Varsity Theatre
616 Second Street,
Davis,
CA
95616
616 Second Street,
Davis,
CA
95616
3 people
favorited this theater
Opened in 1950 with 850 seats, the interior design was by San Francisco based designer Gale Santocono. It operated as a single screen movie house until 1975. From 1975 to 1990 movies shown on twin screens.
In 1992, it was de-twinned and from October 1992 to present, it has been run by the City of Davis as a community theater presenting live entertainment and occasional movies.
Contributed by
Bob Bowen
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Recent comments (view all 29 comments)
There was a story in Boxoffice magazine, June 1946, about the Varsity Theater being sold by the Luft family to Davis Theaters, Inc. The article mentioned that the Varsity had been operating for about 25 years at that time, which would put the opening around 1921. Since the listed Varsity opened in 1950, I’m wondering if there were two Varsitys or alternatively if the 1950 opening was not a new theater but some kind of remodel.
There were indeed two Varsity Theatres in Davis. The August 5, 1950, issue of Boxoffice carries this brief item: “The old Varsity Theatre building will be razed in Davis to make way for a new store.”
There is a 400 seat Varsity Theater listed for Davis in the 1940 Film Daily so there was a Varsity Theater operating prior to 1950. No address is given.
I found the address and I’m going to submit the other Varsity Theater. I’m adding both of your names (ken mc/Joe Vogel) to the new Varsity Theater listing.
Here are photos from 1982 and 1986:
http://tinyurl.com/qcgfz9
http://tinyurl.com/pvxmd5
This is a close-up shot of the Varsity.
Does anyone know who created the original murals? As a kid, I used to stare at them every time I went to a movie (I was always a bit early) and they utterly fascinated me.
Sometime last year they added a 2nd screen, but this time it’s behind the current one in an area that used to be a backstage area when they did live shows. I haven’t been in since this was done so I don’t know what’s changed- the screen they put in the main auditorium upon re-opening was MUCH too small though, and they’ve been pretty lackadaisical presentation-wise. Several movies I’ve seen there were platter-scratched- how dumb do you have to be to do that when you’re only running ONE screen?
On June 28, 2012 The Theatre Historical Society will be visiting the Varsity. Phone 630-782-1800 for more information.
A 2010 photo can be seen here.