Opened: The Phoenix Theatre opened as a legit venue on November 3, 1976 according
to Jack Tillmany. The opening attraction, Cole Porter's "Out of This World," is on the marquee in the photo by Tom Gray that's in Jack's collection.
Jack adds: "The premises had been the Milano Restaurant in the 1920s, then segued into live entertainment as Sugar Hill circa 1961, Mother's ('Underground Entertainment') circa 1965, and Carol Doda's ('Topless Queen of the West') circa 1968."
Glen A. Micheletti comments: "One of the places where Penn & Teller got their theatrical start was in San Francisco as part of a trio with another performer named Weir Chrisemer, called the Asparagus Valley Cultural Society. They had a three-year run there starting in 1979. See the Magicpedia page about the trio."
An "Asparagus" flyer. Thanks to Glen for locating it on the Penn & Teller website.
Closing: The run of "Asparagus" ended Halloween night 1981. That may have been the last theatrical production in the space.
Status: The building survives. At last look the former theatre space was vacant.
Thanks to Lily Castello for finding this 1977 image for a post on the BAHT Facebook page. Lily notes it's a shot with Dick Van Patten, Willie Aames and Adam Rich from the TV show "Eight Is Enough."
A May 1979 photo taken by Tom Gray. It's in the Jack Tillmany collection.
More information: The current company calling itself the Phoenix Theatre only dates from 1985. They were in a location south of Market, later moved to 653-655 Geary, and now have offices on the 6th floor of the building at 414 Mason St. It's the Native Sons Building with the main ballroom in it once called the Stage Door Theatre. Thanks to Matt Weimer for the research.
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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