The Opera Variety Theater

1265 Ninth Ave. | map |

3944 Balboa St. | map | 

Opened: 1969 at this Ninth Ave. location. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this photo taken by Tom Gray. This Inner Sunset district venue was on the west side of the street 2/3 of a block south of Golden Gate Park. 

Jack notes that before opening here they had floated around town performing at other locations. He adds:

"There had once been a Golden Eagle Nickelodeon at 1259 Ninth Ave. from 1910 to 1915, which I believe is the garage to the right. There are no photos."

Closing: They closed this location in 1971 and moved to 3944 Balboa St.

 

Status: This Ninth Ave. building has been demolished. 1265 (and evidently what had been 1259 to the right) are now the location of an unexciting concrete block Honda Express Service Center. The building on the left side of the photo survives, now with a Japanese restaurant on the ground floor. 

 

Reopening: This new location at 3944 Balboa St. in the Richmond district opened in 1971. It was on the north side of the street one building east of 41st. Ave. This Tom Gray photo of the new location is from the Jack Tillmany collection. 

Closing: Jack's report: 

"They remained on Balboa St. until the end of 1985 after which the rest is silence."

Status: Unknown. The building has either been seriously remodeled or replaced with a newer three-story residential building. That building to the right of the theatre still survives.

More information: 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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