Paramount Theatre

2025 Broadway

Oakland, California 

Oakland's Parmount Theatre is one of the finest remaining examples of Art Deco design in the United States.

The Paramount opened at a cost of $3 million on December 16, 1931. 

A small section of Timothy L. Pflueger's patented ceiling grid which extends above the auditorium.

The Grand Art Deco lobby.

The Paramount Theatre is a stunning Art Deco concert hall and a National Historic Landmark, known for its opulent design and hosting a wide variety of performances, including concerts, ballet, plays, stand-up comedy and classic films screenings from Hollywood's Golden Era.  It serves as the home for the Oakland Symphony and Oakland Ballet Company and is a major Bay Area performing arts venue.

The Paramount Theatre is a prime example of Art Deco design, meticulously restored in 1973 to its original 1931 splendor with 3,040 seats. When it was built in 1931, it was the largest multi-purpose theatre on the West Coast, seating 3,476.

 It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 14, 1973. It became a California Registered Historical Landmark in 1976 and a U.S. National Historical Landmark in 1977.  

Fountain of Light in the Grand Lobby over the entrance and marquee.

Fountain of Light

Women's Lounge, basement level

Mural

by

Charles Stafford Duncan

(1892-1952)

Duncan was a San Francisco painter, lithographer, muralist and graphic designer perhaps best known for this mural in the Paramount Theatre.  He won the Benjamin Altman Prize from the National Academy of Design in 1937.

Detail of mosaic on facade.

The Paramount Theatre was built as a movie palace, during the rise of the motion picture industry in the late 1920s.  In 1925, Adolph Zukor's Paramount Publix Corporation, the theatre division of Paramount Pictures, one of the great studio-theatre chains, began a construction program resulting in some of the finest theatres built.  Publix assigned the design of the Oakland Paramount to 38-year old San Francisco renowned architect, Timothy L. Pflueger (1892-1946) of Miller and Pflueger.  Pflueger was also the designer of the Castro Theatre in San Francisco.

Grand Lobby north wall showing dancing Art Deco figures.

View looking down from the balcony at the ceiling, prosceniuim, curtain, seating and hydraulic orchestra pit.

Basement lounge showing stylized couches and benches.  Note the bold wall and ceiling designs.

Women's Mezzanine-level foyer

The Paramount organ was built in 1931 by Wurlitzer for the Paramount Theatre: a four-manual, twenty-rank model Opus 2164 which cost $20,000 in 1931. 

Opus 2164 has over 1,450 pipes along with a built-in grand piano, drums and percussion that can physically vibrate the auditorium. The Mighty Wurlitzer is played live before screenings on select dates.  

The gala premiere was attended by Kay Francis, star of the opening film, The False Madonna. Tickets were first-come, first-serve: sixty cents for the balcony seat and eighty-five cents for a seat in the orchestra. Music was provided by the Paramount's own 16-piece house orchestra under the direction of Lew Kosloff.  The Sunkist Beauties featured a chorus line finale.

The "Sunkist Beauties" were glamorous, highly synchronized troupe dancers created by West Coast theatre producers Fanchon and Marco.  Popular throughout the 1920s and 1930s, they performed elaborate live stage shows called "Prologues" in premier movie palaces before feature films. The term also evokes the era's broader "bathing beauties" cultural phenomenon, heavily popularized by California citrus advertisements, pin-up art and Hollywood starlets.  

The Concept:  Producers  Manchon and Marco ("Miss Fanchon" Simon and Marco Wolff) specialized in massive live entertainment.  Their signature touch was the synchronized female chorus line.  Fanchon specifically sought out dancers who exuded "youth and naturalness" typically recruiting girls aged 15 to 20 years of age. Alongside groups like the San Francisco Beauties and the iconic Fanchonettes, the Sunkist Beauties helped set the stage for modern precision dance.

"The most famous brother and sister producing team."

The term, "Sunkist" also referred generically to the explosion of beachwear and sunwear fashion worn by Hollywood starlets of the era.  Actresses like Rita Hayworth, Betty Grable and Esther Williams frequently posed for promotional "pin-up" photos on California beaches.  This era saw the rise of structured, high-waisted two-piece swimsuits and playsuits that celebrated a healthy, athletic physique.

Fanchon and Marco were a powerhouse brother-and-sister theatrical duo who profoundly shaped American entertainment.  Born Fanchon and Marco Wolff, they transitioned rom a modest vaudeville dance act into one of the largest independent production companies in show business history.  Fanchon and Marco were crucial in evolving the modern chorus line.  They managed multiple resident dance troupes, most notably the Fanchonettes (originally the California Sunshine Girls).  Unlike the static, decorative showgirls of the Ziegfeld Follies, the Fanchonettes were disciplined dancers and gymnasts. Up to 48 women would perform highly synchronized, fast-paced routines in perfect unison, combining tap, ballet, roller-skating and acrobatics.  This heavy emphasis on geometric, athletic precision directly paved the way for groups like the  Radio City Rockettes.  

FANCHON AND MARCO

"The standard by which stage shows are judged"

Variety 1929

Today, walking into the main lobby, with its gold ornamentation along the walls, curving staircase, and glowing light fixtures, is like taking a trip back through Old Hollywood.  Public tours of the Paramount Theatre are given on the first and third Saturdays of each month, excluding holidays and holiday weekends.