Good for you Howard along with Philidelphia. I think you need to spread those photos of what the theatre would like restored to as wide of audience as you can. The theatre restored will dazzle those attending.brucec
Cliff the Beauty of the Egyptian was destroyed during the latest renovation. It was quite a shock to see “Gilda” in the current state of this theatre. I saw many films here through the years and was even a flagship house for lazy United Artists during the roadshow years and later. Sound and picture are superb but it was awesome during the roadshow years. Remember “Ben Hur” played here for two years.brucec
The Boyd’s role should be Broadway shows and live concerts that is why Live Nation bought the theatre in the first place. Live Nation sold its theatres across the nation to focus on the music business. Its not a reflection on the Boyd that Live Nation has the theatre for sale. The Academy of Music and the Kimmel Center don’t want to loose there Broadway shows but that is what should be done just as they took away shows from the Forrest and Merrium theatres which are to small to host the larger Broadway productions such as “Wicked”. Philidelphia is one of the largest markets for touring Broadway shows that doesn’t have a suitable theatre such as the Boyd with its 2400 seats. The Boyd should be allowed to present concert acts despite Live Nation’s clause which would not allow another owner to stage concert acts. A films series should be part of the programming of the Boyd when the theatre is dark. The Boyd is very lucky that is has Howard rooting for its survival.brucec
The Warfield is currently being renovated and work is to be done on the front of the theatre with a new marquee which Im am told will look like the original from the 1920’s. I was in the theatre a few weeks ago and the upstairs looked beatiful but the downstairs looked awful. I hope AEG take better care of the theatre than BGP. When BGP took over in the late 1970’s the theatre was in great shape.The Warfield is the most beautiful theatre still standing Downtown.brucec
Jayne the list of restored theatres across the country keeps growing. The restoration of the huge Fox-Oakland which sat nearly 3500 is undergoing a massive first rate restoration after sitting vacant nearly 35 years. It will be booked by Another Planet which books pop/rock acts in several locations. The Paramount which sat nearly 3500 is just around the corner from the Fox and was restored in the early 1970’s. Oakland is only a City of 400,000 but it has now managed to restore two of the largest theatres on the West Coast. The City and State helped fund the Fox but most of it came from grants with very little funding coming from the general public. It is a 46 Million project which will include a charter school being built around the Fox as well as restoraiton of the theatre. They have gone to the public for 5 Million to finish some of the restoration work. When Jam takes ownership of the Uptown many grants will come there way both Federal,State and City. Maybe they can get funding from many of the local corporations such as Boeing and Bank of America who help fund the Fox. The former Mayor of Oakland Jerry Brown got the ball rolling and Jam will need help from the City. I hope the Civic leaders can do whatever they can to see the restoration actually happen. Once restored the Uptown should take its place among the greatest theatres still standing in North America.brucec
I find it interesting that comments on the theatre site said the theatre went in decline in the 1950’s and thats why it closed in 1964. Keep in mind that Loew’s Penn had the pick of MGM films until the split between Loew’s and MGM in 1959. Most Loew’s theatres through the 1950’s were among the most profitable becuase they played MGM films. Downtown Pittsburgh_movie palaces did well through the 1970’s and played most of the big films on an exclusive run.Theatres that were on decline wouldn’t get an exclusive run booking of “Cleopatra” in 1963 as a reserved seat attraction. “Cleopatra” wasn’t the blockbuster they had hoped for but when it was booked it was the big attraction for 1963.Cleopatra was only booked in deluxe theatres accross the county. I think that Loew’s after the less than blockbuster long run performance of “Cleopatra” made a decision to close the Penn then next year in 1964. The Penn was to large for the average roadshow film which would normally play the smaller Warner with 2000 seats and Nixon with 1800 seats. The larger Stanley was still showing films well into the 1970’s. I don’t know if Loew’s owned the Penn and maybe its lease was up and didn’t renew.brucec
The City of Chicago put conditions on the purchase of the Uptown. Jam Productions is to give the City 5 Million within 30 days of receiving title to the Uptown. Jam also is required within 90 days have a detailed plan of repair of the Uptown to be open within three years and after the theatre is open will get back there 5 Million. The Uptown is far more difficut project than the Boyd. Chicago has many restored movie palaces where Philidelphia has none. Most large cities in the United States has restored one or two movie palaces in there downtown districts. The Boyd is the perfect size theatre for touring Broadway shows with its 2400 seats where the Forrest and Merrium theatres are to small for shows like “Wicked” and “The Lion King”. The Academy of Music and the Kimmel Center are not proper venues for Broadway shows. The Boyd could be used for concerts,dance,classic film as well as for Broadway shows. Live Nation clause that the theatre couldn’t be used for music concerts can be challenged due to the fact they never opened the theatre after they bought it. There is a need for the Boyd and its restoration would be a great asset to the City in the long term.brucec
To bad more thought is not being done on what could be done with this theatre. Every time they have taken a movie palace and turned it into a small Black Box theatre it looks horrible. The theatre should be made to be more flexible larger seating for some shows and smaller seating for others. What a waste of money to turn it into just another Black Box theatre.brucec
