Fox Theater (Bakersfield)
Encyclopedia
The Fox Theater is located at 2001 H Street in Downtown Bakersfield, California
. The theater, which opened on Christmas Day, 1930 is the performing arts hub of downtown Bakersfield, and hosts a variety of performing talent, ranging from ballets to contemporary pop and rock acts.
, a sci-fi film set 50 years in the future. The 1930s were a strong period for the Fox Theater. The silver screen featured the latest "talkie" pictures, and the stage was graced by numerous acts including Bakersfield native Metropolitan Opera baritone Lawrence Tibbett
(1933); world-renowned soprano Kirsten Flagstad
(1939); the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (1939); and the classic pianist Arthur Rubinstein
(1940).
Because of the Fox Theater's Type I construction of poured concrete over steel, the theater withstood the 1952 earthquake which shook Bakersfield and leveled many buildings throughout the city.
. The exterior of the building is in the Spanish Colonial Revival
style, as was the original interior. The 1500 seat auditorium was designed in the "atmospheric" style popularized by architect John Eberson
, and featured a plain ceiling set with small lights to resemble stars in a night sky, while the walls were lined by decorative false walls with murals painted on the real walls behind them depicting open countryside, all meant to suggest that the auditorium was in fact a Mediterranean walled garden.
Though the building survived the earthquake of 1952
intact, the following year the interior of the theatre was remodeled. The original Mediterranean theme was replaced with an Art Moderne
motif, which was the style favored by Charles Skouras
, then the head of Fox-West Coast Theatres. With the re-theme, a large concession area was added to the lower lobby of the theater. In the auditorium, the "garden walls" were stripped away, and the murals painted over. The ceiling's night sky effect with its twinkling recessed star lights was retained.
A more limited remodeling of the building's exterior brought a new marquee, box office, and entrance foyer, embellished with glitzy neon signage, colorful terrazzo flooring, and bright metals. The remodel was representative of 1950s Hollywood style and showmanship. With this remodel, the screen was replaced with a state-of-the-art super-wide CinemaScope
20' x 45' format and the theater's projectors were upgraded with 6000-watt carbon arc lamps and anamorphic lenses.
Restoration began on July 1, 1994 and has been a slow, but on-going effort ever since. A large list of restoration and improvement projects is still present for the theater.
1st Vice President
2nd Vice President
Director of Restoration
Treasurer
Secretary
The Stars are available for purchase by any member of the community. They are available at three different price levels, each level coming with special benefits and specific Star locations: $5,000 (14-inch stainless steel star), $10,000 (14-inch stainless steel star), $25,000 (16-inch stainless steel star). The Stars are customized with the donor's name or company name or logo.
As of September 2006, only a handful of Stars have been purchased, and the benefit package for each Star participation level has been changed several times.
The Fox Theater's website notes:
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....
. The theater, which opened on Christmas Day, 1930 is the performing arts hub of downtown Bakersfield, and hosts a variety of performing talent, ranging from ballets to contemporary pop and rock acts.
The early years
The Fox Theater in Bakersfield, California opened Christmas Day 1930 with the feature film Just ImagineJust Imagine
Just Imagine is a 1930 science-fiction musical comedy directed by David Butler, to console audiences distressed by the Great Depression. The film is probably best known for its art direction and special effects in its portrayal of New York City in an imagined 1980...
, a sci-fi film set 50 years in the future. The 1930s were a strong period for the Fox Theater. The silver screen featured the latest "talkie" pictures, and the stage was graced by numerous acts including Bakersfield native Metropolitan Opera baritone Lawrence Tibbett
Lawrence Tibbett
Lawrence Mervil Tibbett was a great American opera singer and recording artist who also performed as a film actor and radio personality. A baritone, he sang with the New York Metropolitan Opera company more than 600 times from 1923 to 1950...
(1933); world-renowned soprano Kirsten Flagstad
Kirsten Flagstad
Kirsten Målfrid Flagstad was a Norwegian opera singer and a highly regarded Wagnerian soprano...
(1939); the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (1939); and the classic pianist Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
(1940).
Because of the Fox Theater's Type I construction of poured concrete over steel, the theater withstood the 1952 earthquake which shook Bakersfield and leveled many buildings throughout the city.
Theater is remodeled to Art Deco theme
The Bakersfield Fox was an early work of Los Angeles theater architect S. Charles LeeS. Charles Lee
S. Charles Lee was an American architect recognized as one of the most prolific and distinguished motion picture theater designers on the West Coast.-Early life :...
. The exterior of the building is in the Spanish Colonial Revival
Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style was a United States architectural stylistic movement that came about in the early 20th century, starting in California and Florida as a regional expression related to history, environment, and nostalgia...
style, as was the original interior. The 1500 seat auditorium was designed in the "atmospheric" style popularized by architect John Eberson
John Eberson
John Eberson was an American architect best known for his movie palace designs in the atmospheric theatre fashion.Born in Czernowitz, Austro-Hungarian Empire , Eberson went to highschool in Dresden and studied electrical engineering in Vienna. He arrived in the United States in 1901 and at first...
