70 Eddy St. | map |
The Tivoli pages: 1874-1879 Tivoli Gardens | 1879-1903 Tivoli Opera House - 30 Eddy St. | 1903-1906 Tivoli Opera House - Eddy and Mason | 1913-1951 Tivoli Opera House / Theatre - 70 Eddy
Opened: March 12, 1913. This rendering of the fourth (and last) home for the venerable (but soon financially troubled) opera company appeared in the February 1915 issue of Architect and Engineer. By that time the theatre had already been leased to Turner & Dahnken as a film house. The drawing appeared with an article titled "Development of the Moving Picture Theatre." It's on Internet Archive.
The theatre was just off Market St., between Cyril Magnin & Mason. Jack Tillmany clarifies:
"Before BART, Halladie Plaza, and the removal of the Esquire & Telenews, 5th Street terminated at Market St. The street on the north side now known as Cyril Magnin was a narrow alleyway named Anna Lane St., which only ran from Eddy to Ellis, and which would be the correct nomenclature during the Tivoli Theatre era, which ended in 1949.
"It's wedged between the Bank of America and the Bus Terminal in Tom Gray's 1949 streetcar shot of the Tivoli. The name was changed to Cyril Magnin when it was widened to provide 5th Street traffic with a corresponding North of Market traffic corridor all the way to O'Farrell since, obviously, Powell was out of the question because of the cable cars."
Architects: O'Brien & Werner. Gary Parks has one sheet of the plans in his collection, for the facade. See six images from it down at the bottom of the page.
Seating: 1,385. It was house with a dress circle
and two balconies above that. Another number floating around for it is
1,500. A 1943 Chronicle article said it had "nearly 2,000 seats."
"San Francisco Welcomes Grand Opera." This item from the March 13, 1913 San Francisco Call gives a nice look back at the boxes -- and shows who will be sitting in each during the initial season at the new theatre. Thanks to Mark Ellinger for locating this via the California Digital Newspaper Collection.
Fame for the new Tivoli. It's part of the opening's coverage in the March 13, 1913 San Francisco Call. Thanks to Mark Ellinger for locating it. Excerpts from the Call's reporting of opening night:
"MANAGER LEAHY PREDICTS FAME FOR HIS NEW TIVOLI. William H. Leahy: 'I am pleased, more than pleased, with the demonstration the San Francisco public made tonight at the new Tivoli opera house. We used every effort to give this city an opera house which would be spoken of around the world. As it neared completion I felt that the public would certainly appreciate it. But the manner in which our efforts were received tonight is past expression. I am dumbfounded and satisfied, and, with my dear wife, thank the public from the bottom of our hearts. When I stepped inside the new Tivoli tonight I realized my dreams, which we had for years, had been fulfilled. It is needless to say that I appreciate the tribute of the San Francisco music loving public.'
"SAN FRANCISCO IS CONGRATULATED By MRS. JAMES ROLPH: 'The manner in which the audience received the opera company recalls to one the good old days before the fire, when on this same site the Tivoli opera house No. 2 stood. The same faces, the same atmosphere, the same applause. One thing is certain, San Francisco is back into her own.'
"MAYOR'S ADDRESS OF DEDICATION. In his address of dedication, delivered from the stage of the New Tivoli, Just before the rise of the curtain on the third act last night, Mayor James Rolph Jr. said: 'Friends of the San Francisco that was. Friends of the San Francisco that is. Memories of the past and enthusiasm and optimism in the present and the future inspire this evening's gathering... It is especially pleasing that this beautiful temple of music has been erected on the site where the old Tivoli theater stood for so many years and the thoughts of which remind us of the many happy hours spent therein in the days of years ago. As I stand here before the footlights, dazzled by the sparkle and brilliancy of this gathering, I think of the tale of "The Blue Bird," and my thoughts, too, are carried back to the days that were. Thirty-seven years ago the Tivoli gardens were opened at the corner of Sutter and Stockton streets by two brothers, Joseph and William Krellng. The attractiveness of the gardens made them popular, and prompted these enterprising men, a year later, to commence the construction of the Tivoli theater No. 2 on this site, which was completed and occupied in 1878, where it continued to prosper and grow In favor with the people of San Francisco and her visitors for an uninterrupted period of 26 years...