I think the logical choice would be for Pacific to take over the Chinese. There is not much left to the once powerful Mann theatre chain. The Chinese main theatre should have its choice of bookings like they did in the past. The Chinese use to host the best from Warner Bros and Paramount. Pacific has more clout than the current Mann theatre chain.brucec
Downtown Oakland has never been a dangerous area. Broadway is much cleaner than Market Street. The area around the Fox is coming back in a big way with the Uptown project right next door to the Fox. I think the one two punch of both the Fox and the Paramount will help bring nightime activity back to downtown. Classic film should be brought back to one of the theatres.brucec
I would love to see more posts about the Fox and films that played there and more up to date info on the restoration.I believe the Fox is the largest theatre currently under restoration in the United States. The Grand Re-opening I believe is in October. THS conclave will be visiting the Fox in July and see the restoration in progress.brucec
It would be great if someone would list the films by decade that played the Roxy and the number of weeks which was done for the San Francisco Fox, which played many of the same Fox films through the decade.IM still amazed that the Roxy which was a key flagship house in the movie industry went out with very little fanfare and the San Francisco Fox went out with a bang. The Roxy was far more successfull in its lifetime than the SF Fox but both theatres were among the best ever built. brucec
I was looking at the films distributed by the major studios in the early 1960’s and production was almost half of what it once was and there didn’t seem like there was enough quality first run films to sustain both the Roxy and the Music Hall. The Studios big pictures in the 1960’s were the roadshow format which required a long run which the Roxy and Music Hall weren’t able sustain. The Studios wanted the Roadshow to provide income over a period of time for there balance sheets. The Roxy did have some major hits in the late 1950’s like Peyton Place and Imitation of Life but it seems the theatre never recovered from the major flop “Windjammer”. Simon I would like you to talk a little more about the films that played the Roxy when you worked there. It seems 1956 and 1957 were good years for the Roxy and in a few short years the theatre was torn down.The Roxy was the second biggest grossing theatre in the world when it was open and was second only to the Music Hall.brucec
The Wang will fill its schedule with more profitable shows such as “White Christmas”,“Radio City Christmas Specacular”. Ever since the Opera House was restored most Broadway shows moved from the Wang to the Opera House so the Wang could no longer afford some of its not for profit shows and switched to more commercial product to replace the Broadway shows that were lost to the Opera House.brucec
I have repeated this before, almost every large City in the United States has restored not one but two movie palaces in there historic Downtown Districts. Pittsburgh has restored three of there downtown movie palaces. Cleveland has restored four of there downtown movie palaces. Boston has restored three of there movie palaces besides having many legit theatres in there central core.Chicago has restored three of there movie palaces besides having other legit theatres downtown.Detroit has restored or renovated six downtown theatres.Minneapolis has restored four downtown theatres.Seattle has restored three downtown theatres. San Francisco has three downtown theatres besides besides the Geary and Curran legit theatres. San Antonio has three restored downtown theatres.Columbus has restored three downtown theatres.Most other large or medium size cities have restored at least one former movie palace downtown. If Philadelphia loses the Boyd it would be on a very short list of cities not to save a former downtown movie palace. I think Live Nation should be taken to task with the clause stating that no other music company be allowed to restore and use the theatre. The Boyd as stated before would be the perfect size theatre for touring Broadway productions not to small and not to big. brucec
Would love to see more photos of this beautiful theatre. This is almost a forgotten theatre, but its was our DC’s flagship theatre and was first run until it closed. brucec
Im glad at least the facade was saved but the theare is gone. Im not very happy with the plastic marquee and no attempt at neon. The front of the Presideo looks like a theatre the Marina doesn’t. This is not historic preservation of a theatre no matter how you slice it. I hope the Metro receives a better fate. The City who had many of there neigberhood theatres intact through the 1990’s has done very poor job in recent years. The East Bay has done a better job of theatre preservation than San Francisco. Oakland will have the restored Fox along with the Paramount and Grand Lake. The City of Alameda is restoring the Alameda and bulding a muliplex next door. The Castro is the best preserved theatre in the City from the Marquee to the Auditorium. San Francico’s theatre district on Market Street is worse now than it was 40 years ago. The Orpheum was renovated and restored and altered but looks great inside. The marquee has been improved but not what it once was.The United Artists from “The Sound of Music” to porn. The Golden Gate has never relit the marquee and the interior is blah. The Warfield has a terrible marquee and a beautiful interior. The St. Francis is waiting for the wrecking ball. The City has done a terrible job reviving the theatre district its quite dangerous at night. Any preservation of any of these theatre has come from the private sector.brucec
The City should move quickly to secure and take care of all the legal issues concerning the Uptown. The current owner who ever they are can’t take care of this theatre properly which has led the decline of this theatre and at times has become dangerous structure.
