Venue Preview: San Francisco’s Historic Castro Set To Reopen With Another Planet After $41M Renovation

The long-awaited reopening of San Francisco’s historic landmark venue, The Castro Theatre featuring film, live music and standup comedy operated by Another Planet Entertainment called The Castro is just days away. Pollstar got an exclusive preview of the venue before the doors are set to officially swing open on Feb. 6. 

Following an extraordinary $41M renovation and restoration of the 1922 building and its treasured early 20th century art and design details, The Castro will premiere with a sold out 35MM benefit screening of campy 1994 Australian comedy road filmThe Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert on Feb. 6. Proceeds benefit the Castro Community Benefit District’s 20th anniversary.

CAW Architects collaborated with preservation architects from Page & Turnbull to design the building renovation. 

“The primary challenge of The Castro renovation was to allow the building to continue to honor its role as a sanctuary for LGBTQ+ culture and classic cinema, while adapting it to meet the demands of live performances and dance parties,” says Chris Wasney, FAIA, Principal at CAW Architects, in a statement. “The new bespoke movable floor system creates the classic raked seated orchestra, but can adapt quickly for a standing room live music event. Our goal was to achieve the highest standards of preservation and conservation for the beloved landmark theater, known for its remarkable architecture and artwork.”

On Feb. 7, a DJ and gogo dancer-driven party will further show how the venue is committed to continuing the LGBTQ community-building that’s at the core of The Castro. Called D’Arcy’s Drag + Disco, the event will be hosted by D’Arcy Drollinger, San Francisco’s first Drag Laureate and founder of the city’s Oasis nightclub and Oasis Arts nonprofit.

San Francisco is celebrating Drollinger’s recent news that the Oasis nightclub was saved from permanently closing after New Years Eve by a multimillion dollar gift from a family who has gotten much joy out of its existence supporting drag queens and music artists. Oasis will be closed for several months as it is renovated and booked anew, so it’s powerful that Drollinger is among the first to present an event at The Castro in 2026.

Following those special community events, UK crooner Sam Smith will perform the first 20 concerts in the reopened venue, which has a capacity of just under 1,400. His completely sold out “To Be Free: San Francisco Residency” runs Feb. 10-11, Feb. 13-14, Feb. 17-18, Feb. 20-21, Feb. 24-25, Feb. 27-2, Mar. 3-4, Mar. 6-7, Mar. 10-11 and Mar. 13-14. As of this writing, Smith does not have any other live shows listed on his public calendar.

Other near term highlights of announced Castro music events include Kim Petras (Mar. 15), Father John Misty (Mar. 24-25), Perfume Genius (Mar. 26), Tycho (Mar. 28), Nick Lowe (Mar. 31), Lexa Gates (Apr. 3), Fcukers (Apr. 4), Kasablanca (Apr. 10), The Format (Apr. 16-17), Vandelux (Apr. 18), CMAT (Apr. 19) and Alice Phoebe Lou (Apr. 25), plus future dates from The New Pornographers (May 11), Indigo Girls (May 12-13), Mika (May 14), Santigold (May 16), Lucy Dacus (May 18-19), The Breeders (Aug. 22-23), The Growlers (Sept. 18-19) and more. 

Still owned by the original Nasser family that opened it over 100 years ago, The Castro is also now going to be a regular host of live standup comedy events. The calendar presently includes appearances from Naomi Watanabe (Apr. 23), Jessica Kirson (Apr. 26), Jonathan Van Ness (Apr. 30) and Robby Hoffman (two shows on May 30).

Ahead of the venue’s blockbuster reopening on Feb. 6, Pollstar took a tour inside the building led by Mary Conde, Another Planet Entertainment’s Senior Vice President (Production) and General Manager of San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. 

Conde oversees every loving — and expensive — detail of this $41M renovation. New sound systems were built in collaboration with APE and Meyer Sound, with consultancy from Bay Area companies The Schalleck Collaborative (theatre consultant) and Salter Inc. (acoustics consultant). Coda and UltraSound provide integration and support services. 

Major improvements to the building to benefit the ticketholder experience include the removal of asbestos, a new heating and cooling system, bathrooms that are doubled in size and better ADA access throughout the orchestra and backstage. The orchestra level seats are retractable, and each tier of seating is now boosted six inches higher than the one in front of it, so the room’s sightlines are much better than in the past. The balcony seating remains the place to get an ideal bird’s eye view of the whole venue.

“Having that [seating] flexibility means that we could do comedy, a podcast, community and dance events and concerts,” says Conde. “Managers, artists and agents are reaching out to us and saying, ‘I want to play this venue.’”

The creation of new and mobile food and drink concessions will allow customers to stay near their seats if desired. The menu is expected to include treats from neighborhood artisanal foodmakers, including the high-quality Pride chocolate collection from the LGBTQ-owned Kokak Chocolates.

The stunning restoration details enhancing the original art and design have elevated The Castro as a jewel of a historic building. EverGreene Architectural Arts worked on bringing back sgraffito-etched clay murals and magically rejuvenated the breathtaking ceiling, which has never been seen by modern visitors. Phoenix Day restored the light fixtures, including the original 1937 chandelier. (Conde will reveal more details about the sound, design and passion behind the reopening of The Castro in Pollstar’s March print issue).

The Castro is, of course, known for showing movies. The room will resume a schedule of repertory films and continue to host large film festivals like the 69th Annual San Francisco International Film Festival (Apr. 24 and May 4), the 29th San Francisco Silent Film Festival (May 6-10) and Frameline50 (June 17-27). On Mar. 17, Frameline will present Trash Talk with John Waters, featuring a screening of his 1994 film Serial Mom. 

Peaches Christ, the acclaimed drag queen who has hosted legendary celebrity-studded events and screenings in the theatre (including Serial Mom), will present Waters with an award from Frameline, and will soon announce the return of a classic event.

“That’s my first real public event back, and that means the world to me,” says Christ of the Waters screening. “ A deathbed memory for me, when I’m lying there, is going to be the night that Sketchfest did a roast on the Castro stage for my personal 45th birthday. I sat there and it was Elvira, Mink Stole, Clea DuVall, Jinkx Monsoon, Sister Roma, Heklina. And then as a surprise, the final roaster coming on the aisle that the audience did not know had shown up was John Waters. John got up there and he was so sweet that it wasn’t really a roast. It was more like a tribute to me.

“He said something later like, ‘Why would you ever agree to be roasted? I would never agree to that!’”

Christ’s blessing of The Castro’s new era will be important to community members who may have been skeptical of the management takeover and renovation, even though the same original family still owns the building.

“I can be there to say, ‘Well, let’s make sure that it’s as great as it ever was.”