| :: San Francisco
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Art >Film
| Castro Theatre |
Address:
Castro at Market St
| San Francisco |
Region:
San Francisco
Rating:
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More Info
Phone: (415) 621-6120
FAX:
Website
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Description and Basic Information ::
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Even jaded San Franciscans love the Castro Theater. Billed as 'the city's movie palace,' it really is like going to the movies in a palace, especially compared to today's multiplexes - bland boxes where you can hear the car crashes from the theater next door.
Inside the Castro, 1920's Art Deco meets Italianate excess, and the whole effect can turn a simple movie date into an event. Gilt columns topped with golden urns flank the stage. Enormous murals of what appears to be the Gardens of Pompei cover the walls. And a giant Art Deco chandelier made of angled silver plates hangs above, looking like something out of a Flash Gordon movie.
But nothing can really compete with the Castro's Mighty Wurlitzer. Five minutes before every show, a large Wurlitzer organ rises up in front of the stage and patrons are treated to stirring renditions of show tunes
and themes from old movies. And when organist David Hegart or Bill McCoy launches into the closing number, 'San Francisco,' even cynical San Franciscans who would rather leap off the Golden Gate Bridge than be caught walking on it, find themselves clapping along.
The programming at the Castro definitely isn't multiplex material. |
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