The Fairmont Hotel Playhouse

950 Mason St. | map |

Opened: The Fairmont Playhouse opened in the Fairmont Hotel on September 14, 1933 with a presentation of "Dangerous Corner."

A September 1933 ad for the school associated with the Playhouse. 

The Playhouse continued to operate until June 2, 1936 when "Hamlet" seems to have been its final production. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the research. It's possible that the Playhouse was using the the same space as the later Nob Hill Theatre, which opened at the hotel in October 1944 with a California St. entrance.


Elizabeth Holloway at the Fairmont: 

Ms. Holloway was a well known impresario in San Francisco, having presented shows beginning in the 1920s at the Community Playhouse on Sutter St., a venue later known as the Marines' Memorial Theatre. This August 14, 1938 ad announced her move to to what she was calling the Fairmont Theatre.

A September 4, 1938 article about Holloway's school calling her space the Fairmont Little Theatre.

 

A July 14, 1946 Examiner article about the school. You had to learn to cry to get your red star. "Anybody can cry," said Holloway. 

 

 

An October 3, 1946 ad for the school. 

 

Later in 1946 Holloway moved her operation back to the Marines' Memorial Theatre. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating these ads and articles.  

It's unknown what room or rooms at the hotel Ms. Holloway was using at various times. Until 1944 it could have been the room that became the Nob Hill Theatre. If that were the case, she got moved to another space when the film house opened. The 1946 Examiner article notes that Holloway's location at that time was across the hall from the Papagayo Room. Jack comments:
 

"I was talking to Peter Mintun, who entertained on piano at Mason's which is the restaurant that took over the Nob Hill Theatre space. I asked him about whether the Fairmont 'Theatre' might have used the same space as the later Nob Hill. He said the Fairmont Hotel is so huge, it had/has many areas which, over the years, have been constantly changed and redesigned for whatever uses are prevalent or needed at the time, especially entertainment and dining, and they all use the generic Fairmont addresses of 950 Mason or 950 California, so it's impossible to tell which was where. By the time Peter was working there (1980s/1990s) nobody he talked to even remembered it had previously been a movie theatre and there was no evidence of it anywhere. He didn't know about the rear projection until I told him about it."

   

More information:  Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the research. His 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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