Lets cut through the red tape and lets get going. There is a huge demand for a mid size theatre seating 4000 for touring musical acts who can’t fill the large arenas.brucec
I will repeat I think the Loew’s Kings is the most magnificient theatre still standing in NYC even in its state of ruin. The actual size of the theatre is huge which is not reflected in its seating capacity due to the shallow balcony.If this theatre had been secured properly it would be in much better shape and not cost as much to restore and the city bares some of the responsiblilty. Along with the Uptown in Chicago the Kings is a must restore theatre and time is ticking. The restored Kings would be a point of pride for Brooklyn. If the City of Oakland which has 400,000 people can restore two 3000 plus theatres the Paramount and the Fox I think Brooklyn with a few million people could find the money to restore the Kings which has a giant parking lot behind it. I still say the City should put some seed money into the restoration and restore a section of the theatre to show people what it would look like to improve its curb appeal to interested parties.brucec
Its good news for the Wang which can now book in a lucrative Holiday show such as the Radio City Christmas Show and White Christmas and maybe the Grench Who Stole Christmas. When the Opera House was restored it took the Broadway shows away from the Wang because the Opera House is better suited for Broadway shows. The loss of the Broadway shows hurt the Wang so they gave up the non profit Ballet for a show they can make money on. The Opera House picked up the Ballet so its a win win for everyone. The Boston Theatre distict needs better marquees on both the Wang and the Opera House. When Chicago restored there theatre distict they made sure they put marquees on the Palace,Oriental and the new Goodman complex on top of the fabulous Chicago Theatre marquee. The City of Oakland have beautiful Marquees on both the Paramount and the Fox other cities should take a lesson on how to restore not only inside of the theatre but the oustside as well. A restored theatre looks naked without a proper marquee. The Fox in Detroit has a wonderful marquee as well as the Sheas Buffalo,Hollywood Pantagees,Knoxville Tennessee,Seattle Paramount,Atlanta Fox,Erie Warner,Birmingham Alabama,New York Radio City Music Hall and many more.bruce
Question about the Dome. Are they restoring the Dome where you can again see it from the Lobby of the theatre, it would add a nice restored touch to the theatre. What are they planning for the gala reopening in the Fall? I drove by the theatre last week while I was in town and the facade looks beautiful and with that wonderful restored marquee make my heart skip a beat. The Fox will bring some happy news for Oakland because the media is always talking about crime in Oakland and never anything positive. I have never had any problem going Downtown for the last 50 years which has very little crime.I hope the Fox gives Downtown the boost its needed. brucec
I wish somebody would list the films that played the Mastbaum through the decades at least the last 10 years of its life. Theatre attendance as well as movie production declined in the late 1950’s as well as the major movie studios being forced to divest there theatre chains. These three events help close the Roxy in New York, Fox in San Francisco and the Mastbaum along with many others and a slow decline for many more. Today all of these theares would be successful live performance venues like the Fox in Detroit and many others. brucec
I often wondered if the upper Balconies of the Roxy in NY and the Fox in San Francisco had been twinned leaving the main portion of the theatres in tact if it wouldn’t have gotten both theatres through the sixties and into the early 1970’s and then restored to live performing venues by the 1980’s. The Main theatres could have played the major Roadshow films of the day like “The Sound of Music”.This could have made both theatres profitable and extended there lives until the time was ripe for there full restoration.brucec
Good for you Howard along with Philidelphia. I think you need to spread those photos of what the theatre would like restored to as wide of audience as you can. The theatre restored will dazzle those attending.brucec
Cliff the Beauty of the Egyptian was destroyed during the latest renovation. It was quite a shock to see “Gilda” in the current state of this theatre. I saw many films here through the years and was even a flagship house for lazy United Artists during the roadshow years and later. Sound and picture are superb but it was awesome during the roadshow years. Remember “Ben Hur” played here for two years.brucec
The Boyd’s role should be Broadway shows and live concerts that is why Live Nation bought the theatre in the first place. Live Nation sold its theatres across the nation to focus on the music business. Its not a reflection on the Boyd that Live Nation has the theatre for sale. The Academy of Music and the Kimmel Center don’t want to loose there Broadway shows but that is what should be done just as they took away shows from the Forrest and Merrium theatres which are to small to host the larger Broadway productions such as “Wicked”. Philidelphia is one of the largest markets for touring Broadway shows that doesn’t have a suitable theatre such as the Boyd with its 2400 seats. The Boyd should be allowed to present concert acts despite Live Nation’s clause which would not allow another owner to stage concert acts. A films series should be part of the programming of the Boyd when the theatre is dark. The Boyd is very lucky that is has Howard rooting for its survival.brucec
