Overview

The Mission Revival styled 16th Street Theatre began operation in 1907, designed by the San Francisco architectural firm of Matthew O'Brien and Carl Werner, prolific designers of theatres. The theatre served as a vaudeville venue originally but switched to exhibiting cut-rate, second-run film releases during the Depression. The theatre also showed Spanish-language films in the 1950s and hosted burlesque shows during the 1960s. It descended to pornography by the 1970s and has been renovated and continues to accommodate various types of live performances.

Building History

The theatre's original name was the "16th Street Theatre." Its construction began in 1906, although an accident in 03/1906 delayed its opening, as did the Earthquake and Fire of 04/18-20/1906. The 16th Street Theatre was completed by 12/1907 and opened at that time.

The 16th Street Theatre shifted to screening second-run film releases during the 1930s, and its name changed back to the "16th Street Theatre" during that decade. After World War II, it became "El Teatro Victoria" and focused on showing Spanish-language films.

It returned to live performances during the 1960s as "Follies Burlesque," hosting such major performers in the genre as Tempest Storm (1928-2021), Blaze Starr (1932-2015) and Virginia Bell (1934-2010).

PCAD id: 24313