The opera company that built the house ran into financial trouble shortly after the opening with "...opera performances having failed after a trial of eight months." The theatre had occasionally run films as early as December 1913. Now it was full time with Turner & Dahnken taking it over. The article is from the February 21, 1914 issue of Moving Picture World. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding it.
A postcard from California Motion Picture Corporation advertising "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch" at the theatre in December 1914. Thanks to Glenn Koch for sharing the card from his collection. On the back it was noted: "Producers of America's Greatest Features, Distributed Exclusively by the World Film Corporation."
This collage of the Turner & Dahnken circuit's theatres (including the Tivoli) appeared with a July 10, 1915 Moving Picture World article. It's on Internet Archive.
The front of the program for a March 1926 engagement of Julia Arthur in Shaw's "St Joan," the "triumphant success from season's run at the Garrick and Empire Theatres, New York." Thanks to Rick Bellamy for sharing this as a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
There was an occasional film booking even in the late 20s. This ad for "Old Ironsides," at the theatre (at the time called the Columbia) noted that it was playing "On the Largest Screen in the World." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the ad in the June 19, 1927 Chronicle. The page is viewable on Newsbank.
Not content with a small screen for special action sequences, Paramount experimented with a process called Magnascope. At certain moments, like a dramatic naval battle with a ship coming toward you, there would be a changeover to a projector with a shorter focal length lens suddenly giving a larger picture. Or, rather it seemed to be gradually getting larger as the top and side masking started opening. Jack Tillmany reports:
On March 10, 1930 the Tivoli got its name back when Klaw and Erlanger, then the operators, moved their Broadway shows (and the Columbia name) over to the Orpheum on O'Farrell St. They had purchased that theatre from the Orpheum circuit in 1929.
A page from the program for a Bohemian Club concert on September 1, 1931 that, among other selections, included selections from the play "Joan." See the club's Bohemian Grove Museum pages for what materials they have online.
An announcement of the reopening of the Tivoli as the E. J. Norman Theatre in the September 17, 1932 issue of Motion Picture Herald. The President Theatre had also been closed. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for finding the article for a post on the BAHT Facebook page. Soon it was back to the Tivoli name.
The November 3, 1939 Chronicle noted that the theatre "will turn on its lights again tonight after lo, these many years." The page twelve article noted that the reopening program would be a stage show called "Operavues," a revue of favorite musical numbers from various shows along with a film, "She Married a Cop" starring Jean Parker and Phil Regan.
A newly formed Civic Light Opera Committee moved into the Tivoli in 1941 for a "Festival" that opened November 25 with a production of Rudolph Friml's "The Firefly." The November 26, 1941 Chronicle reviewed it on page seven. They were polite but unenthusiastic. Their second production, "The Merry Widow," closed abruptly December 18. A page eleven article in the December 19 Chronicle noted that the closing was due to "the stress and strain of wartime life." The Committee vowed to reopen as soon as possible with a production of the Broadway musical "Hit the Deck."
This short-lived "CLO Committee" was not connected with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, which had been sending a spring series north to the Curran since 1938, nor with the San Francisco Civic Light Opera Association. That organization was formed in October 1941 to produce future seasons at the Curran in partnership with the LACLO. The new San Francisco CLO is discussed in a page sixty three article in the October 26, 1941 Chronicle. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for doing the research via Newsbank.
After a 4 week world premiere run at the Geary, the Howard Hughes production "Outlaw" moved to the Tivoli. Stars Jane Russell and Jack Buetel appeared onstage before every show. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the February 28, 1943 Chronicle ad on Newsbank. It was nearly a full page.
A May 19, 1943 Chronicle article outlining the Tivoli's new low-price policy as a film house under Blumenfeld management. Thanks to Jack for locating the article via Newsbank. He comments:
"Having more or less failed as a legitimate venue, primarily because
of its bad location, the Tivoli was
operated by the Blumenfelds in the mid-1940s as a low price movie venue.
