Past and present, the Tenderloin has been home to a multitude of theaters, from movie palaces to grindhouses and cabarets to clubs. Linda Day leads a survey of some of our district’s notable stages and screens, exploring these theaters’ architecture, programming, iconic characters, and evolutions in tandem with the Tenderloin’s history.

An overview of the itinerary is as follows: We start with the 1917 Moorish/Byzantine Alcazar, 650 Geary St., designed by architect Thomas Patterson Ross as an Islam Temple and now a theater. We will walk by the Geary Theater, now A.C.T., a 1910 design by Bliss and Faville in Classical Revival style, and the Curran, 1922, designed by Alfred Henry Jacobs to resemble theaters on Broadway in New York City. We will see how buildings in the neighborhood have changed with the times such as the San Francisco Playhouse, lodged in an Elks Club and now sharing the building with the club and the Kensington Park Hotel. Our last walk bys will be the Counterpulse, 80 Turk St., formerly the Gaiety, a porno movie house; the former Tea Room at 145 Eddy that featured gay male porn, and the former Exit Theater, once in the West Hotel, 156 Eddy St.

Contact the host of Theaters of the Tenderloin Walking Tour with Linda Day

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