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California Theatre in San Jose, CA


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Virtual Tour of the California Theatre
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“Fast Facts”

  • 1,122 Seating Capacity, with up to 14 ADA-compliant areas
    • 687 Orchestra Seats
    • 435 Balcony Seats
  • State-of-the-art production & A/V
    • Stage Size: 90′ x 40′
    • Proscenium Opening: 31′ 6” x 44′
    • 85,000 total sq. ft.
    • Additional information is available upon request
  • California Theatre House Seating from Stage
    03CT-CA House from Stage
  • Stage the Perfect Wedding at the California Theatre
    calwed568
  • California Theatre House Seating from Balcony
    02CT-Inside-California-Theatre-no-people
  • California Theatre Outdoor Evening Shot
    01CT-CA-Front-Entrance-from-Outside
  • California Theatre - Symphony Silicon Valley

    Photo by Robert Shomler, December 2004

    California Theatre - Symphony Silicon Valley
  • California Theatre House Balcony Seating
    CT-CA-House-balc

Additional Information

On opening day in April 1927, Hollywood stars came to San Jose to celebrate the opening of this lavish 1,122-seat theatre.  It is recognized today as one of the best-preserved examples of 1920s-era motion picture houses in the United States.

This historic venue, originally known as the Fox Theatre, was designed in 1927 by architects Weeks and Day and once said to be “the finest theater in California.” The first film shown there was An Affair of the Follies, starring 1920s “it” girl, Billy Dove.   The theater was immediately a hit with the community.

Over the years, it housed vaudeville shows and showed films in 3D and Cinemascope. In the 1960s and 1970s, the building passed through several owners and closed in 1973. In 1985, it was purchased by the Redevelopment Agency with the intention of preserving the City’s largest remaining downtown movie palace.

Construction began in July 2001 to renovate and restore the beautiful building.  The $75 million restoration was funded by the Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Jose and the Packard Humanities Institute, which financed over one-third of the project cost.

Converting the historic movie palace into a performing arts venue required construction work throughout the entire building and protection of the original ornamentation. The opulently ornamented historic interiors, with cast plaster ceilings and detail, were refurbished with decorative painting and the elaborately stenciled entry foyer ceiling was restored.

A new stagehouse (13 feet deeper and 20 feet wider and higher) was constructed behind the existing ornamented proscenium and extended to the adjacent hotel. The orchestra pit was enlarged to accommodate up to 56 musicians.

A three-story limestone building now links the theatre to Market Street and the convention district through a second main entrance that compliments the neighboring historic Sainte Claire Hotel. The building contains rehearsal space, dressing rooms, offices, and a side stage with truck loading.

A two-story addition on First Street, constructed on an adjacent vacant lot, contains restrooms, conference space, and beautiful outdoor courtyard.

The original marquee was recreated by studying historic drawings and photographs. The vertical blade sign, featuring a motif of California golden poppies animated with chase lights, was reproduced at its original size and detail.

Two Wurlitzer organs were commissioned by the Packard Humanities Institute for the building—a large theatre organ for the auditorium installed behind the historic plaster grillwork and a smaller organ behind the historic arched chambers in the lobby. The organs were assembled and installed by Edward Millington Stout III, and are owned and maintained by the Stanford Theatre Foundation.

The California is slightly smaller than England’s Glyndebourne and Venice’s historic Teatro la fenice, and is in the select ranks of the world’s most intimate opera houses. There are only twenty rows of seats in the orchestra section, five rows in the grand tier, and six in the mezzanine.

Each seat offers close proximity to the stage, essential for engaging theatre, and acoustics are excellent in all areas of the theatre. The intricately restored gallery-foyer and auditorium are surrounded by entirely new conveniences and comforts, including elevators, ample restrooms upstairs and down, a magnificent gallery, a foyer and even a courtyard complete with fountain.

It’s no surprise that this historical masterpiece is home to Opera San Jose and Symphony Silicon Valley, but meeting planners are delighted to discover that it’s also a special conference and meeting facility – a place to gather when spectacular atmosphere is called for, as well as state-of-the-art audio and visual technology you’d expect in Silicon Valley.

The California Theatre is also a special facility for wedding ceremonies, cocktail receptions, presentations, product launches, corporate meetings, motion picture screenings, concerts, private parties, and any event when a spectacular atmosphere is called for.

It is located two blocks from the San Jose Convention Center, and within easy walking distance of several parking lots and excellent restaurants.

 

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California Theatre

345 South First St.,
San Jose, CA 95113

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Videos – Upcoming Events

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News

  • Broadway San Jose’s 2019-20 Season Includes Wicked, Come From Away and More

    SAN JOSE, CA — Broadway San Jose, a Nederlander Presentation, has announced the six productions that comprise the lineup for the 2019-20 season at San Jose’s Center for the Performing Arts. [Click here for the CPA Calendar] “If I had one word to describe Broadway San Jose’s 2019–20 season, it would be ‘epic’,” said Gretchen Feyer,...

  • Contemporary Opera Moby-Dick Surfaces in San Jose

    SAN JOSE, CA — Opera San José’s 35th season continues with Jake Heggie & Gene Scheer’s Moby-Dick at the California Theatre. It runs from February 9-24. [Click here for event information] The Bay Area is home to a number of internationally celebrated composers and, 17 years ago, Jake Heggie became a major international player when he...

