Golden Gate Theatre
1 Taylor Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94102
1 Taylor Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94102
15 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 67 comments
Here’s a new 4-page 50th anniversary FIDDLER ON THE ROOF retrospective featuring a roadshow playdate chronology and historian Q&A. The Golden Gate’s 57-week run is mentioned in the piece.
The Golden Gate and Orpheum theaters, two historic performance venues along Market Street in San Francisco, will be taken over by the Ambassador Theatre Group, the British company that also operates the Curran Theater on Geary Street.
SF Chronicle
The Penthouse Theatre opened with “Is Paris Burning?”.
Does anyone know which booking followed the roadshow run of “Patton” at the Golden Gate?
Does anyone know which booking followed the roadshow run of “Far from the Madding Crowd” in the Golden Gate Penthouse?
“Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco nears 100 with makeover.” By Sam Whiting Updated 5:30 pm PDT, Wednesday, September 5, 2018
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Golden-Gate-Theatre-in-San-Francisco-nears-100-13207296.php?t=ade492c79c&utm_campaign=fb-desktop&utm_source=CMS+Sharing+Button&utm_medium=social
The Golden Gate Penthouse theatre opened on December 21st, 1966. Grand opening ad posted.
Five years after terrywade posted above there seems to be some work being done on the exterior blade(s) and marquee. I posted a photo taken June 24 showing the scaffold around one of the blades. From this thread at Broadwayworld.com it also appears that a renovation of the theatre has been going on and it will reopen in September.
GG Theatre
The theater was one of my favorites – a real grand palace – but it had become careworn even in the 60s, when I was a kid. My mother loved taking me there, because she could recall how thrilling it was to see ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ there in 1950, when she was a teenager. Her godmother had taken her for a ‘girl’s day’ in the city (my mother was attending the all-girl Dominican Convent school in Marin County – now San Domenico School), and they had already had lunch and gone for a day of shopping at City of Paris. The movie theater was everything to my mother – and the movie was thrilling. Amazing how a place can become emotionally tangled in your memories like that. And she succeeded in transferring that thrill and love for the Golden Gate in me as well. Glad that it’s still there, even if it doesn’t show movies any more.
Hi – I am working with a WWII Veteran that happened to be on leave and in the Golden Gate Theatre the day that the Japanese surrendered – August 14th, 1945.
He does not remember the name of the movie that was playing that day and I was wondering if anyone might know if there is a way to find out? I have called the theater and they are seeing what they can do – but thought I would check with other resources as well !
Hey HDTV – Do any of the neon lights outside work? Does it light up at all? I’ve been looking to photograph this one for a while, but don’t know it’s worth the two hour drive!
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.
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.
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.