The Warfield is currently being renovated and work is to be done on the front of the theatre with a new marquee which Im am told will look like the original from the 1920’s. I was in the theatre a few weeks ago and the upstairs looked beatiful but the downstairs looked awful. I hope AEG take better care of the theatre than BGP. When BGP took over in the late 1970’s the theatre was in great shape.The Warfield is the most beautiful theatre still standing Downtown.brucec
Jayne the list of restored theatres across the country keeps growing. The restoration of the huge Fox-Oakland which sat nearly 3500 is undergoing a massive first rate restoration after sitting vacant nearly 35 years. It will be booked by Another Planet which books pop/rock acts in several locations. The Paramount which sat nearly 3500 is just around the corner from the Fox and was restored in the early 1970’s. Oakland is only a City of 400,000 but it has now managed to restore two of the largest theatres on the West Coast. The City and State helped fund the Fox but most of it came from grants with very little funding coming from the general public. It is a 46 Million project which will include a charter school being built around the Fox as well as restoraiton of the theatre. They have gone to the public for 5 Million to finish some of the restoration work. When Jam takes ownership of the Uptown many grants will come there way both Federal,State and City. Maybe they can get funding from many of the local corporations such as Boeing and Bank of America who help fund the Fox. The former Mayor of Oakland Jerry Brown got the ball rolling and Jam will need help from the City. I hope the Civic leaders can do whatever they can to see the restoration actually happen. Once restored the Uptown should take its place among the greatest theatres still standing in North America.brucec
I find it interesting that comments on the theatre site said the theatre went in decline in the 1950’s and thats why it closed in 1964. Keep in mind that Loew’s Penn had the pick of MGM films until the split between Loew’s and MGM in 1959. Most Loew’s theatres through the 1950’s were among the most profitable becuase they played MGM films. Downtown Pittsburgh_movie palaces did well through the 1970’s and played most of the big films on an exclusive run.Theatres that were on decline wouldn’t get an exclusive run booking of “Cleopatra” in 1963 as a reserved seat attraction. “Cleopatra” wasn’t the blockbuster they had hoped for but when it was booked it was the big attraction for 1963.Cleopatra was only booked in deluxe theatres accross the county. I think that Loew’s after the less than blockbuster long run performance of “Cleopatra” made a decision to close the Penn then next year in 1964. The Penn was to large for the average roadshow film which would normally play the smaller Warner with 2000 seats and Nixon with 1800 seats. The larger Stanley was still showing films well into the 1970’s. I don’t know if Loew’s owned the Penn and maybe its lease was up and didn’t renew.brucec
The City of Chicago put conditions on the purchase of the Uptown. Jam Productions is to give the City 5 Million within 30 days of receiving title to the Uptown. Jam also is required within 90 days have a detailed plan of repair of the Uptown to be open within three years and after the theatre is open will get back there 5 Million. The Uptown is far more difficut project than the Boyd. Chicago has many restored movie palaces where Philidelphia has none. Most large cities in the United States has restored one or two movie palaces in there downtown districts. The Boyd is the perfect size theatre for touring Broadway shows with its 2400 seats where the Forrest and Merrium theatres are to small for shows like “Wicked” and “The Lion King”. The Academy of Music and the Kimmel Center are not proper venues for Broadway shows. The Boyd could be used for concerts,dance,classic film as well as for Broadway shows. Live Nation clause that the theatre couldn’t be used for music concerts can be challenged due to the fact they never opened the theatre after they bought it. There is a need for the Boyd and its restoration would be a great asset to the City in the long term.brucec
To bad more thought is not being done on what could be done with this theatre. Every time they have taken a movie palace and turned it into a small Black Box theatre it looks horrible. The theatre should be made to be more flexible larger seating for some shows and smaller seating for others. What a waste of money to turn it into just another Black Box theatre.brucec
I think the logical choice would be for Pacific to take over the Chinese. There is not much left to the once powerful Mann theatre chain. The Chinese main theatre should have its choice of bookings like they did in the past. The Chinese use to host the best from Warner Bros and Paramount. Pacific has more clout than the current Mann theatre chain.brucec
Downtown Oakland has never been a dangerous area. Broadway is much cleaner than Market Street. The area around the Fox is coming back in a big way with the Uptown project right next door to the Fox. I think the one two punch of both the Fox and the Paramount will help bring nightime activity back to downtown. Classic film should be brought back to one of the theatres.brucec
