Located in the historic Mission
District of San Francisco, the ornate and stately Victoria Theatre, seats
480. The
theatre, built in 1908 as a vaudeville house, is now a city landmark and the oldest
operating theatre in San Francisco.
Originally called Brown's Opera House, it was operated as a vaudeville showcase by the
ancestors of two California governors. The theatre drew crowds who delighted in observing
the grand performances of international stars who came to San Francisco. As cinema began
to displace live on-stage entertainment, the character of the Victoria Theatre began to
change. In the 1930's, it became a motion picture house offering dishware door prizes to
entice movie goers. In the 1950's the Victoria Theatre was renamed El Teatro Victoria,
showing Spanish-language films for the growing Latino community in the area. In the
1960's, under the name New Follies, the theatre became a burlesque house and closed in
1976.
The Victoria Theatre lay dormant
for two years. After a year of reconstruction, the theatre was refurbished from top to bottom and now is
restored to its original intent and grandeur.
You can see everything here.
Locally produced original plays, concerts, film festivals (the theatre has
video and 35mm with Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound), musicals, international performing companies and many other kinds of
performances. Several filmmakers have used the site to shoot their films. Many
personalities have appeared at the theatre through its long and colorful history,
including Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Irwin, Donald O'Conner, Michael Moore, Mae "Come up and see me
sometime" West, and many others. You can also see the Victoria Theatre in the
movies such as, "The Laughing Policeman," starring Walter Matthau made in
1973 and Joshua Grannell's film "All
About Evil."
