Alcazar Theatre (1976)

The entrance of the Alcazar Theatre

See also Alcazar Theatre (1885) and Alcazar Theatre (1911) for two earlier SF theaters.

The Alcazar Theatre is a 511-seat theatre located at 650 Geary Street, San Francisco, California. The venue is host to many touring productions of Broadway and Off Broadway plays, as well as variety, cabaret, comedians, and other theatrical events of varying quality.

Built in 1917 as a Shriner's Temple, the building was designed in Exotic Revival style, looking much like an Islamic temple, by architect T. Patterson Ross. After the Alcazar Theatre at 260 O'Farrell Street closed on December 31, 1961 and then demolished, this former temple on Geary Street became a legitimate theatre in 1976 and took on the name Alcazar.

The structure was gutted in 1982, despite community efforts to save it, but reopened in 1993. Standing just west of Union Square, in the heart of the theatre district, the Alcazar has been renovated combining state of the art facilities with the architectural style of the past.

The Alcazar Theatre was designated San Francisco Historical Landmark 195 in 1989.

References

Wilmeth, Don B (2007). The Cambridge guide to American theatre (Second ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. ISBN 0-521-83538-0.
Alvis Hendley (2009). "San Francisco Landmark 195: Alcazar Theater". Noehill. Retrieved 2010-02-06.