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Golden Gate Theatre, Taylor Street
The 1922 art deco Golden Gate is one of the grandest and most successful theaters in San Francisco. It was built as a high class vaudeville venue at a time when protocol necessitated that gentlemen wear top hats and that ladies be dressed in formal gowns when attending the theatre.

Through the 1940s the theatre featured stage act headliners like Lena Horne, Ann Miller, Mickey Rooney, Burns and Allen, the Marx Brothers, Jack Benny, Josephine Baker, and Betty Grable as well as orchestras like Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie, and Lionel Hampton.

Following WWII the theatre declined and in the mid-50s the Golden Gate became a major motion picture house. But in the 1970s it was painstakingly restored using the original blueprints and hundreds of old photos. When it reopened it was as a performing arts theatre.

The Golden Gate has hosted show-stopping musicals such as Camelot with Richard Burton, Sweeney Todd with Angela Lansbury, My Fair Lady with Rex Harrison, Bette Midler, Liza Minnelli, Woman of the Year with Lauren Bacall, 42nd Street, Cabaret, Zorba with Anthony Quinn, and Fiddler on the Roof with Topol. A Golden Gate Theatre grand opening has always been a highlight on the social calendar in San Francisco.
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