Great Star Theater

Last updated
Great Star Theater
大明星戲院
Great Star Theater night.jpg
Great Star Theater
Former namesGreat China Theater
Location636 Jackson Street
San Francisco, California
United States
Coordinates 37°47′46″N122°24′21″W / 37.796216°N 122.405792°W / 37.796216; -122.405792
Type Theater
Capacity 410, formerly 500+
Opened1925 (1925)
Website
www.greatstartheater.org

The Great Star Theater, formerly known as Great China Theater, is a 410-seat [1] theater located at 636 Jackson Street in San Francisco's Chinatown. It was built in 1925 for the Chinese opera and is the last Chinese theater in any Chinatown in the United States. [2]

Contents

History

Origin and Chinese opera

The Great China Theater, later named the Great Star, was built in 1925 as a rival of the nearby Mandarin Theater (renamed Sun Sing in 1949), which was built in 1924. The theaters, which were one block apart from each other, featured Chinese opera, often with top stage talent from China. [3] The theaters were cultural centers for Chinese-Americans in Chinatown, and hosted protest and political events for both American causes and Chinese, such as honoring the Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen [4] The Pacific Chinese Dramatic Club opened offices in the theater in 1930. [5] Toy Kaye Lowe, president of the Chinese Improvement Association, was a director of the theater in 1930. [6] [7] Though the Chinese operas were as long as five hours, many patrons chatted, ate snacks, and read the newspaper during the performances. [8]

Opera and movies

Due to World War II, many Chinese opera troupes disbanded or stopped touring, so the Great China Theater showed Chinese-language movies, which were made in China and shipped to San Francisco and then New York. [9] A San Francisco-based company called Grand View Film filmed Chinese-language movies in both China and the United States. [9] In addition, American short films were shown at the Great China Theater. [9]

In 1959, the San Francisco Examiner wrote that the Great China Theater was the last active Chinese opera house in the United States. [8] Due to the decline in Chinese opera, the theater stayed afloat by showing movies, relegating operas to special occasions like the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. 1963, during the Foo Hsing Troup’s run at the theater, the San Francisco Examiner wrote that the venue was “the best Chinese theater we have seen in just about 30 years, since Mei Lan Fang was here.” [10]

In 1969, Theater operator Allen Wu reported that locals had vandalized the sign, forced themselves into movies, and damaged the marquee with slingshots. [11] Crime from youth gangs continued to be a problem through the early 1970s. [12] In 1974, the San Francisco Examiner wrote that the theater filled up for its showings of kung fu movies. [13] Films were shown sporadically throughout the 1990s. [14]

Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee used to attend the theater and sleep in the nearby alley as a child. [15] [16] Bruce Lee's father, a Chinese immigrant, performed on the stage. [17] Great Star, was where Lee technically launched his movie career in 1941, when he was just an infant. He played a newborn girl in the Cantonese-language film "Golden Gate Girl," directed by his family friend Esther Eng. [3] In the late 1960s, as Bruce Lee gained fame in Hong Kong, the Great Star Theater played new Hong Kong films the same week they were released. [16]

2010 refurbishing

In 2010, business partners George Kaskanlian Jr. and Kenny Montero, both real estate developers, took on a 10-year lease and refurbished the aging theater. When they arrived, the theater was run down. "It was dark and moldy... the fabric on the walls was stained and ripped up. The seats were filthy. The bathrooms looked like a scene from a horror movie. The projection room was filled with cobwebs and dust," Kaskanlian told the SF Gate. [2]

In May 2015, a 31-year-old woman was found dead inside the theater next to Harris Rosenbloom, a promoter for the theater who was leasing the building. [18] He said that he fell asleep in the theater and discovered the woman's body upon waking up. [19] He called 911 at 11:55am. [20] Rosenbloom was initially investigated for murder, but due to a lack of evidence, he was not charged. [21] Rosenbloom had worked in San Francisco arts for decades, and starting in 1996, he maintained a magazine called SF Source with information about local events, which was compared to Pariscope. [22] [23] In 2014, an entertainment permit he requested was denied due to zoning restrictions. [20]

2021 re-opening

On June 18, 2021, Alice Chu and Roger Pincombe re-opened the venue with a 10-year lease. The married couple, who had their first date at the theater in 2017, work as software engineers for Salesforce. [17] In 2021, they created a nonprofit called Great Star Theater and spent $150,000 on restorations. [1] Pincombe reported that the theater had been "more or less disused the past few decades." [17]

Operations

As of 2015, the theater is owned by Julie Lee, a community organizer. In 2008, she faced federal and state charges for illegal activity surrounding an election campaign. [20] The venue is operated by professional magician Paul Nathan. [24]

The theater hosts films and alternative events, such as a Star Wars strip show. [25] It is a stop on ghost tours of San Francisco and was explored in the TV docuseries The Haunted Bay for its supposed haunted bathroom. [24] It was featured the documentary "A Moment in Time," about Chinese movies in San Francisco directed by Ruby Yang and Lambert Yam. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castro Theatre</span> Historic movie palace in San Francisco