But the Blumenfelds found themselves in a curious situation,
with the Esquire, in a hot location on Market Street, doing an overflow
business, without a large enough number of seats, and the Tivoli,
around the corner on Eddy Street, in a cold location, with almost twice
as many seats, but most of them empty. Initially, the idea was to use it as a move-over house, but by the
time such films as 'Clancy Street Boys' (their initial attraction under
this new policy) got there, the bloom was off the rose, and the seats
remained empty.
"Re-releases and other odds and ends also failed, and so
live attractions returned with big name stars, such as Bela Lugosi in
'Arsenic and Old Lace,' but they were under-rehearsed, received poor
reviews, could not overcome the location, and failed to attract the
audiences who remained loyal to the Geary and the Curran on Geary
Street, just as they do today. "
See the August 7, 1943 Chronicle
review Jack located where the critic complains that "...when the
prompter keeps busier than the actors there is cause for complaint."
The March 16, 1946 Chronicle ad for the Abbott and Costello film "Little Giant," running at both the Tivoli and the Esquire, around the corner on Market St. The page of the paper, also with a review of the film, is on Newsbank. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating it. He comments:
Hortense Moron reviews the 3rd week's program in the Examiner. TJ Fisher located the article.
Just before the end, another curious historically transitional moment occurred. Jack Tillmany reports:
TJ Fisher found this ad for Billie Holiday's May 1949 appearance at the Tivoli. He comments:
The ad for the 2nd week of the Hawaiian Revue. Thanks to TJ Fisher for sharing the ad. He comments:
"1949 theatergoers are strange..." Hortense Morton had the news of the closing in her June 28 Examiner column. Thanks to TJ Fisher for locating the item. He notes that the paper's last listing for the theatre appeared the same day.
An October 1949 Examiner article located by TJ Fisher that announced the fate of the theatre.
Thanks to TJ Fisher for locating the Examiner's obituary.
Status: Although the auditorium had been demolished in 1951, the office portion of the building survived until the early 1960s. The Parc 55 hotel is now on the Tivoli site.
The lobby:
A look in from the street. It's photo from a card advertising the theatre during its film house days that came with the caption: "LOBBY - T.&D.'s TIVOLI THEATRE. San Francisco's Largest, Grandest Photoplay Palace."
Thanks to Glenn Koch for sharing the card from his collection as a post on the BAHT Facebook page. Jack Tillmany notes that the photo dates from mid-August 1916. The two films advertised on the easels opened August 20.
The auditorium:
This view from the stage comes from the article on the Turner & Dahnken circuit in the July 10, 1915 Moving Picture World. Note the added booth on the dress circle level.
The Tivoli's interior in 1916 with the audience (at 4 am!) listening to an ATT&T hookup of Enrico Caruso singing in Atlanta. The photo appears on page 57 of Jack Tillmany's great Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres of San Francisco." Jack notes that Caruso was in San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake and didn't wish to return. The page with this photo is included in the Google Books preview. The book is available from your local bookseller or on Amazon.
Jack calls our attention to the fact that above the dress circle the Tivoli had two balconies. Regarding that second balcony:
Earl Abel at the console of the Spencer organ c.1919. The photo is from the Tom B'hend - Preston Kaufmann Collection. It's part of the Margaret Herrick Digital Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for finding the photo for a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
A September 23, 1940 view from onstage taken by Moulin Studios. Thanks to Glenn Koch for spotting this offering on eBay from seller Last Frame of Picture.
A 1913 or early 1914 photo in the Chronicle collection. It appears with "The big screen, no not your TV: over 100 years of San Francisco Theaters," a March 2016 SF Gate photo portfolio. Among other performances, they're advertising the 6th and last week for "La Traviata." By February 1914 the theatre had become a film house.
A facade view of the theatre as a film house from an article on the Turner & Dahnken circuit in the July 10, 1915 Moving Picture World. The issue is on Internet Archive. The verticals read "Famous Stars" and "Famous Plays."
An April 1918 look toward Market during the period when the theatre was still a film house run by the Turner & Dahnken circuit. Those "tanks" are to raise interest for a bond drive during the run of "My Four Years in Germany." The photo, from the Emiliano Echeverria / Randolph Brandt Collection, appears on the website of the Open SF History Project.