  • Star Wars Screenings To Feature Live Orchestra

    SAN JOSE, CA — Symphony Silicon Valley will present Star Wars: A New Hope In Concert at San Jose’s Center for the Performing Arts. These screenings of the complete film will feature Oscar-winning composer John Williams’ score performed live, led by acclaimed conductor Jeffrey Schindler. Fans will be able to experience the scope and grandeur of this...

  • In San Jose, Cats Will Play

    SAN JOSE, CA — Broadway San Jose, a Nederlander Presentation, is thrilled to announce that Cats — one of the biggest hits in theatrical history — will play San Jose’s Center for the Performing Arts for a limited engagement from February 19-24 as part of a multi-season North American tour. [Click here for event information]...

  • Professor Brian Cox Will Take Us on “Adventures In Space and Time”

    SAN JOSE, CA — World-renowned physicist Professor Brian Cox has announced dates for his immersive live experience, UNIVERSAL: Adventures In Space And Time, as part of his 2019 World Tour. From February through June 2019, the tour is playing to over 150,000 people throughout the U.K., Europe, the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand...

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Venues of San Jose Theaters

  • City National Civic

    2,850 Seats
  • Center for the Performing Arts

    2,608 Seats
  • California Theatre

    1,122 Seats
  • Montgomery Theater

    468 Seats
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Upcoming Events at the California Theatre

Mar
2
Sat
7:30pm Symphony Silicon Valley: Tchaiko...
Symphony Silicon Valley: Tchaiko...
Mar 2 @ 7:30pm
Symphony Silicon Valley: Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony @ <a href="https://sanjosetheaters.org/theaters/california-theatre/">California Theatre</a> | 345 South First St., San Jose, CA 95113
This concert’s opener is a musical tour through the folk traditions Bartok studied — full of life and complex rhythm. Barber’s virtuosic concerto follows, combining lush Romantic lyricism and angular “modern” energy, with a brilliant[...]
Mar
5
Tue
7:15pm Cinequest ’19 Opening Night: Manto
Cinequest ’19 Opening Night: Manto
Mar 5 @ 7:15pm
Cinequest ’19 Opening Night: Manto @ <a href="https://sanjosetheaters.org/theaters/california-theatre/">California Theatre</a> | 345 South First St., San Jose, CA 95113
Director Nandita Das presents her sweeping biopic Manto, a moving  look at the work and life of India’s beloved and controversial writer Saadat Hasan Manto. This screening will include a conversation with Nandita Das and[...]
Mar
6
Wed
7:15pm Bill Nighy – Cinequest Maverick ...
Bill Nighy – Cinequest Maverick ...
Mar 6 @ 7:15pm
Bill Nighy - Cinequest Maverick Spirit Award @ <a href="https://sanjosetheaters.org/theaters/california-theatre/">California Theatre</a> | 345 South First St., San Jose, CA 95113
Actor Bill Nighy receives Cinequest’s most prestigious award in conjunction with the highly anticipated U.S. premiere of Sometimes Always Never, in which he stars. “What often comes to mind when thinking of Nighy’s characters is[...]
Mar
15
Fri
7:00pm Cinequest Silent Cinema: Buster ...
Cinequest Silent Cinema: Buster ...
Mar 15 @ 7:00pm
Cinequest Silent Cinema: Buster Keaton @ <a href="https://sanjosetheaters.org/theaters/california-theatre/">California Theatre</a> | 345 South First St., San Jose, CA 95113
Silent comedy masterpieces of Buster Keaton are accompanied by Dennis James on the mighty Wurlitzer organ. Steamboat Bill, Jr (1928) Rough, gruff Steamboat Bill awaits the arrival of his long-unseen son-who turns out to be[...]
Mar
17
Sun
all-day Cinequest 3/17/19 Screenings (Ca...
Cinequest 3/17/19 Screenings (Ca...
Mar 17 all-day
Cinequest 3/17/19 Screenings (California Theatre) @ <a href="https://sanjosetheaters.org/theaters/california-theatre/">California Theatre</a> | 345 South First St., San Jose, CA 95113
10:45am – Bring Me an Avocado (United States) | Tickets: $12 | “An inspiring family rises above their challenges.” 3:40pm – Go Back to China (China, United States; with English subtitles) | Tickets: $12 | “A trust fund[...]
Mar
23
Sat
7:30pm Philharmonic Orchestra Spring Co...
Philharmonic Orchestra Spring Co...
Mar 23 @ 7:30pm
Philharmonic Orchestra Spring Concert - San Jose Youth Symphony @ <a href="https://sanjosetheaters.org/theaters/california-theatre/">California Theatre</a> | 345 South First St., San Jose, CA 95113
The San Jose Youth Symphony’s Philharmonic Orchestra, under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Yair Samet (pictured), presents its 2018-2019 Spring Concert. The program will open with Ginastera’s Fausto Criollo Overture, Op. 9[...]
Apr
6
Sat
5:30pm 35th Anniversary Gala – Opera Sa...
35th Anniversary Gala – Opera Sa...
Apr 6 @ 5:30pm
35th Anniversary Gala - Opera San Jose @ <a href="https://sanjosetheaters.org/theaters/california-theatre/">California Theatre</a> | 345 South First St., San Jose, CA 95113
You are invited to join Opera San Jose at the stunning California Theatre as OSJ celebrates its 35th Anniversary Season. Beginning at 5:30pm, enjoy classic California cuisine complete with wine pairing, live and silent auctions,[...]
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