SAN FRANCISCO – SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 The marquee of the historic Castro Theater shines bright once again.<\/p>\n
After two years of extensive construction and a budget that nearly doubled, the legendary venue held its long-awaited grand re-opening Friday night. The festivities kicked off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring political leaders and live music, marking a new chapter for the 104-year-old San Francisco landmark.<\/p>\n
Another Planet Entertainment, the group overseeing the project, gave KTVU an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the $41 million renovation before the doors opened for a movie night fundraiser.<\/p>\n
“This was a labor of love, and my whole heart is in this building,” said Mary Conde, senior vice president of Another Planet.<\/p>\n
A ‘Sistine Chapel’ restoration involved meticulous work to reveal the theater\u2019s original glory. Decades of cigarette smoke stains and dust were removed to reveal a ceiling so vibrant it surprised even the theater’s regulars.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019ve been coming here for 38 years,” said Dirty Carol, the night’s co-emcee. “Who knew there was any color in the ceiling? To see it restored like the Sistine Chapel, it\u2019s so incredible.”<\/p>\n
While much of the work is visible\u2014like the restored dressing rooms, Conde noted that a significant portion of the budget went toward “invisible” upgrades, including new plumbing, ventilation, and wiring. The project cost grew from an initial $20 million estimate to a final $41 million.<\/p>\n
The backstory<\/p>\n
The renovation was not without its hurdles. The plan to replace traditional theater seating with removable seats to accommodate live performances was a major point of contention with some in the community.<\/p>\n
On Friday, those seats were finally on display in a new tiered formation designed to improve sight lines. For many, the result settled the debate.<\/p>\n
“They\u2019re beautiful,” said attendee Rob Doughty. “It puts everybody\u2019s worries about the seats to rest because it\u2019s a fully functional movie theater and a concert venue.”<\/p>\n
Why you should care<\/p>\n
For the LGBTQ+ community, the reopening felt like a homecoming. For decades, the Castro Theater has served as a cultural anchor and sanctuary for the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s one of the biggest days of my life,” Doughty said. “This is my church. This is where I came out. This is where I found my activism. This is everything to me.”<\/p>\n
What’s next<\/p>\n
The theater’s first live concert since the renovation will feature Sam Smith, starting next Tuesday and running through March 14th.<\/p>\n
Amber Lee is a reporter with KTVU. Email Amber at Amber.Lee@Fox.com or text\/leave a message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU, Instagram @AmberKTVU or Twitter @AmberKTVU<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO – SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 The marquee of the historic Castro Theater shines bright once again. After…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[26371,81037,81038,81036,101,103,102,104,106,105,81035],"class_list":{"0":"post-168680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-another-planet-entertainment","9":"tag-castro-theater","10":"tag-cigarette-smoke","11":"tag-mary-conde","12":"tag-san-francisco","13":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","14":"tag-san-francisco-news","15":"tag-sf","16":"tag-sf-headlines","17":"tag-sf-news","18":"tag-sistine-chapel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}