, and featured a plain ceiling set with small lights to resemble stars in a night sky, while the walls were lined by decorative false walls with murals painted on the real walls behind them depicting open countryside, all meant to suggest that the auditorium was in fact a Mediterranean walled garden.
Though the building survived the earthquake of 1952
White Wolf Fault
The White Wolf Fault is a fault in southern California, located north of the intersection of the San Andreas Fault and the Garlock Fault, and north of the Tehachapi Mountains. It is classed as a reverse fault with a left lateral component...
intact, the following year the interior of the theatre was remodeled. The original Mediterranean theme was replaced with an Art Moderne
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
motif, which was the style favored by Charles Skouras
Charles Skouras
Charles P. Skouras in Skourohorion, Greece, was an American movie executive and president of Fox Coast West. He and his two brothers, George Skouras and Spyros Skouras, came from Greece as poor sons of a sheep herder who rose to become top movie executives.-Biography:The Skouras brothers arrived...
, then the head of Fox-West Coast Theatres. With the re-theme, a large concession area was added to the lower lobby of the theater. In the auditorium, the "garden walls" were stripped away, and the murals painted over. The ceiling's night sky effect with its twinkling recessed star lights was retained.
A more limited remodeling of the building's exterior brought a new marquee, box office, and entrance foyer, embellished with glitzy neon signage, colorful terrazzo flooring, and bright metals. The remodel was representative of 1950s Hollywood style and showmanship. With this remodel, the screen was replaced with a state-of-the-art super-wide CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
20' x 45' format and the theater's projectors were upgraded with 6000-watt carbon arc lamps and anamorphic lenses.
The Fox closes
However, in 1977, after 47 years in show business, the Fox Theater closed its doors. The theater re-opened for a brief period in 1983 and 1984, but would fall into decay until 1994.The Fox Theater Foundation: Saving a historic landmark in downtown Bakersfield
In 1994, the Fox Theater was threatened by the inevitability of demolition. Fortunately a small group of city businessmen and women joined together to save the theatrer, forming the Fox Theater Foundation. The Foundation's "Save the Fox" campaign raised enough funds from over 380 donors for the down payment on the building.Restoration began on July 1, 1994 and has been a slow, but on-going effort ever since. A large list of restoration and improvement projects is still present for the theater.
Executive Board of Directors
President- Jim Darling
1st Vice President
- Rick Davis
2nd Vice President
- Jim Waldron
Director of Restoration
- Scott R. Fieber
Treasurer
- Dorene Cates
Secretary
- David Cates
Board of Directors
- Phyllis Adams
- Cathy Butler
- Peggy Darling
- Dorene Cates
- Jim Darling
- Janet Manning
- Scott Fieber
- Rick Davis
- David Cates
- Jim Waldron
75th anniversary celebration - 2005
On December 25, the Fox Theater celebrated its 75th Anniversary, a milestone marked by several events.Walk of Stars
In early 2005, the Fox Theater Foundation launched the Walk of Stars program, a new funraising program for the 75th Anniversary. The program is intended to pay off the Fox's mortgage as well as continue numerous restoration projects, as well as start the Fox Plaza, which would convert the portion of Bakersfield's 20th Street that the Fox Theater sits alongside into a pedestrian walkway and shopping area.The Stars are available for purchase by any member of the community. They are available at three different price levels, each level coming with special benefits and specific Star locations: $5,000 (14-inch stainless steel star), $10,000 (14-inch stainless steel star), $25,000 (16-inch stainless steel star). The Stars are customized with the donor's name or company name or logo.
As of September 2006, only a handful of Stars have been purchased, and the benefit package for each Star participation level has been changed several times.
75th Anniversary Black Tie Gala
The Fox Theater's 75th Anniversary Black Tie Gala was a large-scale event mostly centered around nostalgia for the old theater and entertainment it has seen throughout the decades. The evening was divided between live music inside the theater, a slideshow with live commentary by Foundation board members, and dinner and dancing to live local music acts in the Theater's large storage and maintenance building, which was partially cleared out and re-decorated for the evening. The evening's highlight was a raffle for a $10,000 diamond pendant, to which all proceeds went the Fox Theater Foundation for bills and restoration projects.Notable past events and performers
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The Fox Theater today
Today, the Fox Theater is the heart of Downtown Bakersfield's arts and entertainment district. The theater is home to FLICS, Bakersfield's foreign film program which runs fall through spring yearly, showcasing the best foreign film of the past year. On Friday, September 22, 2006 FLICS celebrated its Silver Anniversary at the Fox Theater, kicking off its 25th season with the film Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story. The Fox Theater also sees a variety of music stars including Cyndi Lauper, Olivia Newton John, and Switchfoot. The Theater also hosts numerous local dance recitals, as well as performing arts events such as Russian ballet.The Fox Theater's website notes: