809 Kearny St. | map |
Opening: 1907. Jack Tillmany reports that it was running as early as January 1907 as the Lyceum Theatre
with Adolph Hageman as manager. The first telephone directory listing
for it was in the June 1, 1909 edition and it appears in the September
1909 city directory. In the city directories the Lyceum was using an address of 809 Kearny.
Although sharing some of the same footprint as several versions of the pre-earthquake Bella Union Theatre, this was new construction. The entrance on Kearny was near the location that had been
used for the final version of the Bella Union but the Lyceum's auditorium was along Washington
instead of being in the middle of the block as the Bella Union's had
been.
"The biggest and best show ever seen for 5 cents." This ad appeared in a May 1, 1909 S.F.
Bulletin three-page salute to
"San
Francisco's High-Class Moving-Picture Theatres," part of their Pacific
Progress Issue. The Lyceum was one of 30 theatres advertising in the section, which also included the long-winded articles "Education on Wheels - The
Nickelodeon a Factor in Modern Civilization," "The Nickelodeon a
Permanent Factor in Public Amusement" and "The 5-Cent Theater Opens Wide
the Door of Pleasure to the Scanty Purse." Thanks to Art Siegel for
locating the section.
The
side of the auditorium along Washington and the Lyceum's entrance on
Kearny can be seen in this detail Art Siegel extracted from a photo on
the Open SF History Project
website. Art notes that he's dated the photo as c.1910 as we see
billboards and a vacant lot beyond the entrance. Sometime around 1911
that lot would be the site of the Shanghai Theatre. Later it would be called the Kearny and, beginning in 1948, the Bella Union.
A closer look at the entrance. Note the swing-out sign saying "LYCEUM." Jack Tillmany notes that the upper left poster next door is also advertising the Lyceum.
The
c.1910 view that the details above were taken from. The patch of green
just left of center is Portsmouth Square The side of the Lyceum is seen
beyond on Washington St. It's a photo from the Martin Behrman Negative
Collection of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. On the Open SF
History site it appears with this caption:
"Elevated
view northwest from the Merchants Exchange Building to scene showing
much reconstruction and some buildings still in ruins. William Tell
House, Mergenthaler Linotype (638 Sacramento), Chy Lung & Co.
Chinese & Japanese Bazaar (676 Sacramento). Russian Hill at left,
Chinatown (Dr. Ong Ting Shew Tea and Herbs, Dr. Chow Juyan Tea and
Herbs) Portsmouth Square (with Lyceum Theater near Kearny and Washington
corner), North Beach, Columbus Ave., St. Francis of Assisi Church
(still gutted from fire), Bay in distance, Telegraph Hill at right. On
Kearny: Dr. Field & Co's Free Museum, Lundstrom Hats, Harris' Loan
Office, 615 Kearny, City Loan Office 621 Kearny, Hotel McDonough 706
Kearny. Streetcar on Washington near Kearny."
Shocking!
An immoral show at the Lyceum in 1912. Thanks to Art Siegel for
locating this article in the December 21 issue of the Chronicle. The December 21, 1912 Daily Alta California
also covered the incident with their article "Lyceum Owner Guilty of
Law Infraction." The story can be viewed on the California Digital
Newspaper Collection website.
A detail from image 35 of the 1913 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this in the Library of Congress collection. Kearny
is running up the right. That's Jackson St. across the top.
The
Lyceum's auditorium is shown along Washington St. as "Vaudeville and
Moving Pictures." The building on the
corner is shown as 801 to 808. 815 is the entrance to the Lyceum with the
Shanghai/Kearny Theatre shown as "Moving Pictures" and here given an 821
address. The
white rectangle in the middle of the block was the location of the
auditorium of the 1868-1906 version of the Bella Union.
"A
policeman has been stationed in front of the Lyceum Theater at 809
Kearny street to chase away the Chinese Johnnies, who pester the chorus
girls there. The dressing rooms are under the sidewalk, and the Johnnies
have poked out the glass eyes in the walk and used the holes to slip in
notes addressed to the girls."
The last city directory listing for the Lyceum was June 1918 according to Jack Tillmany's research.
In September and October 1919 the theatre ran ads in L' Italia, an Italian language newspaper. Thanks to Art Siegel for spotting this ad for the Eddie O'Brien Musical Comedy Co. production of "A Trip To Paris" that appeared in the October 17, 1919 L'Italia issue.
Closing: Perhaps 1919 was the end of the line for the Lyceum. The closing date is unknown.
A
later Sanborn map with the auditorium shown as a restaurant and the
former Kearny entrance used as retail space. That's the Shanghai /
Kearny Theatre shown as "Moving Pictures" with the 821 address. Thanks
to Art Siegel for finding the building on image 35 of the map that's in
the Library of Congress collection. It's helpfully dated as 1913-1950.
Status: The entrance on Kearny survives and is now used for retail. The auditorium portion of the Lyceum has been demolished. There's now a new building on the site.
Looking
east on Washington St., along the side of the Lyceum's auditorium. The
door at the end of the building closest to us was the stage entrance.
Thanks to Glenn Koch for sharing the photo from his collection, a post
on the BAHT Facebook page.
Glenn notes that the photo came to him with a date of September 21,
1923. If that's accurate, the theatre was closed at the time. On the
reverse it says: "Moving, Washington Street, San Francisco, Calif."
The view across from Clay and Kearny toward the Lyceum building in March 1924. It's a San Francisco Public Library photo that was once published with this caption:
The view across from Clay and Kearny toward the Lyceum building in March 1924. It's a San Francisco Public Library photo that was once published with this caption:
"Once the Center of Town - Here was the plaza of the new city of San
Francisco, and near the corner you may see the front of the famous Bella
Union theater and dance hall where 'Lotta'
charmed the golden coins from the pockets of miners. At a later date
Robert Louis Stevenson sat upon the grass at this spot, as many do now,
and dreamed dreams. There is romance and appeal in this old picture, one
of the most prized in the collection of the Pacific Gas and Electric
company, through whose courtesy it is reproduced here."
Looking north/northeast in the 50s. It's a photo appearing courtesy of Jimmie Shein on the Found SF page "Portsmouth Square: The Plaza."
Around on Kearny St. That's what had been the Lyceum entrance on the left. In the center it's the Shanghai / Kearny Theatre, renamed the Bella Union in 1948. It's a July 1972 photo that appeared on the now-vanished American Classic Images website.
A 1979 photo by Tom Gray from the Jack Tillmany collection. It appears on page 70 of Jack's book "Theatres of San Francisco."
The two former theatre buildings in 2012. Thanks to Bruce C. for this photo he posted on Cinema Treasures.
The buildings in 2015. Photo: Bill Counter
The Washington St. facade of the new building on the site. We're looking east toward Kearny. Photo: Google Maps - 2017
An aerial view of the property. Photo: Google Maps - 2018
Another Kearny St. view. The building in the center was the Lyceum entrance, currently using an 809 address. The World Ginseng Center building on the right is the former Kearny Theatre. Photo: Google Maps - 2018
Possibly the Lyceum in the movies:
A shot from George Melford's film "Moran of the Lady Letty" (Paramount, 1922) that was spotted by Jack Tillmany. He comments:
"It might be the Lyceum Theatre. The movie was filmed in San Francisco around 1922, and used authentic outdoor locations in and around North Beach; nothing downtown or outside that neighborhood; the theatre was obviously the real thing, but only shows up for a few seconds in that one sequence. I've checked all the likely suspects, the Acme, the Flagg, and those on Broadway, but so far nothing quite matches up. Surviving photos are frustratingly sparse; many sites are still up in the air. So we will have to wait, I guess."
Gary Parks adds:
"It's tough to call. I see how the sidewalk slopes a bit—just like it does on that street in the c.1910 Lyceum photo—though that specific little part is hidden in the latter image. But—in the image from the movie, there’s a pocket for—and the folded fabric of—an awning above the adjacent storefront. In the Lyceum image, I see no provision for either…though one can’t rule out that by the Twenties, one may have been installed there. The sidewalls of the ticket lobby are so smothered with posters in the Lyceum shot, I can’t get a read on what that wall looks like underneath. Still a little mystery, I’m afraid."
More information: See the pages about the Shanghai / Kearny Theatre next door at 825 Kearny and the pre-1906 theatre on the block, the Bella Union.
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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