The Castro Theatre is a historic movie palace in the Castro District of San Francisco, California. The venue became San Francisco Historic Landmark #100 in September 1976. Located at 429 Castro Street, it was built in 1922 with a California Churrigueresque façade that pays homage—in its great arched central window surmounted by a scrolling pediment framing a niche—to the basilica of Mission Dolores nearby. Its designer, Timothy L. Pflueger, also designed Oakland's Paramount Theater and other movie theaters in California during that period. The theater has more than 1,400 seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayview–Hunters Point, San Francisco</span> Neighborhood in San Francisco, California

Bayview–Hunters Point is the San Francisco, California, neighborhood combining the Bayview and Hunters Point neighborhoods in the southeastern corner of the city. The decommissioned Hunters Point Naval Shipyard is located within its boundaries and Candlestick Park, which was demolished in 2015, was on the southern edge. Due to the South East location, the two neighborhoods are often merged. Bayview–Hunter's Point has been labeled as San Francisco's "Most Isolated Neighborhood".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, San Francisco</span> Neighborhood in California, United States

The Chinatown centered on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street in San Francisco, California, is the oldest Chinatown in North America and one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside Asia. It is also the oldest and largest of the four notable Chinese enclaves within San Francisco. Since its establishment in the early 1850s, it has been important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants in North America. Chinatown is an enclave that has retained its own customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, and identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galileo Academy of Science and Technology</span> Public high school in San Francisco, California, United States

Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, formerly known as Galileo High School, is a public high school located between the Russian Hill and Marina District neighborhoods of San Francisco, California. The school is a part of the San Francisco Unified School District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Square, San Francisco</span> Neighborhood of San Francisco in California, United States

Union Square is a 2.6-acre (1.1-hectare) public plaza bordered by Geary, Powell, Post, and Stockton Streets in downtown San Francisco, California. "Union Square" also refers to the central shopping, hotel, and theater district that surrounds the plaza for several blocks. The area got its name because it was once used for Thomas Starr King rallies and support for the Union Army during the American Civil War, earning its designation as a California Historical Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham Lincoln High School (San Francisco, California)</span> Public school in Sunset District , California, United States

Abraham Lincoln High School (ALHS) is a California Distinguished public high school located in the Sunset District of San Francisco, California. In 2018, ALHS was ranked #499 and earned a gold medal by U.S. News & World Report, placing it in the top 2% of public high schools nationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of San Francisco</span>

The culture of San Francisco is major and diverse in terms of arts, music, cuisine, festivals, museums, and architecture but also is influenced heavily by Mexican culture due to its large Hispanic population, and its history as part of Spanish America and Mexico. San Francisco's diversity of cultures along with its eccentricities are so great that they have greatly influenced the country and the world at large over the years. In 2012, Bloomberg Businessweek voted San Francisco as America's Best City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Lau</span>

Fred Harry Lau is a former Chief of Police for San Francisco, having served from 1996–2002. He was the first Asian American to ever hold that position, and has been called the first Chinese-American to lead the police in any major American city. In 2013, he became the TSA Federal Security Director of the San Francisco International Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival and Parade</span> Public celebration of the Chinese New Year

The San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival and Parade is an annual event in San Francisco, California, United States. Held for approximately two weeks following the first day of the Chinese New Year, it combines elements of the Chinese Lantern Festival with a typical American parade. First held in 1851, along what are today Grant Avenue and Kearny Street, it is the oldest and one of the largest events of its kind outside of Asia, and one of the largest Asian cultural events in North America. The parade route begins on Market Street and terminates in Chinatown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss Chinatown USA</span>

The Miss Chinatown USA pageant, based on Chinese communities within the U.S., greets delegates around the country. The pageant has been an annual Lunar New Year event since 1958. The winners of this pageant represent the Chinese community and act as ambassadors promoting Chinese culture and heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harding Theater</span> Theater in California, United States

The Harding Theater is a historic movie theater located at 616 Divisadero Street in San Francisco, California, completed in 1926. In 2017, the Emporium Arcade Bar opened in the space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose Pak</span> American political activist

Rose Lan Pak was a political activist in San Francisco, California, noted for her influence on city politics and power in the Chinatown community. Pak served as a consultant for the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce and organizer of the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco. Although Pak never held an elective political office, she was known as an outspoken, controversial but well-connected "gatekeeper" figure who supported politicians by raising funds and connecting them with the city's growing Asian American community. Her political ties to the Chinese government attracted scrutiny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esther Eng</span>

Esther Eng was an American film director and the first female director to direct Chinese-language films in the United States. Eng made four feature films in America, and five in Hong Kong. She was recognized as a female pioneer who crossed the boundaries of race, language, culture and gender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown station (Muni Metro)</span> Subway station in San Francisco, California, US

