1881 Post St. | map |
Opened: February 2, 1969 as the Kabuki, a dinner theatre operation that was not successful. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this c.1969 photo by Tom Gray that's in his collection.
Architect: Minoru Yamasaki and Van Bourg/Nakamura.
This photo of a c.1965 model appears with a history of the Japan Center project on the site
Wikiwand. The theatre is at the far end, at Post and Fillmore.
It reopened February 11, 1976 as the Japan Center Theatre with a production of "US - The Rest Of Us," which, according to Jack Tillmany, was trashed by the local critics and more or less ignored by local audiences. Thanks to Jack for locating this February 6 ad.
"Civilized Moviegoing." Seven screens were added to the original theatre and it reopened December 5, 1986 as the AMC Kabuki 8. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this opening day ad.
Seating: The theatre originally seated over 700 and had a full
stage for Kabuki shows. In 1987 AMC gave the total capacity for the
complex as 2,091 with 728 in the "Big House" and the 7 added auditoria
ranging down to as small as 112.
The
count in 2010 was 1,384. Theatre 1 - 509 (327 main floor, 182 balcony),
theatre 2 – 99, theatre 3 - 178, theatre 4 - 162, theatre 5 - 171,
theatre 6 - 151, theatre 7 - 57, theatre 8 - 57. Thanks to Will Baker
for these numbers.
A 1987 promotional piece from AMC. They note that it was used as a venue for the San Francisco International Film Festival. The big house was equipped for 16, 35 and 70mm. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this from his collection.
AMC was required to divest the property as part of their acquisition of the Loew's chain in 2006. It became a Sundance operation in 2007 and reopened as the Sundance Kabuki 8 on December 14. There's a page about the renovations done for Sundance on the website of ELS architecture+design.
When Sundance threw in the towel that circuit was acquired by Carmike in 2015. Now it's again operated by AMC. They got it back when they bought the Carmike circuit in 2016.
Status: AMC closed the complex in March 2020 due to Covid restrictions. It reopened in 2021. There was a shutdown for a week or so in April 2022 when problems were discovered with the theatre's emergency lighting system. Amanda Bartlett had the story for SF Gate.
Interior views:
A lobby view appearing with "
Kabuki, mon amour," an article by David Thomson in the September 2017 issue of The New Fillmore bemoaning the sad fate of the theatre under AMC management. See page two of a
pdf of the October issue for many letters from readers. Thanks to Gary Meyer for sending along the story.
A 2018 lobby shot. Thanks to Jeff Piatt for sharing his photo on
Cinema Treasures.
A 2015 photo in the "Big House" from Stan L. It's one of over 400 photos of the complex on
Yelp.
A 2016 balcony view provided by AMC to
Yelp.
The 2018 Bay Area Day of Remembrance celebration. Thanks to Kevin Y. for sharing his photo on Yelp.
More exterior views:
Running as the Japan Center Theatre in October 1983 with Marianne Faithful on the marquee. It's a Tom Gray photo from the Jack Tillmany collection.
A 1987 shot of the AMC Kabuki 8 taken by Tom Gray. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this from his collection.
Another 1987 Tom Gray photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. Thanks, Jack!
The back of the complex. Thanks to Steven J for his 2022 photo posted on Cinema Treasures.
More information: See the Cinema Treasures page about the AMC Kabuki 8.
Jack Tillmany's Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres of San Francisco" can be previewed on
Google Books. It's available from
Amazon or your local bookseller.
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