981 when I was 12. It was magical to me. I was not aware of how bad the area was because we got out of a cab right in front of the theater. That was my first experience inside a big theater like that and I have vidid memories of it. We sat in the front of the Loge seating area. Not many theaters have a section that uses that title. In New York that area is always called Front Mez. I didn’t know it was built as a movie theater primarily, but obviously it was built to allow for live stage shows because it handles all the biggest touring Broadway shows. I guess it was due to the popularity of Vaudeville that so many movie palaces were built as full stage theaters. Over my teen years I returned to the Golden Gate often to see other musicals and the area was always bad. I’m amazed that nothing has been done to clean it up since other areas not far away are pretty nice.
took some pics last weekend, my fave is the descending/ascending windows balconies…did not see any neon but the spamalot run had not started yet and the theater was “dark"
View link
1973 Photo
1983 Photo
While ordering tickets online the other day to the upcoming “Monty Python’s Spamalot” at the Golden Gate, I noticed that SHN has a dusk view of the Golden Gate on their site, and it looks like the letters on the Golden Gate vertical signs are lit. This may be just a photoshop job. Can anyone enlighten me as to whether neon has indeed (rightfully) returned to the letters on the Golden Gate’s verticals? I will likely not be by the theatre until we see that show in May, and I’m itching to know if it was just a bit of photoshop wizardry fulfilling my wishful thinking, or if indeed this refurbishment has very recently been done. I do know that plans are underway to refurbish the whole office block portion of the Golden Gate. I hope the signs can be part of that. I would not complain at all if the letters “SHN” were placed in the blank spaces at the top where “RKO” was once written.
:–)
It might have been their day off, or they all headed to the liquor store when the photo was taken.
There’s no bums in front of it!
Golden Gate Theater photo
Simon, thanks for your comments. Had I had the opportunity to have actually seen the Roxy, Capitol, Brooklyn Fox, Center, Paramount, Rivoli, Proctor’s 58th Street, the list goes on and on, I would probably still be crying as well for what we have lost in New York.
Alas, my appreciation for movie palaces came later in my life when I realized, too late, how special they were and that they will never be built like this again. As it is, my appreciation for the old theaters grew back in my disco days when many of New York’s best discos were in old theaters. The Saint (Loews Commodore), Palladium (Academy of Music), Studio 54 (Gallo Opera House), Xenon (Miller Theater), Club USA (The Forum). These were all beautiful theaters and I was able to appreciate the architecture from a different perspective than as a moviegoer.
It’s too bad that, ultimately, only Studio 54 was able to survive long enough to be saved. It has since reverted back to the legitmate stage and I have seen many productions there.
The pain of what was lost in New York is tempered somewhat by what we have been able to save and what can potentially be saved. We still have Radio City, The Beacon, 4 out the 5 Loews Wonder Theaters (Paradise, 175th Street, Valencia, Jersey), St. George, Beacon, Apollo, New Amsterdam, Hollywood, Ziegfeld and the Paris. In addition, there are about 2 dozen landmarked Broadway houses many of which have played films in their past. Waiting in the wings?….The Loews Kings, The Brooklyn Paramount, The Liberty and others.
No other city still has this kind of inventory (except arguably Los Angeles). That is why it is so shameful when other cities don’t protect what little they have left. Philadelphia is struggling to protect its lone remaining palace, The Boyd. Most cities, have just one or two restored palaces.
In San Francisco, it’s not just the Golden Gate that needs protection. There are other theaters in the neighborhood but the surrounding neighborhood is just awful. Others have said that SF is hesitant to address the homeless issue because of its liberal values and I think that’s nonsense. Very few cities are more liberal than New York, and this city has cleaned up Times Square and, by law, provides shelter to the homeless which is why it is not very noticeable here. The theaters have to be able to attract clientele and it is difficult for them to do so with such aggressive panhandling and open drug use on the streets. It’s a shame. I feel that if New york could do it (and it was really bad here), any city could do it!
Simon, thanks for your comments. Had I had the opportunity to have actually seen the Roxy, Capitol, Brooklyn Fox, Center, Paramount, Rivoli, Proctor’s 58th Street, the list goes on and on, I would probably still be crying as well for what we have lost in New York.
Alas, my appreciation for movie palaces came later in my life when I realized, too late, how special they were and that they will never be built like this again. As it is, my appreciation for the old theaters grew back in my disco days when many of New York’s best discos were in old theaters. The Saint (Loews Commodore), Palladium (Academy of Music), Studio 54 (Gallo Opera House), Xenon (Miller Theater), Club USA (The Forum). These were all beautiful theaters and I was able to appreciate the architecture from a different perspective than as a moviegoer.
It’s too bad that, ultimately, only Studio 54 was able to survive long enough to be saved. It has since reverted back to the legitmate stage and I have seen many productions there.
The pain of what was lost in New York is tempered somewhat by what we have been able to save and what can potentially be saved. We still have Radio City, The Beacon, 4 out the 5 Loews Wonder Theaters (Paradise, 175th Street, Valencia, Jersey), St. George, Beacon, Apollo, New Amsterdam, Hollywood, Ziegfeld and the Paris. In addition, there are about 2 dozen landmarked Broadway houses many of which have played films in their past. Waiting in the wings?….The Loews Kings, The Brooklyn Paramount, The Liberty and others.
No other city still has this kind of inventory (except arguably Los Angeles). That is why it is so shameful when other cities don’t protect what little they have left. Philadelphia is struggling to protect its lone remaining palace, The Boyd. Most cities, have just one or two restored palaces.
In San Francisco, it’s not just the Golden Gate that needs protection. There are other theaters in the neighborhood but the surrounding neighborhood is just awful. Others have said that SF is hesitant to address the homeless issue because of its liberal values and I think that’s nonsense. Very few cities are more liberal than New York, and this city has cleaned up Times Square and, by law, provides shelter to the homeless which is why it is not very noticeable here. The theaters have to be able to attract clientele and it is difficult for them to do so with such aggressive panhandling and open drug use on the streets. It’s a shame. I feel that if New york could do it (and it was really bad here), any city could do it!