A closer look at the happy crowd at the entrance during the War Bond event. It's a photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. A smaller version of the photo appears on the San Francisco Public Library website. Jack notes:
"The San Francisco Tivoli Opera House at Night." It's a photo taken during the run of the film "The Heart of the North" that appeared in the October 22, 1921 issue of Exhibitors Herald. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for finding it for a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
George White's "Scandals" played two weeks in mid-April 1926 at the theatre, then known as the Columbia. The Duncan Sisters, seen here in the car, would follow in the next show, "Topsy and Eva." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the photo from his collection. He notes:
We're looking
east on Eddy toward Market St. The theatre itself is on the far left --
the sign we see here was on the east edge of the building. Note the
Tivoli Cafe in the adjacent building. Various editions of the show toured from 1919 until 1939. There were also films in 1934, 1935 and 1945. Wikipedia has an article on "Scandals." A smaller version of the photo appears on the San Francisco Public Library website.
A look at the theatre's Columbia vertical as we look west on Eddy St. in July 1928. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the photo. He comments:
November 3, 1939: A "reopening" for the theatre with what looks like a new vertical to celebrate the return of the Tivoli name. The initial program was "Operavues," a stage program featuring musical numbers from various shows. Along with that you got a film, "She Married a Cop," starring Jean Parker and Phil Regan. We're looking down Eddy toward Market from Mason in this photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. A smaller version appears on the San Francisco Public Library website. Jack notes that the Tivoli may hold the record for the number of "reopenings" it had.
The Civic Light Opera Committee launched a season at the Tivoli in 1941 with a production of Rudolf Friml's "The Firefly" that opened November 25. The Chronicle wasn't enthusiastic. The short-lived organization closed their season December 18. There was evidently no connection between this group and the spring seasons of light opera and operetta that had been sent north to the Curran since 1938 by the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, later to be in partnership with the San Francisco Civic Light Opera Association.
The November 8 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection appears on page 57 of his great Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres of San Francisco." The page with this photo is included in the Google Books preview. The book is available from your local bookseller or on Amazon. The photo can also be seen on the San Francisco Public Library website.
A 1942 view down Eddy toward Market. The Tivoli is down there on the left, this side of the bus station sign. It's a San Francisco Public Library photo. By 1943 the CLO was off to the Curran and the Tivoli became a film house again, this time under Blumenfeld management. Mark Ellinger once commented on his now-vanished Up From the Deep blog:
A Muni E-Line streetcar at the Ferry, with a dash sign promoting "The Outlaw" at the United Artists, Esquire, and Tivoli in June 1946. It's from the Jack Tillmany collection. He notes that this type of promotion was typical of its era.
A 1946 trade magazine spread from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments:
"'The Jolson Story' was one of 1946's most popular films. Al
Jolson was still alive, and dubbed his own singing voice, while Larry
Parks acted his role onscreen. In San Francisco and Oakland, Blumenfeld
Theatres had the first run franchise on the output from Columbia
Pictures, and played the game for all it was worth. This ad appeared in
the trade journals and says it all.
A photo taken by Tom Gray from the Jack Tillmany collection taken the first week of June 1949. The Blumenfeld circuit was operating the house and this was an attempt to bring back vaudeville shows in addition to double feature film programs. The banner under the marquee is advertising one of the features, Humphrey Bogart in "Knock on Any Door." Jack notes:
The theatre awaiting demolition in January 1951. While the auditorium came down that year, the front of the building with the offices and theatre entrance stayed up until the 60s. The photo is from the San Francisco Public Library collection where they note it was once published in a newspaper with this copy:
A 50s photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments:
A June 12, 1958 Chronicle demo photo. It's one appearing with "The big screen, no not your TV: over 100 years of San Francisco Theaters," a March 2016 SF Gate photo portfolio.
Images from a sheet of plans in the Gary Parks collection:
Gary comments:
Jack Tillmany adds:
More information: See the pages here on this site about the Tivoli Gardens, the 1879 Tivoli Opera House and the 1903 Tivoli Opera House.
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. The site Cinema Treasures has page on the 1913 Tivoli.
Chapter XI of "The Stage in the Twentieth Century," a 1912 book by Robert Grau, discusses many of the post-1906 theatres in San Francisco. Thanks to Mike Hume for finding it on Internet Archive.
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