In a blow to the San Jose arts and entertainment scene, the 3Below Theaters will close after the curtain drops April 26 on its final stage show.
Owners Shannon and Scott Guggenheim announced the news “with deep sadness” in an email letter sent Tuesday night to patrons and community leaders. “This is not a decision we ever wanted to make. Although we’ve been producing entertainment experiences throughout California since 1987, we were just getting going in downtown San Jose.”
For eight years, the Guggenheim family has staged live theatrical performances, presented retro and current films and hosted community events — the city’s only such blend of entertainment. They did so by transforming the former Camera Cinema into a vibrant three-theater home for everything from critically acclaimed musicals that showcased local performers to movie sing-alongs complete with audience props.
Their theater survived the pandemic by moving the screenings and performances to the rooftop to safely stage shows outdoors.
”We have explored every possible way to persevere,” the Guggenheims wrote, “but a combination of immense challenges and unresolved issues related to the facility ultimately make it impossible to continue.”
However, the theater will still present its final stage show. After taking a break from live productions and offering a schedule of Oscar-nominated films in the first months of this year, 3Below is mounting “The Bardy Bunch,” a comical send-up of the popular 1970s sit-coms “The Brady Bunch” and “The Partridge Family.”
The 3Below endeavor has been a second act for Guggenheim Entertainment. In 2009, the Guggenheims reopened San Jose’s shuttered Century 25 movie theater on Saratoga Avenue as a live performance venue called the Retro Dome, where they pioneered their blend of live entertainment and classical film presentations for Silicon Valley audiences.
This is a developing story. Come back for updates.