I would love to see more posts about the Fox and films that played there and more up to date info on the restoration.I believe the Fox is the largest theatre currently under restoration in the United States. The Grand Re-opening I believe is in October. THS conclave will be visiting the Fox in July and see the restoration in progress.brucec
It would be great if someone would list the films by decade that played the Roxy and the number of weeks which was done for the San Francisco Fox, which played many of the same Fox films through the decade.IM still amazed that the Roxy which was a key flagship house in the movie industry went out with very little fanfare and the San Francisco Fox went out with a bang. The Roxy was far more successfull in its lifetime than the SF Fox but both theatres were among the best ever built. brucec
I was looking at the films distributed by the major studios in the early 1960’s and production was almost half of what it once was and there didn’t seem like there was enough quality first run films to sustain both the Roxy and the Music Hall. The Studios big pictures in the 1960’s were the roadshow format which required a long run which the Roxy and Music Hall weren’t able sustain. The Studios wanted the Roadshow to provide income over a period of time for there balance sheets. The Roxy did have some major hits in the late 1950’s like Peyton Place and Imitation of Life but it seems the theatre never recovered from the major flop “Windjammer”. Simon I would like you to talk a little more about the films that played the Roxy when you worked there. It seems 1956 and 1957 were good years for the Roxy and in a few short years the theatre was torn down.The Roxy was the second biggest grossing theatre in the world when it was open and was second only to the Music Hall.brucec
The Wang will fill its schedule with more profitable shows such as “White Christmas”,“Radio City Christmas Specacular”. Ever since the Opera House was restored most Broadway shows moved from the Wang to the Opera House so the Wang could no longer afford some of its not for profit shows and switched to more commercial product to replace the Broadway shows that were lost to the Opera House.brucec
I have repeated this before, almost every large City in the United States has restored not one but two movie palaces in there historic Downtown Districts. Pittsburgh has restored three of there downtown movie palaces. Cleveland has restored four of there downtown movie palaces. Boston has restored three of there movie palaces besides having many legit theatres in there central core.Chicago has restored three of there movie palaces besides having other legit theatres downtown.Detroit has restored or renovated six downtown theatres.Minneapolis has restored four downtown theatres.Seattle has restored three downtown theatres. San Francisco has three downtown theatres besides besides the Geary and Curran legit theatres. San Antonio has three restored downtown theatres.Columbus has restored three downtown theatres.Most other large or medium size cities have restored at least one former movie palace downtown. If Philadelphia loses the Boyd it would be on a very short list of cities not to save a former downtown movie palace. I think Live Nation should be taken to task with the clause stating that no other music company be allowed to restore and use the theatre. The Boyd as stated before would be the perfect size theatre for touring Broadway productions not to small and not to big. brucec
When the Henry Fonda/Music Box was the Pix it had a wonderful neon marquee. The plastic signage on this theatre is awful.brucec
Would love to see more photos of this beautiful theatre. This is almost a forgotten theatre, but its was our DC’s flagship theatre and was first run until it closed. brucec
Im glad at least the facade was saved but the theare is gone. Im not very happy with the plastic marquee and no attempt at neon. The front of the Presideo looks like a theatre the Marina doesn’t. This is not historic preservation of a theatre no matter how you slice it. I hope the Metro receives a better fate. The City who had many of there neigberhood theatres intact through the 1990’s has done very poor job in recent years. The East Bay has done a better job of theatre preservation than San Francisco. Oakland will have the restored Fox along with the Paramount and Grand Lake. The City of Alameda is restoring the Alameda and bulding a muliplex next door. The Castro is the best preserved theatre in the City from the Marquee to the Auditorium. San Francico’s theatre district on Market Street is worse now than it was 40 years ago. The Orpheum was renovated and restored and altered but looks great inside. The marquee has been improved but not what it once was.The United Artists from “The Sound of Music” to porn. The Golden Gate has never relit the marquee and the interior is blah. The Warfield has a terrible marquee and a beautiful interior. The St. Francis is waiting for the wrecking ball. The City has done a terrible job reviving the theatre district its quite dangerous at night. Any preservation of any of these theatre has come from the private sector.brucec
The City should move quickly to secure and take care of all the legal issues concerning the Uptown. The current owner who ever they are can’t take care of this theatre properly which has led the decline of this theatre and at times has become dangerous structure.