Chinatown station is an underground Muni Metro light rail station, located under Stockton Street at Washington Street in the Chinatown neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It opened on November 19, 2022, as part of the Central Subway project. The station's official name honors Rose Pak, a political activist in the Chinatown community who helped secure support and funding for the station and the extension of the T Third Street line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Peskin</span> American politician

Aaron Dan Peskin is an American elected official in San Francisco, California. He is a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing District 3. He was elected in 2015, having previously served two terms in 2001–2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D'Arcy Drollinger</span> American actor, writer, musician, director, producer & choreographer

D'Arcy Drollinger is an American actor, writer, musician, director, producer & choreographer known for his high-camp / vaudeville-style stage productions and films that combine slapstick, farce and often drag. He was a founding member of the post-punk art band Enrique. He is the owner of the San Francisco nightclub Oasis. Drollinger is also the creator of the dance-fitness brand, Sexitude. D'Arcy was appointed the San Francisco Drag Laureate in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dragon Gate (San Francisco)</span> Ceremonial gateway in Chinatown, San Francisco, California, U.S.

The Dragon Gate is a south-facing gate at the intersection of Bush Street and Grant Avenue, marking a southern entrance to San Francisco's Chinatown, in the U.S. state of California. Built in 1969 as a gift from the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the style of a traditional Chinese pailou, it became one of the most photographed locations in Chinatown, along with the older Sing Fat and Sing Chong buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pius Lee</span> American political power broker and landlord

Pius Lee is an American political power broker and landlord. He was a long-time supporter of Mayor Willie Brown and has served as the commissioner on several governmental commissions in San Francisco, including the San Francisco Port Commission and the San Francisco Police Commission. He serves as the chairman of the Chinese Six Companies and the Chinese Neighborhood Association.

References

  1. 1 2 Knight, Heather (2021-06-09). "Historic S.F. theater, where Bruce Lee used to watch opera, reopens this weekend in Chinatown". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  2. 1 2 3 Whiting, Sam (2010-03-12). "Great Star theater preparing to rise again". SFGATE. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  3. 1 2 Russo, Charles (2022-04-24). "The little-known San Francisco spots that Bruce Lee once frequented". SFGATE. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  4. ↑ "Local Chinese Honor Dr. Sun". The San Francisco Examiner. 1930-11-13. p. 19. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  5. ↑ "Chinese Star Coming Here For Recital". The San Francisco Examiner. 1930-04-13. p. 55. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  6. ↑ "Press Club to See Chinese Playlet". The San Francisco Examiner. 1930-05-23. p. 8. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  7. ↑ "Chinatown Honors Mayor". The San Francisco Examiner. 1927-10-24. p. 11. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  8. 1 2 "How to Watch a Chinese Opera". The San Francisco Examiner. 1959-04-05. p. 184. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  9. 1 2 3 "Bay City Notes". Metropolitan Pasadena Star-News. 1949-03-26. p. 11. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  10. ↑ "The Chinese Theater". The San Francisco Examiner. 1963-08-04. p. 36. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  11. ↑ ""Force Theater Entry"". The Sacramento Bee. 1969-05-11. p. 34. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  12. ↑ "Chinatown Troubled by Young Immigrants". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1971-09-06. p. 17. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  13. ↑ "'Pure' gung fu in Chinatown". The San Francisco Examiner. 1974-12-27. p. 22. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  14. ↑ "Also running". The San Francisco Examiner. 1992-07-24. p. 53. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  15. ↑ Staff, SF Weekly (2016-04-27). "Rig Trouble in Little China: The Great Star Theater is Haunted". SFWeekly. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  16. 1 2 Johnson, By G. Allen (2016-06-29). "Martial arts films at Great Star". SFGATE. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  17. 1 2 3 "Historic San Francisco Chinatown Theater Prepares for Grand Opening - CBS San Francisco". www.cbsnews.com. 2021-06-17. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  18. ↑ Williams, Vivian Ho and Kale (2015-05-12). "Woman killed at Chinatown theater, venue's operator arrested". SFGATE. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  19. ↑ "DA: Drugs may be a factor in Great Star Theater suspicious death". KRON4. 2015-05-13. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  20. 1 2 3 "Woman Found Dead Inside SF Chinatown Theater; Promoter Arrested - CBS San Francisco". www.cbsnews.com. 2015-05-12. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  21. ↑ Williams, Vivian Ho and Kale (2015-05-13). "No murder charge filed in Chinatown theater death". SFGATE. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  22. ↑ Ginsburg, Marsha (1997-05-29). "A source of pride". SFGATE. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  23. ↑ Staff, Examiner (2015-05-13). "Great Star Theater promoter released, not charged with murder". San Francisco Examiner. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  24. 1 2 Strauss, Bob (2020-10-29). "'The Haunted Bay' investigates Bay Area ghost stories". San Francisco Chronicle . Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  25. ↑ Bindman, Ariana (2022-07-22). "I saw a 'Star Wars' strip show in SF, and now I'm forever changed". SFGATE. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.