| The California Theatre opened in 1927 as one of the grand movie palaces of the era. With its magnificent Jazz Age decor, it was part of a wave of ornate theatres built to define downtowns all over the country.
Following a long reign as the Fox Theatre, the venue was shuttered for decades.
Then downtown theatre regained its glamor in 2004 funded by the San Jose Redevelopment Agency and the Packard Humanities Institute. After a $75 million renovation, The California reopened as a major landmark with a 1,100-seat hall filled with modern amenities in a setting of meticulously restored 1920s opulence. The architectural and acoustic splendor of the auditorium and lobby were preserved, while new accessibility, public facilities, and a completely new stage and backstage facilities were added to make the facility fully suitable as an opera house or concert hall in addition to a fully equipped silent picture palace. The Stanford Theatre Foundation installed a new Mighty Wurlitzer organ to replace the long-departed original; the with the installation combining a so-called ‘wedding-cake’ console originally installed at the Uptown Theatre in Chicago, plus a 21-rank set of Wurlitzer pipe ranks from the Palace Theatre in Dallas.
References: Additional information provided by he Stanford Theatre Foundation. |
