West Side Theatre
1331 Main Street,
Newman,
CA
95360
1331 Main Street,
Newman,
CA
95360
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West Side Theatre (Official)
Additional Info
Architects: Simeon Charles Lee
Functions: Live Performances
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
209.862.4490
Nearby Theaters
Opened as the West Side Theatre Theatre on August 1, 1940 with Allan Jones in “The Boys from Syracuse”. It had seating for 685 and mainstream movies were shown for 40 years before devoting its last days to Spanish-language films.
The theatre was converted to a roller skating rink in 1984 but soon fell into disrepair.
In 1996, the city of Newman took over the property and a non-profit organization – the West Side Theatre Foundation – was formed. Using volunteers and donations, the road to refurbishment began.
Today the exterior is exactly like it was during its golden years, down to the tile and glass ticket booth. The conventional row seating in the auditorium has been removed in favor of cabaret seating, accommodating 200.
Contributed by
Ron Pierce
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
My most vivid memory of the West Side Theater is seeing “Jaws” there in 1976 with my wife when she was eight and a half months pregnant with our son. We would later tease about the scary scenes and music of that film being the cause of her going into labor. Based on that teasing, a teenage cousin of our newborn son bought him a stuffed animal shark which was immediately christened “Jaws.”
We’ve seen several live performances since the conversion to cabaret seating, and have thoroughly enjoyed them.
Carl Hughes
Box 6, folder 16 of the S. Charles Lee papers concerns a Newman Theatre in Newman, California. Could that be this house under an earlier name? (The Lee website doesn’t provide any photos or drawings of the Newman Theatre.)
A photo of the current interior can be seen here:
http://www.westsidetheatre.org/inside.html
This web page (http://louisebrookssociety.blogspot.com/2010/04/high-class-pictures.html) contains Newman, California newspaper ads for two theaters in the town of Newman. The Star (with Gus Johnson as proprietor) was operating by the mid-1920’s, and the Newman in 1937. I am not sure of the relationship of either of these theaters to the West Side.
The information in the comment above by thomas_gladysz is the final piece I needed to clear up the mystery. The West Side Theatre did indeed open as the Newman Theatre, probably in 1936 or 1937.
Southwest Builder & Contractor of March 6, 1936, mentioned plans by architect S. Charles Lee for a theater project at Newman. Boxoffice of December 18, 1937, said that the newly formed West Side Theatre Company was taking over two houses from the Harvey Amusement Company; the land and building of the Newman Theatre at Newman, and the leasehold on the Empire Theatre at Gustine.
I’ve been unable to find an exact opening date for the Newman Theatre, or when it was renamed the West Side Theatre, but I no longer have any doubt that they were the same house.
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/y3a2kzp
A few 2012 photos can be seen here, here and here.
Interesting how it bears such close resemblance to the Lark, Park, and Noyo theatres but with twice as tall a tower.