Lets cut through the red tape and lets get going. There is a huge demand for a mid size theatre seating 4000 for touring musical acts who can’t fill the large arenas.brucec
I will repeat I think the Loew’s Kings is the most magnificient theatre still standing in NYC even in its state of ruin. The actual size of the theatre is huge which is not reflected in its seating capacity due to the shallow balcony.If this theatre had been secured properly it would be in much better shape and not cost as much to restore and the city bares some of the responsiblilty. Along with the Uptown in Chicago the Kings is a must restore theatre and time is ticking. The restored Kings would be a point of pride for Brooklyn. If the City of Oakland which has 400,000 people can restore two 3000 plus theatres the Paramount and the Fox I think Brooklyn with a few million people could find the money to restore the Kings which has a giant parking lot behind it. I still say the City should put some seed money into the restoration and restore a section of the theatre to show people what it would look like to improve its curb appeal to interested parties.brucec
Its good news for the Wang which can now book in a lucrative Holiday show such as the Radio City Christmas Show and White Christmas and maybe the Grench Who Stole Christmas. When the Opera House was restored it took the Broadway shows away from the Wang because the Opera House is better suited for Broadway shows. The loss of the Broadway shows hurt the Wang so they gave up the non profit Ballet for a show they can make money on. The Opera House picked up the Ballet so its a win win for everyone. The Boston Theatre distict needs better marquees on both the Wang and the Opera House. When Chicago restored there theatre distict they made sure they put marquees on the Palace,Oriental and the new Goodman complex on top of the fabulous Chicago Theatre marquee. The City of Oakland have beautiful Marquees on both the Paramount and the Fox other cities should take a lesson on how to restore not only inside of the theatre but the oustside as well. A restored theatre looks naked without a proper marquee. The Fox in Detroit has a wonderful marquee as well as the Sheas Buffalo,Hollywood Pantagees,Knoxville Tennessee,Seattle Paramount,Atlanta Fox,Erie Warner,Birmingham Alabama,New York Radio City Music Hall and many more.bruce
Question about the Dome. Are they restoring the Dome where you can again see it from the Lobby of the theatre, it would add a nice restored touch to the theatre. What are they planning for the gala reopening in the Fall? I drove by the theatre last week while I was in town and the facade looks beautiful and with that wonderful restored marquee make my heart skip a beat. The Fox will bring some happy news for Oakland because the media is always talking about crime in Oakland and never anything positive. I have never had any problem going Downtown for the last 50 years which has very little crime.I hope the Fox gives Downtown the boost its needed. brucec
Theatre needs a marquee it looks naked without one. brucec
I wish somebody would list the films that played the Mastbaum through the decades at least the last 10 years of its life. Theatre attendance as well as movie production declined in the late 1950’s as well as the major movie studios being forced to divest there theatre chains. These three events help close the Roxy in New York, Fox in San Francisco and the Mastbaum along with many others and a slow decline for many more. Today all of these theares would be successful live performance venues like the Fox in Detroit and many others. brucec
I often wondered if the upper Balconies of the Roxy in NY and the Fox in San Francisco had been twinned leaving the main portion of the theatres in tact if it wouldn’t have gotten both theatres through the sixties and into the early 1970’s and then restored to live performing venues by the 1980’s. The Main theatres could have played the major Roadshow films of the day like “The Sound of Music”.This could have made both theatres profitable and extended there lives until the time was ripe for there full restoration.brucec